The Dominican Republic’s Senate voted against a proposal that would have decriminalized abortion in certain circumstances. In Honduras, Congress also maintained the ban on abortion in all circumstances in the new Criminal Code. In Argentina, women and girls faced obstacles in accessing legal abortion when the pregnancy posed a risk to their health or resulted from rape; full decriminalization of abortion was pending in Parliament. In Uruguay, sexual and reproductive health services were difficult to access in rural areas, and objectors to providing abortion continued to obstruct access to legal abortions. In October, the Ministry of Education and Science of Paraguay issued a resolution banning the inclusion in educational materials of basic information about human rights, sexual and reproductive health education and diversity, among other subjects. In Bolivia – where unsafe abortions were one of the main causes of maternal mortality – the Criminal Code was amended to significantly expand access to legal abortion. RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE LGBTI people faced persistent discrimination, harassment and violence in the region, including in Haiti, Honduras and Jamaica. In Bolivia the Constitutional Court invalidated part of a law which granted civil marriage rights to transgender people who had changed their gender on their identity documents. The country’s Ombudsman proposed an amendment to the Criminal Code to make hate crimes against LGBTI people a criminal offence. In the Dominican Republic the body of a transgender woman, Jessica Rubi Mori, was found dismembered in wasteland. By the end of the year, no one had been brought to justice for her killing. In Uruguay there remained no comprehensive anti-discrimination policy protecting LGBTI people from violence in schools and public spaces, or ensuring their access to health services. ARMED CONFLICT Despite the opportunities presented by the Peace Agreement in Colombia, legislation remained unimplemented on most of its points, and there were serious concerns around impunity for crimes committed during the conflict. Ongoing human rights violations and abuses also demonstrated that the internal conflict between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the security forces was far from over, and in some areas it appeared to intensify. Civilian populations continued to be the main victims of the conflict – especially Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant and peasant farmer communities, and human rights defenders. A spike in the number of human rights activists killed at the beginning of the year highlighted the dangers faced by those exposing ongoing abuses in Colombia. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 35