Summary
Global Center for Human Rights (GCHR) is an anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ organization that works to promote anti-rights ideologies and actors across Latin America. Detailed information and data about the organization are obtuse and hard to come by, however, it appears that GCHR is both relatively new and small in operational size. For all intents and purposes, it seems that GCHR was incorporated in Washington, D.C. in September 2021, and started to land impact and influence in the Fall of 2022. GCHR supposedly maintains offices in Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina, as well.
Its staff appears to be a small team of four, however, its small staff shouldn’t be mistaken for small impact. GCHR is headed by Sebastien Schuff, and its VP of International Affairs is Neydy Casillas. This pair – who are married to each other – are incredibly powerful and influential actors in the anti-abortion and anti-rights spaces. Schuff founded anti-abortion groups Frente Joven and Prodeci in his native Argentina, while Casillas previously served as Senior Legal Counsel at ADF International and VP of International Affairs at Concerned Women for America. Casillas is generally considered one of the most influential players in Latin American anti-abortion politics and is a major link between the region’s movements and US-based anti-abortion movements. This pair recently was the subject of the viral “We Will Adopt Your Baby” meme after the fall of Roe vs. Wade in the U.S.
In GCHR’s limited existence, their main point of influence so far has been a study they published on funding sources for the IACHR and the Inter-American Court. This study seeks to point fingers at non-OAS countries and/or organizations for funding the regional organizations, launching claims of lacking transparency and “ideological colonialism.” Considering that GCHR is based in Washington, D.C., and seeks to impose its own ideological vision on countries throughout the region, its criticisms are quite hypocritical. However, given Schuff’s and Casillas’s connections, influence, and media savvy, this study and its framings have been picked up by right-wing media and politicians across the region.
Outside of influencing regional conversations and narratives, GCHR’s main stated purposes are “strategy, training, and advocacy.” They seek to uplift their anti-rights agenda throughout Latin America through research, legislative/electoral training, and legal advocacy/litigation.