Inter-American Human Rights Commission
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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme'', ''Comissão Interamericana de Direitos Humanos'') is an autonomous organ of the
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
(OAS). The separate
Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I/A Court H.R.) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a human r ...
is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of
San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital city, capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Costa Rican Central Valley, Central Valley, wi ...
. Together the Court and the Commission make up the
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
protection system of the OAS.


Composition

IACHR is a permanent body based in Washington, D.C., United States. It holds regular and special sessions throughout the year to review human rights complaints in the Americas. The Commission’s mandate is based on three key documents: the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, also known as the Bogota Declaration, was the world's first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by less than a y ...
, and the
American Convention on Human Rights The American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), also known as the Pact of San José or by its Spanish name used in most of the signatory nations, ''Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos'', is an international human rights instrument. It was ...
.


History of the Inter-American human rights system

The Inter-American system for protecting human rights began in April 1948 with the adoption of the
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, also known as the Bogota Declaration, was the world's first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by less than a y ...
by the Organization of American States (OAS). This was the first general international human rights instrument, preceding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by more than six months.Goldman, Robert K. "History and Action: the Inter-American Human Rights System and the Role of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights." Human Rights Quarterly 31 (2009): 856-887. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) was established in 1959. It held its first session in 1960 and conducted its first on-site visit in 1961 to examine the human rights situation in the Dominican Republic. In 1965, the Commission was formally authorized to investigate individual complaints of human rights violations. Since then, it has received thousands of petitions and processed over 12,000 cases. The
American Convention on Human Rights The American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), also known as the Pact of San José or by its Spanish name used in most of the signatory nations, ''Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos'', is an international human rights instrument. It was ...
, adopted in 1969, expanded on the principles of the 1948 Declaration. It set out the obligations of states to uphold specific rights and established the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. As of now, the Convention is binding on 24 of the OAS’s 35 member states. The commission's performance has not been always welcomed. Among others, Venezuela has accused the Commission of politicization. Others criticize the commission's stress on certain issues over others. These criticisms have given rise to what was called the "Strengthening Process of the Commission". This process began in 2011, led by the States belonging to the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed ...
.


Functions

The main task of the IACHR is to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the
Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
. In pursuit of this mandate it: * Receives, analyzes, and investigates individual petitions alleging violations of specific human rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights. * Works to resolve petitions in a collaborative way that is amiable to both parties. * Monitors the general human rights situation in the OAS's member states and, when necessary, prepares and publishes country-specific human rights reports. * Conducts on-site visits to examine members' general human rights situation or to investigate specific cases. * Encourages public awareness about human rights and related issues throughout the hemisphere. * Holds conferences, seminars, and meetings with governments, NGOs, academic institutions, etc. to inform and raise awareness about issues relating to the inter-American human rights system. * Issues member states with recommendations that, if adopted, would further the cause of human rights protection. * Requests that states adopt precautionary measures to prevent serious and irreparable harm to human rights in urgent cases. * Refers cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and litigates those same cases before the Court. * Asks the Inter-American Court to provide advisory opinions on matters relating to the interpretation of the convention or other related instruments.


Rapporteurships and units

The IACHR has created several thematic rapporteurships and two special rapporteurships to monitor OAS states' compliance with inter-American human rights treaties in the following areas: * Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1990)Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
/ref> * Rapporteurship on the Rights of Women (the first rapporteurship created by the IACHR in 1994) * Rapporteurship on Migrant Workers and their Families (1996) * Rapporteurship on the Rights of the Child (1998) * Rapporteurship on Human Rights Defenders (2001) * Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty (2004) * Rapporteurship on the Rights of Afro-Descendants and against Racial Discrimination (2005) * Rapporteurship on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bisexual, and Intersex Persons (2014) * Rapporteurship on Memory, Truth, and Justice (2019) * Rapporteurship on the Rights of Older Persons (2019) * Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2019 The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and the are full-time dedicated positions. The former was created in 1997, while the latter was established in 2017, with Soledad García Muñoz of Argentina as the first holder of the office. The other rapporteurships are in the hands of the commissioners, who have other functions at the IACHR and also their own jobs in their home countries, since their work as commissioners is unpaid. Rapporteurships are initially established by the commission as thematic units prior to being upgraded to rapporteurships. The IACHR also has a Press and Outreach Office.


Petitions

Under its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR reviews petitions submitted by individuals or non-governmental organizations. These petitions are treated as confidential and are not made public. To be admissible, a petition must meet three conditions: domestic legal remedies must have been exhausted, the petition must be submitted within six months of the final decision in the domestic system, and it must not be under consideration by another international body. Once a petition has been filed, it follows the following procedure: * Petition is forwarded to the Secretariat and reviewed for completeness; if complete, it is registered and is given a case number. This is where the state is notified of the petition. * Petition reviewed for admissibility. * The Commission tries to find a friendly settlement. * If no settlement is found, then briefs are filed by each side on the merits of the case. * The Commission then files a report on the merits, known as an Article 50 report from relevant article of the convention. This is a basically a ruling by the commission with recommendations on how to solve the conflict. The Article 50 report is sent to the state. This is a confidential report; the petitioner does not get a full copy of this report. * The state is given two months to comply with the recommendations of the report. * The petitioner then has one month to file a petition asking for the issue to be sent to the Inter-American Court (only applicable if the State in question has recognized the competence of the Inter-American Court). * The commission has three months, from the date the Article 50 report is given to the state, to either publish the Article 50 report or send the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Alternatively, the commission can also choose to monitor the situation. The American Convention establishes that if the report is not submitted to the Court within three months it may not be submitted in the future, but if the State asks for more time in order to comply with the recommendations of the Article 50 report, the Commission might grant it on the condition that the State signs a waiver on this requirement.


Composition

The IACHR's ranking officers are its seven commissioners. The commissioners are elected by the OAS General Assembly, for four-year terms, with the possibility of re-election on one occasion, for a maximum period in office of eight years. They serve in a personal capacity and are not considered to represent their countries of origin but rather "all the member countries of the Organization" (Art. 35 of the convention). The convention (Art. 34) says that they must "be persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights". No two nationals of the same member state may be commissioners simultaneously (Art. 37), and commissioners are required to refrain from participating in the discussion of cases involving their home countries.


Current commissioners (2024)

Source of IACHR Composition.


Past commissioners


Executive Secretaries

The staff of the IACHR comprise its Secretariat, which is led by an Executive Secretary, who serves for what have recently been four-year, renewable contracts. In August 2020, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro announced that he would not renew Paulo Abrão's contract as Executive Secretary of the IACHR, citing 61 personnel complaints by staff of the organization. The Commissioners of the IACHR had unanimously approved the contract extension in January 2020, and expressed their "profound rejection" of Almagro's action "whose refusal to renew this contract breaks with a 20-year practice of respecting the IACHR's decision to appoint its own Executive Secretary and thus makes it difficult to obtain truth, justice, and reparation for those whose labor rights have been affected." UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December ...
,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, and the Mexican government have also objected to Abrão's removal. Tania Reneaum, a Mexican, was appointed as the new Executive Secretary in 2021.


Human rights alligations investigated by the Inter-American Commission

* 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping (Mexico) * Antoine Izméry (Haiti) * Barrios Altos massacre (Peru) *
Censorship in Venezuela Censorship in Venezuela refers to all actions which can be considered as censorship, suppression in speech in Venezuela, the country. More recently, Reporters Without Borders ranked Venezuela 159th out of 180 countries in its ''World Press Freed ...
(Venezuela) * Deaths in Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) *
District of Columbia voting rights The voting rights of citizens in the District of Columbia differ from the rights of citizens in the 50 U.S. states. The United States Constitution grants each state voting representation in both houses of the United States Congress. It de ...
(United States) * Domestic violence protection in the case of Jessica Gonzales (United States) * '' El Caracazo'' (Venezuela) *
Extrajudicial detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...
in
Guantánamo Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province. Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are traditi ...
of Djamel Ameziane (United States) * Internment of Japanese Latin Americans (United States) * Japanese embassy hostage crisis (Peru) * La Cantuta massacre (Peru) * Lori Berenson (Peru) * Massacre of Trujillo (Colombia) La masacre de Trujillo fue escogida por la CNRR como eje de su informe sobre crímenes emblemáticos
/ref> * Plan de Sánchez massacre (Guatemala)


References


External links

*
IACHR case law

OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 1959 establishments in Washington, D.C. Human rights in Latin America Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Intergovernmental human rights organizations Organization of American States Organizations established in 1959 Quasi-judicial bodies