Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Encyclopedia
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
(OAS).
Along with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
, it is one of the bodies that comprise the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights.
The IACHR is a permanent body, with headquarters in Washington, D.C.
, United States
, and it meets in regular and special sessions several times a year to examine allegations of human rights violations in the hemisphere.
Its human rights
duties stem from three documents:
in April 1948 the first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
by more than six months.
The IACHR was created in 1959. It held its first meeting in 1960, and it conducted its first on-site visit to inspect the human rights situation in an OAS member state (the Dominican Republic
) in 1961.
A major step in the development of the system was taken in 1965, when the Commission was expressly authorized to examine specific cases of human rights violations. Since that date the IACHR has received thousands of petitions and has processed in excess of 12,000 individual cases.
In 1969, the guiding principles behind the American Declaration were taken, reshaped, and restated in the American Convention on Human Rights
. The Convention defines the human rights that the states parties are required to respect and guarantee, and it also ordered the establishment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
. It is currently binding on 24 of the OAS's 35 member states.
.
In pursuit of this mandate it:
The IACHR also has a Unit on Defenders on Human Rights (website in Spanish: http://www.cidh.org/defenders/defensores.htm) and a Press and Outreach Office (http://www.cidh.org/prensa.eng.htm)
Petitions may be filed by states, NGOs or individuals. Unlike most court filings, petitions are confidential documents and are not made public. Petitions must meet three requirements; domestic remedies must have already been tried and failed (exhaustion), petitions must be filed with in six months of the last action taken in a domestic system (timeliness), petitions can not be before another court (duplication of procedure).
Once a petition has been filed, it follows the following procedure:
The commissioners are elected by the OAS General Assembly
, for four-year terms, with the possibility of reelection 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.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
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
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
(OAS).
Along with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...
, it is one of the bodies that comprise the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights.
The IACHR is a permanent body, with headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and it meets in regular and special sessions several times a year to examine allegations of human rights violations in the hemisphere.
Its human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
duties stem from three documents:
- the OAS Charter
- the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of ManAmerican Declaration of the Rights and Duties of ManThe American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man was the world's first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by less than a year....
- the American Convention on Human RightsAmerican Convention on Human RightsThe American Convention on Human Rights is an international human rights instrument.It was adopted by the nations of the Americas meeting in San José, Costa Rica, in 22 November 1969...
History of the inter-American human rights system
The inter-American system for the protection of human rights emerged with the adoption of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of ManAmerican Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man was the world's first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by less than a year....
in April 1948 the first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
by more than six months.
The IACHR was created in 1959. It held its first meeting in 1960, and it conducted its first on-site visit to inspect the human rights situation in an OAS member state (the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
) in 1961.
A major step in the development of the system was taken in 1965, when the Commission was expressly authorized to examine specific cases of human rights violations. Since that date the IACHR has received thousands of petitions and has processed in excess of 12,000 individual cases.
In 1969, the guiding principles behind the American Declaration were taken, reshaped, and restated in the American Convention on Human Rights
American Convention on Human Rights
The American Convention on Human Rights is an international human rights instrument.It was adopted by the nations of the Americas meeting in San José, Costa Rica, in 22 November 1969...
. The Convention defines the human rights that the states parties are required to respect and guarantee, and it also ordered the establishment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...
. It is currently binding on 24 of the OAS's 35 member states.
Functions of the Inter-American Commission
The main task of the IACHR is to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the AmericasAmericas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
.
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 hemisphereWestern HemisphereThe Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. - 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 Rapporteurships and one Special Rapporteurship to monitor OAS states' compliance with inter-American human rights treaties in the following areas:- Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers and their Families
- Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women It was the first Rapporteurship created by the IACHR (in 1994)
- Special Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child
- Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (no Website in English, Spanish: http://www.cidh.org/Indigenas/Default.htm)
- Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty (no Website in English, Spanish: http://www.cidh.org/PRIVADAS/default.htm)
- Rapporteuship on the Rights of Afro-Descendants and against Racial Discrimination (no Website)
- Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression It is the only Special Rapporteurship of the IACHR, meaning that it has a Rapporteur dedicated full-time to the job. 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.
The IACHR also has a Unit on Defenders on Human Rights (website in Spanish: http://www.cidh.org/defenders/defensores.htm) and a Press and Outreach Office (http://www.cidh.org/prensa.eng.htm)
Petitions
The Commission processes petitions lodged with it pursuant to its Rules of Procedure.Petitions may be filed by states, NGOs or individuals. Unlike most court filings, petitions are confidential documents and are not made public. Petitions must meet three requirements; domestic remedies must have already been tried and failed (exhaustion), petitions must be filed with in six months of the last action taken in a domestic system (timeliness), petitions can not be before another court (duplication of procedure).
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 make either publish the Article 50 report or to 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 of the Inter-American Commission
The IACHR's ranking officers are its seven commissioners.The commissioners are elected by the OAS General Assembly
General Assembly of the Organization of American States
The General Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the Organization of American States .The General Assembly came into being as a part of the restructuring of the OAS that took place following adoption of the Protocol of Buenos Aires , which contained extensive amendments to the...
, for four-year terms, with the possibility of reelection 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
| Name | State | Position | Elected | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luz Patricia Mejía Guerrero |  Venezuela |
Commissioner | 2007 | 2008–2011 |
| Felipe González Morales |  Chile |
Chair | 2007 | 2008–2011 |
| Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro is a Brazilian diplomat and legal scholar.Within the United Nations System, he serves as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.... |
 Brazil |
First Vice Chair | 2003 2007 |
2004–2007 2008–2011 |
| María Silvia Guillén |  El Salvador |
Commissioner | 2010 | 2010–2011 |
| Rodrigo Escobar Gil |  Colombia |
Commissioner | 2010 | 2010–2013 |
| Dinah Shelton |  United States |
Second Vice Chair | 2010 | 2010–2013 |
| Jesús Orozco Henríquez |  Mexico |
Commissioner | 2010 | 2010–2013 |
| Source: IACHR elects officers (16 March 2009). See also: IACHR distributes rapporteurships (4 March 2008). | ||||
Past Commissioners
| Year | State | Commissioners | President (post-2001) Chairman (pre-2001) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960–1963 | Venezuela |
Rómulo Gallegos Rómulo Gallegos Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. For a period of some nine months during 1948, he was the first cleanly elected president in his country's history.... |
|
| 1960–1964 | El Salvador |
Reynaldo Galindo Pohl | |
| 1960–1968 |  Ecuador |
Gonzalo Escudero | |
| 1960–1972 | Chile |
Ángela Acuña de Chacón | |
| 1960–1972 | United States |
Durwood V. Sandifer | |
| 1960–1972 | Chile |
Manuel Bianchi Gundián | |
| 1960–1979 | Mexico |
Gabino Fraga | |
| 1964–1968 |  Uruguay |
Daniel Hugo Martins | |
| 1964–1983 | Brazil |
Carlos A. Dunshee de Abranches | |
| 1968–1972 |  Peru |
Mario Alzamora Valdez | |
| 1968–1972 | Uruguay |
Justino Jiménez de Arechega | |
| 1972–1976 |  Argentina |
Genaro R. Carrió | |
| 1972–1976 | United States |
Robert F. Woodward Robert F. Woodward Robert Forbes Woodward was a United States diplomat who focused on U.S. relations with Latin America.-Biography:Robert F. Woodward was born in Minneapolis on October 1, 1908. He was educated at the University of Minnesota, receiving a B.A. in 1930.Woodward joined the United States Foreign Service... |
|
| 1972–1985 | Venezuela |
Andrés Aguilar | |
| 1976–1979 |  Guatemala |
Carlos García Bauer | |
| 1976–1979 |  Costa Rica |
Fernando Volio Jiménez Fernando Volio Jiménez Fernando Volio Jiménez was a Costa Rican politician.... |
|
| 1976–1983 | United States |
Tom J. Farer | |
| 1976–1978 | Colombia |
José Joaquín Gori | |
| 1978–1987 | Colombia |
Marco Gerardo Monroy Cabra | |
| 1980–1987 | El Salvador |
Franciso Bertrand Galindo | |
| 1980–1985 | Mexico |
César Sepúlveda | |
| 1980–1985 | Costa Rica |
Luis Demetrio Tinoco Castro | |
| 1984–1988 | United States |
R. Bruce McColm | |
| 1984–1987 |  Bolivia |
Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas was the Constitutional President of Bolivia for a period of five months between April and September 1969.-Background and early life:... |
|
| 1984–1991 | Brazil |
Gilda Maciel Correa Russomano | |
| 1986–1989 | Argentina |
Elsa Kelly | |
| 1986–1993 | Venezuela |
Marco Tulio Bruni-Celli | |
| 1986–1993 |  Barbados |
Oliver H. Jackman | |
| 1988–1991 | United States |
John Reese Stevenson | |
| 1988–1995 |  Honduras |
Leo Valladares Lanza | |
| 1988–1995 |  Jamaica |
Patrick Lipton Robinson Patrick Lipton Robinson Patrick Lipton Robinson is the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, a position he was elected to in November 2008... |
|
| 1990–1997 | Argentina |
Óscar Luján Fappiano | |
| 1992–1995 | United States |
Michael Reisman | |
| 1994–1997 |  Trinidad and Tobago |
John S. Donaldson | 1997 |
| 1998–1999 | Barbados |
Henry Forde | |
| 1992–1999 | Colombia |
Álvaro Tirado Mejía | 1995 |
| 1996–1999 | Venezuela |
Carlos Ayala Corao | 1998 |
| 1996–1999 |  Haiti |
Jean-Joseph Exumé | |
| 1994–2001 | United States |
Claudio Grossman Claudio Grossman Claudio Grossman is a lawyer and law professor. He is the dean of the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C.. Grossman served as vice chair of the United Nations Committee Against Torture and now as Chair . He is a former member of the Inter-American Commission on... |
1996 2001 |
| 1998–2001 | Brazil |
Hélio Bicudo | 2000 |
| 1999–2001 | Barbados |
Peter Laurie Peter Laurie Sir Peter Laurie was a British politician who served as Lord Mayor of London.He was appointed Sheriff of the City of London for 1823 and elected Lord Mayor for 1832. From 1838 until his death, he was Chairman of the Union Bank. He also worked as a saddler, who supplied saddles for the Indian... |
|
| 2002–2002 | Peru |
Diego García Sayán Diego García Sayán Diego García-Sayán Larrabure , is a former Justice and Foreign Affairs Minister of Perú, and currently a judge on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.... |
|
| 1996–2003 | United States |
Robert K. Goldman | 1999 |
| 2000–2003 | Guatemala |
Marta Altolaguirre Larraondo | 2003 |
| 2000–2003 | Argentina |
Juan E. Méndez | 2002 |
| 2000–2003 | Ecuador |
Julio Prado Vallejo | |
| 2002–2005 | Peru |
Susana Villarán Susana Villarán Susana María del Carmen Villarán de la Puente is a centre-left politician in Peru, a former presidential candidate, and in municipal elections in 2010 became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Lima.... |
|
| 2001–2005 | Chile |
José Zalaquett José Zalaquett José "Pepe" Zalaquett Daher is a Chilean lawyer, renowned for his work in the defence of human rights during the de facto regime that governed Chile under General Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990.-The coup d'état and the Pro Paz Committee:... |
2004 |
| 2004–2007 |  Paraguay |
Evelio Fernández Arévalos | 2006 |
| 2004–2007 | Venezuela |
Freddy Gutiérrez | |
| 2002–2009 |  Antigua and Barbuda |
Sir Clare Kamau Roberts | |
| 2004–2009 | El Salvador |
Florentín Meléndez | |
| 2006–2009 | Argentina |
Víctor Abramovich | |
| 2006–2009 | United States |
Paolo Carozza | 2008 |
Human rights violations investigated by the Inter-American Commission
- Massacre of TrujilloMassacre of TrujilloThe Massacre of Trujillo was a series of murders perpetrated between 1988 and 1994 in the town of Trujillo, Valle del Cauca Department in southwestern Colombia by paramilitaries and the Cali Cartel with the complicity of active members of the Colombian military and police.Some 245 to 342 people,...
(ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
) - Barrios Altos massacreBarrios Altos massacreThe Barrios Altos massacre took place on 3 November 1991, in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Fifteen people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed, and four more injured, by assailants who were later determined to be members of Grupo Colina, a death squad made up of members...
(PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
) - Lori BerensonLori BerensonLori Helene Berenson is an American convicted in Peru of unlawful collaboration with the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement , which the Peruvian government regarded as a terrorist organization, and which had committed numerous attacks in attempting to overthrow the government...
(Peru) - La Cantuta massacreLa Cantuta massacreThe La Cantuta massacre, in which a university professor and nine students from Lima's La Cantuta University were abducted by a military death squad and "disappeared", took place in Peru on 18 July 1992 during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori...
(Peru) - El CaracazoCaracazoThe Caracazo or sacudón is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting and ensuing massacre that occurred on 27 February 1989 in the Venezuelan capital Caracas and surrounding towns. The riots — the worst in Venezuelan history — resulted in a death toll of anywhere between...
(VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
) - Deaths in Ciudad Juárez (MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
) - Antoine IzméryAntoine IzméryAntoine Izméry was a Haïtian businessman and pro-democracy activist.-Career:Izméry, who was of Palestinian descent, was among the wealthiest people in Haïti. He was one of the most prominent backers of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and helped finance his election campaign...
(HaitiHaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
) - Plan de Sánchez massacrePlan de Sánchez massacreThe Plan de Sánchez massacre took place in the Guatemalan village of Plan de Sánchez, Baja Verapaz department, on 18 July 1982. Over 250 people were abused and murdered by members of the armed forces and their paramilitary allies.The killings took place during one of the most violent phases of...
(GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
) - Hugo ChavezHugo ChávezHugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
(Venezuela) http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2010/20V-10eng.htm - District of Columbia voting rightsDistrict of Columbia voting rightsVoting rights of citizens in the District of Columbia differ from those of United States citizens in each of the fifty states. District of Columbia residents do not have voting representation in the United States Senate, but D.C. is entitled to three electoral votes for President. In the U.S...
(United States of America) - Domestic violence protection in the case of Jessica GonzalesCastle Rock v. GonzalesCastle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 , was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the court ruled, 7-2, that a town and its police department could not be sued under 42 U.S.C...