Legal Bases and Activities During 2007

CHAPTER II

LEGAL BASES AND ACTIVITIES DURING 2007

CHAPTER II

LEGAL BASES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE IACHR IN 2007

A.Legal bases, functions and powers

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (“IACHR” or “the Commission”) is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS), headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its mandate is prescribed in the OAS Charter, the American Convention on Human Rights and the Commission’s Statute. The IACHR is one of the two bodies in the inter-American system responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights. The other is the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, whose seat is in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The IACHR consists of seven members who carry out their functions independently, without representing any particular country. Its members are elected by the General Assembly of the OAS for a period of four years and may be re-elected only once. The IACHR meets in regular and special sessions several times a year. The Executive Secretariat carries out the tasks delegated to it by the IACHR and provides legal and administrative support to IACHR in carrying out its functions.

In April 1948, the OAS adopted in Bogotá, Colombia, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (“American Declaration”), the first international instrument on human rights of a general nature. The IACHR was created in 1959 and held its first sessions in 1960.

In 1961, the IACHR began a series of visits to several countries to observe on-site the human rights situation. Since then, the Commissionhas made more than100 visits to member states. Based in part on these on-site investigations, the Commission has, to date, published 71 country reports and special subject reports.

In 1965, the IACHR was expressly authorized to examine complaints or petitions related to specific cases of human rights violations. In 2007, thousands of complaints were received which brought the total number of cases and petitions to over 13,000. The final reports published by the IACHR on these individual cases can be found in the Commission’s Annual Reports.

The American Convention on Human Rights was adopted in 1969 and it entered into force in 1978. As of December 2007, 24 member states were parties to the Convention: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Convention defined the human rights that the ratifying states had agreed to respect and guarantee. The Convention also created the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and established the functions and procedures of the Court and of the Commission. In addition to examining complaints of violations of the American Convention committed by states parties to this instrument, IACHR has competence, in accordance with the OAS Charter and with the Commission’s Statute, to consider alleged violations of the American Convention by OAS member states that are not yet parties to the American Convention.

The principal responsibility of IACHR is to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the Americas. In fulfillment of its mandate, the Commission:

a)Receives, analyzes and investigates individual petitions alleging human rights violations pursuant to articles 44 to 51 of the Convention, articles 19 and 20 of its statute and articles 22 to 50 of its regulations.

b)Observes the general human rights situation in member states and, when it deems it appropriate, produces special reports on the existing situation on any member state.

c)Conducts on-site visits to member States to carry out in-depth analyses of the general situation and /or to investigate a specific situation. In general, these visits lead to the preparation of a report on the human rights situation encountered which is then published and submitted to the Permanent Council and to the General Assembly of the OAS.

d)Promotes public consciousness with regard to human rights in the Americas. To that end, the Commission prepares and publishes studies on specific subjects such as, the measures that must be adopted to guarantee greater access to justice; the effect of internal armed conflicts on certain groups of citizens; the human rights situation of children, women, migrant workers and their families; the human rights situation of those persons deprived of liberty; the situation of human rights defenders; freedom of speech and the human rights of indigenous peoples, afro-descendants and racial discrimination.

e)Organizes and carries out visits, conferences, seminars and meetings with representatives from governments, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and others, to disseminate information and to foster broader understanding of the work carried out by the inter-American system on human rights.

f)Makes recommendations to OAS member States to adopt measures that contribute to the protection of human rights in the countries of the Hemisphere.

g)Requests that member States adopt “precautionary measures” in accordance with the provisions of article 25 of its regulations, to prevent irreparable harm to human rights in grave and urgent cases. It can also request that the Inter-American Court order the adoption of “provisional measures” in cases of extreme gravity and urgency to prevent irreparable harm to persons, even if the case has not yet been considered by the Court.

h)Submits cases to the inter-American Court of Human Rights and appears in court during litigation.

i)Requests advisory opinions of the Inter-American Court in accordance with the provisions of article 64 of the American Convention.

Any person, group of persons, or non-governmental entities, legally recognized in one or more of the OAS member States, may petition the Commission with regard to the violation of any right protected by the American Convention, by the American Declaration or by any pertinent instrument in accordance with its provisions, its statute and its regulations. Also, under the provisions of Article 45 of the American Convention, the IACHR may consider communications from a State alleging rights violations by another State. The petitions may be filed in any of the four official languages of the OAS (Spanish, French, English or Portuguese), by the alleged victim of the rights violation or by a third party, and in the case of interstate petitions, by a government.

The Commission’s Sessions in 2007

During the period covered by this report, the Commission met on four occasions: from February 26 to March 9, 2007, in the 127th Regular Session; from July 16 to July 27, 2007, in the 128th Regular Session; from September 5 to September 7, 2007, in the 129th Special Session which took place in Paraguay and from October 8 to October 19, 2007, in the 130th Regular Session.[1] During 2007 the Commission approved a total of 51 admissibility reports and 5 friendly settlements, published four merits reports, and held 94 hearings and 80 working meetings.

127th Regular Session

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held its 127th Regular Session from February 26 to March 9, 2007. During this session, the Commission elected its board of officers which is composed as follows: Florentín Meléndez, President; Paolo Carozza, First Vice-President; and Víctor Abramovich, Second Vice-President. Commissioners Clare K. Roberts, Evelio Fernandez Arévalos, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and Freddy Gutierrez are also members of the IACHR. Dr. Santiago A. Canton has been the Executive Secretary of IACHR since August 2001.

During this regular session, the Commission approved reports on individual cases and petitions and held 30 working sessions and 48 hearings, some relating to individual cases, petitions or to precautionary measures, and others relating to general or specific human rights situations.

Also in this session, the Commission approved its 2006 Annual Report which provides an analysis of the progress made in the area of human rights in the region during the year, as well as an analysis of the challenges ahead. Among the advances, the report highlighted the political will to ensure the full exercise of fundamental freedoms in the Hemisphere. However, the report also pointed out that the region still faced important challenges, among them, public safety, social inequality, access to justice and the consolidation of democracies. The report was submitted to the 37th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), which was held in Panama, from June 3 to June 5, 2007.

The Commission pointed out that the election of new presidents in 12 countries in the Hemisphere in the past two years, was an indication of the consolidation of electoral systems, but, it added, democratic institutions were still weak and profound socio-economic differences persisted. The social marginalization and exclusion that continued to characterize the region, the Commission said, prevented the effective exercise of social, economic and cultural rights by large segments of the population, and prevented the strengthening of democratic institutions. The Commission noted that although inequality continued to be a central element in the analysis of the human rights situation in the region, it was not a subject of primary importance in the public policies of the States.

The Commission indicated that it saw a relationship between social exclusion and institutional degradation. Evidence of that relationship could be found in the fact that the majority of the victims of torture came from disadvantaged segments of society, and so did the majority of persons who were subjected to arbitrary detention, beatings and police executions. The alarming collapse of correctional systems and the violent attacks on indigenous peoples, who resisted being pushed out of their lands, were also indicative of that relationship. Furthermore, the Commission added, the actions of police officers, prosecutors and other public servants were often guided by ethnic, racial or gender discrimination.

The Commission also said that public insecurity and the fragility of the judicial power in the majority of the countries in the region, combined with attacks against the independence and impartiality of that power in certain countries, represented one of the most difficult barriers OAS member states faced in guaranteeing the full expression of human rights. This translated into unequal access to justice, slow legal procedures, impunity in serious cases of violation of fundamental rights and of violation of due process.

The Commission also said that OAS member States must collectively expand good governance in the region and improve the quality of public administration as essential prerequisites to effectively promoting and protecting human rights. The Commission reiterated that the structural weakness of many basic democratic institutions, in addition to crises brought about by special situations that generate political instability, prevented achieving broad and lasting agreements on inclusive public policies that are essential to the respect for and exercise of human rights. The Commission added that in order to make strides toward that goal, it was necessary to expand and strengthen freedom in the Americas; to build societies with the full participation of all its citizens, with independent, impartial and expeditious justice systems, with more transparency in public administration, with full freedom of expression and association, with complete respect for gender equality, and with guarantees for the rights of indigenous peoples, of afro-descendent communities and of other vulnerable groups.

During this session, the Commission received a delegation from the African Commission on Human Rights and the People, composed of Commissioner Angela Melo, Rapporteur for the Rights of Women, and Commissioner Sanji Monageng, who were also joined by high-ranking officials of the Executive Secretary’s office. On February 6, 2007, the delegation participated in hearings on cases, petitions and the general human rights situation and then met with commissioners and staff from the Commission’s Executive Secretariat for the purpose of exchanging information relating to the functioning of the inter-American and of the African human rights systems. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stressed the importance of having the commissioners present and expressed its wish to continue the exchange through possible future mechanisms of institutional cooperation.

The Commission called on the international community to show solidarity with Bolivia, which was buffeted by natural disasters spawned by the climatic phenomenon known as El Niño at the beginning of 2007. The Commission appealed to the international community to take urgent humanitarian measures to provide assistance to the affected population.

The Commission expressed its gratitude to the governments of the following OAS member States for their important financial contributions: Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The Commission also thanked the Observers which also support the Commission’s activities: Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy and Sweden. The Inter-American Development Bank, the European Commission, the Open Society Foundation and the Commonwealth Secretariat have also contributed special funds to the Commission. These contributions, the Commission said, helped strengthen the inter-American system and the respect for human rights in the American hemisphere.

2.128th Regular Session

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held its 128th regular session from July 16 to July 27, 2007. During this session, the Commission held 25 public hearings, receiving valuable information from States, from civil society organizations and from petitioners. The Commission also held 15 working sessions on cases and petitions being processed; had a fruitful meeting with the ambassadors of the Andean region and discussed and approved 44 reports. The Commission expressed its gratitude to the States and to civil society representatives for their active and valuable participation during the session, which, it said, helped strengthen the inter-American system of protection of human rights.

In the same vein, the Commission expressed its gratitude to the governments of the following member States of the Organization of American States (OAS) for their important financial contributions: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, United States, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The Commission also thanked the Permanent Observers who provide support for the Commission’s activities: Korea, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy and Sweden. At the same time, the Commission expressed its gratitude to the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Commission, the Open Society Foundation and to the Commonwealth Secretariat for their valuable contributions. Those contributions, the Commission noted, directly support the strengthening of the inter-American system on human rights in the American continent.

Turning to a different subject, during several of the public hearings the IACHR continued to receive alarming information regarding the serious problems brought about by the lack of public safety in most of the countries in the American continent, as well as on the states’ responses to them, which were characterized by the absence of prevention policies and by the implementation of, primarily, repressive measures. Specifically, the Commission pointed out the vulnerability of numerous victims of human rights violations who, usually, do not receive the state’s protection to which they are entitled to, in addition to lacking access to justice. These problems constitute some of the main obstacles to the full exercise of human rights in the Hemisphere and they also represent some of the most difficult challenges facing the majority of the States in the region.

During the hearing on Peru’s National Plan on Human Rights, the Commission also received information to the effect that, although it has been almost two years since the plan was adopted, its implementation appeared to be on the preliminary stages. The Commission urged the Peruvian government to take the necessary action to ensure the effective implementation of the plan. The Commission also reiterated its willingness to support the state in whatever measures it adopts now, or will adopt in the future, with regard to the progressive implementation of the plan in accordance with the terms established in the agreement signed in 2005.

On another matter, due to information received during the hearing on the implementation of precautionary measures in Honduras, the Commission called on public servants and government officials to refrain from making public statements or comments that could put at risk the safety of the beneficiaries of the precautionary measures.

During the hearing on the general human rights situation in Guatemala, representatives of the state informed the Commission that the bill to create the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) was awaiting passage by the congress, and that there were obstacles to bringing the bill to a vote. The Commission joined in the call made by the United Nations General Secretariat to the Congress of Guatemala on July 3, 2007, urging the Guatemalan congress to adopt the creation of the CICIG as soon as possible, as an important step in the effort to combat impunity in the country.

A hearing on the precautionary measures in place for the detainees at Guantánamo was also held during this session. The President of the Commission sent to the United States Department of State a formal consent request to allow the IACHR to visit the facilities at that detention center. Also during the hearing, the President of the Commission reiterated the call made to the government of the United States in Resolution No. 1/06 issued in July, 2006, whereby the Commission urged the United States government to close that detention center without delay.

The IACHR also held a meeting regarding freedom of expression in Mexico. In that regard, the Commission acknowledged the recent advances made with respect to laws and regulations governing freedom of expression in Mexico. However, the Commission expressed deep concern with the lack of security experienced by journalists and communicators in the country and with the alarming increase in murders, attacks and threats against them in the last few years. The Commission urged the State to investigate and punish those responsible for the crimes and to urgently adopt measures to guarantee the safety of journalists.

3.129th Special Session