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WHAT IS THE IACHR?
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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is
one of two bodies in the inter-American system for the promotion and
protection of human rights. The Commission has its headquarters in
Washington, D.C. The other human rights body is the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights, which is located in San José, Costa Rica. The IACHR is an autonomous organ of the Organization of
American States (OAS). Its mandate is found in the OAS Charter and the
American Convention on Human Rights. The IACHR represents all of the member
States of the OAS. It has seven members who act independently, without
representing any particular country. The members of the IACHR are elected by
the General Assembly of the OAS. The IACHR is a permanent body which meets in ordinary and
special sessions several times a year. The Executive Secretariat of the
IACHR carries out the tasks delegated to it by the IACHR and provides legal
and administrative support to the IACHR as it carries out its work. The mailing address of the Secretariat is: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Brief History of the
Inter-American Human Rights System The inter-American human rights system was born with the
adoption of the
American
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in Bogotá, Colombia in
April of 1948. The American Declaration was the first international human
rights instrument of a general nature. The IACHR was created in 1959 and
held its first session in 1960. Since that time and until 1997, the
Commission has held 97 sessions, some of them at its headquarters, others in
different countries of the Americas. By 1961, the IACHR had begun to carry out on-site visits to
observe the general human rights situation in a country or to investigate
specific situations. Since that time, the IACHR has carried out 69 visits to
23 member States. In relation to its visits for the observation of the
general human rights situation of a country, the IACHR has published 44
special country reports to
date. In 1965, the IACHR was expressly authorized to examine
complaints or petitions regarding specific cases of human rights violations.
Up until 1997, the IACHR has received thousands of petitions, which have
resulted in 12,000 cases which have been processed or are currently being
processed. (The procedure for the processing of individual cases is
described below). The final published reports of the IACHR regarding these
individual cases may be found in the Annual
Reports of the Commission or independently by country. In 1969, the
American Convention on Human Rights was adopted. The Convention
entered into force in 1978. As of August of 1997, it has been ratified by 25
countries: Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada,
Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay,
Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Convention
defines the human rights which the ratifying States have agreed to respect
and ensure. The Convention also creates the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights and defines the functions and procedures of both the Commission and
the Court. The IACHR also possesses additional faculties which pre-date and
are not derived directly from the Convention, such as the processing of
cases involving countries which are still not parties to the Convention. What are the Functions and Powers of the Commission? The IACHR has the principal function of promoting the
observance and the defense of human rights. In carrying out its mandate, the
Commission: a)
Receives, analyzes and investigates individual petitions which allege human
rights violations, pursuant to Articles 44 to 51 of the Convention. This
procedure will be discussed in greater detail below. b)
Observes the general human rights situation in the member States and
publishes special reports regarding the situation in a specific State, when
it considers it appropriate. c)
Carries out on-site visits to countries to engage in more in-depth analysis
of the general situation and/or to investigate a specific situation. These
visits usually result in the preparation of a report regarding the human
rights situation observed, which is published and sent to the General
Assembly. d)
Stimulates public consciousness regarding human rights in the Americas. To
that end, carries out and publishes studies on specific subjects, such as:
measures to be taken to ensure greater independence of the judiciary; the
activities of irregular armed groups; the human rights situation of minors
and women, and; the human rights of indigenous peoples. e)
Organizes and carries out conferences, seminars and meetings with
representatives of Governments, academic institutions, non-governmental
groups, etc... in order to disseminate information and to increase knowledge
regarding issues relating to the inter-American human rights system. f)
Recommends to the member States of the OAS the adoption of measures which
would contribute to human rights protection. g)
Requests States to adopt specific "precautionary measures" to
avoid serious and irreparable harm to human rights in urgent cases. The
Commission may also request that the Court order "provisional
measures" in urgent cases which involve danger to persons, even where a
case has not yet been submitted to the Court. h)
Submits cases to the Inter-American Court and appears before the Court in
the litigation of cases. i)
Requests advisory opinions from the Inter-American Court regarding questions
of interpretation of the American Convention. Commission
Processing of Individual Cases The
Commission is currently processing more than 800 individual cases. Any
person, group of persons or non-governmental organization may present a
petition to the Commission alleging violations of the rights protected in
the American Convention and/or the American Declaration. The petition may be
presented in any of the four official languages of the OAS and may be
presented on behalf of the person filing the petition or on behalf of a
third person. The
Commission may only process individual cases where it is alleged that one of
the member States of the OAS is responsible for the human rights violation
at issue. The Commission applies the Convention to process cases brought
against those States which are parties to that instrument. For those States
which are not parties, the Commission applies the American Declaration. The
Commission may, of course, study those petitions alleging that human rights
violations were committed by State agents. However, the Commission may also
process cases where it is asserted that a State failed to act to prevent a
violation of human rights or failed to carry out proper follow-up after a
violation, including the investigation and sanction of those responsible as
well as the payment of compensation to the victim. The
petitions presented to the Commission must show that the victim has
exhausted all means of remedying the situation domestically. If domestic
remedies have not been exhausted, it must be shown that the victim tried to
exhaust domestic remedies but failed because: 1) those remedies do not
provide for adequate due process; 2) effective access to those remedies was
denied, or; 3) there has been undue delay in the decision on those remedies.
If
domestic remedies were exhausted, the petition must be presented within six
months after the final decision in the domestic proceedings. If domestic
remedies have not been exhausted, the petition must be presented within a
reasonable time after the occurrence of the events complained of. The
petition must also fulfill other minimal formal requirements which are found
in the Convention and the
Rules
of Procedure of the Commission. When
the Commission receives a petition which meets, in principle, the
requirements established in the Convention, the Commission assigns a number
to that petition and begins to process it as a case. This decision to open a
case does not prejudge the Commission's eventual decision on the
admissibility or the merits of the case. This means that the Commission may
still declare the petition inadmissible and terminate the process without
reaching the merits or may find that no violation has occurred. If the
Commission decides that a case is inadmissible, it must issue an express
decision to that effect, which is usually published. On the other hand, the
Commission need not formally declare a case admissible before addressing the
merits. In some, but not all, cases, the Commission will declare a petition
admissible before reaching a decision on the merits. In other cases, the
Commission will include its discussion regarding the admissibility of a
petition with its final decision on the merits. When
a case is opened and a number is assigned, the pertinent parts of the
petition are sent to the Government with a request for relevant information.
During the processing of the case, each party is asked to comment on the
responses of the other party. The Commission also may carry out its own
investigations, conducting on-site visits, requesting specific information
from the parties, etc... The Commission may also hold a hearing during the
processing of the case, in which both parties are present and are asked to
set forth their legal and factual arguments. In almost every case, the
Commission will also offer to assist the parties in negotiating a friendly
settlement if they so desire. When
the parties have completed the basic back-and-forth of briefs and when the
Commission decides that it has sufficient information, the processing of a
case is completed. The Commission then prepares a report which includes its
conclusions and also generally provides recommendations to the State
concerned. This report is not public. The Commission gives the State a
period of time to resolve the situation and to comply with the
recommendations of the Commission. Upon
the expiration of this period of time granted to the State, the Commission
has two options. The Commission may prepare a second report, which is
generally similar to the initial report and which also generally contains
conclusions and recommendations. In this case, the State is again given a
period of time to resolve the situation and to comply with the
recommendations of the Commission, if such recommendations are made. At the
end of this second period granted to the State, the Commission will usually
publish its report, although the Convention allows the Commission to decide
otherwise. Rather
than preparing a second report for publication, the Commission may decide to
take the case to the Inter-American Court. If it wishes to take the case to
the Court, it must do so within three months from the date in which it
transmits its initial report to the State concerned. The initial report of
the Commission will be attached to the application to the Court. The
Commission will appear in all proceedings before the Court. The decision as to whether a case should be submitted to the Court or published should be made on the basis of the best interests of human rights in the Commission's judgment. |