The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languagesSpanish, French, and PortugueseCIDH, 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).

The separate Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together the Court and the Commission make up the human rights 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, and the American Convention on Human Rights.

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 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.

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.

Functions

thumb|IACHR representatives meeting with President [[Dina Boluarte during the 2022 Peruvian political protests]]

The main task of the IACHR is to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the Americas.

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.
  • Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1990)
  • 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 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 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:</small>

Past commissioners

thumb|right|[[José Zalaquett, President 2004]]

{| border="1" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed sortable" style="text-align:left"

! Year !! State !! Commissioners !! President <small>(post-2001)</small><br />Chairman<small> (pre-2001)</small>

|-

|1960–1963 || || Rómulo Gallegos || 1960

|-

|1960–1964 || || Reynaldo Galindo Pohl ||

|-

|1960–1968 || || Gonzalo Escudero ||

|-

|1960–1972 || || Ángela Acuña de Chacón ||

|-

|1960–1972 || || Durward V. Sandifer||

|-

|1960–1972 || || Manuel Bianchi Gundián ||

|-

|1960–1979 || || Gabino Fraga||

|-

|1964–1968 || || Daniel Hugo Martins||

|-

|1964–1983 || || Carlos A. Dunshee de Abranches||

|-

|1968–1972 || || Mario Alzamora Valdez||

|-

|1968–1972 || || Justino Jiménez de Arechega||

|-

|1972–1976 || || Genaro R. Carrió ||

|-

|1972–1976 || || Robert F. Woodward ||

|-

|1972–1985 || || Andrés Aguilar ||

|-

|1976–1979 || || Carlos García Bauer||

|-

|1976–1979 || || Fernando Volio Jiménez ||

|-

|1976–1983 || || Tom J. Farer||

|-

|1976–1978 || || José Joaquín Gori||

|-

|1978–1987 || || ||

|-

|1980–1987 || || Francisco Bertrand Galindo||

|-

|1980–1985 || || César Sepúlveda||

|-

|1980–1985 || || ||

|-

|1984–1988 || || R. Bruce McColm||

|-

|1984–1987 || || Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas ||

|-

|1984–1991 || || Gilda Maciel Correa Russomano||

|-

|1986–1989 || || Elsa Kelly ||

|-

|1986–1993 || || Marco Tulio Bruni-Celli||

|-

|1986–1993 || || Oliver H. Jackman||

|-

|1988–1991 || || John Reese Stevenson||

|-

|1988–1995 || || Leo Valladares Lanza||

|-

|1988–1995 || || Patrick Lipton Robinson ||

|-

|1990–1997 || || ||

|-

|1992–1995 || || Michael Reisman||

|-

|1994–1997 || || John S. Donaldson|| 1997

|-

|1998–1999 || || Sir Henry de Boulay Forde||

|-

|1992–1999 || || Álvaro Tirado Mejía || 1995

|-

|1996–1999 || || Carlos Ayala Corao|| 1998

|-

|1996–1999 || || Jean-Joseph Exumé||

|-

|1994–2001 || || Claudio Grossman || 1996, 2001

|-

|1998–2001 || || Hélio Bicudo || 2000

|-

|1999–2001 || || Peter Laurie||

|-

|2002–2002 || || Diego García Sayán ||

|-

|1996–2003 || || Robert K. Goldman|| 1999

|-

|2000–2003 || || || 2003

|-

|2000–2003 || || Juan E. Méndez || 2002

|-

|2000–2003 || || Julio Prado Vallejo||

|-

|2002–2005 || || Susana Villarán||

|-

|2001–2005 || || José Zalaquett || 2004

|-

|2004–2007 || || Evelio Fernández Arévalos|| 2006

|-

|2004–2007 || || Freddy Gutiérrez||

|-

|2002–2009 || || Sir Clare Kamau Roberts||

|-

|2004–2009 || || Florentín Meléndez||

|-

|2006–2009 || || Víctor Abramovich||

|-

|2006–2009 || || Paolo Carozza|| 2008

|-

|2004–2011 || || Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro ||

|-

|2008–2011 || || Luz Patricia Mejía|| 2009

|-

|2009–2011 || || María Silvia Guillén||

|-

|2010–2013 || || Rodrigo Escobar Gil||

|-

|2010–2013 || || Dinah Shelton||

|-

|2008–2015 || || Felipe González Morales|| 2010

|-

|2012–2015 || <br/> || Rose-Marie Belle Antoine || 2015

|-

|2012–2015 || || Tracy Robinson || 2014

|-

|2012–2015 || || Rosa María Ortiz ||

|-

|2017–2019 || || ||

|-

|2016–2019 || || Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli ||

|-

|2018–2021 || | || Antonia Urrejola Noguera ||

|-

|2018–2021 || ||Flávia Piovesan ||

|-

|2018–2023 || || Joel Hernández García ||

|}

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,

Tania Reneaum, a Mexican, was appointed as the new Executive Secretary in 2021.

{|class="wikitable"

|+Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

! Name !! Country !! Term !! Notes

|-

|Luis Reque

| Bolivia

| 1960 – June 1976

||

|-

|Charles D. Moyer

| United States

| January – August 1977

|Interim Executive Secretary

|-

|Edmundo Vargas Carreño

| Chile

| September 1977 – March 1990

||

|-

|David J. Padilla

| United States

| March – June 1990

|Interim Executive Secretary

|-

|Edith Márquez Rodríguez

| Venezuela

| May 1990 – February 1996 ||

|-

|David J. Padilla

| United States

| January – May 1996

|Interim Executive Secretary

|-

|Jorge Enrique Taiana

| Argentina

| March 1996 – July 2001 ||

|-

|

| Argentina

| August 2001 – June 2012 ||

|-

|Emilio Álvarez Icaza

| Mexico

| August 2012 – August 2016 ||

|-

|Paulo Abrão

| Brazil

| August 2016 – August 2020 ||

|-

|María Claudia Pulido

| Colombia

| 17 August 2020 – June 2021

|Acting Executive Secretary

|-

|Tania Reneaum Panszi

| Mexico

|June 2021 &ndash; present

|

|-

|colspan="4"| <small>Source: OAS, Former IACHR Executive Secretaries.</small>

|}

Human rights allegations investigated by the Inter-American Commission

  • 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping (Mexico)
  • Antoine Izméry (Haiti)
  • Barrios Altos massacre (Peru)
  • Censorship in Venezuela (Venezuela)
  • Deaths in Ciudad Juárez (Mexico)
  • District of Columbia voting rights (United States)
  • Domestic violence protection in the case of Jessica Gonzales (United States)
  • El Caracazo (Venezuela)
  • Extrajudicial detention in Guantánamo 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)
  • Plan de Sánchez massacre (Guatemala)
  • United States strikes on alleged drug traffickers during Operation Southern Spear (United States)

References

  • IACHR case law
  • OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression