OEA/Ser.L/V/II.76 ANNUAL
REPORT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION CHAPTER
I LEGAL
ORIGINS AND BASES OF THE A.
Legal Origin and Bases of the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was established by
Resolution VI of the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs (Santiago, Chile, 1959), Part II of which provided that the Commission
would be composed of seven members chosen, in a personal capacity, from a list
of candidates proposed by the governments… and would have the responsibility
to “promote respect for such rights.”
The then Council of the Organization approved the Statute of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on May 25, 1960. In conformity with it
(Art. 2) the Commission was established as an autonomous entity of the
Organization of American States, and human rights were understood to be those
set forth in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (Bogotá,
1948).
In further conformity with that statute, the Council elected the members
of the Commission on June 29, 1960. It is worth pointing out that the members of
the Commission represent all the member countries of the OAS and act in its name
and serve in their individual capacity.
The Commission's first regular session was held in Washington, D.C.,
between October 3 and 28, 1960. Since then the Commission has held seventy six
(76) regular sessions, some at its headquarters in the General Secretariat and
some in different member states.
The Second Special Inter-American Conference (Rio de Janeiro, 1965)
amended the Statute of the Commission, expanding and strengthening it so that it
could effectively perform its functions, and further recognizing (Resolution
XXII) that the Commission had “performed valuable service in carrying out its
mandate.” The 1960 Statute was amended as follows: i) It authorized it to pay
“particular attention” to the observance of rights referred to in Articles
I, II, III, IV, XVIII, XXV and XXVI of the American Declaration of the Rights
and Duties of Man; ii) It authorized it to examine communications submitted to
it and any other available information, to address the government of any member
state “for information deemed pertinent…, and to make recommendations to
it…, in order to bring about more effective observance of fundamental
rights” and, iii) It requested it to submit an annual report to the then
Inter-American Conference or the Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs, so that the progress achieved and the protection of human rights could
be examined at the ministerial level. In exercising the functions set forth in
its mandate, the Commission should first ascertain whether the domestic legal
procedures and remedies of a member state have been duly pursued and exhausted.
Subsequently, during the Third Special Inter-American Conference (Buenos
Aires, 1967), the Protocol of Amendments to the OAS Charter was signed. Among
the amendments there were several important provisions referring to the
Commission, in particular, and to human rights, in general, and establishing in
this way a quasi-conventional structure. On the one hand, the Commission became
one of the bodies through which the Organization accomplishes its purposes
(Article 51 e. of the Charter), and on the other hand, it instructed the
Commission to keep vigilance over the observance of human rights until the
American Convention on Human Rights entered into force (Article 150,
transitory).
In November 22, 1969, the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Human
Rights, convoked by the OAS Council (San Jose, Costa Rica) approved the American
Convention on Human Rights which entered into force on July 18, 1978, when
Grenada deposited the eleventh instrument of ratification.1
At its Ninth Regular Session, the OAS General Assembly (La Paz, Bolivia,
1979) approved the new Statute of the Commission, and at its Tenth Regular
Session (Washington, D.C., 1980) it amended Articles 6 and 8.
Article 1 of the Statute defines the Commission as an organ of the OAS
“created to promote the observance and defense of human rights and to serve as
a consultative organ of the Organization in these matters”, “human rights”
to be understood as those defined in the American Convention on Human Rights,
for the States Parties to the Convention, and those contained in the American
Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man, for the other Member States.
As in the previous Statute, the Commission was to be composed of seven
members who represent all the member states of the OAS (Article 2).
According to Article 3, members of the Commission shall be elected for a
term of four (4) years by the General Assembly, and may be re-elected only once
(Article 6).
According to the Statute, the Commission has functions and duties to
discharge with respect to all the member states of the OAS (Article 18); with
respect to the States Parties to the American Convention (Article 19); and with
respect to those member states of the OAS that are not Parties to the American
Convention (Article 20).2 B.
Relations Between the IACHR and the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights
During the period covered by this report, the Commission has continued
its cooperative relations with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as set
forth in Chapter II of this report, particularly in reference to the hearings
related to the advisory and litigious jurisdictions of the Court over matters
submitted by the Commission. C.
Relations with Other Specialized Organizations of the OAS
Between 1987 and 1988, the Commission continued its cooperative relations
with those Specialized Organizations of the OAS related to the human rights
field, such as the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), the Inter-American
Children's Institute and the Inter-American Indian Institute, exchanging
publications and working documents that, due to their nature, might be of common
interest. D.
Relations with similar organizations
During the period covered by this report, the Commission also continued
its cooperative relations with the United Nations' organs in charge of the
promotion and defense of human rights, such as the Human Rights Commission, the
Human Rights Committee provided for in the Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and, in particular, with
the Working Group on Forced Disappearances, in order to clarify some cases of
the same nature reported to the Commission.
With respect to the organs of the Council of Europe, the IACHR celebrated
an important joint meeting in the month of January, 1989 with the European Human
Rights Commission as discussed in the second chapter of this report. [ Table of Contents | Previous | Next ] 1
The State Parties are: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras,
Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
On August 24, 1989 the Government of Paraguay deposited its instrument of
ratification to the Convention at the General Secretariat of the OAS. Among
them, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica,
Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela have recognized the
Commission's jurisdiction to consider inter-State complaints in conformity
with Article 45 of the American Convention. Argentina, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru,
Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela have also recognized
the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in conformity
with Article 62 of the Convention. OEA/Ser.A/16, Nº 36, Treaty Series. 2
For more information see “Basic Documents Pertaining to Human
Rights in the Inter-American System” (OAS/Ser.L/V/II.71, doc. 6 rev. 1,
March 1st. 1988) |