Annual Report 1997 - Introduction

OEA/Ser.L/V/II.98
doc. 6 rev.
13 April 1998
Original: Spanish

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has the honor to submit its Report to the General Assembly, in compliance with the provisions of Article 53.f of the Charter of the Organization of American States.

This Report contains seven chapters and has been prepared in accordance with Resolution 331 (VIII-0/78) of the General Assembly and Article 63 of the Regulations of the Commission.

Chapter I is a summary of the Commission's origin and juridical bases. This chapter also contains a brief account of the Commission's relationship with other organs of the inter-American system and regional and global institutions of a similar nature during 1997.

Chapter II refers to the activities undertaken by the Commission during the period covered by this Report. Emphasis is placed on the Commission's principal activities, as well as the subjects it dealt with and the most important measures taken during its various sessions. It includes the participation of the Commission in the twenty-seventh regular session of the General Assembly as well as the resolutions adopted by this organ in relation to the work of the Commission in the field of human rights.

Chapter III is entitled "The petitions system and individual cases". This chapter contains various decisions adopted by the Commission regarding specific cases presented to it, which the Commission processed in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.

Chapter IV includes the draft inter-American program for the promotion of human rights prepared by the Commission in accordance with the request of the General Assembly (AG/RES. 1489 (XXVII-O/97)) and approved at its 98th Period of Sessions for the presentation to the Permanent Council.

In Chapter V, the Commission has included sections on the evolution of the situation of human rights in Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti and Peru for the purpose of analyzing the situation of human rights in those countries during the period covered by this report.

In Chapter VI, the Commission presents a report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the status of women in the Americas and a progress report on the project migrant workers and members of their families.

In Chapter VII, the Commission presents its recommendations to member States in areas in which steps need to be taken towards full observance of the human rights set forth in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the American Convention on Human Rights.

Finally, the current state of Conventions and Protocols on Human Rights, approved within the inter-American system, press communiques and speeches issued by the IACHR during the period covered in this Annual Report are included as Annexes.

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