IACHR Announces New Allocation of Thematic and Country Rapporteurships

January 15, 2026

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announces the new allocation of thematic and country rapporteurships assigned to its seven Commissioners. The allocation is carried out in accordance with Article 15 of the IACHR Rules of Procedure during its first internal session of 2026.

The rapporteurship distribution is as follows:

Commissioner José Luis Caballero Ochoa
Country Rapporteurships: Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Suriname, and the Dominican Republic
Thematic Rapporteurships: Human Rights Defenders and Justice Operators, and Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bisexual, and Intersex Persons

Commissioner Andrea Pochak
Country Rapporteurships: The Bahamas, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Uruguay
Thematic Rapporteurships: Memory, Truth and Justice, and Human Mobility

Commissioner Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana
Country Rapporteurships: Argentina, Cuba, Ecuador, the United States, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Thematic Rapporteurships: Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty and to Prevent and Combat Torture, and Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Commissioner Gloria Monique de Mees
Country Rapporteurships: Grenada, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela
Thematic Rapporteurships: Rights of Afro-descendant Persons and against Racial Discrimination, and Rights of Older Persons

Commissioner Riyad Insanally
Country Rapporteurships: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Chile, El Salvador, and Saint Lucia
Thematic Rapporteurship: Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Commissioner Marion Bethel
Country Rapporteurships: Bolivia, Haiti, Jamaica, Paraguay, and Peru
Thematic Rapporteurship: Rights of Women

Commissioner Rosa María Payá Acevedo
Country Rapporteurships: Canada, Costa Rica, Dominica, Guyana, and Nicaragua
Thematic Rapporteurship: Rights of the Child

In 1990, the IACHR began establishing thematic and special rapporteurships to address specific rights and situations affecting populations, communities, and peoples historically subjected to exclusion. The Commission currently has 11 thematic rapporteurships and 35 country rapporteurships, distributed among its seven Commissioners.

The purpose of the rapporteurships is to strengthen and promote the Commission’s work on issues affecting these populations and to coordinate preventive and protective measures with the areas of petitions and cases, precautionary measures, monitoring, and follow-up of recommendations. The IACHR Strategic Plan 2023–2027 (link) establishes the roadmap and priorities for these mandates.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate stems from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has the mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as an advisory body to the OAS on the matter. The IACHR is made up of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity, and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 011/26

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