IACHR Appoints Jorge Meza Flores as Assistant Executive Secretary for the Petition and Case System

April 8, 2022

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has appointed Jorge Meza Flores for the position of Assistant Executive Secretary for the Petition and Case System. This ends the public competitive process conducted by the IACHR in line with the General Standards of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The new Assistant Executive Secretary for the Petition and Case System holds a law degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a master's degree in legal studies from Georgetown University, and he has 14 years' experience in human rights. For the past 11 years, Meza Flores has worked at the IACHR, where he has held various positions including as coordinator of the case section and the precautionary measures section, as well as case management expert at the now defunct Court Group and at the Rapporteurship on Human Rights Defenders. Previously, he had worked as a consultant with various human rights and investigative institutions in Mexico, as well coordinating several training courses on the Inter-American System. His professional experience and academic background have enabled him to acquire comprehensive knowledge of the various mechanisms in the Inter-American Human Rights System.

Jorge Meza Flores was selected among 66 individuals, all of them high-quality candidates with solid professional credentials. The recruitment process followed a public call for applications launched on September 3, 2021. It shows the IACHR's commitment to hiring team members in a transparent, inclusive, and participatory way, in the belief that competitive selection processes contribute to institutionalizing staff appointments.

The Commission notes that this public competitive process followed established procedure for staff appointments, as described in Article 44 of the General Standards of the General Secretariat of the OAS. These regulations state that new appointees are set to have a one-year fixed-term contract that can be renewed on a yearly basis if they fulfil their tasks successfully. The Assistant Executive Secretary for the Petition and Case System reports directly to the IACHR's Executive Secretariat.

The Commission would like to stress its gratitude and publicly recognize the work Marisol Blanchard has done since September 2019, as Acting Assistant Executive Secretary for the Petition and Case System.

Under her leadership, major human rights standards have been developed, with an impact on victims' effective access to the inter-American justice system. The IACHR further highlights her unprecedented progress and major impact through achievements like reducing procedural backlog in the petition and case system and solving very important historic cases. She has fostered dialogue between the parties, strengthened teams, and improved processes, as well as making them more transparent. The IACHR's major progress in this field has been documented in the Commission's Annual Reports for 2020 and 2021 (pending release).

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 076/22

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