IACHR

Press Release

IACHR Is Accepting Requests for Hearings for its 165th Sessions

July 19, 2017

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Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hold its 165th session in Montevideo, on October 23-27, 2017, at the invitation of the State of Uruguay. Starting today, the IACHR will receive requests for hearings and working meetings. Hearings and working meetings can be held on matters involving any member country of the Organization of American States (OAS), except Canada and the United States. Hearings on matters involving Canada and the United States will be held in December during an Extraordinary Period of Sessions.

All requests for public hearings and working meetings must be submitted via the system available on the IACHR website. The system is open starting today until 11:59 p.m. EST on August 3. The IACHR can receive requests for hearings on any member country of the Organization of American States (OAS), except Canada and the United States. This system is the only means to request a hearing, and it is available in the four official languages of the OAS: Spanish, English, Portuguese and French

The Inter-American Commission holds several sessions a year. IACHR sessions have become forums that bring together hundreds of human rights defenders from the region, as well as State delegations made up of high-level human rights officials, among others.

The IACHR thanks the State of Uruguay for the invitation for inviting the Commission to hold sessions in its jurisdiction. Holding sessions away from headquarters contributes to building awareness of the inter-American human rights system and will help expand the IACHR’s public presence in the region.

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. 101/17