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Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) submitted today its 2018 Annual Report to the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), in keeping with Article 59 of its Rules of Procedure. The report reflects the abundant work done between January 1 and December 31, 2018, and highlights the most relevant outcomes attained over the course of the year. The Annual Report is an accountability tool, as well as one of the main instruments to monitor the situation of human rights in the region and to follow up on the recommendations issued by the IACHR in case, country and thematic reports.
“Thanks to the Member States’ decision to strengthen the
capacities of the main organs of the Inter-American Human Rights
System by increasing their budget, and to the commitment and
dedication of its Executive Secretariat’s staff, the IACHR has
successfully consolidated and repositioned itself in the region
through gains and results that are unparalleled in its history,” the
IACHR notes in its Annual Report.
“The IACHR has made significant progress this year in achieving
the goals and objectives defined in the Strategic Plan. Noteworthy
among these accomplishments are foremost the progress made in
reducing the procedural backlog and developing new standards for the
case system; the expansion in the scope of monitoring; the increase
in technical cooperation and promotion activities; and, the
strengthening of mechanisms to follow up on compliance with
recommendations issued through different instruments. These efforts
seek to respond to the historic demand of States in the region to
strike greater balance between thematic rapporteurships and achieve
greater coordination between the IACHR’s three mandates,” the report
says.
The latest edition of the Annual Report—which is the IACHR’s main
accountability tool, as well as one of the main instruments to
monitor the human rights situation in the region and to follow up on
the Commission’s recommendations—features major innovations
concerning methodology and content, in accordance with the provisos
held in the IACHR’s Strategic Plan 2017-2021. In particular, such
innovations involve adopting a new methodology to follow up on the
recommendations made in individual cases (in Chapter II.G.) and in
country reports (in Chapter V). Further, Chapter IV includes, for
the first time, an analysis of the situation of human rights in all
countries in the region. Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are addressed
in Chapter IV.B., based on the special attention that the IACHR
devoted to them in 2018, while the human rights situation in the
remaining 32 countries is examined in Chapter IV.A. The methodology
included requesting information from all countries—with 11 of those
States submitting such information—and a public call for inputs from
civil society organizations and other stakeholders—heeded by 34
institutions and organizations. The report focuses on rights and
issues that the IACHR regards as priorities, and also on the
following cross-sectional axes established by the Commission in its
Strategic Plan 2017-2021: democratic institutionality,
institutionality in human rights, access to justice and citizen
security, and environmental rights.
The report includes an introduction, six chapters and several
appendices. Chapter I features a summary of IACHR activities during
2018. Chapter II puts forward information about the petition and
case system and about precautionary measures, and follows up on
recommendations made in individual cases. Chapter III addresses
thematic rapporteurships and country rapporteurships, along with
promotion and training activities. Chapter IV is subdivided into
sections A and B. Chapter IV.A. presents a descriptive scenario on
the situation of human rights in Member States, with special
emphasis on the rights and issues that the IACHR regards as
priorities, and on the cross-sectional axes of democratic
institutionality, institutionality in human rights, access to
justice and citizen security, and environmental rights. Chapter
IV.B. involves an analysis of the situation of human rights in Cuba,
Nicaragua and Venezuela, three countries that the IACHR included in
this section because they require special attention in accordance
with the provisos set out in Article 59.6 of the Commission’s Rules
of Procedure. Chapter V includes follow-up on the recommendations
made by the IACHR in its country reports on Colombia, Guatemala,
Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Finally, Chapter VI addresses the
IACHR’s institutional development over the course of the year.
During 2018, the IACHR has observed a series of improvements
concerning human rights among OAS Member States. In particular, the
IACHR noted several measures aimed at strengthening human rights
institutions, like the creation of new institutional spaces to
promote and protect human rights. This year has further seen
stronger democratic participation by groups who have historically
suffered discrimination, in terms of both the exercise of their
right to vote and participation in public positions, as noted in the
Report. Understanding human rights-based public policy as the set of
decisions and actions that the State designs, implements, monitors
and assesses in order to protect, promote, enforce and guarantee
human rights for all the individuals, groups and communities who
make up society, the IACHR considers it relevant to highlight the
most significant State initiatives in this context. It is worth
mentioning State efforts to formulate and implement national plans
in several States in the region, as well as to take important
measures in terms of equality and non-discrimination; social
participation; truth, justice and reparations; access to information
to ensure transparency and accountability; priority protection for
vulnerable groups, especially migrants; and the adoption of gender-
and diversity-based perspectives. The Commission acknowledges such
efforts and asks States to keep formulating and applying public
policies that incorporate the recommendations made by mechanisms of
the Inter-American Human Rights System, as well as to extend such an
approach to all their State institutions and to society as a whole.
The IACHR offers to provide States with any technical cooperation
they may need to achieve those goals.
In Chapter IV.A., as a conclusion, the Commission identifies the
following trends concerning human rights problems and challenges
observed in its work during 2018: persistent discrimination and
violence against women, LGBTI persons, Afro-descendant and
indigenous persons, children and adolescents, human rights
defenders, journalists and social leaders; increased repression of
social protests; increased militarization and excessive use of force
as tools to address citizen insecurity; corruption, which directly
impacts the enjoyment of human rights; forced migration; persistent
impunity in connection with forced disappearances; and the serious
situation of persons deprived of their liberty in the region.
Concerning Chapter IV.B., the report notes that the IACHR opted
to include Cuba in this section in accordance with the provisos of
point 6.a.i. in Article 59 of its Rules of Procedure, which notes
that a State must be included in this chapter when “there is
discriminatory access to or abusive exercise of power that
undermines or denies the rule of law, such as systematic
infringement of the independence of the judiciary or lack of
subordination of State institutions to the legally constituted
civilian authority.” The IACHR further noted that the situation in
Cuba also fits the provisos of point 6.c. of the same article, which
says that a State must be included in Chapter IV.B. when it “has
committed or is committing massive, serious and widespread
violations of human rights guaranteed in the American Declaration,
the American Convention, or the other applicable human rights
instruments.”
Concerning Cuba, the Commission notes that it observed over the
course of 2018 two relevant events in the country’s socio-political
context: a change of government and constitutional reform. In
connection with both processes, the IACHR has been informed of
several events that amount to serious hurdles for the enjoyment of
participatory rights for people who are under the jurisdiction of
the Cuban State, such as arbitrary restrictions of the right to
freedom of assembly, the availability of a single party, the ban on
association for political purposes, and a refusal to adopt proposals
made by groups who oppose the government, among others. The IACHR
has also been informed of persistent restrictions of political
rights, the right to freedom of assembly and association, and the
right to freedom of expression and to disseminate thought, as well
as mass violations of the rights to freedom, safety and personal
integrity, to protection from arbitrary arrest, to the inviolability
of one’s home and to circulate correspondence, to residence and
movement, to basic judicial safeguards and to judicial protection,
that continue to systematically restrict the human rights of the
people of Cuba, particularly affecting activism and dissidence and
targeting human rights defenders, social and political leaders and
independent journalists, as well as Afro-descendant persons, women
and LGTBI persons, among other historically vulnerable groups.
Concerning Nicaragua, the IACHR specifically monitored the
gradually worsening situation of human rights in the country,
particularly since the start of acts of violence that took place
after April 18, 2018 in the context of State repression of protests.
The report notes that the country’s situation fits the provisos of
point 6.a.i. in Article 59 of its Rules of Procedure, which says
that a Member State must be included in Chapter IV.B. when it is
experiencing “a serious breach of the core requirements and
institutions of representative democracy mentioned in the
Inter‐American Democratic Charter, which are essential means of
achieving human rights,” including cases where “there is
discriminatory access to or abusive exercise of power that
undermines or denies the rule of law, such as systematic
infringement of the independence of the judiciary or lack of
subordination of State institutions to the legally constituted
civilian authority.” The Commission has documented an arbitrary
exercise of power by the three branches of the State, as a result of
a lack of independence by the judiciary and other public
institutions, among other aspects.
The Commission also applied the provisos held in point 6.b., that
says a State needs to be included in Chapter IV.B. if “the free
exercise of the rights guaranteed in the American Declaration or the
American Convention has been unlawfully suspended, totally or
partially, by virtue of the imposition of exceptional measures such
as a declaration of a state of emergency, state of siege, suspension
of constitutional guarantees, or exceptional security measures.” The
IACHR noted that the serious human rights crisis in Nicaragua has
been ongoing for more than eight months due to the de facto adoption
of a state of emergency. According to the Commission, the situation
involves an abuse of public force to repress voices that oppose the
government, confiscation, closure and censorship of media outlets,
arrests or exile of journalists and social leaders, cancellation of
the status of civil society organizations without due process, and
the executive’s interference with and control of other branches of
government. The Commission regarded the adoption of such a de facto
state of emergency as the decisive element to include Nicaragua in
this chapter. Finally, the IACHR also noted that the situation in
the Central American country fits the provisos of point 6.c. of
Article 59 in its Rules of Procedure, which mentions States who have
committed massive, serious and widespread violations of human rights
guaranteed in the American Declaration, the American Convention, or
the other applicable human rights instruments. The report details
the findings of the IACHR’s Special Monitoring Mechanism for
Nicaragua (MESENI, by its Spanish acronym) and mentions different
stages in the mass, systematic State repression that has marked the
serious human rights crisis since April 2018. Such events have
involved various violations of human rights, including the rights to
life and personal integrity, health, freedom of expression,
political participation, freedom of association, education,
employment and due process. The Interdisciplinary Group of
Independent Experts concluded, in accordance with its mandate, that
there had been a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.
Concerning Venezuela, the IACHR decided to include it in Chapter
IV.B. in the belief that it fits the provisos of point 6.a.i. in
Article 59, which says that a given State needs to be included in
that chapter when it is experiencing “a serious breach of the core
requirements and institutions of representative democracy mentioned
in the Inter‐American Democratic Charter, which are essential means
of achieving human rights,” including cases where “there is
discriminatory access to or abusive exercise of power that
undermines or denies the rule of law, such as systematic
infringement of the independence of the judiciary or lack of
subordination of State institutions to the legally constituted
civilian authority.” The Commission also considered that the
provisos held in point 6.b.—that says a State needs to be included
in this chapter if “the free exercise of the rights guaranteed in
the American Declaration or the American Convention has been
unlawfully suspended, totally or partially, by virtue of the
imposition of exceptional measures such as a declaration of a state
of emergency, state of siege, suspension of constitutional
guarantees, or exceptional security measures”—are applicable to
Venezuela. The IACHR further considered that Venezuela fits the
provisos of point 6.d. in Article 59: “the presence of other
structural situations that seriously affect the use and enjoyment of
fundamental rights recognized in the American Declaration, the
American Convention or other applicable instruments.” The IACH
considered that points 6.d.i. (“serious institutional crises that
infringe the enjoyment of human rights”) and 6.d.iii. (“serious
omissions in the adoption of the necessary measures to make
fundamental rights effective, or in complying with the decisions of
the Commission and the Inter‐American Court”) are particularly
applicable to Venezuela.
The IACHR observed that various structural issues persist in
Venezuela that affect the human rights of the Venezuelan people and
have led to a serious political, social and economic crisis. The
Commission concluded that such a critical and gradually worsening
situation has led to an absence of the rule of law.
The IACHR thanks inter-American civil society organizations active in the defense of human rights, OAS Member States and Observers, international and regional organizations, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and his team, and its own Executive Secretariat for all their support, which has enabled the Commission to attain the unprecedented achievements that are presented in its 2018 Annual Report. The IACHR thanks States for strengthening the Commission by applying an increase in the regular fund that is allocated to the institution. It also thanks the Member States, Observers and Donors whose voluntary contributions have been instrumental in achieving the results featured in the report: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the European Union, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and Uruguay, as well as other organizations including the UNHCR, the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), the SOS Children's Villages Foundation, the Freedom House Foundation, the Ford Foundation and Google.
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.
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