IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Holds Successful Third Meeting on Best Practice for National Human Rights Institutions
January 27, 2020
Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) hailed the successful Third Meeting on Best Practice for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) it held on November 20 in Medellín, Colombia.
The meeting sought to strengthen NHRIs as autonomous, independent, and plural organizations to promote and protect human rights. The IACHR held this meeting to create a space to exchange best practice and debate challenges for NHRIs in the Americas, and to consolidate strategies for technical cooperation between the IACHR itself and NHRIs around the region.
The meeting brought together representatives of NHRIs from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Peru.
At this event, the NHRIs of Argentina, Costa Rica, and Panama signed the Commitment Statement for technical cooperation and for the creation of the Mechanism for Points of Contact between the IACHR and National Institutions. Issued in November 2018, this Commitment Statement lays the groundwork for joint efforts between the Inter-American Commission and NHRIs around the region. The statement—which had already been signed by Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico—now brings together 10 NHRIs in the Americas.
The institutions who have signed it have agreed to create a mechanism for technical cooperation and focal points of contact, to enable well-coordinated procedures to exchange information, expand channels for independent participation by NHRIs in IACHR mechanisms to promote and protect human rights, and develop projects for technical cooperation.
“The Inter-American Commission stresses its willingness and commitment to continue to strengthen and consolidate mechanisms for cooperation and contact with NHRIs, to proactively promote in States objective conditions that enable the implementation of high inter-American standards,” Commissioner Luis Ernesto Vargas said of this Third Meeting.
In the context of its mandate held in Article 106 of the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) and Article 41 of the American Convention on Human Rights, and in accordance with the IACHR’s own Strategic Plan 2017–2021, the Commission aims to develop closer ties with NHRIs in order to improve communications and the exchange of information and provide technical cooperation to strengthen these institutions’ efforts to advocate and protect human rights in all countries around the region. The IACHR calls on National Human Rights Institutions around the Americas to sign the commitments held in the Statement for technical cooperation and for the creation of the Mechanism for Points of Contact between the IACHR and National Institutions.
This activity is part of the Regional Project on Human Rights and Democracy, which is implemented jointly with the Pan American Development Foundation. The Project seeks to increase knowledge and awareness about the Inter-American Human Rights System and its standards, and targets key local actors in charge of protecting and defending human rights in the States of the Northern Triangle of Central America. The IACHR thanks the Colombian Ombudsperson’s Office for its valuable support for this event.
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. 016/20