IACHR Annual Report highlights regional human rights trends and measures to strengthen the inter-American justice system

May 8, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has released its 2024 Annual Report, offering an overview of the human rights situation across the Americas, including progress and challenges. The report outlines the impact of the IAHCR's work through its various mandates and actions.

"The IACHR Annual Report is a rigorous, comprehensive review of the human rights situation in the region. It provides a detailed analysis of the current situation in the Americas, highlighting trends while strengthening institutional transparency," stated IACHR President José Luis Caballero.

The 2024 Annual Report includes six chapters, covering the IACHR's most significant achievements, its operational strategies, and the outcomes of its monitoring work. Chapter I examines initiatives undertaken as part of the 2023–2027 Strategic Plan. These include three Periods of Sessions at which 98 public hearings were held; technical cooperation with States, national human rights institutions, civil society, academia, and regional/international bodies; and engagement with OAS political bodies and multilateral partners.

The IACHR strengthened its follow-up strategies on recommendations through targeted mechanisms for Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia. Progress was made on an agreement to implement the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) in Honduras and on developing the Inter-American SIMORE Monitoring System, a vital tool that now includes over 7,746 recommendations that have been organized and categorized for better use.

Chapter II focuses on the IACHR's petition and case system. In 2024, the IACHR received 2,883 new petitions, evaluated 80.54% of these, and opened proceedings in 14% (323 cases). In addition, 200 petitions moved to the merits under Resolution 1/16, which aims to reduce procedural backlog. The progressive prioritization of petitions and cases also began, in line with Resolution 4/23. These initiatives helped deliver more timely access to inter-American justice, thus strengthening the protection of human rights in the region.

Within the friendly settlement system, 19 new agreements were signed, 13 reports were published, and progress was verified on implementing 143 reparation measures for human rights violations. The IACHR issued a record 121 merits reports in 2024, addressing severe human rights violations such as enforced disappearance, torture, and extrajudicial execution. These also contributed to inter-American jurisprudence on issues such as access to public office and judicial independence, child protection in state-run childcare and educational establishments, Indigenous collective land rights, and the rights of pregnant women deprived of their freedom.

Moreover, some 26 cases were submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IA Court), and the IACHR took part in 11 contentious hearings, 17 compliance hearings, and 2 hearings on advisory opinions. There were 13 cases that it decided not to send to the IA Court, as the States in question demonstrated significant progress in implementing earlier recommendations.

The IACHR followed up on 81 of 147 published merits reports, identifying full compliance in 1 case and partial compliance in 49 cases, while 30 remained pending and compliance levels are still being evaluated on one other case.

Through its precautionary measures mechanism, the IACHR protected over 7,430 individuals and groups by issuing or expanding 77 precautionary measures. It processed 94.83% of the 1,412 requests received—279 more than in 2023. This increase was driven by growing levels of persecution in Venezuela, ongoing crises in Nicaragua and Cuba, electoral tensions, and weak national protection systems in response to high-risk situations.

The precautionary measures mechanism monitored over 600 active measures through over 150 meetings and hearings, issued 38 resolutions, conducted 5 on-site visits, and submitted 1 request for provisional measures and 2 for extensions to the IA Court.

Chapter III focused on the work of the offices of thematic and country rapporteurs and monitoring work conducted through two on-site visits. The first of these was to Colombia, where the IACHR assessed the impact of ongoing violence on human rights, and the second was to Guatemala, where it examined structural challenges that impact access to human rights. It published three country reports: two based on 2023 on-site visits to Bolivia and Honduras, and one on the state of emergency in El Salvador. Other publications included a compendium on gender-based reparations and a study on freedom of religion.

This chapter also discusses the 12 working and cooperation visits undertaken by the IACHR in 2024, including to Barbados and Belize, in alignment with its Five-Year Strategy for the Caribbean. It also delivered 279 training and promotion activities to over 4,100 people.

Chapter IV examines regional trends and provides an overview of the situation in OAS Member States where serious risks have been identified, including: the erosion of the separation of powers and its impact on democratic order; rising political polarization; the challenges of tackling organized crime, the militarization of security; increased use of emergency powers, including the suspension of rights; escalating hostility toward freedom of expression and the work of human rights defenders; and restrictions on the right to protest, excessive use of force, and links between this and the closure of civic spaces.

The chapter also addresses the growing threats to justice operators; impacts on memory, truth, and justice policies; the escalation of rights violations against individuals and groups enduring systematic historical discrimination; worsening conditions of detention for people being deprived of their freedom; and the use of rhetoric and policies that affect the rights of people in movement. The chapter also acknowledges positive developments and policy reforms in some States as examples of good practice.

Under Article 59.6 of the IACHR's Rules of Procedure, Chapter IV.B features special reports on Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, where the IACHR has documented serious human rights violations and breaches of the democratic principles enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

Chapter V tracks the implementation of 251 recommendations made by the IACHR in its reports on the human rights situation in Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru.  The chapter analyzes information provided by States and civil society organizations that actively monitor compliance with recommendations. It evaluates the relevance and impact of the reported measures, assesses the level of compliance achieved, and provides general guidance for further progress. In 2024, progress was recorded in 170 recommendations, and 27 were fully implemented.

Chapter VI focuses on the IACHR's institutional structure, resource use, management, and technological modernization, reporting on how the organization uses its funding to fulfill its mandate. Highlights include the second year of the Colabora Program, aimed at strengthening organizational culture and improving access to inter-American justice through three upgrades to core systems: GAIA (case management), E-Vote (electronic voting), and SIMORE (recommendation tracking).

All IACHR reports, including those published by the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (RFOE) and the Office of the Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (REDESCA), are available in the annexes.

The IACHR's work is dedicated to the memory of victims and recognizes the central role played by civil society organizations and social movements, whom it thanks for their work. It also acknowledges and appreciates the information provided by OAS member states through the various IACHR mechanisms, and likewise thanks observer countries for their support. Finally, it extends thanks to the staff of the Executive Secretariat, RFOE, and REDESCA for their critical role in fulfilling the IACHR's mandate effectively.

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. 092/25

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