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► Summary

Introduction

In the Americas, the regional human rights arrangements exist within the intergovernmental
organisation known as the Organisation of American States (OAS). The OAS was
established in order to achieve among its member states fi as stipulated in Article 1 of the
Charter fi ian ·order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their
collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their
independence. Two organs of the OAS that are central to the enforcement of its human
rights regime are: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the
_specializ_ed organization known as Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). The
OAS_ Charter established the IACHR way back in 1959, whereas the IACHR was
established· _much later in 197.9, after the American Convention on Human Rights entered
into force.

American Convention on Human Rights

The American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) is divided into three parts. Part I deals
with all the rights that are protected under the Convention and all that the State is obligated
to do. Part II lists out provisions that govern the setting up and functioning of both IACHR

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 and IACHR. FinaJly, Part III deaJs with General and Transitory Provisions which are not
covered elsewhere in the Convention. You may refer to this convention for a detailed
understanding of the provisions.
It must also be noted that the IACHR is competent to examine p~titions in which violations
are alleged based on any of the inter-American human rights treaties. Some of these are: (a)
Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, 1985, (b) Inter-American
Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, (c)
Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, 1994, (d) Inter-American
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with
Disabilities, 1999. In this regard, it is pertinent to note that not all Member States of the
OAS have ratified all the treaties. Before approaching a problem question, you must first
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double-c~eck if the accused Member State has in fact ratified the treaty in question.
The American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) was adopted on 20 November 1969 and
ente~ed into force on 18 July 1978. It is the key regional human rights instrument for the
protection of civil and political rights in the Americas. The majority of major OAS Member
States ,have ratified the Convention with the notable exception of the USA and Canada. and in
2012 Venezuela denounced the Convention citing dissatisfaction with its monitoring bodies.
The Convention confers competence with respect to matters relating to the fulfillment of its
. obligations to two organs: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-
American Court of Human Rights. The supervisory system provided by the Convention is
legally binding only on the states parties to it.
Although the ACHR contains primarily civil and political rights, Article 26 expresses the
general commitment of states parties to adopt measures with a view to the full realisation of
economic, social and cultural rights. Moreover, the ACHR differs from the ICCPR, because it
contains guarantees of the right to reply (Article 14) and to property {Article 21). In addition, it
has a more elaborate and advanced text than the ECHR in regard to, for example, to right to
participate in government (Art,icle 23) and a guarantee of the right to equal protection {Article
24).

Ch.I: General obligations: obligation to respect rights (Art. I) and domestic

The inter-American human rights system was born with the adoption of the American
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in 1948, predating the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights by more ,than six months. The IACHR is a principal and autonomous organ
of the OAS whose mandate sterns from the Charter of the OAS. The Commission is made
up of seven members, independent experts on human rights who do not represent any
country _and are elected by the General Assembly of OAS.

The IACHR was. created in 1959 and held its first session in 1960. In fact, by 1961, the

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IACHR had begun to carry out on-site visits to observe the general human rights situation in
member states. Thereafter, by 1965, the IACHR was expressly authorized to examine
complaints or petitions regarding specific cases of human rights violations.
In fact the IACHR was created only with the coming into force of the latest American
Convention on Human Rights (the provisions of which have been summarized above) and
until that time, IACHR was the sole protector of human rights in the Americas.
Today, the Commissionis function is to promote the observance and defence of human
rights in the Americas and it acts as a fust line of defence for the victims of human rights
violations. The Commission performs this function by making visits to the countries,
carrying out thematic activities and initiatives, preparing reports on the human rights
situation in a certain country or on a particular thematic issue, adopting precautionary
measures or requesting provisional measures before the Inter-American Court, and
processing and analyzing individual petitions with a view to determining the international
responsibility of States for human rights violations, and issuing the recommendations it
deems necessary.
 The individual petition system, by way of which any person, group of persons, or
organization may file a petition alleging a violation of human rights against one or more
Member States of the OAS, is the single most important resource available to the people
living in the Americas. Once the victim files his/her petition with the Commission, the
Commission preliminarily evaluates it and makes a decision to either request additional
information or open the petition for processing. Thereafter, at the admissibility stage the
petition is sent to the respective State for its observations on the matter at hand. On
receiving the State is observations, the Commission decides on whether the petition is
admissible in fact. If found admissible, the Commission then goes on to analyze the parties
allegations and the evidence submitted along with it. Thereafter, if the Commission finds the
State responsible for human rights violations, it issues a report on the merits that includes
recommendations to the State that are aimed at: (a) bringing a halt to the acts that are in
violation of human rights, (b) clarifying the facts, carrying out an official investigation, and
imposing a sanction,
(c) making reparation for the harm caused, (d) making changes to the law, (e) requiring the
adoption of other measures or actions by the State.

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