CHAPTER
III
THE
PETITION SYSTEM AND INDIVIDUAL CASES
1.
This chapter deals with the work done
by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights from its 107th
to 111th regular sessions, and concerns the system of
petitions and individual cases both before the Commission as well as
before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This chapter, which was
incorporated by the Commission in its 1997 Annual Report during its 98th
regular session, covers the precautionary measures granted by the
Commission and requested to the member states of the Organization, the
reports approved in accordance with Article 51 of the American
Convention, or in the case of the States not party to the Convention,
Article 53(4) of its Regulations,[1]
and which the Commission has decided to publish, as well as reports on
cases declared admissible or inadmissible pursuant to the terms of
Articles 46 and 47 of the Convention. This chapter also describes the
activities of the Commission before the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights in connection with provisional measures, and contentious cases.
2.
Section B includes statistical tables of the information
contained in this chapter and Section C information on petitions and
cases before the IACHR. Section C1 of this
chapter covers the 52
precautionary measures granted or extended by the Commission and with
respect to which there has been activity during this period. In this
regard, the Commission has continued its practice of reporting on the
precautionary measures requested to the member states of the
Organization, on its own initiative or at the request of a party,
pursuant to the provisions of Article 29 of its Regulations,[2]
in cases where such action was necessary to prevent irreparable harm to
persons whose lives and physical integrity were seriously threatened.
The precautionary measures are presented in the alphabetical order of
the names of the states to which the request was made, and includes
mention of the name of the person or persons on whose behalf the request
was made, a summary of the facts of the case, the rights of the persons
exposed to grave and imminent danger, the number of the case where
pertinent and, finally, the date of the request and the name of the
state in question.
3.
Sections C2, C3, C4 and C5 deal with
the entire system of petitions and cases processed and resolved by the
Commission during the period covered by this report. These sections thus
contain 92 reports, of which 35 are admissibility reports, 21 are
reports on petitions and cases declared inadmissible, 13 are friendly
settlement reports, and 23 are reports on the merits of cases.
4.
Sections D1, D2 and D3 refer to the
system of petitions and individual cases litigated by the Commission
before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. These sections thus
cover the 15 provisional measures
ordered by the Court at the request of the Commission in situations of
extreme gravity and urgency, pursuant to the provisions of Article 63(2)
of the American Convention on Human Rights, and a summary of the various
decisions of the Court and of the actions of the Commission in various
contentious cases. The provisional measures are listed in the order of
their presentation and include the name of the person or persons on
whose behalf they were requested, a summary of the facts of the case and
of the rights involved, the date of the request, the name of the State
in question, and the date on which the Court adopted the relevant
decision.
5.
During year 2000, the Commission
received 681 complaints about alleged violations of the human rights
protected in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
and the American Convention on Human Rights, and instituted 110 individual
cases resulting in a total of 930 individual cases currently being
processed by the Commission during the year 2000 and first 4 months of
the year 2001. 6.
This Chapter of the 2000 Annual Report includes statistical
information aimed at providing a general overview of the different
activities of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. a.
Total number of cases being processed by country
The
preceding tables and graph include the total number of cases pending
before the IACHR and their breakdown by OAS member state in descending
order by country.
b.
Total number of cases being processed by year
c.
Total number of cases opened by year
The
preceding table shows the total number of cases opened by year,
beginning in 1997. It
should be made clear that individual cases are opened when petitions
meet, prima facie, the
procedural requirements stipulated for their processing[3]. d. Total number of cases opened in 2000 by country
The
preceding table shows the total number of cases opened by year according
to the country from which the petition was filed. e. Total number of petitions received by year
|
