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PRESS
RELEASE
No. 29/01
INTER-AMERICAN
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS WRAPS UP The
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) conducted its 113th
regular session at OAS headquarters in Washington D.C., November 12 to
16. During the session, it held 52 hearings on individual cases and
petitions being processed before the IACHR, as well as others of a
general nature dealing with the human rights situation in countries of
the hemisphere. Victims
or their representatives as well as governments participated in these
hearings, which were held in
camera. During
the general hearings, the IACHR received reports on the human rights
situation in Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Jamaica, Mexico and Venezuela. It received information on the human rights situation in
Colombia from a number of independent organizations and also from the
government. That
information will be taken thoroughly into account during the
forthcoming visit of the IACHR to Colombia, from December 7 to 13. Hearings
were also held on the general status of freedom of expression in
Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela, and the IACHR received reports on a
number of factors that could imperil freedom of expression in other
member states of the OAS. Through the efforts of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Expression, the IACHR pays special attention to exercise of the right
of freedom of expression, because of its direct relationship to the
functioning of the democratic system and full respect for all human
rights. As well, other
hearings were held on the human rights of refugees, women and human
rights defenders in the Americas. On
this point, the IACHR considers it essential that states take steps to
guarantee the life and physical safety of human rights defenders, so
that they are free to conduct their work.
During these hearings, the IACHR was greatly concerned to learn
of the murder of 68 human rights defenders in Colombia in recent
years. The IACHR
reiterates its condemnation of the murder of Digna Ochoa, a lawyer who
was killed in Mexico City on October 19.
That crime was preceded by threats and attacks that led both
the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to call for
protective measures for Digna Ochoa.
After her murder, the Inter-American Court, at the request of
the IACHR, ordered new provisional measures on behalf of members of
the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center in Mexico, and other
individuals who had a working relationship with Ochoa.
The IACHR also held a hearing with petitioners and the Mexican
state as part of its processing of the petition on Digna Ochoa, which
had begun before the assassination. The
IACHR expresses its gratitude for the meeting held with Mrs. Hina
Jilani, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United
Nations on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, during its regular
session. That meeting
served to underline mutual concern for the situation of human rights
defenders in the Americas, and provided an opportunity to exchange
information and ideas on mechanisms to guarantee more effectively the
work of those defenders, which is so vital to the enforcement of human
rights. As
well, the Executive Secretary of the IACHR, Dr. Santiago Canton, held
meetings with members of various nongovernmental organizations active
in defending and promoting human rights.
Those meetings focused on general aspects of IACHR procedures
and practice. The
hearings ended with a roundtable on the inter-American human rights
system, in which Commissioners Claudio Grossman, Hélio Bicudo and
Peter Laurie shared their experiences as members of the IACHR.
A number of distinguished representatives of civil society,
human rights academic experts, diplomatic representatives of member
states of the OAS and invited guests participated in the event.
The roundtable also provided an occasion to recognize the
valuable services provided to the inter-American system by
Commissioners Grossman, Bicudo and Laurie, who will complete their
mandates at the end of this year. The
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is an autonomous
body of the OAS responsible for promoting and protecting human rights
in the hemisphere. The
powers of the IACHR flow essentially from the American Convention on
Human Rights and the OAS Charter. The Commission is composed of Dean
Claudio Grossman, President; Dr. Juan E. Méndez, First
Vice-President; Ms. Marta Altolaguirre, Second Vice-President.
The following members also participated in the sessions: Dr. Hélio
Bicudo, Prof. Robert K. Goldman, Dr. Peter Laurie and Dr. Julio Prado
Vallejo. Dr. Santiago A. Canton serves as Executive Secretary of the
Commission.
·
See attached list of hearings held. Washington
D.C., November 19, 2001 ANNEX – IACHR Press Release N°
29/01 1.
Case 11.876 – Lori Berenson, Peru 2.
P 11.666 –
“Panchito López” youth detention center, Paraguay 3.
Case 12.032 -
Ricardo Canese, Paraguay 4.
General human
rights situation in Venezuela 5.
Status of the
right to freedom of expression in Venezuela 6.
P 12.354 –
Kuna indigenous people of Mandungandi and Embera de Bayano, Panamá 7.
P
12.380 – Alirio Uribe Muñoz, Colombia 8.
P
11.883 – John Ricardo Ubaté and P 11.990 – Oscar Orlando Bueno
Bonnett, Colombia 9.
Case 11.727
– Hernando Osorio and Case 11.726 – Norberto J. Restrepo, Colombia 10.
Case 12.050 – La Granja,
Ituango, Colombia 11.
Precautionary measures –
Communities of the Río Cacarica (Displaced persons of Turbo),
Colombia 12.
Follow-up to
recommendations in reports on individual cases, Colombia 13.
Human rights situation in
Colombia 14.
Precautionary measures
– political prisoners in Colombia 15.
Precautionary measures – Organización Femenina Popular/CREDHOS,
Colombia 16.
Case 11.227 – Unión Patriótica, Colombia 17.
General situation and situation of human rights defenders in
Guatemala 18.
Case 11.763 – Plan de Sánchez Massacre, Guatemala 19.
P 11.197 – Los Cimientos, Guatemala 20.
Case 11.681 – Massacre in the village “Las Dos Erres”,
Guatemala 21.
Situation of the right to freedom of expression in Guatemala 22.
Case 11.849 – Loencio Florián López and others, Peru 23. Case 11.015 – Castro Castro Prison, Peru 24.
P 12.124 – Daniel David Tibi, Ecuador 25.
Situation of the rights of refugees in the Americas 26.
Situation of human rights defenders in the Americas 27.
General human rights situation in Jamaica 28.
General human rights situation in Mexico 29.
Follow-up to Cases 11.430 – General Gallardo; 11.411 –
Ejido Morelia; 11.520 – Aguas Blancas; 11.543 – Hernández; 11.610
– L. Riebe and others; 11.509 – M. Manríquez and 11.103 – P.
Peredo, Mexico 30.
Human rights situation of indigenous peoples in Mexico 31.
Situation of prisoners in Brazil 32.
Case 12.058 – Gibson Nogueira, Brazil 33.
P 12.353 – Telephone interceptions MST, Brazil 34.
General situation – “Operation Gatekeeper” 35.
Follow-up to Report 133/99 – Carmelo Soria Espinoza, Chile 36.
Situation of persons living with the HIV/AIDS virus in Chile 37.
Situation of the rights of women in the Americas 38.
General human rights situation in el Salvador 39.
Follow-up to Reports 1/99 – Lucio Parada Cea; 136/99, Ellacuría
and others (Jesuits); and 37/00 – Monseñor Romero, El Salvador 40.
Cases 12.132 – Serrano
Cruz sisters and 11.967
– Mauricio García Prieto, El Salvador 41.
12.189 – Dilcia Yean and Violeta Bosica, Dominican Republic 42.
P 639/00 – Alfredo López Alvarez, Honduras 43.
Case 11.280 – Juan Carlos Bayarri, Argentina 44.
P 12.010 – Mapuche children and youth of Neuquén (Paynemil),
Argentina 45.
Case 11.796 – Mario Gómez Yárdez, Argentina 46.
Case 12.080 – Schiavini, Argentina 47.
Case 11.670 – Menéndez, Caride and others, Argentina 48.
General human rights situation in Cuba 49.
P 12.379 – Mario Alfredo Lares Reyes and others, United
States 50.
P 12.264 – Franz Britton a.k.a. Collie Wills, Guyana 51.
General human rights situation in Honduras 52.
Right to freedom of expression in Honduras 53.
P 12.367 – Mauricio Herrera Ulloa (Diario “La Nación”),
Costa Rica 54.
Right to freedom of expression in Venezuela 55. P 12.229 – Digna Ochoa and others, Mexico |