PRESS RELEASE

Nº 34/06

HEARINGS DURING THE 126th REGULAR SESSION OF THE IACHR

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presents the calendar for public hearings during the 126^th regular session of the Organization of American States (OAS), which will be held this coming October 16 - 27, at the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, (OAS), 1889 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C.  While some hearings were requested by the States, the majority were requested by the petitioners.  There will be thematic hearings on the general human rights situation in the region, and others on issues of admissibility, merits, friendly settlement, and case follow-up, as well as petitions currently in process before the IACHR.

Please direct press inquiries to María Isabel Rivero at (202) 458-3796, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

3:30 to 5:30 p.m. – Inter-State Petition No. 1/06 – Nicaragua vs. Costa Rica: The State of Nicaragua files suit against Costa Rica for alleged discriminatory attitudes against Nicaraguan residents in Costa Rica.

Thursday October, 19, 2006

9:00 to 10:00 a.m. – Petition lodged by the Association of Former Public Employees of the Peruvian Social Security Institute [Instituto Peruano de Seguridad Social] claiming that the pension system reform in Peru violates their economic rights.

10:00 to 11:00 a.m. – Case in which Jorge Mufarech Nemy claims that he was prevented from registering himself as a candidate in the Peruvian elections as a result of an alleged “political persecution.”

11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – Follow-up on Recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Peru.

12:15 to 1.15 p.m. – National Human Rights Plan of Peru, on the technical assistance agreement between the IACHR and the Peruvian State.

3:00 to 4:00 p.m. – Case of persons living with HIV-AIDS in Guatemala.

4:00 to 4:45 p.m. – Process of establishing a National Commission for the Search for Disappeared Persons in Guatemala.

5:00 to 5:45 p.m. – Situation of adolescents and violence in Guatemala.

5:45 to 6:45 p.m. – General human rights situation of indigenous women in the Americas (Argentina, Colombia, Canada, and Mexico).

9:00 to 10:30 a.m. – General human rights situation in Venezuela. (At the request of the State).

10:45 to 11:30 a.m. – Situation of freedom of expression in Venezuela.

11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – General situation of institutionality and guarantees in Venezuela.

12:30 to 1:15 p.m. – Situation of human rights defenders in Venezuela.

3:00 to 4:00 p.m. –“Castelinho” Case, in which the petitioners claim that twelve members of the First Commando of the capital were assassinated in a March 5, 2002 ambush.

4:15 to 5:15 p.m. – Slave labor in Brazil.

5:15 to 6:15 p.m. – Case on an explosion in a fireworks factory in Bahía, Brazil, that killed 64 employees.

Friday October 20, 2006

9:00 to 10:00 a.m. – Case of “María Salvador Chiriboga et al”, in which the petitioners claim the violation of their right to property due to the expropriation of their lands in Quito, Ecuador. (At the request of the State).

10:15 to 11:15 a.m. – Case of “Jorge E. Herrera Espinoza et al,” on the alleged arbitrary detention and torture of four foreigners in an antinarcotics police operation in Ecuador.

11:15 to 12:15 a.m. – Case of Hossein Alikhani, who claims to have been illegally arrested in 1992 by undercover agents of the United States.

12:15 to 1:00 p.m. – Situation of children living in safe houses [GKS1] in Jamaica.

Monday, October 23, 2006

9:00 to 9.45 a.m. – General situation of women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. (At the request of the State).

10:00 to 10:45 a.m. – General human rights situation in Oaxaca, México.

11:00 to 11:45 a.m. – Performance of the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Past Social and Political Movements [Fiscalía Especial para Movimientos Sociales y Políticos del Pasado (FEMOSSP), Mexico.

12:00 to 1:00 p.m. – The petitioners claim that agrarian policy in Chiapas, México had a detrimental impact on indigenous and peasant groups.

3:00 to 4:00 p.m. –“Braulio Paredes Núñez” petition, in which the family of a youth murdered in Mexico claims irregularities in the investigation.

4:15 to 5:15 p.m. – Case of two ecologists, Teodoro Cabrera García and Rodolfo Montiel Flores, who claim that they were detained, tortured, and imprisoned in Mexico.

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. – Situation of violence against women in the Dominican Republic.

9:00 to 9:45 a.m. – Implementation of IACHR recommendations in Andean countries.

10:00 to 11:00 a.m. – Hearing as part of the IACHR’s monitoring of the demobilization of paramilitary groups in Colombia.

11:15 to 12:15 a.m. – Extrajudicial executions and democratic security policy in Colombia.

12:30 to 1:15 p.m. – Human rights situation of indigenous peoples in el Cauca, Colombia.

3:00 to 4:00 p.m. – Petition on the murder, in Colombia, of community leader of African descent Orlando Valencia, a beneficiary of provisional measures issued by the Inter-American Court.

4:15 to 5:15 p.m. – Case in which the petitioners claim the mass murder of members of the Patriotic Union [“Unión Patriótica”] political party.

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. – Case alleging the detention, torture, and extrajudicial execution of Omar Zúñiga Vásquez by the Armed Forces of Colombia.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

9:00 to 9:45 a.m. – General human rights situation in Chile.

9:45 to 11:15 a.m. –“Contreras Siblings” case concerning three children disappeared during the war in El Salvador.

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – “Peirano Basso Brothers” case, in which the petitioners, bank owners in Uruguay, claim due process violations.

12:30 to 1:15 p.m. – Situation of children’s rights in Uruguay.

3:00 to 3:30 p.m. –“Rodolfo Correa Belisle” case, in which the petitioner and the Argentine government are making progress toward a friendly settlement. (At the request of the State and the petitioners).

3:45 to 4:45 p.m. – Case on a 1994 attack on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) [Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association] in Argentina. (At the request of the State and the petitioners).

4:45 to 5:30 p.m. – Situation of women deprived of their liberty in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

9:00 to 10:00 a.m. – Case in which the petitioner, Grand Chief Michael Mitchell of the Mohawk nation in Canada, claims a violation of the right to culture by the State of Canada.

10:15 to 11:00 a.m. – Human rights situation of inhabitants of the Ecuadorian and Colombian border area, in which the petitioners (organizations from both countries) will report on the impact of the armed conflict and fumigations of illicit crops along the border.

11:00 to 11:45 a.m. – General human rights situation in Cuba.

12:00 to 12:45 p.m. – General human rights situation in Haiti.

3:00 to 3:45 p.m. – Situation of women’s rights in Haiti.

4:00 to 4:45 p.m. – Women’s rights in the Americas and trends in jurisprudence.

5:00 to 5:45 p.m. - Human rights and the legal framework for peaceful protest in the Americas.

Washington, D.C., October 11, 2006