PRESS RELEASE

Nº 44/06

  IACHR VISIT TO BOLIVIA

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will visit the Republic of Bolivia, at the request of its Government, from November 12 to 17, 2006, to observe and gather information on the human rights situation in the country.

The IACHR is the principal human rights organ of the Organization of American States (OAS).  It is independent and autonomous in carrying out its primary task of promoting and protecting human rights in the Hemisphere. The seven members of the Commission are elected in a personal capacity by the OAS General Assembly for a term of four years.

The IACHR delegation will consist of Commission members Evelio Fernández Arévalos, President; Florentín Meléndez, Second Vice President and Rapporteur for Bolivia; and Victor Abramovich.  They will be joined by Santiago Canton, Executive Secretary; attorneys Débora Benchoam, Leonardo Hidaka, and Silvia Serrano; and Gloria Hansen, Documents Technician from the Executive Secretariat.

The Commission will meet with officials of the Bolivian Government, members of the Judiciary and the Legislature, and civil society organizations.  On Friday, November 17, 2006, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m., the IACHR will hold a conference on the inter-American human rights system in the El Solar Room of the Hotel Europa (62 Tiahuanaco Street, La Paz, Bolivia).

Washington, D.C., November 8, 2006