PRESS RELEASE

Nº 5/06

NEW SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR OF THE IACHR FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights today decided to appoint Dr. Ignacio Álvarez as Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression.  Dr. Álvarez, a national of Venezuela, has been working as an attorney specializing in human rights at the IACHR since 1998.

The new Rapporteur graduated as a lawyer at the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas, specialized in procedural law at Venezuela’s Universidad Central, and holds a Masters in international law from the Law Faculty of American University, in Washington, D.C.  He is also the author of several articles on human rights published in the languages he works in, namely Spanish, English, and Portuguese.

          The Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression is a full-time, functionally independent office with its own budget, which was established by the IACHR and operates within its legal framework.

Washington, D.C., March 15, 2006