PRESS RELEASE


N° 46/07
 

IACHR ANNOUNCES PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR ITS 129TH SPECIAL SESSIONS

 

Washington, D.C., August 29, 2007 — At the invitation of the government of Paraguay, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hold its 129th special period of sessions in Asunción from September 5 to 7, 2007. The following public hearings will take place September 6 in the Convention Hall of the Granados Park Hotel, located on the corner of Estrella and 15 de Agosto streets. Audio recordings of the hearings will be made available to the press and the general public on the IACHR Web site (www.iachr.org).

 

Time

Issue

               Petitioners

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Human rights of migrant workers, refugees and displaced persons in the Americas

Inter-American Control Observatory of Migrations

10:15 a.m. –  11:15 a.m.

The right to water; indigenous peoples in the Andean Region

Observatory of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Follow-up to Report 29/92 (Law of Expiration of the Punitive Power of the State), Uruguay

IELSUR

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

 

Presentation of a report by  Diego Portales University on human rights in Chile

Program for Public-Interest Actions and Human Rights, Diego Portales University

 

Members of the press do not need prior accreditation to cover the public hearings. Journalists will be allowed to enter and to use recording devices and laptop computers as long as these do not disrupt the normal hearing process. Photographers and cameramen and women will also be allowed to enter, but will be authorized to film and shoot photos only during the first five minutes of the hearing. Once the hearing has begun, no photographers or cameramen will be allowed to enter. Members of the press and the general public will be asked to turn off all cellular phones when they enter the room.

 

In addition, the IACHR will participate in several activities in Asunción designed to promote the inter-American human rights system. On September 5, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., the IACHR President, Commissioner Florentín Meléndez, will be the keynote speaker at a conference on the inter-American system at the National University of Asunción School of Law. At that same time, the First Vice President of the IACHR, Commissioner Paolo Carozza, will give an address on the same topic at a conference at the Catholic University School of Law. During their visit, the Commissioners will also meet with high-level authorities of Paraguay’s executive, legislative and judicial branches, as well as with representatives of indigenous peoples and civil society organizations.

 

            For questions or to request interviews, please contact María Isabel Rivero, director of the IACHR Press and Outreach Office: (202) 458-3867 (office in Washington) or (202) 215-4142 (cell: this number will also work in Paraguay), or by e-mail (cidh-prensa@oas.org).