PRESS RELEASE
N° 4/08
IACHR ANNOUNCES CALENDAR OF PUBLIC HEARINGS OF THE 131th
PERIOD OF SESSIONS
Washington, D.C.,
February 27, 2008 – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
announces the calendar of public hearings of its 131th period
of sessions, that will take place March 3-14, 2008. The hearings will be
held on March 7, 10 and 12, in the TL level of the General Secretariat
Building of the OAS, 1889 F St. NW, Washington, DC, 20006. The audio
recordings of all public hearings will be available in the Commission’s
website and those held in Room A will be webcast live through the OAS
website. In the case of the private hearings, there is neither webcast
nor video or audio recording available, and the entrance of public and
press is not allowed.
Friday,
March 7, 2008 – Room A
The public
hearings held in this room will be webcast live through the OAS
website,
www.oas.org.
Those videos
can also be watched afterwards in the OAS and in the IACHR websites.
The audio
recordings will be available in the IACHR’s website,
www.iachr.org. |
Time
(Washington,
D.C.) |
Topic of the
hearing |
Participants |
9:00 – 10:00
|
Petition 478/05
– Victims of anti-immigrant activities and violence in southern
Arizona, United States |
Seanna Howard /
Robert Hershey, University of Arizona College of Law
Government of
the United States |
10:15 – 11:15
|
Case 12.644 – José Medellín Rojas (MC 317/06), Rubén Ramírez
Cárdenas (MC 328/06) and Humberto Leal García (MC 349/06) |
Sandra Babcock
/ Center for International Human Rights
Government of
the United States |
11:30 – 12:15
|
Prevention of torture in Latin America |
Asociación para la Prevención de la Tortura (APT) |
3:00 – 4:00
|
General human
rights situation in Venezuela |
|
4:15 – 5:15
|
Private
Hearing
Situation of
democratic institutions and human rights guarantees in Venezuela
|
|
5:30 – 6:15
|
Human Rights violations in prisons in Panama |
Government of Panama |
Friday, March 7, 2008 – Room B
There will not
be webcast of these hearings.
The audio
recordings will be available in the IACHR’s webpage,
www.iachr.org.
|
Time
(Washington,
D.C.) |
Topic of the
hearing |
Participants |
9:00 – 9:45
|
Situation of
Discrimination of Afro-descendents in Labor, Education and Access to
Justice in the Americas |
Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos |
10:00 – 10:45
|
Women’s access
to justice administration systems in the Americas |
Articulación Regional Feminista de Derechos Humanos y Justicia de
Género: Coordinadora Política de la Mujer de Bolivia / DEMUS / ELA /
Corporación Humanas |
11:00 – 11:45
|
Situation of
child trafficking and violence against women in Haiti (border zone) |
Regroupement des Citoyens pour la Protection des Droits Humains (RECIPRODH)
Government of
Haiti |
3:00 – 4:00
|
Case 12.459 – Lysias Fleury, Haití |
Lysias Fleury /
International Human Rights Law Clinic, American University
Government of
Haiti |
4:15 – 5:00
|
Use of lethal
force by the police in Jamaica |
International
Human Rights Law Clinic, George Washington University / Jamaicans
for Justice
Government of
Jamaica |
5:15 – 6:00
|
Situation of prisons in the Americas |
Citizens United
for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE) |
Monday,
March 10, 2008 – Room A
The public
hearings held in this room will be webcast live through the OAS
website,
www.oas.org.
The videos can
also be watched afterwards in the OAS and in the IACHR websites.
The audio
recordings will be available in the IACHR’s website,
www.iachr.org.
|
Time
(Washington,
D.C.) |
Topic of the
hearing |
Participants |
9:00 - 10:00
|
Obstacles in
Argentina to compliance with the reports, decisions and
recommendations of the bodies for the protection of human rights in
the Inter-American system |
Government of Argentina |
10:00 – 11:00
|
Situation of
human rights defenders of the Mapuche People in Chile |
Nancy Yáñez / José Aylwin / Observatorio de Derechos de los Pueblos
Indígenas
Government of Chile |
11:15 – 12:15
|
Petition
1345/05 – Professors of Chañaral, Chile |
Juan Pablo
Olmedo Bustos
Government of
Chile |
3:00 – 4:15
|
Investigation,
trial and punishment of those responsible for serious violations of
human rights in the past and the present in Guatemala |
CALDH
/ Unidad de Protección de Defensores y Defensoras de Derechos
Humanos
Government of Guatemala |
4:30 – 5:15
|
Protected areas
in indigenous territories in Guatemala |
Defensoría Maya
Qeqchi / Indian Law Resource Center
Government of
Guatemala |
5:30 – 6:15
|
Human rights
consequences of the grave environmental violations caused by mining
activity in Honduras |
Alianza Cívica para la Democracia
Government of Honduras |
Monday,
March 10, 2008 – Room B
There will not
be webcast of these hearings.
The audio
recordings of the public hearings held in this room will be
available in the IACHR’s webpage,
www.iachr.org.
|
Time
(Washington,
D.C.) |
Topic of the
hearing |
Participants |
9:00 – 9:45 |
|
CEJIL / Article XIX
Government of Brazil |
10:15 – 11:15
|
Human rights
situation of captive communities in Bolivia |
CEJIL
/
Alejandro Chávez Ríos, Consejo de Capitanes de Chuquisaca
Government of Bolivia |
11:30 – 12:30
|
Private
Hearing
Application of
the 2004 Migration Law in the Dominican Republic
|
Open Society
Justice Initiative / Global Rights / University of California,
Berkeley International Human Rights Law Clinic / CEJIL |
3:00 – 4:00
|
Case 12.542 – Employees of “Fertilizantes de Centroamérica” (FERTICA,
Central American Fertilizers), Costa Rica |
Daniel Camacho
/ FUNDEHUCA
Government of
Costa Rica |
4:15 – 5:15
|
Case 12.405 – Vicente Grijalva Bueno, Ecuador |
Francisco López Bermúdez / Auditoría Democrática Andina
Government of Ecuador |
5:30 - 6:30
|
Cases 12.597 –
Miguel Camba Campos and others (Judges of the Constitutional
Tribunal) and 12.600 – Hugo Quintana Coello and others (Judges of
the Supreme Court), Ecuador |
Government of Ecuador |
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 – Room A
These hearings
will be webcast live through the OAS website,
www.oas.org.
The videos can
also be watched afterwards in the OAS and in the IACHR websites.
The audio
recordings will be available in the IACHR’s website,
www.iachr.org.
|
Time
(Washington,
D.C.) |
Topic of the
hearing |
Participants |
9:00 – 9:45 |
|
Asociación Mexicana de Derecho a la Información / Comisión Mexicana
de Defensa y Promoción de Derechos Humanos
Government of Mexico |
10:00 – 10:45
|
Human rights of
migrant workers in transit in Mexico |
Federación Internacional de Derechos Humanos / Centro Nicaragüense
de Derechos Humanos
Government of Mexico |
11:00 – 11:45 |
Human rights
situation of women in Chiapas, Mexico |
Colectivo Feminista / CEJIL
|
3:00 – 3:45
|
The Organic Law
for Military and Police Justice in Peru
|
Instituto de Defensa Legal
Government of Peru |
4:00 – 4:45
|
Follow-up on
recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru |
Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos / APRODEH
Government of Peru |
5:00 – 5:45 |
Right to
education of members of Afro-Descendent and Indigenous communities
in the Americas |
Robert F.
Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights / University of Virginia
Law School / Cornell University Law School |
Wednesday,
March 12, 2008 – Room B
There will not
be webcast of these hearings.
The audio
recordings will be available in the IACHR’s webpage,
www.iachr.org.
|
Time
(Washington,
D.C.) |
Topic of the
hearing |
Participants |
9:00 – 10:30 |
|
Grupo Interdisciplinario por los Derechos Humanos
Government of Colombia |
10:45 – 11:45
|
General
situation of human rights in Colombia |
Comisión Colombiana de Juristas / GIDH / REINICIAR
|
12:00 – 1:00 |
Human rights
situation of displaced Afro-Colombians |
Afrocolombianos Desplazados / Global Rights
Government of Colombia |
3:00 – 3:45
|
Murder of Women
in El Salvador |
ORMUSA / Las Dignas / Las Mélidas / CEJIL
Government of El Salvador |
4:00 – 4:45
|
Administration
of justice in El Salvador |
OTLA / CODEFAM / CPDH / COMAFAC / FESPAD / CDH-ES / Probúsqueda /
DDH-SL / CO-MADRES / Comisión de Trabajo en Derechos Humanos Pro
Memoria Histórica / CEJIL
Government of El Salvador |
5:00 – 5:45 |
Administration
of justice in Nicaragua |
CENIDH
Government of Nicaragua |
Audio:
The audio recordings of all public hearings will be uploaded to the
IACHR webpage,
www.iachr.org, on the same day that the hearing takes place. Radio
stations are authorized to broadcast them, provided that credits are
properly recognized.
Videos:
All hearings taking place in Room A will be webcast live in the OAS
webpage,
www.oas.org. These videos will be available to be watched later on
the “Videos On Demand” webpage of the OAS and in the Commission’s
webpage. Communication media and organizations that would like to
broadcast the hearings are authorized to do so, provided that credits
are properly recognized. The highest quality signal available through
this system is 65 kbps.
Links:
The inclusion
of links in external websites to the videos of the hearings is
authorized. To include a link in your Webpage, please contact Carlos
Koo, phone (202) 458 6074, e-mail
ckoo@oas.org.
Languages:
Please note that participants in the hearings may speak in any of the
four official languages of the OAS: Spanish, French, English and
Portuguese. The videos and audio recordings are made through the channel
of original voices and may include different languages in the same
hearing.
Photographs:
The OAS uploads high resolution pictures of the hearings to its Webpage
(www.oas.org).
The media is authorized to publish them, provided that credits are
included.
Private
hearings:
The program of
public hearings is made available to journalists for organization
purposes only. Please note that the petitioners and the State have the
right to ask that the hearing is made private, and they can request this
at any time, including minutes before the hearing’s start.
Press:
Media
representatives do not need to present any specific credentials to cover
the public hearings. Journalists may be present in all public hearings.
The use of audio recorders and portable computers is allowed, with the
condition that they do not interfere with the normal development of the
hearing. Cellular phones must be turned off before entering the room.
Cameras:
The taking of photographs (stills and filming for TV) is permitted only
during the first five to ten minutes of the hearing. Photographers and
cameramen must leave when asked to do so. After the hearing has started,
photographers and cameramen will not be allowed to enter the room. TV
crews wishing to cover the hearings at greater length or transmit them
live may do so taking direct feeds of sound and images from the OAS’
system if that hearing is webcast.
Feeds:
The audio connections are XLR and the video connections are BNC. Media
representatives who would like to tape the hearings through this system
should arrive at least 15 minutes before the start time of the hearing,
so all the equipment is ready at the starting time.
Copies of
videos:
High resolution copies of the videos of public hearings that have been
webcast can be required by the public. This service is free for TV
channels. The copies can be delivered in Beta SP, in DVCPro or in DVD,
according to the election of the party requiring it. They can be picked
up at the OAS headquarters on the same day that the hearing took place.
Copies can also be sent by mail to media headquartered outside
Washington, DC. To coordinate this service please contact Luis Batlle,
phone (202) 458-3336, e-mail
lbatlle@oas.org.
Special service
for TV stations:
The TV stations headquarted outside Washington, DC, that wish to obtain
video footage on the same day that the hearing took place may request
the OAS to send them an unedited selection of three minutes of footage
through the Internet. This is done through the OAS’ FTP server. For more
information on this service please contact Luis Batlle, phone (202)
458-3336, e-mail lbatlle@oas.org
Press contact:
Any
questions and interview requests should be directed to Maria-Isabel
Rivero, IACHR’s Press and Outreach Office director, phone (202)
458-3867, e-mail
cidh-prensa@oas.org.
|