ADDRESS
OF DR. HÉLIO BICUDO CHAIRMAN
OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AT
THE OPENING OF THE 108TH SESSION OF THE IACHR Washington,
D.C. October 4, 2000
Secretary General of the Organization of American States, President
of the Permanent Council, Assistant Secretary General, permanent
representatives, observers, ladies and gentlemen:
It is truly a pleasure for me to attend this formal opening of the
108th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
in the company of first Vice-Chairman Dean Claudio Grossman, second
Vice-Chairman Dr. Juan E. Méndez, commissioners Marta Altolaguirre,
Robert Goldman, Peter Laurie and Julio Prado Vallejo, Executive Secretary
Ambassador Jorge E. Taiana, Assistant Executive Secretary David J. Padilla
and the professional staff of the executive secretariat.
I would like to begin by quickly reviewing what the IACHR has done
to protect and promote human rights throughout the Americas since our last
session in March.
The Commission has had to carry out its mandate against a backdrop
of a number of national political/institutional crises that serve to
underscore the gravity of the problems facing us today. They also
highlight the difficulties we encounter when trying to meet the urgent
demands raised by our societies. Today it is clearly necessary to
consolidate democracy and the rule of law in order to pave the way for the
aspirations of all citizens of the Americans and to foster a frank and
open discussion on how to meet their pressing economic, social and
cultural needs. The IACHR would once again like to express its concern for
the serious problems afflicting national systems for the administration in
our region. Because they lead to impunity and violation of the rights of
due process, such problems end up affecting a large part of the
population. Of special concern are delays and inefficiencies in reaching
decisions on human rights cases involving agents of the state. This is
certainly one of the major challenges before us today.
The IACHR’s major activity for the protection of human rights is
our system of petitions and individual cases. Since March 2000,
proceedings were undertaken on 73 new individual cases against member
states, raising the total number of cases being processed to 934. In that
same period 350 new petitions were received. Those that have not been
declared inadmissible are still being processed by the Executive
Secretariat, which may ask petitioners to submit additional information or
to meet certain procedural or legal requirements set out in the American
Convention or the Commission’s Rules of Procedure. The Commission also
continues to promote friendly settlements, which are proving to be an
increasingly effective tool for the protection of human rights. Lastly, I
can mention that great effort has gone into the preparation of the draft
reports on admissibility, inadmissibility, merits and friendly settlement
to be submitted to the IACHR during the present session.
On behalf of the Commission, on March 22, 2000 our Executive
Secretary signed an institutional cooperation agreement with the
International Organization for Migration (IOM), which was represented by
its Director General, Brunson McKinley. Our common aim is to consolidate
and efficiently coordinate hemispheric initiatives to protect and promote
the human rights of migrants in general and of migrant workers and members
of their families in particular. Through this agreement the IACHR, as the
OAS body charged with the protection and promotion of human rights in the
Americas, and the IOM, an intergovernmental organization focusing on the
various challenges posed by migration, will be able to jointly develop
activities designed to promote respect for and protection of the rights of
these human beings. This area is undoubtedly one of the most crucial in
the progressive universalization of the human rights system, and it must
be approached multilaterally.
We should recall that in the Second Summit of the Americas, our
Heads of State and Government called for special efforts to assure full
compliance with and respect for the human rights of migrant workers. The
IACHR was very active in two important meetings on migrant workers and
their families. Last June the Commission attended the “Workshop on Best
Practices with regard to Migrant Workers,” which was held in Santiago
(Chile) under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the IOM and the IACHR itself. Then I myself
headed a delegation to the “Symposium on International Migration in the
Americas,” organized in San José (Costa Rica) by ECLAC, CELADE and the
IOM and sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund, the OAS and the
IDB.
On June 2, 2000, the Commission approved the report on the human
rights situation in Peru. That report was prepared with information and
documentation received before, during and after the Commission’s in
loco visit to Peru (at the invitation of the government) in November
1998. The initial section of the report presents an overview of democracy
and the rule of law in the country, and includes an examination of the
organizational structure of the state, the administration of justice and
international obligations, political rights and freedom of expression. In
the second section, the Commission goes on to examine economic, social and
cultural rights, women’s rights, rights of the child, the current state
of affairs in the prison system and the rights of the indigenous
communities in the country.
At the OAS General Assembly in Windsor (Canada), the IACHR
presented its report on Peru and made two other interventions on the human
rights situation in the Americas. The Commission underscored its concern
for the serious state of affairs in Peru and especially for three major
questions that have a direct effect on democracy and rule of law in the
country – the judiciary’s lack of independence, threats and attacks
against freedom of expression and limitations on the free exercise and
enjoyment of political rights. The Commission met with the Secretary
General of the OAS shortly before its trip to Peru, which did go forward,
in accordance with the General Assembly’s mandate, under the leadership
of Chancellor Lloyd Axworthy. In that meeting, the Executive Secretary of
the Commission and I covered all the background information and experience
of the matter we had in order to help make the delicate mission a success.
The events that have occurred in Peru in recent weeks show that the
Commission’s recommendations were indeed on target. It is worth
repeating here that those recommendations are still pertinent.
An event of great significance to the Inter-American system also
took place at the last OAS General Assembly–Barbados formally submitted
its acceptance of the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights in contentious cases. The IACHR believes that this sovereign
decision represents not only a giant step forward for the full protection
of the human rights of the inhabitants of Barbados, but also serves as an
example to countries that are still in the process of ratifying
Inter-American instruments.
It also gives me great satisfaction to mention that while in
Windsor the Commission was invited by Soledad Alvear, Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Chile, to hold a special session in her country. We have also
been invited to make an in loco
visit to Panama and are planning to do so in the second half of 2001.
Upon the invitation of the government of Brazil, the IACHR held its
107th special session from June 12 to 16 in Brasilia and São
Paolo. Work at that meeting centered on reforming our rules of procedure,
but a number of cases were also examined. The Commission had the
opportunity to meet with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and other
important Brazilian authorities. From the executive branch, we met with
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luiz Felipe Lampréia, and the Minister
of Justice, José Gregori. From the judicial branch, we met with Minister
Carlos Velloso, President of the Federal Supreme Court, with Minister
Roberto Saraiva da Costa Leite, President of the Superior Court, and with
other authorities representing the judiciary and the public prosecutor’s
office. The Commission was also received by the President of the Senate,
Antonio Carlos Magalhães, and by the President of the Chamber of
Deputies, Michel Temer. We attended a special session of the Federal
Council of the Bar Association of Brazil on the invitation of its
president, Reginaldo Oscar de Castro. In addition, the Commission had
occasion to meet with Mario Covas, Governor of São Paulo, and Anthony
Garotinho, Governor of Rio de Janeiro, as well as with authorities of Pará
State.
While in Brazil, the Commission signed a cooperation agreement with
the Superior Court that is open to other state and federal judicial
bodies. Several have already added their names, including the Court of
Justice and the Procurator’s Office of Pará State, the Office of the
Public Prosecutor of Rio de Janeiro State, and the Federal Council of the
Bar Association of Brazil. The Commission also had the opportunity to
examine various human rights questions, as well as the situation in the
Americas in general and in Brazil in particular, during two open seminars
attended by government officials, specialists and leaders of Brazilian
human rights groups. The Commission held special meetings with NGOs in
Brasilia (sponsored by the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of
Deputies) and in São Paolo (sponsored by the Core Group for the Study of
Violence of São Paolo State University). These encounters provided the
Commission with a chance to share information, views and concerns on the
main problems and principal advances in the field of human rights in
Brazil and in the hemisphere as a whole. I would like to once again extend
my sincere thanks to the Brazilian authorities and all others who made it
possible for us to hold out 107th special session in Brazil.
We are saddened to announce that since out last session, two
individuals under the protection of precautionary measures issued by the
Commission have lost their lives. Human rights activist Jesús Ramiro
Zapata was murdered in Antioquia (Colombia) on May 3, 2000. And on June
22, 2000 Shaka Sankofa, previously known as Gary Graham, was executed in
Texas in spite of the request for stay of execution that we sent to the US
government. He had been sentenced to death for acts that he committed at
the age of 17 and had spent 20 years on death row. The Commission
requested that his execution be stayed until a case filed on his behalf
could be judged on the merits. The IACHR issued a press release stating
its position on the matter.
In early August a delegation visited Guatemala in response to an
invitation extended to the IACHR by President Alfonso Portillo. During
that visit a truly historic step was taken when President Portillo
recognized the state’s institutional responsibility in regard to 10
cases currently before the Commission and promised to make even greater
efforts to reach friendly settlements based on compensation and
investigation of what really happened. The Commission issued a statement
underscoring the historic significance of the commitment made by the
Portillo government.
In late August the Commission made an in
loco visit to Haiti. Since our stay briefly overlapped with that of a
delegation led by the Secretary General of the OAS, it is worth pointing
out that the dates of our visit had been the subject of conversations with
the Haitian government going back more than a year. The purpose of our
visit was to observe the general human rights situation in the country.
The commission issued a press release reporting on its activities and
initial impressions. While in Haiti, the Commission had the opportunity to
join hands with the United Nations mission posted there in an extremely
interesting pro human rights activity. We organized a seminar on the
Inter-American system for the protection and promotion of human rights,
which was attended by more than thirty representatives of Haitian NGOs. At
this time, I would like to once again thank the Haitian authorities for
all their assistance and also extend our gratitude to all the other
individuals and civil society representatives that contributed to making
our visit a true success.
In the month of August the Commission also sent representatives to
the 48th session of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in
San José (Costa Rica). Five cases were heard at different procedural
levels, some at the stage of preliminary exceptions, others at the stage
of examination of the merits, and still other at the stage of reparations.
There was also a hearing on a Commission request for provisional measures,
which the Court decided to grant.
From July 10 to 14, the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Expression and two attorneys working in the IACHR Executive Secretariat
made a trip to Panama upon the invitation of the government to study the
situation in the country. They met with President Mireya Moscoso, as well
as with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other
government bodies, and will present a report on their findings. I would
like to thank the government of Panama for the invitation and recall that
they have also invited the Commission to make an in loco visit during the second half of next year to observe the
general human rights situation in the country.
In regard to the Office of the Rapporteur for the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples and work in that area, I would like to mention that the
Commission has been in contact with Ambassador Ronalth Ochaeta, whose keen
interest in these matters is well known. Moreover, the subject was brought
up in our conversations with President Portillo, with whom we talked of
the role the OAS can play with regard to the Declaration of the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples. The Commission would like to reaffirm its willingness
to work closely and as fruitfully as possible with the Working Group
presided by Ambassador Ochaeta.
The IACHR has participated in many other activities to promote
human rights. I personally had the opportunity to lecture on questions
related to the death penalty as part of a course on international law
organized by the Inter-American Juridical Committee in Rio de Janeiro
(Brazil). The Commission hosted a visit from Inclusion Interamericana,
a hemisphere-wide NGO based in Canada that promotes the rights of people
with disabilities, which sent a group of lawyers from different countries
to IACHR headquarters to develop an information program on the
Inter-American system of human rights. This activity had been brought up
when we were in Windsor and the results were certainly positive. The
participants themselves certainly made great efforts, including financing
their own trips. I would also like to mention the interesting seminar for
indigenous leaders held last summer in Guatemala. The Office of the
Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples attended in representation
of the Commission. The seminar itself was financed with technical
assistance funds from Denmark, which made a contribution to the IACHR for
work in this specific area. In similar fashion, a professional staff
member working for the Office of the Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child
in our Executive Secretariat presented a paper at the XI International
Conference on Family Law organized by the Universidad Externada of
Colombia in Bogotá from September 4 to 7, 2000.
At this time, I would like to mention four points that I believe
should receive close attention by our Heads of State and Government at
their summit meeting this coming April, at the dawn of a new century. 1.
The bodies of the Inter-American system of human rights have seen
their supervisory duties grow over the last two decades as member states
have increased their participation in the system. Recent initiatives to
strengthen the system simply confirm that priority must be given to
increasing material and human resources. This is necessary to ensure that
human rights are protected and promoted throughout the region, that the
system progresses toward being universal, and that all norms are
interpreted and applied correctly on the domestic level, especially by the
courts of member states. States must live up to their international
obligations and fully comply with the recommendations, judgments and other
decisions made by the competent bodies of the system. We thus think that
it is of the utmost importance that resources be substantially increased
so that the bodies of the Inter-American system can carry out the mandate
given them. 2.
States should place the highest priority on ratifying the American
Convention, its additional protocols and the other treaties that make up
the system. They should also place acceptance of the Inter-American
Court’s jurisdiction at the top of their priority lists. To this end,
dialogue should be undertaken at a high level with member countries that
have not yet signed and ratified these instruments. 3.
Countries should also collaborate on a plan of action to assist in
adapting domestic administrative practices and legislation to
international norms – and here I would especially like to mention the
imperative of repealing contempt laws (desacato)
still in force in most member states. Countries should create mechanisms
to assure compliance with recommendations and decisions handed down by
relevant bodies. Cooperation should stress training for people working in
the judiciary, law enforcement and civil society groups. 4.
All states should do their part in meeting the collective duty they
have to ensure compliance with international obligations arising from the
various instruments of the Inter-American system. They should adopt all
measures needed to proceed in accordance with the reports, recommendations
and decisions of the system’s pertinent bodies within the area of
competence of the General Assembly and the Permanent Council. It is indeed of the greatest importance
that country representatives support the ideas just outlined and make sure
that they are included in the proposals to be presented next April to the
Summit of the Americas to be held in Canada. Ladies and Gentlemen: You know that one of the basic problems
afflicting the bodies of our system is the low level of budgetary
resources. The Commission is fully aware of the financial difficulties
facing the OAS as a whole due to members’ failure to pay dues on time.
Notwithstanding, on June 5, 2000 in Windsor, the General Assembly passed
Resolution 1701 on “Evaluation of the Workings of the Inter-American
System for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights with a View to its
Improvement and Strengthening.” One of the operative paragraphs
instructs the Permanent Council: To
promote a substantial increase in the allocation of resources to the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, in upcoming fiscal years, in recognition of the fact that
the protection and promotion of human rights is a central priority of the
Organization. The
budgetary limitations we face are an obstacle to adequately performing the
duties we have to protect and promote human rights as the principal OAS
body in this area (as mentioned in the Charter). We should recall the
words of the preamble of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties
of Man. “The international
protection of the rights of man should be the principal guide of an
evolving American law.” I truly hope that the support expressed in
Resolution 1701 leads to greater financial resources being allocated to
the IACHR in the program budget for next year. At
this time I would like to share with you some good news in this regard.
The Commission has received voluntary contributions that not only have
improved our situation by creating specific funds, but that have also
helped us to carry out our usual tasks. I am referring to the major
contribution made by the government of the United States and presented to
us by the Permanent Representative of that country in a ceremony held at
IACHR headquarters on April 25, 2000. At the time, we issued a press
release with all pertinent information. That contribution helped cover
part of the activities of the IACHR, and specifically of the Office of the
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. I must also mention that for
the second consecutive year, Spain has made a voluntary contribution
earmarked for the purchase of books, upgrading of the library,
improvements to the reference section and work in the website. The IACHR
also received a contribution from the government of El Salvador. In
regard to reform of our rules of procedure, the Commission duly received
and studied Resolution 1701. The IACHR has also taken into consideration
the documents submitted by the Commission on Political and Juridical
Affairs and by member states. Moreover, we have received comments and
observations from some 200 NGOs. We are making progress and will certainly
give the matter the emphasis and priority it deserves in the session we
are opening today. Before
concluding these remarks, I would like to warmly congratulate Ambassador
Luigi Einaudi for his appointment as Assistant Secretary General of the
OAS. Ambassador Einaudi’s past contributions to the Inter-American
system are well known, as are his efforts in support of democracy and his
keen interest in human rights. I would once again like to thank Secretary
General César Gaviria for his unfailing support of the Commission and of
all efforts to strengthen the Inter-American system of human rights. For
its part, the IACHR will continue to foster cooperation with member states
with a view to assuring that our mutual goal–full respect of the human
rights of all inhabitants of the Americas – is met. Thank
you very much.
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