CHAPTER III 

THE PETITION SYSTEM AND INDIVIDUAL CASES 

 

          A.      Introduction  

          1.       This chapter deals with the work done by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights from its 107th to 111th regular sessions, and concerns the system of petitions and individual cases both before the Commission as well as before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This chapter, which was incorporated by the Commission in its 1997 Annual Report during its 98th regular session, covers the precautionary measures granted by the Commission and requested to the member states of the Organization, the reports approved in accordance with Article 51 of the American Convention, or in the case of the States not party to the Convention, Article 53(4) of its Regulations,[1] and which the Commission has decided to publish, as well as reports on cases declared admissible or inadmissible pursuant to the terms of Articles 46 and 47 of the Convention. This chapter also describes the activities of the Commission before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in connection with provisional measures, and contentious cases. 

          2.       Section B includes statistical tables of the information contained in this chapter and Section C information on petitions and cases before the IACHR. Section C1 of this chapter covers the 52 precautionary measures granted or extended by the Commission and with respect to which there has been activity during this period. In this regard, the Commission has continued its practice of reporting on the precautionary measures requested to the member states of the Organization, on its own initiative or at the request of a party, pursuant to the provisions of Article 29 of its Regulations,[2] in cases where such action was necessary to prevent irreparable harm to persons whose lives and physical integrity were seriously threatened. The precautionary measures are presented in the alphabetical order of the names of the states to which the request was made, and includes mention of the name of the person or persons on whose behalf the request was made, a summary of the facts of the case, the rights of the persons exposed to grave and imminent danger, the number of the case where pertinent and, finally, the date of the request and the name of the state in question. 

          3.       Sections C2, C3, C4 and C5 deal with the entire system of petitions and cases processed and resolved by the Commission during the period covered by this report. These sections thus contain 92 reports, of which 35 are admissibility reports, 21 are reports on petitions and cases declared inadmissible, 13 are friendly settlement reports, and 23 are reports on the merits of cases.  

          4.       Sections D1, D2 and D3 refer to the system of petitions and individual cases litigated by the Commission before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. These sections thus cover the 15 provisional measures ordered by the Court at the request of the Commission in situations of extreme gravity and urgency, pursuant to the provisions of Article 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights, and a summary of the various decisions of the Court and of the actions of the Commission in various contentious cases. The provisional measures are listed in the order of their presentation and include the name of the person or persons on whose behalf they were requested, a summary of the facts of the case and of the rights involved, the date of the request, the name of the State in question, and the date on which the Court adopted the relevant decision.  

          5.       During year 2000, the Commission received 681 complaints about alleged violations of the human rights protected in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the American Convention on Human Rights, and instituted 110 individual cases resulting in a total of 930 individual cases currently being processed by the Commission during the year 2000 and first 4 months of the year 2001.  

B.       Statistics

6.       This Chapter of the 2000 Annual Report includes statistical information aimed at providing a general overview of the different activities of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

 

a.       Total number of cases being processed by country

 

Country

Total

Peru

157

Ecuador

95

Colombia

76

Guatemala

76

Trinidad and Tobago

59

Brazil

58

Argentina

53

Honduras

41

Venezuela

41

United States of America

35

Jamaica

27

Mexico

27

Chile

24

Haiti

21

Nicaragua

20

Paraguay

20

Cuba

16

Bahamas

14

Costa Rica

13

Canada

12

Panama

12

Dominican Republic

6

El Salvador

6

Uruguay

6

Barbados

5

Grenada

3

Bolivia

2

Suriname

2

Belize

1

Guyana

1

Saint Lucia

1

Dominica

0

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

0

St. Kitts and Nevis

0

Antigua and Barbuda

0

Total

930

  

The preceding tables and graph include the total number of cases pending before the IACHR and their breakdown by OAS member state in descending order by country.   

b.       Total number of cases being processed by year 

 

 

  A comparison of the figures corresponding to the total number of cases opened during the past four years reveals a decline between 1997 and 2000.  During the period covered by this annual report, the Inter-American Commission managed to reduce the number of cases pending. 

c.       Total number of cases opened by year

 

Year

Total

1997

147

1998

116

1999

161

2000

110

 The preceding table shows the total number of cases opened by year, beginning in 1997.  It should be made clear that individual cases are opened when petitions meet, prima facie, the procedural requirements stipulated for their processing[3]. 

d.       Total number of cases opened in 2000 by country


Countries

Cases open

Brazil

13

Colombia

11

Ecuador

11

United States of America

11

Peru

8

Argentina

7

Guatemala

7

Trinidad and Tobago

5

Venezuela

5

Mexico

4

Paraguay

4

Chile

3

Panama

3

Bahamas

2

Bolivia

2

Costa Rica

2

Cuba

2

El Salvador

2

Jamaica

2

Canada

1

Dominican Republic

1

Guyana

1

Haiti

1

Honduras

1

Suriname

1

Antigua  and Barbuda

0

Barbados

0

Belize

0

Dominica

0

Grenada

0

Nicaragua

0

Saint Lucia

0

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

0

St. Kitts and Nevis

0

Uruguay

0

Total

110

 

The preceding table shows the total number of cases opened by year according to the country from which the petition was filed. 

e.       Total number of petitions received by year

 

Year

Total

1997

458

1998

607

1999

581

2000

681

  

The preceding table and chart show the total number of petitions received by the Commission in the past four years. A “petition” is considered to be any written complaint regarding an alleged violation by a member state of the American Convention and/or the American Declaration or other human rights instruments in force within the inter-American system.

 

f.    Total number of petitions received by country during the period covered by this report  

 

Country

Petitions received

Peru

141

Argentina

129

United States of America

76

Colombia

60

Mexico

43

Ecuador

32

Chile

23

Brazil

22

Guatemala

19

Panama

17

Paraguay

16

Costa Rica

16

Venezuela

14

Jamaica

11

Bolivia

9

Honduras

9

El Salvador

8

Trinidad and Tobago

7

Canada

7

Haiti

6

Cuba

5

Guyana

4

Nicaragua

3

Uruguay

3

Suriname

1

Bahamas

0

Dominican Republic

0

Antigua and Barbuda

0

Barbados

0

Belize

0

Dominica

0

Grenada

0

Saint Lucia

0

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

0

St. Kitts and Nevis

0

Total

681

 

The table and graph show the total number of petitions received by country, broken down by member state in descending order. 

g.                 Total number of admissibility and inadmissibility reports published

 
 

 

 


Year Admissible Inadmissible
1997 22 5
1998 34 10
1999 26 5
2000 35 21

  

The charts show the figures corresponding to admissibility and inadmissibility reports published in the past four years.  These reports reflect the final decision of the IACHR on fulfillment of the admissibility requirements of petitions. 

h.       Total number of reports published on merits

 
 

 

 


Year

Total

1997

23

1998

25

1999

30

2000

23

 

The tables illustrate the variation in the total number of reports on the merits of individual cases approved and published in the past four years.  The figures include reports in which the IACHR has rendered a decision on the alleged violation of the American Convention by the states parties and of the American Declaration by member states that have not yet ratified the Convention.  It should be pointed out that a report on the merits of a case may include decisions on several individual cases that have been previously processed individually.

  

i.        Total number of cases closed

 
 

 

 


Year

Total

1998

26

1999

41

2000

61

 

The preceding tables present data corresponding to the total number of cases closed by the IACHR in the past three years, when it was decided that grounds did not exist for the petition.

 

j.                    Precautionary measures granted

 

 

Year

Total

1997

57

1998

54

1999

52

2000

52

 

The preceding tables show the total number and variation in the figure corresponding to precautionary measures granted by the IACHR in the past four years.  These measures are granted in order to avoid irreparable damage in situations of extreme emergency. The number of precautionary measures granted does not necessarily reflect the number of persons protected when measures are adopted, since, on many occasions, several persons or entire communities receive protection.

 

k.                  Precautionary measures granted by country

 

 

Countries

Precautionary measures

Colombia

12

United States of America

10

Peru

3

Brazil

3

Venezuela

2

Trinidad and Tobago

2

Jamaica

2

Haiti

2

Grenada

2

Canada

2

Bahamas

2

Panama

1

Nicaragua

1

Honduras

1

Guyana

1

Guatemala

1

El Salvador

1

Ecuador

1

Costa Rica

1

Belize

1

Argentina

1

Uruguay

0

Suriname

0

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

0

St. Kitts y Nevis

0

Saint Lucia

0

Dominican Republic

0

Paraguay

0

Mexico

0

Dominica

0

Cuba

0

Chile

0

Bolivia

0

Barbados

0

Antigua and Barbuda

0

Total

52

 

 The preceding table and graph show the number of precautionary measures granted by country between 2000 and the first quarter of 2001.


l.        Total number of hearings held by year

 

Year

Total

1997

49

1998

54

1999

52

2000

98

  

During its regular sessions, the Inter-American Commission held hearings on individual cases in order to receive information, evidence, and/or arguments regarding admissibility, merits, and fulfillment of obligations or in order to contribute to the friendly settlement of a case.  The IACHR also held hearings in order to receive information on the general human rights situation in member states.  The preceding table reflects a considerable increase in the number of hearings in relation to the three preceding years. 

m.      Cases being processed through friendly settlement channels

                            

Year

Total

2000

91

 

The table shows the total number of cases on which the Inter-American Commission is working in order to allow the parties to reach a friendly settlement and the cases for which a friendly settlement agreement has been signed by both parties and approved by the Commission. 

n.       Cases submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 

 

Year

Total

1997

1

1998

4

1999

7

2000

5

 

After ruling on the merits of a case pursuant to Article 50 of the American Convention, both the IACHR and the States parties involved may submit a case to the contentious jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.  During the period covered by this report, the following cases were submitted to the Court: Constantine et al v. Trinidad and Tobago, Benjamin et al v. Trinidad and Tobago, Barrios Altos v. Peru, and Walter David Bulacio v. Argentina y Alvaro Lobo Pacheco et al. v. Colombia (Case of the 19 comerciantes).  The Commission has a total of 31 cases pending before the Court.

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[1] The Regulations mentioned here remain in effect until April 30, 2001. The Commission’s new Rules of Procedure will enter into force on May 1, 2001. Articles 28 to 43, 45 to 47, and 49 to 50 of the Rules govern procedures for States not party to the American Convention.

[2] Precautionary measures are enshrined in Article 29 of the current Regulations in effect until April 30, 2001 and Article 25 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure that will take effect on May 1, 2001.

[3] In this regard, it is important to note that the practice of the Inter-American Commission of declaring a case open when the petition meets, prima facie, the requirements for processing will be changed when the new Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights take effect on May 1, 2001.   Articles 26 to 30 of the new Rules of Procedure govern the procedure pertaining to the initial processing and declaration of admissibility of petitions which, as a result of this process, become cases.