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INTRODUCTION The
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has the honor to
submit its report to the General Assembly, in compliance with the
provisions of Article 52 f of the Charter of the Organization of
American States. This
report contains five chapters and has been prepared in accordance with
Resolution 331 (VIII-O/80) of the General Assembly and Article 59 of the
new Regulations of the Commission. Chapter
I is a brief summary of the Commission’s origin and juridical bases.
It also contains the discussion of the development of the
Commission as an organ of the Inter-American System.
The chapter also contains a brief account of the Commission’s
relationship with other organs of the Inter-American System and regional
and global institutions of a similar nature during 1982 and 1983. Chapter
II refers to the “General Human Rights Situation in the Member
States” analyzing materials relative to the right for life, personal
liberty, protection against arbitrary detention, justice and due
process, religious freedom, the freedoms of investigation, opinion,
expression and diffusion of thought as well as political rights.
It is necessary to emphasize that the Commission, on adopting the
format contained in this chapter, in which it refers generally to
specific problems that have occurred during the year covered by this
report, is fulfilling General Assembly Resolution Nº 718 adopted during
the last General Assembly. In
Chapter III the Commission has prepared a study of those areas in which
the member states should take measures to assure greater respect for
human rights in keeping with the American Declaration of the Rights and
Duties of Man and the American Convention on Human Rights.
The Commission refers particularly in the chapter to the
phenomenon of disappeared/detained persons, torture, social, economic
and cultural rights and the problem of refugees in America. Chapter
IV presents resolutions on individual cases. This chapter contains
several resolutions adopted by the IACHR regarding specific cases
presented to it, which the Commission processed in accordance with its
Regulations. Lastly,
Chapter V refers to the activities undertaken by the Commission during
the period covered by this report.
Emphasis is placed on the Commission’s principal activities, as
well as the subjects it dealt with and the most important measures taken
during its various sessions. In
addition, it includes a summary of the on-site observations carried out
in Guatemala and Suriname, the participation by the Commission in the
twelfth regular session of the General Assembly, and the resolutions
adopted by that body concerning the work of the Commission in the field
of human rights. It also
contains a request for an advisory opinion to the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights formulated by the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, regarding the interpretation of Article 4.2 of the American
Convention and the public hearing that was carried out for this purpose. Likewise,
it describes in general terms the follow-up visits to Nicaragua and
Honduras by the Executive Secretariat of the Commission regarding the
quest for a friendly settlement to the situation of the Nicaraguan
citizens of Miskito origin. Finally,
the Commission wished to inform the General Assembly that during the
course of the forthcoming year it will approve a general report on the
human rights situation in Cuba. The Commission notes that it has received information from several governments, which has been taken into account in the general analysis of the human rights situation in those respective countries as well as in the preparation of this report.
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