TOPICS:

• 85th, 86th and 87th sessions
• On-site visits
• Other activities

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), one of the organs of the OAS (Article 52 of the Charter), was created by the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held in Santiago, Chile, in 1959, under resolution VI. It was formally established in 1960, when the Council of the OAS approved its Statute. The Commission represents all member States of the Organization of American States. It is made up of seven members, elected in their individual capacity by the General Assembly. Under Article 111 of the Charter, the Commission's principal function is to promote the observance and protection of human rights and to serve as a consultative organ of the Organization in these matters.

The Commission held two regular sessions: the 85th session, January 31 through February 11, 1994<$FThese dates are prior to the period covered in this Report. The information presented here supplements that reported in the Secretary General's 1993-1994 Annual Report.>, and the 87th, September 19 through 30. The 86th was a special session, held April 6 and 7, 1994. Between February 6 and 17, 1995, the Commission held its 88th regular session.

85th, 86th and 87th sessions

The first order of business for the Commission at its 85th regular session was the Haitian situation. It noted that the American Convention was still in effect for the Haitian State and those who had unlawfully seized power were obliged to respect the rights contained in the Convention and guarantee their full observance.

The Commission took note of and evaluated the observations presented by the Government of El Salvador and decided to publish the Special Report on that country. It also expressed concern over the human rights situation in Cuba and Nicaragua. In the case of Brazil, it decided to request permission to conduct an on-site visit.

The Commission took cognizance of a number of individual cases presented to it for consideration. It heard testimony on those cases and received information on the general human rights situation in countries of the hemisphere. It also continued its analysis of the observance of the economic, social and cultural rights and of the rights of women in the hemisphere.

During its 86th special session, the Commission examined, inter alia, issues relating to the strengthening of the inter-American human rights system, its schedule of on-site visits, and the processing of individual cases. The Commission approved a special report on the human rights situation in the so-called "communities of peoples in resistance" in Guatemala. It also decided to do a special study on the general situation of prison systems in the hemisphere, a study comparing national laws relating to women, and a study on the crime of desacato (contempt; in this case, speech offensive to public authorities).

At its 87th regular session, the Commission examined the human rights situation in the hemisphere. It put particular emphasis on the Haitian situation and, accordingly, received the Ambassador of Haiti to the OAS, His Excellency Jean Cassimir, as well as petitioners who had filed individual cases concerning Haiti. The Commission approved the idea of an on-site to Haiti.

The Commission received government representatives and a number of petitioners who had filed cases with the Commission. It also received reports from nongovernmental organizations on the general human rights situation in those States. The Commission also examined other individual cases and considered approval of reports on specific human rights violations.

The Commission welcomed the Minister of Justice of Chile, Dr. Soledad Alvear, and the Permanent Representative of Chile to the OAS, Ambassador Edmundo Vargas Carreño, who spoke of the steps the Chilean Government had taken to enhance the administration of justice. The Solicitor General of Jamaica, Dr. Kenneth Rattray, made a statement before the Commission concerning human-rights related matters in his country.

The Commission underscored the importance of the friendly settlement procedure in the new scenario in the hemisphere. For example, the Government of Argentina and the petitioner in the case of Mr. Horacio Verbitsky had settled the contested issue by mutual agreement and satisfactorily insofar as the Commission was concerned. At the present time, a number of individual cases involving that country are being resolved through friendly settlement.

On-site visits

In March, the Commission made an on-site visit to Guatemala to verify the situation of the so-called "communities of peoples in resistance" and contacted national authorities and representatives of those communities, as well as other parties.

From May 16 through 20, the Commission made an on-site visit to Haiti. During the visit the Commission confirmed that the human rights situation in that country had seriously deteriorated and so informed the OAS General Assembly at its twenty-fourth regular session in Belém do Pará, Brazil.

The Commission made an on-site visit to The Bahamas, May 22 through 27. During that visit the Commission had an opportunity to evaluate the situation of the Haitian refugees in that country. The Commission met with government authorities, nongovernmental organizations and individuals involved in refugee-related affairs.

The Commission made another visit to Haiti from October 24 through 27, to reformulate and continue its mission of promoting and protecting human rights in that country. The measures taken over the last three years by the de facto authorities who seized power in that country had placed fundamental guarantees in great peril, thereby taking a severe toll on the IACHR's mission.

For the first time, the Commission visited Ecuador, November 7 through 11, to visit, inter alia, the prisons and examine the conditions under which the indigenous communities in that country live. Meetings were held with government authorities to share views on the various matters that concerned the Commission.

The last two trips in 1994 were made in December. One was to Guatemala, December 10 through 15, to ascertain what progress had been made with the observance of human rights in those areas where the "communities of peoples in resistance" were located; and the extent to which the recommendations made to the Government in the most recent Special Report, dated June 16, 1994, had been carried out. The other trip was to Jamaica, December 7 and 9, the fundamental purpose being to look into the human rights situation in Jamaica's prisons.

Other activities

The Commission attended the hearings that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held between November 18 and December 9, in connection with cases brought against Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela for human rights violations; the Advisory Opinion No. 14/94, which the Commission had requested; and the requests of interim measures in a case involving Guatemala.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights celebrated its 35th anniversary in 1994. The Commission has been promoting and protecting human rights in the Americas since its creation on August 18, 1959, in Santiago, Chile. To mark the occasion, the Government of Chile invited the Commission to commemorate its anniversary with a series of academic and protocolary events. The hosts, led by the President of the Republic, the Honorable Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, his Excellency Carlos Figueroa Serrano, reaffirmed their steadfast support for the mechanisms that protect human rights in the hemisphere.

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