IACHR

Press Release

OAS General Assembly Elects New IACHR Commissioners

June 17, 2015

More on the IACHR

Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announces the results of the election of Commissioners that took place on June 16, 2015, at the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C. Enrique Gil Botero, Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, Margarette May Macaulay, and Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli were elected to a four-year term, which starts on January 1, 2016, and ends on December 31, 2019.

The Commissioners whose mandates will end on December 31 of this year are Rose-Marie Antoine, Felipe González, Rosa María Ortiz, and Tracy Robinson. Other members of the IACHR are José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez, James L. Cavallaro, and Paulo Vannuchi, whose terms will end on December 31, 2017. The IACHR Executive Secretary is Emilio Álvarez Icaza L.

Commissioner-elect Enrique Gil Botero is a citizen of Colombia. He has a degree in Law and Political Science from Antioquia University. He was Magistrate of the Colombian State Council, a trial lawyer before the Chamber for Administrative Litigation from 1984 to 2006, a founding member of the Institute for Civil and State Responsibility of Antioquia, and President of the Council of State from April 2008 to February 2009.

Commissioner-elect Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño is citizen of Panama. She has a degree in Philosophy, Letters, and Education, as well as in Law and Political Science, sigma cum laude. She joined the Special Commission for the 2011-2012 Constitutional Reforms in Panama and was Magistrate of the Supreme Court from 2004 to 2009. She currently puts together teams of trainers in the Accusatory Criminal System for the Public Prosecutor’s Office and at the inter-institutional level.

Commissioner-elect Margarette May Macaulay is citizen of Jamaica. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London and is currently an attorney in private practice. She serves as Mediator in the Supreme Court of Jamaica and an Associate Arbitrator, as well as serving as a Notary Public. She served as a Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights from 2007 to 2012, contributing to the formulation of the Court’s Rules of Procedure.

Commissioner-elect Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli is citizen of Peru. He has a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, with a master's degree in Constitutional Law and a PhD in Humanities. He was Ambassador of Peru to the Kingdom of Spain from 2012 to 2014 and Minister of the Office of Justice. He is currently a legal consultant and adviser at both the national and international level, specializing in issues related to Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Human Rights.

According to the American Convention on Human Rights, the Commission is composed of seven members, who must be persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights, elected in a personal capacity by the OAS General Assembly from a list of candidates proposed by the governments of the Member States. The members of the Commission are elected for a four-year term and may be reelected only once.

Every OAS Member State is part of the inter-American human rights system. On the basis of the OAS Charter and the American Declaration, the IACHR observes the human rights situation in every Member State of the Organization and receives, examines, and investigates individual petitions alleging human rights violations in those countries, among other functions.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 071/15