IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Announces the Selection of Academic Papers on the Impact of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Its 60-Year History
August 7, 2019
IACHR Press and Communication Office
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Washington, D.C. - Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has announced the list of 72 people who have been selected to present their academic studies on the impacts of the IACHR during its 60-year history in response to the call for papers on May 14, 2019.
This activity seeks to encourage the transfer of expert knowledge on the impact that IACHR mechanisms, jurisprudence, and standards have had on the promotion and protection of human rights in the Americas.
Some 157 submissions were received from people working in the world of academia (including professors, students, and researchers) in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe. The papers were reviewed by an academic committee made up of IACHR experts based on the criteria that were set out in the call for papers, taking into account both the quantity and quality of submissions received. Efforts were also made to ensure that the selection was diverse in terms of the geographic origins and genders of the authors and their fields of study.
The papers will be presented on September 30 and October 1 and 2, 2019, as part of the 173rd Period of Sessions, to be held at the IACHR headquarters in Washington, DC. Each of these days will focus on a specific topic: the studies presented on the first day will look at the IACHR’s work throughout its 60-year history; the focus of the second day will be the IACHR’s protection of groups that are particularly vulnerable or have been discriminated against historically; and the third day will be about the impact of the IACHR on national jurisdictions.
“The main objective of this unprecedented activity is to comply with the Strategic Plan by expanding the IACHR’s ties with academic sectors throughout the region. We are working to establish an observatory on the impact of the IACHR and these studies could form part of the observatory’s database,” said IACHR executive secretary Paulo Abrão. “The best presentations will become part of a new section of the IACHR Channel, which will be called IACHR Academia. This new online platform will make presentations on the inter-American system easily accessible, which will help facilitate continuous learning processes. We hope to identify a new generation of talented human rights experts who may one day become part of the IACHR team,” he added.
The IACHR is grateful for the enormous interest that was shown in this project and for all the papers that were submitted.
A list of the selected papers is attached.
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 and to defend 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. 195/19