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THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN the Observations and Recommendations of the Permanent Council on
the Annual Report of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (AG/doc.4325/04);
CONSIDERING:
That in the Declaration of the Third Summit of the Americas, held in Quebec
City, the Heads of State and Government stated that their “commitment to full
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is based on shared principles
and convictions” and that they supported “strengthening and enhancing the
effectiveness of the inter American human rights system, which includes the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights”;
That Article 54.f of the Charter of the Organization of American States
establishes that it is a function of the General Assembly to consider the
observations and recommendations presented by the Permanent Council on the
reports of the organs, agencies, and entities of the Organization, in accordance
with Article 91.f of the Charter[1] ; and
That Article 65 of the American Convention on Human Rights establishes that
“to each regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American
States the Court shall submit, for the Assembly’s consideration, a report on its
work during the previous year. It shall specify, in particular, the cases in
which a state has not complied with its judgments, making any pertinent
recommendations”;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Summary of the Annual Report of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights for the 2003 fiscal year (CP/CAJP-2131/04), the
Reflections on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights based on the Report of
its Work presented to the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs
(CP/CAJP-2131/04 add. 1); as well as the Proposed Budget of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights for 2005, contained in document AG/CP/doc.663/04;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ALSO the proposal by the President of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights, contained in document CP/CAJP-2131/04 add. 1, “to
initiate an expanded process of a shared review and examination, comprising the
organs of the OAS, the Court and the Commission, the states, and the
Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, civil society groups and institutions,
and external observers and academicians, which could all contribute to it from
their own perspective. This process, carried out in the way that would best
serve its proposed objectives, could lead to useful suggestions on ways to
correct, reform, advance, and consolidate. An expanded, serious, and careful
study, conducted with good will, could be an excellent step forward in this new
stage we are now embarking on.”; and
TAKING NOTE OF Advisory Opinion OC-18/03, Legal Status and Rights of
Undocumented Migrant Workers, adopted by the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights on September 17, 2003,
RESOLVES:
1. To accept the observations and recommendations of the Permanent Council on
the Annual Report of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and to transmit
them to that organ.
2. To reaffirm the essential value of the work of the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights in enhancing the promotion and defense of human rights in the
Hemisphere.
3. To reiterate that the judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights are final and may not be appealed and that the States Party to the
Convention undertake to comply with the decisions of the Court in all cases to
which they are party.
4. To reiterate the need for states parties to provide information required
by the Court in order to enable it to fully meet its obligation to report to the
General Assembly on compliance with its judgments.
5. To reaffirm the importance of the advisory function of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights for the development of inter-American jurisprudence and
international human rights law and, in that context, to take note of Advisory
Opinion OC-18/03.
6. To instruct the Permanent Council to continue its consideration of the
issue of “access of victims to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ius
standi) and its application in practice,” including its financial and budgetary
implications, taking into account the report of the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights entitled “Bases for a Draft Protocol to the American Convention on
Human Rights to Strengthen Its Mechanism for Protection – Volume II”; the
proposal presented by the Government of Costa Rica, “Draft Optional Protocol to
the American Convention on Human Rights”; and the revised Rules of Procedure of
the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and of the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights.
7. To instruct the Permanent Council to continue to examine ways to bring
about an effective and adequate increase in the financial resources allocated to
the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the program-budget of the
Organization.
8. In addition, to encourage OAS member states to contribute to the Specific
Fund for Strengthening the Inter-American System for the Protection and
Promotion of Human Rights.
9. To urge the OAS member states to consider signing and ratifying,
ratifying, or acceding to, as the case may be, the American Convention on Human
Rights and other instruments of the system, including acceptance of the binding
jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.[1]/
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21. Trinidad and Tobago requested that its reservation regarding operative
paragraph 9 be put on record. |
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