IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Completes Working Visit to Argentina to Discuss Friendly Settlements
April 12, 2019
IACHR Press and Communication Office
Tel: +1 (202) 370-9000
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Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) conducted a working visit to Argentina on April 3-8, 2019, to discuss friendly settlements. The delegation was led by Commissioner Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva, IACHR Rapporteur for Argentina.
During the visit, Commissioner Vargas Silva chaired eight working meetings to negotiate an agreement for compliance with IACHR recommendations concerning Case 12,906 (Delfín Acosta), and to negotiate and/or implement friendly settlements in Case 12,532 (Penitentiary Inmates in Mendoza); Case 12,306 (Juan Carlos de la Torre); Case 12,182 (Florentino Rojas); Case 13,011 (Graciela Ramos Rocha); Case 12,289 (Guillermo Santiago Zaldívar); and Petition 1256-05 (Ivanna Rosales).
Further, on April 3, Commissioner Vargas Silva attended an event entitled “Migrant Families and Detention: A Preliminary Analysis of the Impact of Criminal Proceedings” at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). On April 4, Commissioner Vargas Silva chaired the re-opening of a photo exhibition that stemmed from the Southern Cone contest on migrants “Migrating is a human right,” held by the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS, by its Spanish acronym).
On April 5, Commissioner Vargas Silva presided over the ceremony to unveil a plaque concerning the implementation of the friendly settlement in Case 12,854, Report No. 36/17 (Ricardo Javier Kaplun), held in Neighborhood Police Station 14B in Buenos Aires. High authorities of the State—including the Assistant Secretary for Human Rights of the State of Argentina Brian Schapira, the head of the Human Rights Department at the Foreign Ministry of the State of Argentina María Gabriela Quinteros, and the head of Argentina’s International Disputes Department Javier Salgado—also attended the event. Ireland’s ambassador and members of the victim’s family were at the ceremony too (see attached the speeches delivered by the Commissioner and by petitioners). After the event, in keeping with that settlement’s Clause 3 (concerning non-repetition measures), the parties and Commissioner Vargas Silva visited several temporary detention centers to check that they complied with human rights standards and had appropriately functioning security cameras, as agreed in the friendly settlement.
Finally, on April 8, 2019, Commissioner Vargas Silva took part in a working meeting concerning Precautionary Measure No. 35/14 (Persons Held in Prison Complexes Almafuerte and San Felipe). Both the State and the petitioning party also attended the meeting. Commissioner Vargas Silva committed to returning to the country and visiting those facilities again to verify compliance with these precautionary measures, given the discrepancies that were evident between the parties during the working meeting.
The Commission commends the Argentine State for its efforts and for its contribution to organizing this visit. It further appreciates the Argentine Foreign Ministry’s support to conduct working meetings and implementation activities in keeping with the friendly settlement in the Kaplun case, with delivered positive results. The IACHR also acknowledges the efforts made by the State and by petitioners to ensure that working meetings facilitated by the Commission went smoothly.
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. 097/19