IACHR Announces Interview Dates for Finalists of Selection Process for Executive Secretary Position

April 22, 2021

Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announced that the five finalists of the competition to select the new Executive Secretary will be interviewed individually online on May 3, 2021, as part of the selection process that is currently underway. A roundtable will also be held on April 30 in which the finalists and the members of the IACHR Executive Secretariat will take part. The IACHR will then inform the selected candidate as per the criteria established in the call for applications, which was based on OAS regulations.

Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) communicates that the 5 finalists in the contest for the selection of the person to occupy the position of head of the Executive Secretariat will participate in individual interviews virtually on May 3, 2021, as part of the ongoing process. Likewise, on April 30, a round table will be held with the finalists and those who make up the Executive Secretariat of the Commission. Subsequently, the IACHR will inform the person who was selected in accordance with the criteria previously established in the convocation based on OAS regulations.

The IACHR selected the five candidates who will move on to the interview stage at an internal session held on February 2. The candidates are (in alphabetical order): Andrés Emilio Mahnke Malschafsky (Chile), Celia Medrano (El Salvador), María Claudia Pulido (Colombia), Karla I. Quintana Osuna (Mexico), and Tania Reneaum Panszi (México). They were selected from the list of ten candidates that was published on December 15, 2020.

Due to the circumstances prevailing throughout the Americas as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IACHR decided to hold the interviews online. As was announced on February 2, 2021, the interview date was postponed to May, and as a result of this change to the schedule, the person chosen to lead the Executive Secretariat will commence their duties on June 1, 2021.

The IACHR wishes once again to thank all finalists for taking part in the selection process and for having agreed to participate in the online roundtables held on January 26 and 27. It also wishes to express its satisfaction with the interest in the selection process that was shown by highly qualified individuals with extensive experience in the field of human rights. The IACHR is also grateful for the more than 460 letters and comments received from OAS Member States and civil society during the public consultation that was held between December 15, 2020, and January 22, 2021, in accordance with Article 15.4 of its Rules of Procedure.

The process through which the IACHR selects its Executive Secretary is governed by the relevant rules of procedure. As was established on September 25, 2020, the IACHR will announce the name of the person who will lead the Executive Secretariat and put their name forward to the Secretary General of the OAS, proposing that they be appointed for a four-year term in office that may be renewed just once, in accordance with Article 21 of its Statute and Article 11 of its Rules of Procedure.

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 on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States whose principal functions are to promote the observance and defense of human rights and to serve as an advisory body to the Organization 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. 097/21