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OAS NAMES SPECIAL OBSERVERS TO ECUADOR

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today named Sonia Picado, of Costa Rica, and José Antonio Viera Gallo, of Chile, as his special representatives to observe the process of selecting members of Ecuador’s Supreme Court of Justice.

“The presence of these high-level international observers will support the Ecuadorian government and contribute to the transparency of the process to establish an impartial and independent Supreme Court,” said Insulza, who is currently on mission in Chile.

Picado, a lawyer and President of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, will head the Special Mission. The two special representatives will be in Ecuador from August 22 through 26, to advance the work of the international observation process.

The observers’ visit responds to a request from the government and follows up on a visit from the Secretary General to that country last month. Insulza’s visit was a result of a Permanent Council resolution, approved on May 20, in which the OAS offered support to Ecuador.

In addition to heading the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, Sonia Picado has served as a member of Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly, President of the National Liberation Party and Ambassador to the United States as well as to several international committees. She was Vice-president and a Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, President of the International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor and co-President of the Inter-American Dialogue. She was Dean of the Law School of the University of Costa Rica, the first woman in Latin America to be elected to that position. She has taught at the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, at Dayton University in Ohio, the World University Service in Salzburg, Austria, and Columbia University in New York, among other places.

José Antonio Viera Gallo is a lawyer who graduated from the Catholic University of Chile with a degree in political sciences from the Latin American Institute of Doctrine and Social Studies (ILADES). He is currently a Senator from the Republic of Chile and chairs the Commission of Human Rights, Nationality and Citizenship. He is the author of several publications and served as Undersecretary of Justice for the Salvador Allende government and Director of Studies at Chile’s Catholic University. He was also one of the promoters of the Center of Social Studies (CESOC). He has been a consultant for UNESCO, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Council of Churches. He also chaired his country’s House of Representatives.

Reference: E-172/05