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OAS Secretary General Highlighted Role of IHRS during the Cold War, in honor of International Human Rights Day

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today commemorated at its last regular meeting of the year, International Human Rights Day, at the request of the delegations of Canada, Costa Rica, the United States, Jamaica, Mexico and Uruguay. December 10 marked 65 years since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and also twenty years since the establishment of the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was agreed on during the same year that the Charter of the OAS was written and six months after the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. "This double link, first from our Organization, then with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and at the same time the link that our constituent Assembly had with the the fundamental issues of democracy and human rights, represents two of the founding pillars of our Organization."

The Secretary General noted that for many years, "the OAS was not able to carry out this dual reality. In the Cold War many of the elements of democracy and human rights were postponed, using these principles rhetorically while applying a policy that accepted regimes that did not apply representative democracy and that made the violation of human rights and institutional practice." He explained that this dramatic stage experienced by many countries in the Hemisphere enhances the value of the outstanding work done by human rights defenders in this difficult time, starting with the institutions of the Inter-American Human Rights System. Insulza noted that "this effort to restore and ensure respect for human rights in our countries, marked one of the most memorable periods of history , not only in our region but also in the whole world."

In this sense, he summarized, "today we pay homage to those who during that time held high the banner of human rights, a powerful international movement, which implied great risks to those who participated in it."

Representatives of Member States stressed the continued validity of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the pioneering role played by the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. They also stressed the importance of the creation of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Report of the Chair of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

On another point of the agenda, the Council received the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Diego García-Sayán, who presented a report on his work as head of the institution during the period 2010-2013. The current mandate of the magistrate concludes on December 31.

Judge Garcia-Sayan said that during the last four years, "an essential criterion for strengthening the institutional work has been interacting with people, and bringing the Court closer to the people." In this regard, he stressed the holding of public hearings, and mentioned that this year such hearings took place in Medellin, Colombia; Mexico City; and Brasilia.

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru also highlighted the "growing diversity of materials" handled by the Court, some of which "it would have been unimaginable that they would arrived to the Court five years ago," among which he cited matters related to discrimination based on sexual identity, methods of assisted fertilization and participatory mechanisms for indigenous peoples. García-Sayán said that during the past four years, the Court decided 30 percent of all cases in its entire history, which was founded in 1979.

Regarding the strengthening of the financial system, Judge García-Sayán acknowledged that budget resources from the OAS increased by 50 percent over the last four years and especially appreciated the support of the General Secretariat of the OAS. He also mentioned the recent agreement with Brazil under which from today forward the Court has the necessary resources to translate all resolutions into Portuguese.

The Chair of the Permanent Council and Permanent Representative of Peru, Juan Federico Jiménez Mayor, expressed the gratitude of the Organization to García-Sayán for his work accomplished over the past four years in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. "He has left ​​a renewed, strengthened Court, which is sitting precedents for our countries," he concluded.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

The audio of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-487/13