FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2016
Contact: In Atlanta, Soyia Ellison, 1-404-420-5124 or soyia.ellison@cartercenter.org
ATLANTA — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States, announced Monday that a grave financial crisis has led to the suspension of site visits and cancellation of hearings scheduled for July and October, and the imminent loss of 40 percent of its staff. To avert this dire situation, the IACHR needs to receive funds, or at least written commitments for contributions, before June 15.
The Carter Center calls on OAS member states to take action at the June meeting of its General Assembly to strengthen the Inter-American Human Rights System and commit to providing it and the IACHR with the financial resources necessary and indispensable for the protection and defense of human rights in the hemisphere.
The IACHR is one of the main collective achievements of the countries in the hemisphere, and since its creation in 1959, it has carried out valuable work for the promotion, defense, and protection of human rights.
When many countries in the region were led by dictators and authoritarian governments, the commission played a key role in denouncing human rights violations. The IACHR constituted an essential element in the transition to and strengthening of democracy, combating impunity and setting new issues on national human-rights agendas, including the rights of children, of women, of indigenous communities, of sexual minorities, of persons deprived of liberty, of afro-descendants, of people with disabilities, of defenders of human rights, of migrants, and, in general, of groups in vulnerable situations.
The IACHR has contributed to the strengthening of democracy through the defense of due process, development of standards of access to justice, and the promotion of freedom of expression, among other essential tasks. Its continued existence is vital to the hemisphere.
Centro Carter pide apoyo para la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (PDF)
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