The 131st session of the Inter-American Commission will begin on 23rd January 2008 in Washington, DC.
Information about past sessions: 130 - 129 - 128 - 127 - 126 - 125 - 124
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More information: Country Reports - Chapters on Children's Rights | State Responses to Commission Reports | Previous Sessions | Useful Documents | Glossary of terms in the inter-American human rights system | Contacts & Links
General Information about the Inter-American System
What is it?
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is one of two bodies in the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights. The Commission has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The other human rights body is the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is located in San José, Costa Rica.
The IACHR is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS). Its mandate is found in the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The IACHR represents all of the member States of the OAS. It is composed of seven experts who act independently, without representing any particular country. The members of the IACHR are elected by the General Assembly of the OAS.
What are the functions of the Commission?
The Commission's main function is to monitor compliance and defense of human rights in the Americas. The Commission's powers are derived from the Charter, but other Inter-American human rights conventions and protocols have authorised the Commission to supervise the compliance of Member States with their obligations regarding these conventions.
When does the Commission meet?
The IACHR meets in ordinary and special sessions several times a year. The ordinary sessions usually last for about two weeks and take place three times a year. During these sessions, the Commission dedicates one week to the hearings and working meetings on various cases and also analyses specific topics or the situation of human rights in a country.
Who participates?
These sessions are important for human rights organisations and advocates because they can provide the Commission with information about a topic and request its intervention in resolving an issue, or appeal for the investigation of a particular situation.
How does it work?
The Commission can consider petitions from individuals who claim their rights have been violated by the state and they have been unable to find justice in their won country. The Commission brings together the petitioner and the state to 'explore' a friendly settlement'. If such an outome is not possible, the Commission may recommend specific measures, or may report the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as long as the state has accepted the Court's authority to do so (see Article 64).
Under certain circumstances, the people who believe they are at particular risk may make an urgent appeal to the Commission, which can call on a state to take 'precautionary measures' to prevent irreparable harm.
The Commission may also undertake on-site visits for assessing and reporting on the human rights situation of a state. It would then issue recommendations.
The Commission may also give priority to certain issues by creating rapporteurships to focus on these areas. Current rapporteurships exist on the rights of children, women, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, migrant workers, prisoners and displaces persons, and on freedom of expression.
Children and Young People’s Rights in the Inter-American System: Questions & Answers
What instruments are there in the Inter-American System for protecting and promoting children and young people's rights?
There is no single instrument that deals specifically with children’s rights in the Inter-American System. However, other instruments can be invoked to report violations of children’s rights and to seek reparations for these.
Which other instruments can be invoked to protect and promote children’s rights in the Inter-American System?
- American Declaration on Human Rights - Articles 7, 30, 31
- The Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty;
- The Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture;
- The Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons;
- The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women - Articles 8 and 9;
- The Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities
More information about these is available from the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) at http://www.cejil.org
What does the American Convention say about children’s rights?
Article 19 of the American Convention stresses that children have the right to special protection from the State, but it is not specific about what rights children are entitled to or how these should be upheld. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) spells out in more detail what rights children are entitled to and how these should be guaranteed. The Additional Protocol to the American Convention adds that every child has the right to grow up under parental protection and may be separated from his/her mother only in exceptional circumstances. It also enshrines that right of every child to primary education.
Can individual violations of children’s rights be reported to the Inter-American System?
Yes, unlike the UNCRC, the American Convention includes provisions for reporting individual cases in which children’s rights have been breached. Such cases have helped to establish precedents for protecting children’s rights in many countries in the region and States have been ordered to pay compensation to the victims and to make changes to their legislation.
What kinds of cases have been brought before the Inter-American Court?
Individual complaints can only be taken directly to the Court by States Parties to the American Convention and the Inter-American Commission. Other parties must submit their case to the Commission which may thn refer it to the Court.
The first ever case involving a violation of children’s rights to be heard by the Inter-American Court was that of five street children who were murdered by police officers in June 1990. The case, which is known as “Bosques San Nicolás,” was brought before the Court by Casa Alianza and CEJIL. In 1999 the Court found the State of Guatemala guilty of violating article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights which enshrines the right to life. The State was ordered to build a school with a plaque in memory of the victims, pay compensation to the victims’ families, investigate the facts of the case and identify and sanction those responsible, and adapt its domestic legislation in accordance with Article 19 of the American Convention.
Some of the other cases to come before the Court and establish important precedents include:
- extra-judicial executions of street children in Honduras (Marco Antonio Servellón and others vs. Honduras)
- extra-judicial executions of street children in Guatemala (Villagrán Morales and others)
- children held in adult detention facilities in Honduras (Minors Detained in Adult Prisons vs Honduras)
Read more about the Court's work here
Is there someone appointed to focus specifically on issues relating to child rights at the Inter-American Commission?
A Special Rapporteurship on Children’s Rights was created in 1998 in response to pressure from NGOs. The current Rapporteur, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, was appointed to the Commission in 2004. His mandate is for four years. Commissioner Pinheiro is also the Special Rapporteur on Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, United States and Venezuela. He also holds the post of United Nations Special Rapporteur for Myanmar. He was recently appointed as an Independent Expert of the UN Secretary-General to prepare a study on violence against children (see http://www.childrenandviolence.org for more information on this study).
What are the duties of the Rapporteur on Children’s Rights ?
The Special Rapporteur carries out studies on issues of concern relating to child rights in the region, undertakes in-country visits, prepares specific chapters on child rights for country and annual reports, and examines individual violations of children’s rights. Read about on-site visits carried out by the Special Rapporteur on Children’s Rights below
Commission Hearing on Corporal Punishment of Children - October 2005
During a visit to Washington, D.C in October 2005, a delegation led by Save the Children Sweden and the Andean Commission of Jurists, requested a thematic hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on corporal punishment of children.
The objective of the hearing was to request that the Commission includes corporal punishment of children as a breach of children's human rights within their existing monitoring mechanisms of human rights in the Americas.
The petitioners presented the results of research carried out in the region and requested that the Commission seek an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Human Rights Court.
For more information about the hearing, visit the following links:
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Call to End all Corporal Punishment of Children
Inter-American Commission: Address by Peter Newell
Hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Corporal Punishment
On-Site Visits of Rapporteur on Children’s Rights
On-Site Visit to Haiti: Inter-American Commission Investigates Situation of Women and Girls 16 - 28 April 2007)
On-Site Visit to Paraguay: Visit by the Inter-American Commission's Rapporteur on Children
On-Site Visit to Haiti: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and UNICEF Regional Office in Latin America and the Caribbean Gather Information on Situation of Children’s Rights (5 November 2005)
On-Site Visit to Panama: Special Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child Expresses Concern for the Situation of Children (8 June 2001) Go to Part E
On-Site Visit to Paraguay: Commission Receives Complaints about Torture of Children and Young People (30 July 1999) Go to Item 56
On-Site Visit to Peru: Commission Receives Complaints of Sexual Violence against Girls (13 November 1998) Go to Section III, Part 4. Children’s Rights
On-Site Visit to Guatemala: Concern for the Situation of Children (11 August 1998) Go to “Specific Issues Considered: Rights of the Child”
IACHR To Boost Efforts to Protect the Human Rights of Children by strengthening the Office of the Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child (24 July 2001)
Country Reports – Chapters on Child Rights
The following country reports contain chapters which focus specifically on the rights of the child. To go directly to these chapters, visit the following links:
Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala (2001)
Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Paraguay (2001)
Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru (2000)
Report on the Situation of Human Rights of Asylum Seekers within the Canadian Refugee Determination System (2000) - Go to Chapter 5 (B) Respect for Family Life and the Rights of the Child under the American Declaration)
Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Dominican Republic (1999)
Third Report on the Human Rights Situation in Colombia (1999)
Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Brazil (1997)
Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti (1995)
Fourth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala (1993)
State Responses to Inter-American Commission Reports
Response of the State of Paraguay to the IACHR’s Recommendations on the “Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Paraguay” Available in Spanish only (March 2002)
Follow-Up Report on the IACHR’s Recommendations on the Third Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Paraguay. Available in Spanish only.
Previous Inter-American Commission Sessions on Children’s Rights
Report on 122nd Ordinary Session (11 March 2005)
106th Ordinary Session
Recommendation on "Eradicating the Recruitment and Participation of Children in Armed Conflicts." (13 March 2000) Go to Part VIII, Item 24
103rd Ordinary Session
Rapporteur on Children's Rights Reports on "Sexual Violence against Boys and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean", (11 May 1999) Go to Part III C.
Useful documents
"The Legal Status and Human Rights of the Child," Advisory Opinion issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (August 2002)
Presentation to the Inter American Commission on Human Rights on "The Situation of Street Children in Latin America" , by Bruce Harris, Executive Director, Latin American Programmes, Casa Alianza/Covenant House Latin America. October 1997.
Signatures and Current Status of Ratifications of American Convention on Human Rights
Contacts and links
For more information about the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, contact:
1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., U.S.A
Tel: +1 202 458 6002
Email: cidhoea@oas.org
Website: www.cidh.org
For more information about children’s rights in the Americas, contact:
The Inter-American Children’s Institute
Av. 8 de Octubre 2904, Casilla de Correo 16212, Montevideo (11600), Uruguay
Tel: +598 (2) 487 2150; Fax: +598 (2) 487 3242
Email: iin@oas.org
Website: www.iin.oea.org
For more information about the Inter-American Commission and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, contact:
The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)
Contact in Washington, D.C.:
Victoria Amato
Communications Officer
1630 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 401, Washington, D.C. 20009, U.S.A
Tel: +1 202 319 3000; Fax: +1 202 319 3019
Email: vamato@cejil.org
Website: www.cejil.org
Contact in Costa Rica: Nancy Marín Espinoza
BO Box 441 2010 San José, Costa Rica
Tel: +506 280 7473/ 7608; +506 280 5280
Email: nmarin@cejil.org
Website: http://www.cejil.org/main.cfm
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