Abstract
Increasing attention is being paid to how the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) informs human rights practice. In this task, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have emerged as potentially important intermediaries, serving as a possible ‘missing link’ in the transmission and implementation of international human rights law. The chapter begins with a discussion of NHRIs as IAHRS compliance intermediaries, with attention paid to their formal aptitude. We then highlight the formal relationship between NHRIs and the IAHRS, before specifying modalities of engagement in greater detail, drawing on the experience of NHRIs throughout Latin America. The chapter closes with a case study of the Peruvian office and an examination of what the analysis means for the future of NHRI-IAHRS relations.
The authors are extremely grateful to all those who gave generously of their time during the course of this research project. We wish to thank in particular Fernando Castañeda for his valuable insights, as well as Par Engstrom, Peter Low and Oscar Parra-Vera for extremely helpful comments. All errors remain ours alone.
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Notes
- 1.
The national human rights institution (NHRI) has been (loosely) defined as ‘a body which is established by a Government under the constitution, or by law or decree, the functions of which are specifically designed in terms of the promotion and protection of human rights’ (UN 1995: 4).
- 2.
All NHRIs in Latin America are accredited ‘A status’ by the United Nations (UN)-affiliated International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs with the exceptions of Honduras (‘B status’). A status indicates that the NHRI is in full compliance with the Paris Principles. See http://nhri.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/default.aspx
- 3.
Interview with Verónica Gómez, co-director of the International Centre for Political Studies (CIEP), formerly advisor to the Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IACHR specialist. Interview with Nataly Herrera, Buenos Aires, 15 August 2014.
- 4.
Remarks by Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Commissioner Felipe González Morales during the launch of the 2011 Annual Report on Human Rights of Chile’s National Institute of Human Rights.
- 5.
A notable exception is the Colombian NHRI head who is appointed by the legislature from a short list provided by the president.
- 6.
See Pegram (2012) for a detailed breakdown of institutional features among Latin American NHRIs.
- 7.
A number of Latin American NHRIs are formally restricted to those rights enshrined in the national constitution or other restrictions. These include Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Paraguay although, in practice, such formal restrictions have rarely constrained NHRIs.
- 8.
Often, as in Colombia, national laws do not allow these institutions to take action against the state itself (of which they themselves are part) before an international court.
- 9.
Interview with Verónica Gómez.
- 10.
Mendez and Aguilar (1997: 268).
- 11.
OAS GA: Support for International Exchanges Among Defensorías, OAS AG/RES 1505, XXVII-0/97 (June 5, 1997).
- 12.
Organization of American States (OAS) GA, Strengthening of Human Rights Systems Pursuant to the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas, OAS AG/RES 1925, XXXIII-O/03 (June 2003).
- 13.
Strengthening the role of NHRIs for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Organization of American States, AG/RES. 2421 (XXXVIII-O/08), adopted on 3 June 2008).
- 14.
The Chilean National Institute of Human Rights notably lacks the ability to receive complaints and many of the investigative faculties common in the region.
- 15.
Bámaca Velásquez, Judgement, 25 November 2000.
- 16.
Contreras et al. vs. El Salvador, Judgement, 2011.
- 17.
Remarks by IACHR Commissioner Felipe González Morales during the launch of the 2011 Annual Report on Human Rights of Chile’s National Institute of Human Rights.
- 18.
See submission by Santa Clara University’s International Human Rights Clinic, 4 October 2012. The Uruguayan NHRI submission can be viewed here: http://scm.oas.org/IDMS/Redirectpage.aspx?class=CP/INF.&classNum=6542&lang=s
- 19.
For example, shortly after assuming office, the first Colombian Ombudsman, Jaime Cordoba Triviño, travelled to Washington in 1994 to address the IACHR on the domestic human rights situation (Boletín de Prensa 1994).
- 20.
Acuerdo y Sentencia No. 1.306. Available at: http://www.pj.gov.py/contenido/945-informacion-publica/947
- 21.
PRADPI, ‘La Sala IV admite la Acción de Inconstitucionalidad presentada por la Defensoría del Pueblo’, 28 November 2012.
- 22.
Erbol, ‘Defensor del Pueblo presenta recurso contra DS 2298’, 31 August 2015.
- 23.
Servindi, ‘Defensoría del Pueblo presenta demanda de inconstitucionalidad contra DL 1015’, 1 June 2008.
- 24.
José Carlos Trujillo Oroza vs. Bolivia 2000.
- 25.
Masacre Plan de Sánchez vs. Guatemala, 29 April 2004.
- 26.
See, for example, multiple compliance reports produced by the El Salvadorian NHRI into the case of HermanasErnestina y Erlinda Serrano Cruz.
- 27.
Letter to Dr. Tom Pegram from Javier Orlando Tamayo Perdomo, Director of National Attention and Complaints, Colombian Defensoría del Pueblo, 4 February 2014.
- 28.
‘Defensor del Pueblo plantea creación de organismo similar a la CIDH’, 2 June 2015. Available at: http://www.2001.com.ve/en-la-agenda/99278/defensor-del-pueblo-plantea-creacion-de-organismo-similar-a-la-cidh.html
- 29.
‘Acuerdo de Cooperación General entre La Secretaria General de La Organización de los Estados Americanos y La Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos’, 18 October 2012.
- 30.
Janet Espinoza Feria Case, Admissibility, No. 12,404 (10 October 2002).
- 31.
Interview Verónica Gómez.
- 32.
Alfredo Díaz Bustos vs. Bolivia 2005; Víctor Hugo Arce Chavez vs. Bolivia 2007; Miguel Ángel Moncado Osorio and James David Rocha Terraza vs. Bolivia 2007.
- 33.
For example, Ticona Estrada y Otros vs. Bolivia, 2008.
- 34.
See Comunicado de Prensa, ‘Defensoría del Pueblo de Colombia firma convenio con Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos’, 2 February 2015.
- 35.
Barrios Altos et al. vs. Peru 2001; ‘Five Pensioners’ vs. Peru 2003; Acevedo-Jaramillo et al. vs. Peru 2006.
- 36.
Gonzales Lluy y otros vs. Ecuador 2015; Baena-Ricardo et al. vs. Panama 2001; Masacres del Mozote vs. El Salvador 2012.
- 37.
García Prieto et al. vs. El Salvador 2007; Masacres del Mozote y lugares aledaños vs. El Salvador 2012; Juan Humberto Sánchez vs. Honduras 2003; Ibsen Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña vs. Bolivia.
- 38.
Ivcher-Bronstein vs. Peru 2001; Lori Berenson-Mejía vs. Peru 2004; Acevedo-Jaramillo et al. vs. Peru 2006.
- 39.
Barrios Altos vs. Peru 2001; Gómez-Palomino vs. Peru 2005.
- 40.
Where there is more than one victim, a ‘common intervener’ must be designated. García Prieto et al. vs. El Salvador 2007.
- 41.
Hermanas Serrano Cruz vs. El Salvador 2014.
- 42.
Acevedo-Jaramillo et al. vs. Peru 2006.
- 43.
García Prieto et al. vs. El Salvador 2007. In Manuel Cepeda Vargas vs. Colombia 2010, the Court makes extensive use of an NHRI report into the murder of members of the Patriotic Union party, referring to the NHRI’s verdict that the scale of the violence amounted to ‘systematised extermination’. See also García Prieto et al. vs. El Salvador 2007.
- 44.
Barrios Altos vs. Peru 2001.
- 45.
In Masacres del Mozote vs. El Salvador 2012, the IACtHR notes that the El Salvadorian NHRI established that the ‘massacres occurred within the framework of military operations, one of the objectives of which was the mass extermination of civilians…’
- 46.
Juan Humberto Sánchez vs. Honduras 2003.
- 47.
Bulacio vs. Argentina, 2003.
- 48.
IACtHR, Cuatro Comunidades Indígenas Ngöbe y sus Miembros, 28 May 2010.
- 49.
La Cantuta vs. Peru 2006.
- 50.
Baena-Ricardo et al. vs. Panama 2003.
- 51.
19 Merchants vs. Colombia 2002.
- 52.
Anzualdo Castro vs. Peru 2009.
- 53.
Artavia Murillo y otros (Fecundación In Vitro’) vs. Costa Rica, 3 September 2015.
- 54.
Oscar Parra-Vera, Senior Legal Advisor, IACtHRs, by email to Tom Pegram, 10 October 2015.
- 55.
GfK Perú—Encuesta de opinión pública—July 2014. Available at: www.gfk.pe
- 56.
Article 161: The Ombudsman’s Office is autonomous. State agencies are obliged to cooperate with the Ombudsman’s Office when so required. The Ombudsman may be elected or dismissed by a congressional vote with a two-thirds majority. The institution enjoys the same immunity and prerogatives as Congress. The term of the Ombudsman is five years.
- 57.
- 58.
IACHR. Second Country Report. Peru 2000. http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Peru2000sp/introduccion.htm
- 59.
During the in loco visit to Peru, for example, the Ombudsman’s Office informed the IACHR that it had received 168 petitions regarding forced sterilisations. IACHR. Second Country Report. Peru 2000. Chapter IV, item 23 and throughout http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Peru2000sp/capitulo7.htm
- 60.
Memorandum No. 328-99-JUS / DM, 2 July 1999.
- 61.
Document No DP-99-462, 6 June 1999.
- 62.
Ombudsman’s Report: In Defence of the Inter-American System.
- 63.
The ruling of the IACtHR in Eduardo Nicolás Cruz Sánchez (Chavín de Huántar) vs. Peru [2015] has provoked particular backlash among powerful factions in Peru.
- 64.
Organic Law No. 26520, 8 August 1995, Article 9(5).
- 65.
Amparos (emergency writs for the protection of constitutional rights) and habeas corpus (protection from unlawful detention) reflect regional legal traditions for the protection of individual rights. Habeas data refers to freedom of information petitions.
- 66.
Ombudsman’s Office. ‘El amicus curiae: ¿qué es y para qué sirve? Jurisprudencia y labor de la Defensoría del Pueblo’. Ombudsman Document Series - Document No. 8. 2nd edition. Lima, March 2010.
- 67.
IACHR. Second Country Report. Peru 2000. Chapter I, item 46.
- 68.
Interview Fernando Castaneda, 11 September 2015.
- 69.
Interview, Samuel Abad, Constitutional lawyer and former commissioner at the Ombudsman’s Office, Lima, 18 September 2014.
- 70.
Regional and municipal elections of 2002, as well as ballots for regional representatives and the Andean parliament in 2006.
- 71.
Note No. 232-2008 / DP 5 September 2008.
- 72.
See DP Resolution No. 012-97 / DP of 24 March 1997.
- 73.
DP report ‘Lineamientos para la reforma de la justicia militar en el Perú’, 1997.
- 74.
DP report ‘¿Quién juzga qué? Justicia Militar vs. Justicia Ordinaria. El delito de función en la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Constitucional y la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, 2002.
- 75.
File No 926-97/DP-OP.
- 76.
Ombudsman’s Office. Second Annual Report. Peru.
- 77.
Cesti-Hurtado vs. Peru, 29 September 1999.
- 78.
DP Report, No. 57 of May 2001, Amnesty vs. Human rights: Seeking justice.
- 79.
Rodolfo Robles Espinoza vs. Peru [1999].
- 80.
Baruch Ivcher vs. Peru [2001].
- 81.
DP report Situación de la Libertad de Expresión en el Perú/Septiembre 1996—Septiembre 2000.
- 82.
Defensoría del Pueblo expuso los resultados de la investigación sobre 153 conflictos sociales vinculados a los recursos hídricos, registrados entre el 2011 y el 2014, Nota de Prensa 058/OCII/DP/2015.
- 83.
Ombudsman’s Office. Twelfth Annual Report. Peru, 2009.
- 84.
Defensoría del Pueblo, Ciudadanos Sin Agua: Análisis de un derechos vulnerado, informe No. 94(Lima: DP, 2005): 11.
- 85.
Interview, Fernando Castañeda, Deputy Ombudsman for Constitutional Affairs (interim), Peruvian Human Rights Ombudsman, interview with Tom Pegram, 11 September 2015.
- 86.
Interview, Fernando Castañeda.
- 87.
Interview, Fernando Castañeda.
- 88.
Interview, Wilfredo Ardito, Director for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in APRODEH, interview by Tom Pegram, Lima, Peru, 10 June 2008.
- 89.
Defensoría del Pueblo, Oficio No. 395-2010/DP/PAD, 28 September 2010.
- 90.
Interview, Fernando Castañeda.
- 91.
Interview, Fernando Castañeda.
- 92.
Defensoría del Pueblo, Proceso de inconstitucionalidad, Doc. No. 05-2013-AI.
- 93.
Interview, Fernando Castañeda.
- 94.
Ombudsman’s Report No. 128, El Estado frente a las víctimas de la violencia. ¿Hacia dónde vamos en políticas de reparación y justicia?, p. 162.
- 95.
Ombudsman’s Office. Twelfth Annual Report. Peru, 2009.
- 96.
FIO y Defensoría del Pueblo de Perú suscribieron convenios con la Corte IDH, 13 April 2010.
- 97.
Interview, Fernando Castañeda.
- 98.
Interview, Fernando Castañeda.
- 99.
Interview, Fernando Castaneda.
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Pegram, T., Rodriguez, N.H. (2019). Bridging the Gap: National Human Rights Institutions and the Inter-American Human Rights System. In: Engstrom, P. (eds) The Inter-American Human Rights System. Studies of the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89459-1_7
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