The Inter-American System and Challenges for its Future

I. INTRODUCTIONOver the last two years, the member States of the OAS and the Commission itself have been engaged in a sweeping review defined as a "strengthening" process. Some of the considerations raised in this exercise have aimed at addressing what could fairly be considered as longstanding difficulties, ambiguities, or gaps in processes. However, other issues brought up relate to changes in the regional political landscape, and the ways in which the Commission, member States, and civil society interact and react to each other in the sphere of human rights.Some of the matters pertain to the mechanisms the Commission uses to do its work, including: its procedures for reporting on specific countries of concern in its annual report; the precautionary measures it issues in situations of urgent risk of irreparable harm; and the ways that its thematic rapporteurships, such as the Rapporteurship on Freedom of Expression, are organized, are funded, and carry out their work. Other issues that have been put on the table include such fundamental questions as whether the Commission should continue to have its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the way in which this organ Commission should receive and apply the external funding upon which it currently relies for half of its budget.As part of this "strengthening" process, after extensive consultations, the Commission adopted some significant reforms to its Rules of Procedure and practices.1 For its part, the OAS convened a Special General Assembly held on March 22 that examined the strengthening process and the reforms adopted by the Commission. The Special General Assembly included a strong debate on the future path of the Commission; I expect that a number of points of debate and contention will continue to remain on the agenda. On the positive side, the declaration adopted by the member States at the close of the Assembly recognizes the importance of the Commission's role and clears the way for it to move out of the "strengthening" process to concentrate on its promotion and protection work.2As we come out of this strengthening process, the Commission has very present what it has set as key challenges for the System: universal ratification of regional human rights treaties; greater and more effective access of victims to the System; enhanced compliance by States; and sufficient financing to enable the Commission to fully discharge its mandate in a timely way.II. BACKGROUND: THE ROLE OF THE COMMISSION IN THE REGIONThe Inter-American System was initiated in 1948 with the adoption of the American Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man. The Declaration is a simple and straightforward expression of basic rights. Along with the OAS Charter, the Declaration continues to serve as a common expression of commitment for OAS member States, including the United States.As the main human rights body of the Organization of American States, the Commission has been promoting and protecting human rights in the Americas for just over fifty years. Its work covers the thirty-five independent countries of the Americas, and has included a wide range of human rights challenges faced by them.Following the adoption of the American Declaration, the OAS member States established the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1959. The Commission was initially established with vague promotional functions; its mandate as we know it today was constructed step by step, on the basis of the core beliefs and commitments reflected in the key instruments and, very importantly, on the basis of the vision and creativity of the men and women elected to serve as Commissioners.The Commission began its work with this vision of protection, which has enabled it to act as a key participant in the advances in fundamental human rights in our region over these last fifty years.Since its inception, the Commission has worked to combat impunity and ensure justice and accountability for human rights violations. …