On May 7th the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued its 2014 annual report containing “accessible, comprehensive, and relevant information concerning the Commission’s work and resources” in order “to promote compliance with the Commission’s decisions, ensure accessibility to victims, give an accounting of the petition and case system, and report on the human rights situation in the region.”[1]
Chapter IV.B of the report has special reports the Commission considers necessary regarding the human rights situation in those Member States with the most troubling human rights records, i.e., the so called “black list” of the Commission. There are only two countries on that list for 2014: Cuba and Venezuela.
The report’s 45 pages about Cuba (Report at 388-431) was summarized as follows in the Commission’s press release about the report:
- “[R]estrictions on political rights, freedom of association, freedom of expression and dissemination of ideas, the lack of elections, the lack of an independent judiciary, and restrictions on freedom of movement over decades have come to shape a permanent and systematic situation of violation of the human rights of the inhabitants of Cuba. Over the course of 2014, the information available suggests that the general human rights situation has not changed. The above-mentioned human rights situations persist, along with severe repression and restrictions on human rights defenders. The [Commission] also received information concerning discrimination and violence against LGBTI persons and persons with disabilities in Cuba.”
The Press Release also noted that the Commission welcomed “the restoration of diplomatic relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States, while reiterating its concern about the negative impact that the economic and trade embargo imposed by the [U.S.] on Cuba has on the human rights of the Cuban population” and noting “that the embargo does not release [Cuba] of its international obligations established in the American Declaration [of the Rights and Duties of Man].”
Other parts of the report set forth a general overview of the Commission’s activities during the year (Ch. I); an accounting of how cases, petitions, and precautionary measures have been handled, (Ch. II); the activities of the seven Rapporteurships (Ch. III);[2] an overview of the human rights situation in the hemisphere with emphasis on citizen insecurity, discrimination on the basis of nationality, discrimination on the basis of ethnic and racial origin, and the situation of migrants (Ch. IVA); the status of recommendations issued by the Commission on Jamaica and Colombia (Ch. V); and the challenges the Commission faces in terms of human and financial resources (Ch. VI).
The discussion in Chapter IVA (pp. 366-72) regarding racial discrimination commented on the U.S. problems of police brutality with alleged racial bias, especially the notorious case of the shooting of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri. Although the U.S. was seeking solutions to this problem, “there is still much to do” and the state and others in the region need “to continue and extend the studies and the police measures to eliminate racial profiling. ” Moreover, the report notes that the Commission has begun a Report on Criminal Justice and Race in the U.S. to analyze recent cases of alleged police racially motivated abuses and ways to prevent a situation that the Commission considers “very worrying.”
The Commission is a principal and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (“OAS”) whose mission is to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere. It is composed of seven independent members who serve in a personal capacity. Created by the OAS in 1959, the Commission has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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[1] This post is based upon the following: Ayuso, Venezuela and Cuba remain on black list of human rights, El Pais, (May 7, 2015); IACHR, Press Release: IACHR Presents Its Annual Report (May 7, 2015); IACHR, IACHR Annual Report, 2014 (May 7, 2015). This blog contains many posts about various cases decided by the Commission.
[2] The Commission has appointed its seven members as Rapporteurs to focus on the following human rights in the hemisphere: indigenous peoples; women; migrants; the child; human rights defenders; persons deprived of their liberty; persons of African descent and against racial discrimination.