Thirty-five years defending human rights.

• Author: Abi-Mershed, Elizabeth
• Position: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is the institutional embodiment of an ideal. Its establishment in 1959 as an expression of the commitment of the America states "to a system of freedom for the individual and of social justice based on respect for fundamental human rights" translated the ideal into action.

The creation of a special body to oversee the situation of human rights in the Americas was one of a number of pioneering efforts by the Organization of American States in this field. The OAS Charter of 1948 incorporated the "fundamental tights of the individual" as one of the principles on which the Organization was founded. The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, also approved by the General Assembly in 1948, was adopted to serve as "the initial system of protection" for human rights in the hemisphere. The Declaration affirms the essential human rights that flow from the inherent dignity of the individual, and records the commitment of the American states to increasingly strengthen the protection of human rights in the Americas. This initial step in the creation of an inter-American human rights system actually predated the adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights by six months, and set the stage for the creation of a human rights commission.

Although the Commission was established in 1959 with the vague mandate "to promote human rights," its role has evolved over these thirty-five years to include specialized action to protect human rights. When the Commission started receiving information in 1960, it was not authorized to consider individual complaints as such. This shortcoming was remedied with the statutory expansion of the Commission's powers in 1965. The Commission's individual petition system is a critical element of its work program, in addition to its on-site fact-finding and the preparation and publication of its annual and special reports. When the OAS Charter was amended in 1967, the Commission was elevated to the status of a principal organ of the Organization. The entry into force of the American Convention on Human Rights transformed the Commission and the inter-American human rights system. The Convention established the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and attributed the Commission with new specialized functions. The Commission now exercises treaty-based jurisdiction over the member states that are parties to the Convention, and retains Charter-based jurisdiction over other member states. Thus, the...