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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 June 2015
The article below, which is written by Gloria Orrego Hoyos, presents an overview of the Inter-American Human Rights System, its main instruments, its organs for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Americas and the available tools for the academic research and the activism in the vindication for human rights in the region. This information is presented from the contextualization of the system within a history of violation of human rights in the region, and the role of both the Inter-American Convention and the Inter-American Court in the transformation of the social, political and institutional realities of the people of the continent.
1 See Pinto, M. (2004). El derecho internacional: Vigencia y desafíos en un escenario globalizado. Mexico, D.F: Fondo de Cultura EconómicaGoogle Scholar.
2 Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/dil/treaties_B-32_American_Convention_on_Human_rights_sign.htm
3 After the signing of the American Convention in 1948, the following countries were ruled by military and civilian dictatorships: Argentina 1955–1958 (Eduardo Lonardi, Pedro Eugenio Aramburo), 1962–1963 (Jose María Guido), 1966–1970 (Juan Carlos Onganía), 1970–1971 (Roberto Marcelo Levingston) 1971–1973 (Alejandro Agustín Lanusse) 1976–1983 (Joge Rafael Videla, Roberto Viola, Leopoldo Galtieri). Bolivia 1971–1978 (Hugo Bánzer). Brazil 1964–1985 (Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco). Chile 1973–1989 (Augusto Pinochet). Colombia 1953–1957 (Gustavo Rojas Pinilla). Cuba 1952–1954 (Fulgencio Batista) 1959–2008 (Fidel Castro). Ecuador 1963–1966 (Ramón Castro Jijón) 1972–1976 Guillermo Rodríguez Lara. Guatemala 1954–1957 (Carlos Castillo Armas). Haiti 1957–1986 (Duvalier Family). Nicragua 1937–1979 (Somoza Family). Panama 1968–1981 (Omar Torrijos), 1980–1989 (Rafael Noriega). Paraguay 1954–1989 (Afredo Stroessner). Peru 1948–1950 (Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti), 1968–1980 (Juan Velasco Alvarado) 1992–1993 (Alberto Fujimori). Dominican Republic 1930–1961 (Rafael Trujillo). Uruguay 1973–1985 (José María Bordaberry and others). Venezuela 1952–1958 (Marcos Pérez Jiménez).
4 To read more about the legal power in Latin America and the influence of the Inter-American system, see Pásara, L. (January 1, 2003). Justicia, regimen politico y sociedad en America Latina.Politica Y Gobierno (mexico), 10, 2, 413–426.; Acuña, Carlos, & Alonso, Gabriela. (2011). La Reforma Judicial en América Latina: Un estudio político-institucional de las reformas judiciales en Argentina, Brasil, Chile y México.; Mesas Redondas la Reforma Constitucional en Materia de Derechos Humanos : un Enfoque en la Administración de Justicia, Carmona, T. J. U., & Elías, A. E. (2012). Reforma constitucional en materia de derechos humanos: Un enfoque en la administración de justicia. México: Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Distrito Federal, Instituto de Estudios JudicialesGoogle Scholar.
5 The signatory countries of the Charter of the Organization of American States to date are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. http://www.cidh.oas.org/Basicos/English/Basic22b.CharterOAS_ratif.htm
6 Such is the case of the recent report of the Commission of Human Rights “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada” in which is addressed the situation of violence against indigenous woman in Canada. Available at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/Indigenous-Women-BC-Canada-en.pdf
7 See IACHR, Resolution No. 3/87, Case 9647, James Terry Roach and Jay Pinkerton (United States), Annual Report 1986–1987, September 22, 1987, paras. 46–49; IACHR, Report No. 51/01, Case 9903, Rafael Ferrer-Mazorra (United States), Annual Report 2000, April 4, 2001; I/A Court H.R., Interpretation of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man Within the Framework of Article 64 of the American Convention on Human Rights. Advisory Opinion OC-10/89, July 14, 1989. Series A No. 10, paras. 35–45. See also Article 20 of the Statute of the IACHR. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/basicos/english/Basic1.%20Intro.htm#_ftn4
9 Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-52.html
10 http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/a-51.html Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-51.html
11 http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/a-53.html Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-53.html
12 http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/a-61.html Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-61.html
13 http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/a-60.html Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-61.html
14 http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/treaties/a-65.html Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-65.html
15 http://www.oas.org/en/sla/dil/inter_american_treaties_A-69_discrimination_intolerance.asp Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/en/sla/dil/inter_american_treaties_A-69_discrimination_intolerance_signatories.asp
16 http://www.oas.org/en/sla/dil/inter_american_treaties_A-68_racism.asp Signatories and Ratifications and the declarations, reservations, denunciations and withdraws of the American Convention on Human Rights available at: http://www.oas.org/en/sla/dil/inter_american_treaties_A-68_racism_signatories.asp
41 See Section 3. Documents of the OAS: The Annual Reports.
