"By filing a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, victims of human rights violations can obtain help. The Commission investigates the situation and can make recommendations to the State responsible to restore the enjoyment of rights whenever possible, to prevent a recurrence of similar events, to investigate the facts and to make reparations.
The purpose of this brochure is to inform persons seeking to file a petition before the Commission of some of the basice concepts they should know beforehand. It also sets forth, in clear and simple language, which human rights are protected, how and when a petition may be filed, the requirements that must be met and, in general, the procedures that have to be followed."
This brochure is divided into four sections:
1. Human Rights in the Inter-American System
2. Guide for Submitting a Petition
3. Serious and Urgent Situations
4. Form for submitting a petition to the IACHR
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Inter-American Commision on Human Rights Official Website
IACHR Composition
Name Term of Office
José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez 1/1/2010 - 12/31/2017
Tracy Robinson 1/1/2012 - 12/31/2015
Felipe González 1/1/2008 - 12/31/2015
Rosa María Ortiz 1/1/2012 - 12/31/2015
Rose-Marie Belle Antoine 1/1/2012 - 12/31/2015
Paulo Vannuchi 1/1/2014 - 12/31/2017
James L. Cavallaro 1/1/2014 - 12/31/2017
"According to the American Convention on Human Rights, the Commission shall be composed of seven members, who shall be persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights, elected in a personal capacity by the OAS General Assembly from a list of candidates proposed by the governments of the Member States. Each of those governments may propose up to three candidates, who may be nationals of the State proposing them or of any other OAS Member State. When a slate of three is proposed, at least one of the candidates shall be a national of a State other than the one proposing the slate. The members of the Commission are elected for a four-year term and may be reelected only once."
Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
"Approved by the Commission at its 137th regular period of sessions, held from October 28 to November 13, 2009, and modified on September 2nd, 2011 and during the 147th Regular Period of Sessions, held from 8 to 22 March 2013, for entry into force on August 1st, 2013."
The IACHR 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. Together with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“the Court” or “the I/A Court H.R.), installed in 1979, the Commission is one of the institutions within the inter-American system for the protection of human rights (“IAHRS”).
The formal beginning of the IAHRS was approval of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man at the Ninth International Conference of American States held in Bogota in 1948. There the OAS Charter (hereinafter “the Charter”) was adopted, which declares that one of the principles upon which the Organization is founded is the “fundamental rights of the individual.”
Full respect for human rights appears in several sections of the Charter, underscoring the importance that the Member States attach to it. In the words of the Charter, “the true significance of American solidarity and good neighborliness can only mean the consolidation on this continent, within the framework of democratic institutions, of a system of individual liberty and social justice based on respect for the essential rights of man.” The Charter establishes the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) as one of the principal organs of the OAS whose function is to promote the observance and protection of human rights and to serve as a consultative organ of the Organization in these matters.
The work of the IACHR rests on three main pillars:
Operating within this framework, the Commission considers that inasmuch as the rights of all persons subject to the jurisdiction of the Member States are to be protected, special attention must be devoted to those populations, communities and groups that have historically been the targets of discrimination. However, the Commission’s work is also informed by other principles, among them the following: the pro homine principle, whereby a law must be interpreted in the manner most advantageous to the human being; the necessity of access to justice, and the inclusion of the gender perspective in all Commission activities.
