The recent General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), held in Washington from June 21 to 23, leaves a tepid balance for issues of equality, democracy and, in general, strengthening the Inter-American Human Rights System. The dialogues between States, and those of States with civil society, closed the week with a debt of progress towards democratic pillars that seem to escape the great halls of the OAS despite the interpellations and some positive steps that we highlight.
The Americas change rapidly. This forces us to revisit what have been historical, and new, challenges for the continent. The erosion of the rule of law, the increasing closure of civic space, and the latent repression in various countries of the hemisphere are some of the realities that require more inter-American debate. The General Assembly has served to hear about the weakening of the role of the judiciary in the defense of the constitution and human rights, as well as about the attacks on the electoral systems and the separation of powers. The democratic crisis in Peru, the serious situation of justice operators in Guatemala and the denationalization of activists in Nicaragua are mirrors of this situation.
The harassment and persecution of members of civil society, the excessive use of force in the protest, as well as the situation of human rights defenders from various countries, was reflected in the statements of various organizations from different countries in the region. . Those who suffer the most, both threats, criminalization and lose their lives, are defenders of the environment, women, youth, LGBT, indigenous leaders, Afro-descendants and journalists.
Despite the relevance of civil society for the defense of rights and democracy, this OAS Assembly in fact further closed off participation in inter-American spaces. Likewise, state participation and relevant agreements to face the challenges of democracy are not up to the need for collective responses to the problems we face.
One of the so-called crown jewels of the OAS are the bodies for the protection of human rights. The regional commitment is to nominate people to integrate these bodies to meet the requirements of high moral quality, recognized knowledge of human rights, independence and impartiality, representative integration, geographically balanced and with gender parity. The new composition of the IACHR with the election at the end of the day of two women, for Argentina and Suriname, maintains parity in an encouraging gesture that allows sustaining a system with parity integration.
During the plenary, the report of the OAS Inter-American Commission of Women on parity, geographic balance and legal systems revealed shocking data. Of a historical total of 121 people who have integrated the Commission and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, there have been 96 men (80%) and only 25 women (20%). Numbers that continue to expose these two regional bodies as the only human rights bodies that do not have processes that promote gender parity in their composition. Fortunately, the CIM leaves a road map to improve parity and representativeness with clear actions at the national and regional level.
Added to this is a shift in the region’s political agenda that has not yet gained sufficient strength in the OAS General Assembly with a focus on environmental justice. An example is the relevance of the debate on the climate crisis from the perspective of rights, equality, justice and sustainability in the speeches and actions of some States. The subject acquired relevance in the Assembly due to the agreements and pronouncements on the matter and we understand that it will be deepened next year. In this area, the I/A Court HR will have a leading role in the framework of the debates to receive information that will allow it to resolve the advisory opinion presented by the Governments of Colombia and Chile on the subject, which we at CEJIL accompany in the technical dialogues of the proposal. This space will allow leveraging large regional discussions to find equitable, fair and sustainable solutions to the climate crisis with relevant results for national public policies and global debates.
Thus we bid farewell to a General Assembly that has not finished advancing on the critical pillars to strengthen democracy and rights in the region, but leaves us a few doors ajar to insist on the collective role of responding to the democratic and egalitarian deficit in the Americas. The reasons to continue are the dimension of the democratic debts of the region.
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