Intervention on behalf of the 49th Civil Society Forum (General Assembly-Organization of American States)
The Coalition of Human Rights Organizations in the Americas joins together more than 300 organizations that both promote and defend human rights. For the past 25 years we have been involved in the ongoing Inter-American processes. Today we express our profound worry over three pressing issues.
First, the active human rights defenders in our region continue to be victims of threats, aggression, harassment, stigmatization, criminalization, and murder. The situation in a variety of countries such as Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Colombia, with the murder of at least 155 human rights defenders in the past year, have thus caused Latin America to become the most dangerous region in the world for human rights defenders.
We demand that the states in this region guarantee the right to defend fundamental rights through transparent and comprehensive public policies with an intersectional approach that include the investigation and punishment of crimes and attend to the structural causes that generate a risk for us. In this and other spaces we ask that the importance of our work is recognized.
Second, challenges still persist in regards to the consolidation of a Democratic and Rightful State, such as the presence of corruption. In this regard, we ask for the continuous support of the diverse efforts being made from areas such as the current investigative journalism, civil society, and hybrid mechanisms such as the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and the MACCIH.
Third, we insist that all States reaffirm their commitment to the effective operation of the Inter-American Human Rights System.
In regards to financing, acknowledging the commitment outlined in Cancun, our system will continue to be the least funded international human rights protection system in the world. It is crucial that the States assure that the Inter-American System is equipped with the necessary resources to guarantee an effective protection of rights.
In relation to the decisions issued by the System, there are many severe deficiencies in its implementation that will make all people from the region vulnerable. In terms of civil society participation in Inter-American spaces, we solicit sustainable and effective access, in which we are allowed to propose specific initiatives and concerns to be considered by the States.
Lastly, in respect to the integration of the Inter-American Commission, we are concerned about the lack of transparency in the nomination processes at a national level which guarantee the participation of candidates with independence, competence, gender representation, amongst other criteria. It is unacceptable that, according to the Independent Panel of Experts, only three out of five candidates comply with the conventional requirements for the position. We demand an increased responsibility from the States when it comes to nominating their candidates and we ask that people lacking the correct requirements not be voted into the pool of candidates added to the Commission.
