Country: Bolivia

IACHR meets European counterparts at a critical time

Posted on by fredsaxo

The Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) – Organization of American States (OAS), Paulo Abrão will cross the Atlantic to meet his European counterparts this week.

A series of high-level meetings will be held with EU and EU Members States officials as well as international CSOs, which have been supporting both politically and financially the inter-American system, particularly during last year’s financial crisis.

Abrão will also take the opportunity to present its recently approved Strategic Plan, which various CSOs contributed to, including FIAN International’s section in Ecuador on behalf of all FIAN entities.

Need for real commitment

In a context where States and the private sector (particularly transnational corporations) are increasingly pushing for voluntary guidelines to take over internationally binding human rights instruments and standards, it is crucial to genuinely reinforce the political and legal role of regional human rights systems. This is particularly imperative for OAS Member States that have progressively been withdrawing their financial and political support to the IACHR, thereby leading the latter to its worst crisis in history. 

The lack of political commitment by OAS States is also reflected on some of their sponsored candidates, whose competences are questionable, for the two seats that the 47 Regular Session of the OAS General Assembly will choose in June. The 163rd Period of IACHR Sessions in July will also see the appointment of the first rapporteur on economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, which could suppose a positive change for communities across the Americas. 

Guarani and Kaiowá, seeking justice in IACHR

The Inter-American system is crucial for fighting injustice and structural inequalities against most marginalized groups, especially indigenous communities. This is the case of the indigenous peoples Guarani and Kaiowá in Brazil, who have been facing evictions and violence throughout their struggle for the right to ancestral territory as well as to food and nutrition, and whose situation has only worsened following the Parliamentarian coup d´état.

Last December, the Guarani and Kaiowá’s great assembly Aty Guasu, with the support of CIMI, FIAN International and its Brazilian section, as well as Justicia Global, filed a petition to the IACHR against the State of Brazil. Not only this petition will contribute to further developing standards on the right to food and nutrition in connection with the right to ancestral territory, but also to the IAHRC rapporteurship on economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.

FIAN International hopes that OAS Member States strengthen and prioritize their political and financial support to the IACHR. In addition, this should be reflected on the dialogue and cooperation between the EU and its Member States with the OAS, as regional systems are a crucial element for the development and implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders and EU Action Plans on Human Rights.  

The organization will engage in the IACHR visit, together with the European CSOs network CIFCA to keep supporting the consolidation of regional human rights systems. 

For more information, please contact castaneda-flores[at]fian.org 
For media enquiries please contact delrey[at]fian.org 

A billion people need fully functioning IACHR

Posted on by fredsaxo

Last Monday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) broke the astonishing news about its financial crisis. The Commission announced that 40 percent of its personnel will not be renewed beyond July and that its 159th and 160th sessions will be suspended, unless it receives funds or the commitment for donations before June 15. Such drastic changes would have a serious impact on its ability to fulfill its mandate and carry out its basic functions, thereby risking the human rights protection of the billion people living in the Americas.

Reacting to the news, several NGOs from all over the world has issued an Open Letter whereby it appeals to all member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) to take the necessary measures to ensure the immediate and adequate funding of IACHR.

FIAN International recalls that the Inter-American Human Rights system is the result of people’s struggles in the Americas. They delegated their sovereignty to the States to create a system that ensures protection against abuse and injustice. Therefore,  it is the obligation of OAS member states to ensure sustainable financial fund for the Commission to remain fully operational as last resort against violations of fundamental rights in the continent and an international reference for its great efforts in protecting thousands of affected people and communities.

You can read the Open Letter here.

Right to food obligations of India and Bolivia under scrutiny

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In its concluding observations on India, the committee notes “the absence of any factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant”.  According to the CESCR, rapid and sustained growth in India has not translated into employment growth. Despite rapid economic growth, high levels of poverty, serious food insecurity and shortages persist. The definition of the poverty threshold has overlooked to fully integrate human rights. The CESCR is concerned about frequent farmers suicides caused by the extreme hardship faced by small farmers; displacements and forced evictions in the context of land acquisition for the purpose of development projects, affecting mainly scheduled castes and scheduled tribes; the creation of special economic zones and other projects, which have resulted in displacement of millions of families. Major concerns regard the lack of effective consultations and legal redress for persons affected by displacement and forced evictions, and inadequate measures to provide sufficient compensation. Also, the UN Committee addresses the shortage of access to safe drinking water and presence of heavy metals in the ground water.
On the basis of these observations, amongst others, the Committee recommends to submit disaggregated data for its next report, with particular attention to marginalized individuals and groups; take urgent measures to address the issue of poverty and food insecurity; review the national poverty threshold; take immediate measures to enforce laws and regulations prohibiting forced evictions and ensure adequate compensation or alternative accommodation. State should undertake open, participatory and meaningful consultations with affected residents and communities and take effective measures to ensure equitable access to safe drinking water by rigorously enforcing laws on water treatment and effective monitoring compliance, amongst others.

In the case of Bolivia, the Committee recognizes the dialogue attitude of Bolivia, but expresses its concern regarding the lack of effective measures to guarantee economic, social and cultural rights before the approval of the proposed new Bolivian constitution. Concerning issues regarding the right to adequate food are the persistence of malnutrition, the lacking guarantee for the realization of the right to food of vulnerable groups, and the increasing plots of land dedicated to agrofuels production, which negatively affects food availability for human consumption. Regarding land tenure, the CESCR is concerned about the lack of any effective guarantee of ancestral lands for indigenous peoples and the highly unequal distribution of land with 70 percent of the land in the hands of seven percent of the population The UN Human Rights body also highlights the need to mainstream gender equality in the policies and programmes adopted for the realization of all ESC rights. On this basis the CESCR recommends inter alia, to adopt human rights indicators and benchmarks disaggregated to regions and vulnerable groups, allowing a monitoring of the effective realization of ESC Rights; to adopt measures to avoid forced evictions of peasant families; to ensure that the judicial power takes into account the Covenant in its decisions; to investigate and prosecute forced evictions and other violations of the Covenant rights; to continue working for the respect and equality of indigenous peoples’ rights, including the human rights to education, housing, food and health. It is to be highlighted that the Committee recommended the state to continue adopting measures in order to guarantee food availability for the population and asks the country to implement the programme “Desnutrición Cero” with other measures addressed to facilitate the access of people to productive resources in a sustainable way, as well as to increase education on nutritional issues.

In both cases, FIAN International has been actively working with other NGOs and the Committee to make sure that the right to adequate food will enjoy a better realization. This work will continue especially at the national level where civil society will closely monitor state action to implement the recommendations made by the UN Committee.

More information with Sandra Ratjen, at Press Release on severe violations of the right to food in India