CEJIL will participate in six hearings and six working meetings during the 144th Sessions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Washington D. C. March 22, 2012- Alongside over 20 civil society organizations from the Americas, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) will participate in six public hearings and six private working meetings before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), in Washington D.C. from March 23 to 28.

Highlights among the public hearings include the case of the Honduran judges, who were dismissed by the Supreme Court, after the coup d´état of June 2009. The case is known as Guillermo Lopez Lone et al.

The remaining hearings will be thematic, presenting a broader picture of the situation of specific human rights violations in the region. The hearing Process of Strengthening the Inter-American Human Rights System will highlight the challenges facing the IACHR´s new composition and the attempt by some key States to weaken the institutions for the  protection of human rights in the Americas. The hearing is backed by over 50 organizations in the region.

CEJIL will participate in other thematic hearings that will focus on the State of Fundamental Freedoms and their Effect on the Protection of Human Rights in Honduras, Situation of Human Rights Defenders and Access to Justice in Guatemala, The general Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua and Threats to Judicial Independence in Central America.

On the other hand, the IACHR has convened six private working meetings on Saturday, March 24. These are related to the failure of the United States to implement protection measures for detainees at Guantanamo, the non-compliance of a friendly settlement in a rural violence case in Brazil (Fazenda Ubá); a friendly settlement with Colombia (Alba Lucía Rodríguez Cardona); the monitoring of the reparations of a Peruvian case (Cases of joint Press Release); and the non-compliance of Colombia with the precautionary measures for the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers´Collective (CCAJAR), among others.

The hearings will be broadcast live via Internet here.

Contact in Washington:

Milli Legrain

+(1) 202-319 3000

mlegrain@cejil.org