A reference guide to all the elements of the Inter-American System from its formal beginning in 1889 to the present, as it developed into a major, multipurpose regional inter-governmental organization (IGO). The most notable elements in the current Inter-American System are the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty) Regime. Today, all 35 sovereign American states are members of the OAS. This book makes clear reference to the system's interrelationships with other IGOs and states outside the Western Hemisphere. Unique in its scope and approach to the subject, this work is intended to provide the reader with access to information on general as well as specific subjects. It is compiled with an interdisciplinary approach, and addressed to a variety of readers from students and scholars to professionals and government officials. With some 250 entries, cross-referenced and thoroughly indexed, this encyclopedia refers to membership and observers in the various organizational elements; policy orientations of the state members; treaties, conventions, protocols, declarations, and resolutions concluded over the years; concepts and doctrines underlying American regional organization; multinational principles and policies in major categories of activity; and cases of conflict and other situations undertaken by the system, including places, events, issues, and individuals notable for their contributions.

A reference guide to all the elements of the Inter-American System from its formal beginning in 1889 to the present, as it developed into a major, multipurpose regional inter-governmental organization (IGO). The most notable elements in the current Inter-American System are the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty) Regime. Today, all 35 sovereign American states are members of the OAS. This book makes clear reference to the system's interrelationships with other IGOs and states outside the Western Hemisphere. Unique in its scope and approach to the subject, this work is intended to provide the reader with access to information on general as well as specific subjects. It is compiled with an interdisciplinary approach, and addressed to a variety of readers from students and scholars to professionals and government officials. With some 250 entries, cross-referenced and thoroughly indexed, this encyclopedia refers to membership and observers in the various organizational elements; policy orientations of the state members; treaties, conventions, protocols, declarations, and resolutions concluded over the years; concepts and doctrines underlying American regional organization; multinational principles and policies in major categories of activity; and cases of conflict and other situations undertaken by the system, including places, events, issues, and individuals notable for their contributions.

This book, which can be used as a text for teaching purposes, gives a fascinating, and authoritative treatment both the rights protected by the Inter-American system and of the way in which its institutions work. An important part of the book is a thorough, article by article account of the guarantee in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and in the American Convention on Human Rights of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in the light of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and of the Commission's many country reports on the human rights situation in particular states. There are also chapters on the rights of indigenous peoples, amnesty laws and states of emergencies. The evolution and current methods of work of the Commission and the Court are set out at length and their achievements are critically assessed. The role of non-governmental organisations is also examined in this context. The book will be invaluable to all those interested in the protection of human rights in the Americas and international human rights law generally.

Doctrine, Practice and Advocacy in the Inter-American Human Rights System is the first casebook to focus on the Inter-American human rights system, the primary system for advancing and protecting rights in the Western hemisphere. Created by the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights are autonomous and independent bodies that make up the Inter-American system. Together, they play a vital role, working closely with victims, civil society, and states to protect fundamental human rights in the Western hemisphere, particularly in Latin America. While the system is relatively unknown in legal academia in the United States and Canada, its study is mandatory in most law schools in the Americas. Government appointees, civil servants, high level actors, private attorneys, judges and legal scholars, and media regularly engage with the system in Latin America, implementing its determinations and applying its rulings and interpretations concerning the human rights of their citizens. Thus critical matters affecting vital rights, such as the peace process in Colombia, disappearances in Mexico, gang violence in the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala) or trials for perpetrators of crimes against humanity in Argentina, all directly involve the rulings and actors of the Inter-American system. Increasingly, the Inter-American system has advanced rights protection in the United States and Canada. The statements and determinations of the Inter-American Commission on the detention center at Guantanamo, for example, led to a global consensus opposing the prolonged use of pretrial detention at that site, while the Commission's ruling on the juvenile death penalty was cited by the United States Supreme Court in its holding finding that practice unconstitutional. A report by the Commission on murdered and missing indigenous women in British Columbia led to the creation of a National Commission of Inquiry on the subject by Canada. This book provides analysis on a wide range of practical issues that advocates face when interacting with the Commission or Court and explores current debates on possible reforms of the system. At the same time, it provides materials that consider the political dynamics that empower and constrain the system. Doctrine, Practice and Advocacy in the Inter-American Human Rights System takes as its point of departure a critical look at the real-world successes and failures of the system and human rights advocates in the Americas, including the tensions and trade-offs commonly confronted by activists as they seek to advance human rights.

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