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Human Rights

1. Summit of the Americas, Miami, USA (December, 1994)

In the Miami Plan of Action, governments recognized that the OAS is the principal hemispheric body for the defense of democratic values and institutions. They accordingly requested it to devote greater efforts to promoting democratic values and strengthening the social and economic fabric of democratic regimes already established.

With respect to human rights, governments decided to:

  • Consider adhering to international human rights instruments to which they are not now parties;
  • Develop programs to foster observance of human rights;
  • Review and strengthen legislation for the protection of the rights of minority groups, women and children, indigenous communities and persons with disabilities;
  • Guarantee protection of the human rights of migrant workers;
  • Remedy inhumane conditions in prisons and minimize the number of pretrial detainees.
  • Exchange experiences on protection of human rights at the national level and cooperate in the development of training for law enforcement officers.
  • Strengthen the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

2. Between the Summits (January 1995-March 1998)

Between the first and second Summits, progress was made in various areas of importance for democracy and human rights.  

  • The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accepted and decided a growing number of individual cases, established closer links to national human rights commissions, and provided support for investigations conducted by the National Committee for Truth in Justice in Haiti in 1995.  

  • The IACHR conducted seminars on jurisprudence in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina that were attended by several hundred neighboring countries.  

  • Five separate international human rights instruments were ratified by additional governments since the Summit.

  • The IACHR established working groups on the rights of migrant workers and on prison conditions.  Work on migrant workers is in preliminary, information-gathering phase.  The IACHR has conducted on-site visits to prisons and other detention centers in several countries and it plans to submit a report on Prison Conditions in the Americas to the next session of the OAS General Assembly.  (Words Into Deeds)

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