IACHR

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IACHR Assigns Rapporteurships

January 29, 2016

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Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a working meeting on January 28-29, 2016, with the incorporation of Commissioners Margarette May Macaulay, Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, Francisco José Eguiguren and Enrique Gil Botero, who were elected in June 2015 during the 45th OAS General Assembly held at headquarteers. As part of the work of the Inter-American Commission during the meeting, Thematic and Country Rapporteurships were distributed. The IACHR is also composed by Commissioners James Cavallaro, President; José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez, Vicepresident; and Paulo Vannuchi.

The Rapporteurships are now distributed as follows:

Commissioner James L. Cavallaro: Rapporteur for Belize, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago; Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty.

Commissioner José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez: Rapporteur for Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Grenada, Panama and Saint Kitts and Nevis; Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.

Commissioner Paulo Vannuchi: Rapporteur for Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay; Commissioner responsible of the Unit on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay: Rapporteur for Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, El Salvador, United States, Guyana, Haïti and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Rapporteur on the Rights of Women and Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-descendants.

Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño: Rapporteur for Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia and Suriname; Rapporteur on the Rights of Children

Commissioner Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli: Rapporteur for Brazil, Honduras, Uruguay and Venezuela;
Rapporteur on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex (LGBTI) Persons, and Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Commissioner Enrique Gil Botero: Rapporteur for Barbados, Chile, Guatemala and Peru; Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants.

Commissioner James L. Cavallaro, IACHR President, is a citizen of the United States. He was elected during the 43rd regular session of the OAS General Assembly in June 2013 for the prescribed four-year term, which began on January 1, 2014. In the 154th Period of Sessions in March 2015, he was elected First Vice-Chair. He became President on January 1, 2016, after the period for which former Commissioner Rose Marie Belle Antoine had been elected finished on December 31, 2015. James L. Cavallaro is a lawyer with an undergraduate degree from Harvard College, as well as a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Currently, James L. Cavallaro is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and Founding Director of both the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic at Stanford and the Stanford Human Rights Center. Previously, he was a Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Executive Director of the Human Rights Program at Harvard. He founded the Brazil-based Global Justice Center and served as Director of the Brazil offices of Human Rights Watch and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL). He is the author of dozens of articles, books, and other publications on human rights and the inter-American human rights system.

Commissioner José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez, IACHR Vicepresident, is a citizen of Mexico. He was elected during the 39th regular period of sessions of the OAS General Assembly in June 2009 for the standard four-year term, which began on January 1, 2010. On June 6, 2013, the General Assembly reelected him for a second term, which will begin on January 1, 2014 and end on December 31, 2017. He was elected Chair of the Commission during the 144th Period of Sessions, in March 2012, and reelected during the 147th Period of Sessions, in March 2013. He is a researcher in constitutional law, human rights, the judiciary, and comparative law, among other areas, at the Legal Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Previously, he served for 16 years as a Magistrate on Mexico's highest electoral courts, first in the Central Chamber of the Federal Electoral Court and then in the Higher Chamber of the Electoral Court of the Judiciary. He earned a Doctor of Law degree with honors from UNAM, and a Master of Comparative Law from the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as Doctor Honoris Causa for San Martín de Porres University in Peru, and for the Autonomous University of Coahuila, Mexico. He is the author or co-author of 8 books and the coordinator or editor of another 15, and he has written more than 100 articles for academic publications.

Commissioner Paulo Vannuchi is a citizen of Brazil. He was elected during the 43rd regular session of the OAS General Assembly in June 2013 for the prescribed four-year term, which began on January 1, 2014. Paulo Vannuchi is a political and union consultant. During his youth, he was imprisoned for five years due to his activities in the resistance to the military dictatorship in Brazil. He studied journalism at the University of São Paulo, where he received a Master’s Degree in Political Science. He was a member of the team that conducted the investigation “Brazil: Never Again”; was a cofounder of the Cajamar Institute; and was a political adviser to the national office of the Workers Party of Brazil. He also served as Executive Secretary of the National Coordinating Committee of the Lula for President Campaign in 1994 and 2002. He held various posts, including that of President, at the Citizenship Institute, coordinated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He served as Human Rights Minister in the Lula Government, between December 21, 2005 and December 31, 2010, as well as President of the Human Rights Defense Council; the National Commission for the Eradication of Slave Labor; and of the National Committee to Prevent and Combat Torture in Brazil. He is the author of articles and publications on political science and human rights, among other topics.

Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay is citizen of Jamaica. She was elected on June 16, 2015, by the OAS General Assembly, for a 4-year mandate that starts on January 1, 2016 and ends December 31, 2019. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London and is currently an attorney in private practice. She serves as Mediator in the Supreme Court of Jamaica and an Associate Arbitrator, as well as serving as a Notary Public. She served as a Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights from 2007 to 2012, contributing to the formulation of the Court’s Rules of Procedure.

Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño is citizen of Panama. She was elected on June 16, 2015, by the OAS General Assembly, for a 4-year mandate that starts on January 1, 2016 and ends December 31, 2019. She has a degree in Philosophy, Letters, and Education, as well as in Law and Political Science, sigma cum laude. She joined the Special Commission for the 2011-2012 Constitutional Reforms in Panama and was Magistrate of the Supreme Court from 2004 to 2009. She currently puts together teams of trainers in the Accusatory Criminal System for the Public Prosecutor’s Office and at the inter-institutional level.

Commissioner Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli is citizen of Peru. He was elected on June 16, 2015, by the OAS General Assembly, for a 4-year mandate that starts on January 1, 2016 and ends December 31, 2019. He has a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, with a master's degree in Constitutional Law and a PhD in Humanities. He was Ambassador of Peru to the Kingdom of Spain from 2012 to 2014 and Minister of the Office of Justice. He is currently a legal consultant and adviser at both the national and international level, specializing in issues related to Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Human Rights.

Commissioner Enrique Gil Botero is a citizen of Colombia. He was elected on June 16, 2015, by the OAS General Assembly, for a 4-year mandate that starts on January 1, 2016 and ends December 31, 2019. He has a degree in Law and Political Science from Antioquia University. He was Magistrate of the Colombian State Council, a trial lawyer before the Chamber for Administrative Litigation from 1984 to 2006, a founding member of the Institute for Civil and State Responsibility of Antioquia, and President of the Council of State from April 2008 to February 2009.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 007/16