IACHR

Press Release

IACHR Elects New Board

April 4, 2016

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Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) elected its new board. The board of officers is composed of James Cavallaro as Chair, Francisco Eguiguren Praeli as First Vice-Chair, and Margarette May Macaulay as Second Vice-Chair. The election was held, in accordance with the IACHR rules of procedure, at the beginning of the Commission’s 157th regular Period of Sessions. The other members of the IACHR are José de Jesús Orozco Henriquez, Paulo Vannuchi, Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, and Enrique Gil Botero. The Executive Secretary is Emilio Alvarez Icaza.

Commissioner James L. Cavallaro 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 former Commissioner Rose Marie Belle Antoine –who was the President- finished on December 31, 2015, the period for which she had been elected. 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 and a PhD in Human Rights and Development of the Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain. 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 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 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.

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. 046/16