IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Launches On-Site Visit to El Salvador
December 2, 2019
Washington, D.C. - Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is conducting an in loco visit to El Salvador December 2–4, 2019, invited by the Salvadoran State. The IACHR will observe on site the situation of human rights in the country, focusing on issues like citizen security; memory, truth, justice, and access to justice ; the situation concerning the rights of women and LGBTI persons; the situation of migrants and displaced persons; and economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights. Freedom of expression and the situation of human rights defenders, justice operators, and other groups who are particularly at risk will also be addressed. During the visit, the IACHR delegation will visit detention centers operated by the State and also travel beyond the Salvadoran capital. The IACHR thanks El Salvador’s Government and civil society organizations for their cooperation with efforts to plan and prepare this visit.
The delegation will be led by IACHR President Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, First Vice President Joel Hernández, Second Vice President Antonia Urrejola, and Commissioners Flávia Piovesan, Margaret May Macaulay, and Luis Ernesto Vargas. It will also include Executive Secretary Paulo Abrão; Assistant Executive Secretary for Monitoring, Promotion and Technical Cooperation on Human Rights María Claudia Pulido; the Executive Secretary’s Chief of Staff, Fernanda dos Anjos; the Special Rapporteurs for Freedom of Expression, Edison Lanza, and for Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCER), Soledad García Muñoz; and experts from the Commission’s Executive Secretariat.
The Inter-American Commission will interview authorities of the three branches of government and meet with representatives of civil society, victims of human rights violations, and other relevant stakeholders. The IACHR will take complaints and reports. It will also have an office at the Crowne Plaza hotel that will be open for the duration of the visit.
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 and to defend 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. 314/19