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OAS and UN Seek to Promote the Rights of Freedom of Assembly and Association in the Americas

The Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association of the United Nations, Maina Kia, met today with the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, the Chairman of the Permanent Council, Ambassador Jorge Skinner-Klee, and representatives of several OAS member countries to explore avenues for cooperation and promotion of the rights to freedom of association.

At the meeting, which was also attended by the Executive Secretary of the Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Santiago Canton, the OAS Secretary General referred to the Resolution recently adopted by the OAS General Assembly during the last June meeting entitled "Promotion of the Rights to Freedom of Assembly and of Association in the Americas," which urges Member States to “promote and foster various forms of community citizen participation in decision-making processes related to integral development."

In his welcoming remarks to the UN Rapporteur, Secretary General Insulza called to find ways to increase cooperation between the two institutions on this issue and stressed that the Resolution "is very important for all our countries, as it represents a step forward in the application and implementation of the principles of the Democratic Charter and demonstrates the importance assigned to participatory democracy in the region."

Rapporteur Kia Maina spoke of the relevance of the issue of freedom of association and assembly in recent months, given recent developments in Libya and Egypt. He further explained the objective of sharing experiences and best practices between the two institutions with the goal of learning how these rights are understood in the context of each country and government, as well as its limitations. "The system of rapporteurships of the UN seeks to provide practical solutions to issues of relevance," he said, and presented the example of the right to peaceful protest as an alternative to violence.

The Chairman of the Permanent Council and Representative of Guatemala to the OAS, Ambassador Jorge Skinner-Klee, stressed the importance of the resolution adopted by the General Assembly, particularly two mandates: first, one that urges member states "to promote and foster various forms of community citizen participation in decision-making processes related to integral development, thus helping to resolve problems affecting them," and second, to convene a special session to exchange experiences, views and best practices that serve to promote these rights.

Representatives of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica, countries that sponsored or cosponsored the resolution in the General Assembly, also attended the meeting, and took the opportunity to extend an invitation to the UN Rapporteur to participate as speaker at a special session of the Permanent Council to exchange experiences, views and best practices that serve to promote the right to freedom of assembly and association.

The text of the Resolution to Promote the Rights of Freedom of Assembly and Association in the Americas, "AG / RES. 2680 (XLI-O/11) is available here.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-765/11