IACHR Announces List of 5 Finalists Who Will Move on to the Interview Stage in the Process to Select the New Executive Secretary

February 3, 2021

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is announcing the list of five people who have been chosen to take part in the interview stage of the competitive process to select the new Executive Secretary of the IACHR.

In an internal session held on February 2, the IACHR selected the five candidates who will move on to the interview stage. They are listed here in alphabetical order: Andrés Emilio Mahnke Malschafsky (Chile), Celia Medrano (El Salvador), María Claudia Pulido (Colombia), Karla I. Quintana Osuna (Mexico), and Tania Reneaum Panszi (Mexico). These candidates were selected from the longlist of ten individuals published on December 15, 2020.

In response to the health and safety restrictions in place throughout the Americas due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the IACHR has decided to postpone the interviews just once, until May 2021, to enable them to be held in person. The place, date, and format of the interviews will be announced in due course. As a result of this change to the schedule, the person chosen to lead the Executive Secretariat will commence their duties on June 1, 2021.

The IACHR wishes to thank all finalists for taking part in the selection process and for having agreed to participate in the online roundtables held on January 26 and 27. It once again expresses its satisfaction with the interest shown in the selection process by highly qualified individuals with extensive experience in the field of human rights. The IACHR is also grateful for the more than 460 letters and comments it received from OAS Member States and civil society during the public consultation that was held between December 15, 2020, and January 22, 2021, in accordance with Article 15.4 of its Rules of Procedure.

The process through which the IACHR selects its Executive Secretary is governed by the relevant rules of procedure. As was established on September 25, 2020, the IACHR will announce the name of the person who will lead the Executive Secretariat and propose to the Secretary General of the OAS that they be appointed for a four-year term in office that may be renewed just once, in accordance with Article 21 of its Statute and Article 11 of its 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 on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States whose principal functions are to promote the observance and defense of human rights and to serve as an advisory body to the Organization 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.

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