Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva Elected as New IACHR Commissioner

Commissioners Margarette May Macaulay and Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño
Credit: IACHR

On May 10, 2017, Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva was elected by the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) to be one of seven Commissioners of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), replacing former Commissioner Enrique Gil Botero, who resigned on March 9. [IACHR Press Release: Election; IACHR Press Release: Resignation] Vargas Silva will fulfill the remainder of Gil Botero’s four-year term, which began on January 1, 2016, and ends on December 31, 2019. [IACHR Press Release: Election] Vargas Silva, who has worked in Colombia’s judiciary for 40 years, including as a judge on the Constitutional Court for nearly eight, has strived to improve the nation’s judicial system in order to “overcome the systematic violation of the fundamental rights of the displaced population.” [IACHR Press Release: Election] As Commissioner, he vows to “work to improve the effectiveness of the [Inter-American Human Rights System] and to advance a culture of respect for human rights in all member countries of the [OAS].” [IACHR Press Release: Election] Six candidates are competing to join Vargas Silva on the Commission to fill three additional spots due to become available at the end of 2017. While an independent panel recently assessed the qualifications of those six candidates, Vargas Silva’s qualifications were not examined by the panel. [Open Society Foundations] The OAS General Assembly will select in June the three new Commissioners. [Open Society Foundations]

The Selection Process

Colombia presented Vargas Silva as a candidate for the position of Commissioner upon the resignation of Enrique Gil Botero, who resigned after being appointed Colombia’s Minister of Justice. [IACHR Press Release: Election] When a Commissioner’s term expires naturally, the OAS General Assembly elects a successor from a list of candidates proposed by OAS Member States, with each State proposing up to three candidates. However, when a vacancy occurs at a time other than the natural end of a Commissioner’s term, each OAS Member State may present a single candidate to fill the vacancy and the Permanent Council of the OAS, considering the list of candidates, then fills the vacancy. Commissioners are elected for four-year terms and may be reelected once. See OAS, Composition.

The Permanent Council of the OAS recently heard on May 5 from the six candidates for the other three upcoming vacancies on the Commission. [OAS Press Release] Civil society also held a panel discussion with the candidates on May 5 at which the candidates were asked to answer a series of questions. See Inter-American Dialogue, Dialogue with the Candidates for Commissioner of the IACHR. The terms of Commissioners James Cavallaro of the United States, Paulo Vannuchi of Brazil, and José de Jesús Orzoco Henríquez of Mexico will come to an end on December 31, 2017. [Open Society Foundations] The candidates vying for their positions are Gianella Bardazano Gradin nominated by Uruguay, Joel Hernández García nominated by Mexico, Douglass Cassel nominated by the United States, Flávia Cristina Piovesan nominated by Brazil, Carlos Horacio de Casas nominated by Argentina, and Antonia Urrejola Noguera nominated by Chile. See Inter-American Dialogue, Dialogue with the Candidates for Commissioner of the IACHR. The OAS General Assembly will vote on the new Commissioners during its session due to take place June 19 to 21. [OAS Press Release]

Responsibilities and Mandate of IACHR Commissioners

When still on the Commission, Gil Botero served as rapporteur – a system in which Commissioners monitor certain thematic human rights issues or the human rights situations of specified geographic regions – and was charged with monitoring, in particular, migrants’ rights and the human rights situation in Barbados, Chile, Guatemala, and Mexico. [IACHR Press Release: Resignation] See OAS, Composition. Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay took over the Rapporteurship on the rights of migrants, and Commissioners James Cavallaro, Paulo Vannuchi, and Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño took over the Rapporteurships for Barbados and Guatemala, Chile, and Mexico, respectively. [IACHR Press Release: Rapporteurships] Vargas Silva has not yet been assigned any rapporteurships. See IACHR, Composition.

According to the American Convention on Human Rights, the Commissioners are “persons of high moral character and [with] recognized competence in the field of human rights.” See American Convention on Human Rights, art. 34. Commissioners are tasked with developing an awareness of human rights in the Americas, offering recommendations to Member States regarding progressive human rights measures, conducting studies and drafting reports, coordinating with Member States to obtain relevant human rights information, responding to Member States’ human rights inquiries, addressing the petitions received from aggrieved individuals or groups, and submitting annual reports to the OAS General Assembly. See id. at art. 41.

Background on the OAS and IACHR

The OAS was established pursuant to the OAS Charter, which was signed in 1948 and entered into force in 1951. See OAS, Who We Are. The purpose of the OAS is to achieve peace, justice, solidarity, and independence among its 35 Member States by engaging in political dialogues, facilitating cooperation among States, and implementing follow-up mechanisms to encourage accountability, among other approaches. See OAS, What We Do; OAS, Who We Are.

The IACHR is an autonomous organ of the OAS that, together with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, is responsible for promoting and protecting human rights in the region. See OAS, What is the IACHR. The IACHR addresses human rights conditions and violations in OAS Member States by conducting country visits, holding thematic hearings on topics of concern, publishing reports, and operating a petition system whereby individuals or groups can have their allegations of human rights violations reviewed. The IACHR’s rapporteurships monitor and address specific human rights themes or the rights of specific communities. See IJRC, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The IACHR has thematic rapporteurships on indigenous peoples, women, migrants, freedom of expression, children, human rights defenders, persons deprived of liberty, afro-descendants and racial discrimination, and LGBTI persons. The Commission also has a unit on economic, social, and cultural rights. See IACHR, Thematic Rapporteurships and Units.