EVOLUTION OF THE INITIATIVES ON GUANTANAMO The IACHR’s mandate The United States has been a member of the Organization of American States since 1951, when it deposited the instrument of ratification of the OAS Charter. The United States is therefore subject to the obligations derived from the OAS Charter, Article 20 of the Statute of the IACHR, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, and Article 51 of its Rules of Procedure. The Commission has traditionally interpreted the scope of the obligations established under the American Declaration in the context of the universal and inter-American human rights systems more broadly, in light of developments in the field of international human rights law since the instrument was first adopted, and with due regard to other rules of international law applicable to Member States. In its response to this report, the Government of the United States that, although it has undertaken a political commitment to uphold the American Declaration, this is a non-binding instrument that does not itself create legal rights or impose legal obligations on signatory States. According to the well-established and long-standing jurisprudence and practice of the inter-American system, however, the Declaration is recognized as constituting a source of legal obligation for OAS member states, including in particular those States that are not parties to the American Convention on Human Rights. These obligations are considered to flow from the human rights obligations of Member States under the OAS Charter. Articles 106 and 150 of the Charter authorize the Inter-American Commission to protect those human rights enunciated and defined in the American Declaration. This competence is expressly set forth in Article 1 of the Commission’s Statute, approved in 1979 by OAS General Assembly Resolution No. 447. Member States have agreed that the content of the general principles of the OAS Charter is contained in and defined by the American Declaration, as well as the customary legal status of the rights protected under many of the Declaration’s core provisions. Therefore, as a source of law and legal obligation, the United States must implement the rights established in the American Declaration in practice within its jurisdiction. In this regard, according to the mandate given by the States to the IACHR under Article 20 of its Statute, the Commission has the power, in relation to Member States
EVOLUTION OF THE INITIATIVES ON GUANTANAMO The IACHR’s mandate The United States has been a member of the Organization of American States since 1951, when it deposited the instrument of ratification of the OAS Charter. The United States is therefore subject to the obligations derived from the OAS Charter, Article 20 of the Statute of the IACHR, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, and Article 51 of its Rules of Procedure. The Commission has traditionally interpreted the scope of the obligations established under the American Declaration in the context of the universal and inter-American human rights systems more broadly, in light of developments in the field of international human rights law since the instrument was first adopted, and with due regard to other rules of international law applicable to Member States. In its response to this report, the Government of the United States that, although it has undertaken a political commitment to uphold the American Declaration, this is a non-binding instrument that does not itself create legal rights or impose legal obligations on signatory States. According to the well-established and long-standing jurisprudence and practice of the inter-American system, however, the Declaration is recognized as constituting a source of legal obligation for OAS member states, including in particular those States that are not parties to the American Convention on Human Rights. These obligations are considered to flow from the human rights obligations of Member States under the OAS Charter. Articles 106 and 150 of the Charter authorize the Inter-American Commission to protect those human rights enunciated and defined in the American Declaration. This competence is expressly set forth in Article 1 of the Commission’s Statute, approved in 1979 by OAS General Assembly Resolution No. 447. Member States have agreed that the content of the general principles of the OAS Charter is contained in and defined by the American Declaration, as well as the customary legal status of the rights protected under many of the Declaration’s core provisions. Therefore, as a source of law and legal obligation, the United States must implement the rights established in the American Declaration in practice within its jurisdiction. In this regard, according to the mandate given by the States to the IACHR under Article 20 of its Statute, the Commission has the power, in relation to Member States
Towards-Closure-Guantanamo.docx