The Crucial Role of Human Rights NGOs in the Inter-American System

Abstract

Since the explosion of the human rights movement in the early 1970s, civil-society organizations have played a key role in the inter-American human rights system (IAS). In the era of dictatorships, they provided the information necessary for the Inter-American Commission to be able to act in the face of uncooperative states. When democracy returned to the region, these organizations grew in number, and their role within the IAS likewise expanded. In particular, a set of organizations that focused on legal strategies and the activation of regional human rights protection mechanisms cropped up. These organizations have, at a more abstract and general level, contributed to the juridification of human rights struggles and ultimately to the creation of a legal field. They have also largely set the agenda of the IAS, although the agenda-setting power has been limited to a small number of organizations that constitute the system's “repeat players.” In a manner befitting their systemic importance, these organizations have tried to make sure the organs of the IAS run smoothly, and to defend them when they come under attack. This essay explores the different roles that human rights NGOs have played in the history of the IAS and suggests that the strategy of increasing juridification that they have pursued since the region's return to democracy might have reached its limits.

The Historical and Present-Day Role of Non-Governmental Organisations before the Inter-American Human Rights System in Documenting Serious Human Rights Violations and Protecting Human Rights and the Rule of Law Through Ensuring Accountability

“…As will be shown, the inter-American human rights instruments have given tools to NGOs to work proactively but also reactively within the IAHRS, and thus with the IACHR and the IACtHR. 97 This has led some insiders 98 and other authors 99 to hold that NGOs agenda-setting power, an assertion which we agree with, although this has been a gradual process. Urgent and complex situations required rapid responses.…”

Uluslararasi İnsan Haklari Normlarinin Oluşumunda Hükümet Dişi Kuruluşlarin Rolü

“…HDK'lar bölge devletleri üzerinde bağlayıcı bir insan hakları sözleşmesinin kabul edilmesi ve bunu yorumlamak ve uygulamaktan sorumlu bir yargı organın kurulması sürecinde kritik rol oynamışlardır. 113 İnsan hakları HDK'ların insan hakları mücadelesinin normlaşmasına ilk katısı, Sözleşme öncesi devlet eylemlerini kınamak ve sorumluluklarını hatırlatmak için evrensel insan hakları normlarına başvurmaları eylemidir. Üye devletlerin İnter-Amerikan sistemini, organlarını ve bunların altında yatan sözleşme temelini hazırlarken, uluslararası ilkeleri insan hakları terimleriyle desteklemenin yaygın bir uygulama olmadığı dikkate alındığında, HDK'ların bu davranışları başlı başına bir yenilik niteliği arz etmektedir.…”

Introduction to the Symposium on the American Convention on Human Rights and its New Interlocutors

“…Since the early 1970s, civil-society organizations have been critical actors in shaping the system: they have not only opposed dictatorships by providing information on gross and systematic human rights violations but also developed sophisticated strategies of legal mobilization-what Soley calls the "juridification" of human rights struggles. 5 This process, she claims, has largely set the agenda of the IAS. But, as the system faces new challenges, civil-society organizations may need to change some of their strategies of interaction with the system; as Soley writes, the "juridification of human rights struggles might have reached its peak."…”