2011 Volume 2011 Issue 164 Pages 164_86-99
The present article explores the underlying factors that led the governments of the Organization of the American States (OAS) to adopt the American Convention on Human Rights (the convention) in 1969. The convention is the foundation of the inter-American human rights institution, whose functions have been entrusted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Despite its legal and political significance, however, the proposal for an Inter-American convention on human rights did not reap wider support from the beginning. The OAS had respected for national sovereignty, and had opposed a binding agreement on domestic issues such as human rights. This was evident in 1948 when the OAS rejected the Uruguay's proposal for the binding convention and rather opted for the non-binding human rights declaration; the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.
Given such background the question is, why did then the governments change their positions regarding the convention by 1969? The existing studies on human rights conventions interpret the adoptions as a result of intergovernmental processes. However, the adoption of the American convention cannot be explained solely from an intergovernmental point of view. The present paper focuses on the IACHR established in 1959 which played an essential role stimulating the governments to adopt the convention.
Although at first the IACHR was not authorized for protecting human rights and was regarded as a “study group”, it nevertheless gradually widened its functions. It began to receive communications from individuals and conduct investigations. The IACHR started also issuing recommendation to a particular government and publishing country reports. From there on, the IACHR supervision of governments conduct in the area of human rights became a fait accompli. As a result, the exceeding practices of the IACHR raised awareness among the governments regarding the effectiveness of the IACHR and affected the governments' positions on the convention.
The change of the positions of the governments was revealed at the Second Special Inter-American Conference in 1965, when the national representatives agreed about the positive role of the IACHR and express support for its further institutionalization in the area of human rights protection in Americas. The conference was a turning point for the adoption of the convention. While authorizing the IACHR for expanding functions, the governments approved the resolution for concrete step for adopting the convention.
