IACHR establishes unit on “the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Persons”

By Timothy Herrmann | November 7, 2011

Last week, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) created a special unit to oversee protection of the rights of “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Persons”. The creation of a special unit to monitor the human rights of a particular group is not unprecedented. In 2001 the IACHR also created a special unit devoted to the Defenders of Human Rights. According to its website, the Defenders of Human Rights Unit was created “to coordinate the Executive Secretariat’s activities in this area and, in particular, to follow the situation of human rights defenders throughout the region.” It seems fair to assume that the new unit devoted to LGBTI Persons will function along the same lines.

In its official press release, the commission states that “next year, the commission will evaluate the Unit’s work and whether sufficient resources exist to make its efforts sustainable, along with the overall functioning of its strategic plan, and will decide on whether to create an Office of the Rapporteur on the rights of LGBTI Persons.”

“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 has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this matter. 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.”

The IACHR is an autonomous human rights body created in 1958 by the Organization of American States (OAS).

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