Yesterday Ecuador’s government described as “taunting” the criticism on its proposed amendments to the Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), by civil society organizations.
The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) held a special meeting to hear the recommendations of defending groups of right stating that the Commission be strengthened, not weakened. However, the proposals made by Ecuador, Venezuela and other countries of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), seek to weaken the entity.
Georgina Vargas, the representative of the NGO Centre for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) stated that the reform requests carried out by the states are “accompanied by a genuine commitment for funding the Commission to fulfil its efforts to protect human rights.”
Vargas did not hesitate to openly question the topics driven by some states saying that they obey “to a discomfort that the work of the Commission has made in these countries rather than a genuine concern for the victims.”
One of the most sought after of the signatories of the Commission is to make that the precautionary measures be proposed in cases of urgency and seriousness. In this regard, Vargas maintained that it is “important not generate elements that hinder the organization.”
