The Inter-American Human Rights System | Columbia Law School

The Inter-American Human Rights System

The Human Rights Institute's current work before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) seeks to develop international law norms to address gaps in human rights protections in relation to juvenile life without parole.   The Institute's past work focused as well on domestic violence in the United States and the rights of Haitians and Haitian descendants in the Dominican Republic, among others.   The Institute also encourages normative development in the Inter-American System and promotes greater effectiveness and effeciency within the system itself.   

U.S. Cases in the Inter-American Human Rights System

• Jessica Gonzales v. US In 2011, the Commission issued a landmark decision holding the U.S. acccountable for human rights violations against a Colorado woman and her three deceased children who were victims of domestic violence.  Efforts to implement the decision on the federal and local levels are ongoing.

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• Juvenile Life without Parole This pending case challenges the sentences and conditions of confinement of 32 Michigan petitioners currently serving the remainder of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes that occured when they were under the age of 18.  A merits hearing was held in March of 2014. 

Other Cases before the Inter-American System.

• Case of Mass Expulsions of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent from the Dominican Republic. The Human Rights Clinic along with co-counsel combined litigation in the Inter-American system with other advocacy to put an end to the use of mass expulsions and related practices with a discriminatory impact on Haitians and peoples of Haitian descent.  Petitioners sought and received provisional measures from the Inter-American Court and, in 2014, the Court issued a final merits decision finding that law and policy in the Dominican Republic violated several provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights, including rights to non-discrimination, to a nationality, to legal personality, to identity, the right to equality before the law, rights of the family and rights of the child, as well as fair trial guarantees and judicial protection.  The Court called on the Dominican Republic to put an end to practices that contravene human rights, including mass expulsions and detention without due process, among other reparations. 

IACHR Resources

• To support effective use of Inter-American Thematic Hearings, the Institute developed a resource guide, which can be found on our publications page.
• The Institute has developed a Primer distilling recommendations to the United States from the IACHR and UN reviews of the US Human Rights Record, the updated Primer is available on our publications page.