Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Page 1 of 3

Filter category

Feature post image

A Third Category of Enforced Disappearance? The Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ Article 34 Resolution on Mexico

July 31, 2026

In April 2026, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) adopted a resolution under Article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (hereinafter “the Convention”) and urgently brought the matter before the UN General Assembly.  Article 34 empowers the CED to bring a situation to the attention of the UN General Assembly when it receives well-founded indications that enforced disappearance is being practised on a widespread or systematic basis.  A significant aspect of the Resolution is the Committee’s application of what may be described as a third scenario of enforced disappearance: disappearances committed solely by non-State actors as crimes against humanity under Article 5. Although previously recognized by the CED, the Mexico Resolution assessed this scenario in practice for the first time and within the exceptional Article 34 procedure. Mexico rejected this interpretation, arguing that Article 34 is limited to enforced disappearances involving direct or indirect State participation under Article 2.

Read more

Is Deep-Seabed Mining Compatible with the Human Right to a Healthy Environment? Insights from the ICJ and IACtHR Climate Change Advisory Opinions

June 1, 2026

In 2025, following the 2024 advisory opinion (AO) of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Climate Change (here), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) issued their AOs on Climate Change (here and here, respectively). These historic AOs have generated extensive commentary. This blog…

Read more

A Human Right to Informational Self-determination: What it is and why it matters for Digital Human Rights

November 21, 2025

On 9 October 2025, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (‘Inter-American Commission’) published a thematic report titled “The Impact of Digital Surveillance on Freedom of Expression in the Americas”. Among other things, the report called on member states to give effect to a new human right - the “right to informational self-determination”. The report comes…

Read more

An Incomplete Yet Coherent Systemic Approach Within The Inter-American System: The Validity of the Act of Ratification of the ACHR Amidst a Dispute over a State’s International Representation

September 1, 2025

In the recent Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgment on Preliminary Objections of August 21, 2025, in the Case of Chirinos Salamanca et al. Vs. Venezuela, the Court dismissed the preliminary objection regarding the Court’s lack of jurisdiction ratione voluntatis and ratione temporis raised by the State of Venezuela. With significant implications for the Court’s…

Read more

Effectiveness vs. Legitimacy of Governments at the IACtHR

August 7, 2025

In February 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR; the Court) heard oral arguments in the case Chirinos Salamanca and others v. Venezuela. The case concerns 14 police officers that were charged with the murder of a journalist and then incarcerated and allegedly tortured in the infamous “Helicoide” prison in Caracas. The hearing, however, only focused…

Read more