Special Meeting of the Permanent Council, May 5, 2017. Carlos Horacio de Casas and Antonia Urrejola Noguera, both candidates for Membership of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). OEA - OAS/Flickr. Some rights reserved.The abductions, killings and enforced disappearances carried out under Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship came to light thanks in part to the efforts of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). More recently, the IACHR’s standards and decisions have helped spark new rights-based legislation in our country, such as the Migration Law and a military justice code.
From the dictatorship to the present, the commission has been a critical ally for the Argentine people and its democratic institutions. That is why Argentina has been an important backer of the regional system for human rights protection, proposing prestigious professionals to serve on the commission and the inter-American court.
So when the current government nominated Carlos Horacio de Casas to the IACHR earlier this year, it marked a huge step backwards – particularly given the large number of qualified candidates available.
