IACHR
Press Release
IACHR announces dates and scope of its visit to the southern border of the United States of America
August 16, 2019
IACHR Press and Communication Office
Tel: +1 (202) 370-9000
[email protected]
Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) will conduct a work visit to the southern border of the
United States of America from August 19 to 23, 2019. Specifically,
the IACHR will be in the cities of San Diego and Laredo. The
objective of the visit is to monitor the human rights situation in
relation to reception conditions at the border, access to asylum and
international protection procedures, conditions of immigration
detention and the practices associated with it, asylum and
immigration proceedings, as well as procedural guarantees and
judicial protection, with a special emphasis on the principles of
family unity and the best interest of the child.
The visit is conducted by the IACHR in follow-up to the
Resolution 1106 (2168/18) of the Permanent Council of the Organization of
American States, which mandates the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights to conduct a visit in order to observe the consequences of the
migration, refugee and asylum policies implemented by the United States, and
to implement the measures it deems appropriate within the framework of its
mandate.
The delegation will be composed by the President, Commissioner Esmeralda
Arosemena de Troitiño, Rapporteur on the Rights of Children and Adolescents;
as well as Commissioner Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva, Rapporteur on the Rights
of Migrants and Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay, Rapporteur on the
Rights of Women and Country Rapporteur for the United States. In addition,
in order to provide technical support to the Commission, Paulo Abrão,
Executive Secretary, María Claudia Pulido, Assistant Executive Secretary and
specialists of the Executive Secretariat of the IACHR will be part of the
delegation.
During the visit, the IACHR will hold meetings with State authorities,
civil society organizations, with migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and
other relevant actors.
The Commission reiterates its gratitude to the State of the United States of America for the consent to conduct this visit, as well as for providing and facilitating the necessary assistance during its realization. Likewise, the IACHR also thanks civil society organizations for their support in planning the visit and for the information they can provide to achieve the objective set with this monitoring visit.
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 and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. 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.
No. 203/19