AQ Summer Issue Panel: Human Rights - Advances and Challenges Today in the Hemisphere

Speakers:

• Michael Casey, Reporter, Dow Jones Newswires and author of Che’s Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image (Keynote Speaker)
• Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Assistant Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
• Mariclaire Acosta, Americas Director, International Center for Transitional Justice
• Katya Salazar, Executive Director, Due Process of Law Foundation
• Christopher Sabatini, Editor-in-Chief, Americas Quarterly, (Moderator); Senior Director of Policy, AS/COA

Summary

The summer issue of Americas Quarterly commemorates 50 years of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and explores contemporary challenges to human rights in the hemisphere. Despite the fact that most of hemisphere—with the glaring exception of Cuba—lives under some degree of democracy, the hemisphere is rife with abuses of basic human rights and citizen exclusion. Prominent human rights activists including former President of Peru Alejandro Toledo, Santiago Canton, Claudio Grossman, Susana Villarán, and Víctor Abramovich contributed to the edition with essays on the accomplishments in the field of human rights and the challenges that lie ahead.

To celebrate the launch of the issue, the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and Americas Quarterly convened contributors Mariclaire Acosta, Katya Salazar, Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, and Michael Casey.

Human Rights in Cuba

In his opening remarks, Christopher Sabatini expressed his regrets that the Summer issue did not cover human rights abuses in Cuba sufficiently. He went on to add that over 200 political prisoners remain in Cuba, where that there is no free press. Michael Casey’s book Che’s Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image addresses the contradictions of Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s legacy (and above all his image) as both an advocate and adversary of human rights and was reviewed in the Summer issue. At the event, the author spoke from his experiences reporting from Cuba and Argentina. He noted that social inequality—the very social ill that the revolution sought to address—is on the rise partly due to Cuba’s dual currency system.
 
Honduras and current challenges to human rights in our hemisphere

While the spread of democracy over the past two decades in the hemisphere offer cause for celebration, the June 28 ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and his illegal actions prior to the coup signal the challenges for consolidating democracy. Elizabeth Abi-Mershed recently returned from an official human rights commission visit to Honduras to monitor the situation in the wake of the ouster. She—along with the other panelists—condemned the coup, but also condemned Manuel Zelaya’s prior unconstitutional actions. Katya Salazar stressed the need for stronger institutions, which could have prevented the coup in the first place.

50 years of the inter-American system and tools for defending human rights

Salazar and Acosta presented their contributions to the Summer issue of AQ and current human rights challenges. Salazar’s article, “The Obstacles to Justice for the Indigenous,” explored indigenous peoples’ access to legal protection. The need for indigenous and other often-disenfranchised communities to be better included in legal systems became tragically clear in June when clashes between police and indigenous protesters led to dozens of deaths in northern Peru.

Acosta, the former undersecretary for human rights in Mexican President Vicente Fox’s administration, wrote about confronting crime while respecting human rights. Drawing from her own country’s escalating violence as a result of heightened narcotics trafficking, she discussed the need for governments to protect their citizens through strong legal institutions that respect human rights while enforcing the law.

Conclusion

Panelists noted that the challenges facing the Western Hemisphere have changed significantly, with most emerging from dictatorships and consolidating democracy. The next stage for boosting human rights involves building strong institutions, making government and social services accessible to all citizens, and providing security while respecting civil liberties. Speakers commended the work of the Inter-American Commission over the past 50 years and stressed that its success depends on the support of states that adhere to its principles. While the hurdles facing our hemisphere have evolved, the need to respect international treaties and support strong institutions remains as pressing as ever.