NGOs must be heared at the Organization of American States
Canada must continue to press the Organization of American States (OAS) to give civil society a direct voice in the deliberations of the General Assembly, which opens in Guatemala next week.
Montreal, 31 May, 1999 Canada must continue to press the Organization of American States (OAS) to give civil society a direct voice in the deliberations of the General Assembly, which opens in Guatemala next week.
"Canada should push for a mechanism that will give an official consultative status to NGOs within the OAS to strengthen and reinforce the Inter-American human rights system," Warren Allmand, President of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, said today. "Canada can, and must exercise its leadership."
Canada is expected to play a key role in the Americas as it will host the Free Trade in the Americas Agreement (FTAA) Trade Ministerial Meeting next November in Toronto; the OAS General Assembly in June 2000 and the Summit of the Americas in March 2001 in Qu?bec City.
The International Centre is joining more than 200 human rights organizations in Americas to support a four-point statement calling for stronger defence of human rights issues in the hemisphere. In particular, the NGO network is urging for an end to impunity; the respect and protection of human rights defenders; strengthening of the Inter-American human rights system, and transparency in the election of the members of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and the Inter-American Court.
"Many countries in the Americas are not meeting their democratic obligations and continue to deny their citizens fundamental human rights and freedoms," Mr. Allmand said. He added that serious human rights violations and the difficult task of building peace after years of civil strife remain serious obstacles to the development of true democracies in the region.
The 200-strong network of NGOs on human rights is urging all member States to address this important issue and to support the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' calls for the rapid signature and ratification of the statute establishing the International Criminal Court.
Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, the South-American Platform for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, the Canadian Inter-Church Committee for Human Rights in Latin America, and hundreds of local, regional and national groups in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Peru have signed the declaration that is being released today in the 34 OAS countries.
The International Centre is an independent and non-partisan Canadian institution with an international mandate, working with citizens and governments here and around the world, to promote human rights and democratic development through dialogue, capacity building, advocacy and public education. It focuses its programmes and activities in 12 core countries, including Guatemala, Peru, Mexico and Haiti.
Mr. Allmand and the coordinators of the Americas and Democratic Development programmes of the International Centre are participating in the OAS civil society forum in Guatemala City.
For More Information
Patricia Poirier, Director of communications, ICHRDD Tel : (514) 283-6073 Fax: (514) 283-3792
