Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 2.6: Legal Strategy from the Local to the International
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but the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(ACHRP) has had one precedent setting decision. There
is less relevance, so far, for the European Court on Human
Rights, and the Asia region lags behind on regional protective
mechanisms. 6
The Inter-American System of Human Rights
The Organization of American States (OAS) brings together
the nations of North, Central and South America, and
the Caribbean. It’s objective is strengthening cooperation
on democratic values and defending common interests. The
Inter-American system for the promotion and protection of
human rights is part of the OAS structure and is composed
of two bodies. These are the IACHR, based in Washington,
D.C., USA, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights,
located in San José, Costa Rica. They uphold the American
Convention on Human Rights, which followed on the earlier
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.
The Inter-American system of human rights provides
recourse to people in the Americas who have suffered violations
of their rights by states, which are members of the OAS.
Under their obligations to protect individuals’ rights, Member
States of the OAS have a responsibility to ensure that third
parties, such as multinational corporations, do not violate
those rights. The states can be held accountable if they fail to
do so. The Inter-American Court identified this responsibility
in the first case that was submitted to it by stating that “an
illegal act which violates human rights and which is initially
not directly imputable to a State (for example, because it is the
act of a private person or because the person responsible has
not been identified) can lead to international responsibility of
the State, not because of the act itself, but because of the lack
of due diligence to prevent the violation or to respond to it as
required by the Convention.” 7
A complaint is initially brought against the state involved to
the Commission. If the case brought to the IACHR is against a
State Party to the American Convention on Human Rights, the