International System of Protection

A first-of-its-kind study for Latin America, the report documents how sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) became a tool of silencing dissent in the context of recent protests across the region: in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela. Prepared by the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law, REDRESS, and the Latin American Network for Gender-based Strategic Litigation, the study draws from victims’ testimonies and case studies, as well as the work of international and civil society organizations and the Inter-American Commission and Court. The report finds a systematic pattern in the weaponization of SGBV against women, LGBTQI+ persons, and other historically marginalized groups.

Chapter 12 of Human Rights in the Administration of Justice, a manual and facilitator’s guide developed by the UN OHCHR in collaboration with the IBA, pertains to the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion, expression, association and assembly. The learning objectives of this chapter are: “1.) To familiarize the participants with some other key rights, namely freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion, expression, association and assembly, and their importance in a society that is respectful of human rights in general; 2.) To illustrate how these freedoms, as well as the limitations attached to the exercise of most of them, are interpreted by the international monitoring bodies; 3.) To explain the role of judges, prosecutors and lawyers in safeguarding the freedoms dealt with in this chapter.”

In this segment of the MOOC 'Freedom of Expression in the Age of Globalization' created by Columbia Global Freedom of Expression, Agnès Callamard focuses on the system of protection of freedom of expression in the Americas, South, Central, and North America. Callamard reviews the circumstances of its establishment, the specificities of the protection system, and the institution that are insuring the implementation of the commitment to freedom of expression. Callamard explains that the Inter-American system has probably become the most effective system of protection for freedom of expression, both in theory and in practice.

"Thee inter- American system of human rights (IASHR) is one of the three regional human rights systems, together with the European and the African systems. This contribution aims to offer a general overview of its structure and functions in order to understand the tools that have been used by the system to contribute toward its transformative role in the region. The IASHR has both a legal and an institutional dimension, in addition to a systemic one, and the sections of this contribution respect this tripartite division."

"This article examines the ‘Joint Declarations on freedom of expression’ from a critical perspective. Since 1999, these Joint Declarations have been adopted annually by the four intergovernmental mechanisms on freedom of expression with the assistance of two non-governmental organisations. This article identifies the factors which contribute to the Joint Declarations’ value, with a specific focus on the collaborative process leading up to their adoption, their progressive content and their demonstrated influence upon courts and other actors. It also acknowledges the limitations of the texts, including their non-binding nature as soft law, their limited impact and lack of visibility. Notwithstanding these issues, this article contends that the Joint Declarations constitute a distinct and potentially influential body of international soft law on freedom of expression, one whose relevance to policy debates deserves broader recognition."

In collaboration with the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, the TrialWatch initiative of the Clooney Foundation for Justice published a report on the increasing use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) to silence journalists in Peru. Based on 56 criminal defamation cases – 42 of which concerned public interest – filed in 2007-2022 by, in the majority, public figures (93%), as well as the accounts of journalists told through interviews and a survey, the report documents a systematic abuse of press freedom in violation of Peru’s regional and international obligations. You can read it in Spanish.