9.2 Inter-American System

The hemisphere's system: the American Convention on Human Rights 1969 (the Pact of San Jose); the Inter-American Commission (the OAS organ — the petitions, the country reports, the precautionary measures) and the Inter-American Court (the contentious and advisory jurisdiction — the state-acceptance requirement; seated San Jose, Costa Rica). The jurisprudence's fame (the cases to name): the forced-disappearances line (Velasquez Rodriguez — the seminal holding: the state's acquiescence in disappearances violates multiple rights; the duty to prevent-and-investigate); the amnesty-invalidation line (Barrios Altos — the self-amnesties incompatible with the Convention: no amnesty for the gravest violations); the indigenous-lands doctrine (Awas Tingni — the communal property of indigenous lands; the state's recognition duty). The system's critics: the compliance gaps; the withdrawal episodes (the Trinidad, Venezuela and Dominican Republic exits' lore). The democratic-clause interface (the Inter-American Democratic Charter — Unit 4's OAS connection).