Gloria Monique de Mees | |
|---|---|
 in 2024 | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | Suriname |
| Employer | Anton de Kom University of Suriname |
Gloria Monique de Mees is a Suriname Professor who became OAS's Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-Descendants and against Racial Discrimination. She was elected to serve on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR) from 2024 through to the end of 2027.
Mees was born in Suriname's capital Paramaribo [1] and she graduated with a masters degree in law from the Anton de Kom University of Suriname in 2000, [1]
She worked at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname lecturing on human rights law. [2] Her country proposed that she should be a candidate to be elected to the IACHR. As part of the process an independent panel led by Claudia Martin of the American University Washington College of Law looked at all of the prospective candidates in a year when there would be four new IACHR members. The panel were concerned that so many of the candidates were withdrawn. Some of those elected met the criteria, but de Mees failed to meet expertise with the IACHR human rights standards and the panel questioned her "independence, impartiality, and absence of conflicts". [3]
She was elected by the OAS's General assembly to serve from the beginning of 2024 through to the end of 2027. She succeeded the Jamaican lawyer Margarette May Macaulay as the Rapporteur on Rights of Women and Rapporteur on the Rights of People of African Descent and against Racial Discrimination. [2] She was one of three new commissioners, including Andrea Pochak, replacing long serving commissioners Macauley, Julissa Mantilla Falcón and Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño. The initial President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will be Roberta Clarke who is a commissioner from Trinidad. [4]
International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, agreements between sovereign states intended to have binding legal effect between the parties that have agreed to them; and customary international law. Other international human rights instruments, while not legally binding, contribute to the implementation, understanding and development of international human rights law and have been recognized as a source of political obligation.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a human rights treaty ratified by members of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The office of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of the Organization of American States (OAS) was established by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 1997 to monitor OAS member states' compliance with the American Convention on Human Rights in the area of freedom of expression.
Catalina Botero Marino is a Colombian attorney who served as the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) from 2008 to 2014. From 2016 to 2020, she was the Dean of the Law School of the University of Los Andes (Colombia). Since 2020 she is one of four co-chairs of Facebook's Oversight Board, a body that adjudicates Facebook's content moderation decisions.
The Republic of Uruguay is located in South America, between Argentina, Brazil and the South Atlantic Ocean, with a population of 3,332,972. Uruguay gained independence and sovereignty from Spain in 1828 and has full control over its internal and external affairs. From 1973 to 1985 Uruguay was governed by a civil-military dictatorship which committed numerous human rights abuses.
Tracy S. Robinson is Jamaican attorney and lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She served as commissioner on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) from 2012 to 2015 and in 2014 was elected as chair of the organization. She has served as the Rapporteur on the Rights of Women since January 2012 for the Organization of American States (OAS) and helped establish the Rapporteurship on the rights of LGBTI, serving as its first Rapporteur.
Margarette May Macaulay is the Jamaican Commissioner and some time President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (OAS).
Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño is a lawyer and Supreme Count judge. She is a Panamanian Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (OAS). In 2019 she became President of that body.
Paulo Abrão is a Brazilian human rights expert, former government official and law professor. He served as Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) from 16 August 2016 to 15 August 2020. Abrão previously served as Executive Secretary of the Institute of Public Policies of Human Rights of MERCOSUR; President of the Amnesty Commission of Brazil; Secretary of Justice of Brazil; President of the National Committee for Refugees; and President of the National Committee against Trafficking in Persons.
Antonia Urrejola Noguera is a Chilean lawyer who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 11 March 2022 to 10 March 2023. She was previously elected by the Organization of American States (OAS) to serve from 2018 to 2021 as a commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). In 2021 she became the President of the IACHR, leading the first all woman team of President and vice-presidents.
Flávia Piovesan is a Brazilian lawyer and human rights Commissioner. She was elected by the Organization of American States (OAS) to serve from 2018 to 2021 as a Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). In 2021 she was the 2nd vice-president of the IACHR as part of the first all woman team of President and vice-presidents.
Julissa Mantilla Falcón is a Peruvian Rapporteur on the Rights of Older Persons for OAS. She was elected by the Organization of American States (OAS) to serve from 2020 to 2023 as a Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). In 2021 she was the first vice-president of the IACHR as part of the first all woman team of President and vice-presidents.
Felipe González Morales is a Chilean lawyer and academic, specializing in international human rights law.
Soledad García Muñoz is a Spanish lawyer who in 2017 was elected as first Special Rapporteur on economic, social, culture, and environmental Rights serving on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Roberta Clarke is a Barbadian lawyer who has worked for UN Women. She was elected as a commissioner for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to serve for four years from 2022.
On 9 February 2024, Venezuelan activist Rocío San Miguel was detained at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, near Caracas. Along her, two brothers, her ex-husband, and the father of her daughter were also detained. In response to the detention, international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, have called for San Miguel's immediate and unconditional release, citing a precautionary measure of protection issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2012.
Andrea Pochak is an Argentine lawyer. She was elected to serve on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR) from January 2024 through to the end of 2027 and to be the OAS's Rapporteur on Human Mobility.
Tania Reneaum Panszi is a Mexican human rights expert who served as the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) from 2021.
Dinah Shelton is an American lawyer. She has been a university professor and served as commissioner for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights between 2010 and 2013.
Media related to Gloria Monique de Mees at Wikimedia Commons