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The Network of National Institutions in the Americas is one of four regional groups of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) within the global network, the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs (the ICC). The Americas group, which largely consists of ombudsman agencies rather than multi-member human rights commissions, is currently chaired by the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico, which represents the region on the ICC Bureau.
The full members of the Network are those national institutions deemed by the ICC to be fully compliant with the Paris Principles, so accredited with "A status":
The following institutions are not "A" accredited by the ICC but are potentially eligible for consideration (except, under current ICC rules, Puerto Rico). Some participate alongside Network members in regional events, particularly those organized through the Ibero-American Federation of Ombudsmen (FIO).
A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to broadly protect and promote human rights in a given country. The growth of such bodies has been encouraged by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which has provided advisory and support services, and facilitated access for NHRIs to the United Nations (UN) treaty bodies and other committees. There are over one hundred such institutions, about two-thirds assessed by peer review as compliant with the United Nations standards set out in the Paris Principles. Compliance with the Principles is the basis for accreditation at the UN, which, uniquely for NHRIs, is not conducted directly by a UN body but by a sub-committee of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) called the Sub-Committee on Accreditation. The secretariat to the review process is provided by the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section of the OHCHR.
The Bojayá massacre was a massacre that occurred on May 2, 2002, in the town of Bellavista, Bojayá Municipality, Chocó Department, Colombia. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas attacked the town in an attempt to take control of the Atrato River region from United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries. During the fighting, a gas cylinder bomb launched at the AUC paramilitaries positioned by the walls of a church from a FARC mortar went through the roof of the church instead, landing on the altar inside and detonating. 119 civilians died in the attack; approximately 300 inhabitants of the town had taken refuge in the church, and 79 died in the explosion.
Mireille Roccatti Velásquez, is a Mexican scholar and jurist who served as the first female president of the country's National Human Rights Commission.
The National Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution (NHRI) accredited at the United Nations with "A" status by the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs. It is also a voting member of the International Ombudsman Institute, and its president thus is considered as the national ombudsman for Mexico.
Nicaragua is a country in Central America with constitutional democracy with executive, legislative, judicial, and electoral branches of government. The President of Nicaragua is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government.
The Ombudsman's Office of Colombia is the national government agency that is charged with overseeing the protection of civil and human rights within the legal framework of the Republic of Colombia. The ombudsman, or People's Defender, is an official appointed by the President, and elected by the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, to head this agency.
The Office of the Ombudsman is an independent officer of Parliament appointed under Section 66 of the Antigua and Barbuda Constitution. It is accredited as a national human rights institution (NHRI) but with the lowest ('C') status accorded by the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs (ICC). It has only limited participation in the regional NHRI network, the Network of National Institutions in the Americas. Like most ombudsman offices it is primarily concerned with addressing maladministration in public bodies, rather than human rights violations.
The Asia Pacific Forum (APF) is one of four regional networks of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) within the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs. The APF formerly accredited NHRIs for compliance with the United Nations' Paris Principles, but now acknowledges the accreditation decisions of an ICC sub-committee on which the APF has one of the four (regional) seats.
The Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) is one of four regional groupings within the global network, the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). NANHRI promotes the establishment of national human rights institutions throughout Africa, and supports co-operation and training to strengthen and develop the monitoring, promotion, protection and advocacy work of African NHRIs.
A children's ombudsman, children's commissioner, youth commissioner, child advocate, children's commission, youth ombudsman or equivalent body is a public authority in various countries charged with the protection and promotion of the rights of children and young people, either in society at large, or in specific categories such as children in contact with the care system. The agencies usually have a substantial degree of independence from the executive, the term is often used differently from the original meaning of ombudsman, it is often an umbrella term, often used as a translation convention or national human rights institutions, dealing with individual complaints, intervening with other public authorities, conducting research, and – where their mandate permits them to engage in advocacy – generally promoting children's rights in public policy, law and practice. The first children's commissioner was established in Norway in 1981. The creation of such institutions has been promoted by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, and, from 1990 onwards, by the Council of Europe.
Rosa Julieta Montaño Salvatierra is a Bolivian attorney, human rights defender, woman's rights activist, feminist writer and a 2015 winner of the US State Department's International Women of Courage Award.
The European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) is a membership international not-for-profit association (AISBL) under Belgian law. In 2013 it established its Permanent Secretariat in Brussels bringing together National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from across the wider European region. Formerly known as European Group of National Human Rights Institutions, ENNHRI has been actively working in the field of promotion and protection of human rights in wider Europe for 15 years. ENNHRI essentially assists in the establishment and accreditation of European NHRIs, coordinates the exchange of information and best practices among its members, facilitates capacity building and training, engages with international and regional mechanisms for protection and promotion of human right and intervenes on legal and policy developments in Europe.
Yésica Sánchez Maya is a human rights attorney who works in Oaxaca, Mexico. In 2003, she began serving as president of the Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights (LIMEDDH) in Oaxaca. In 2006, when a teacher's strike erupted in Oaxaca she was threatened for defending clients and an arrest warrant was issued when she spoke out about the violence and human rights abuses the state was engaging in. In 2008, she left LIMEDDH and founded the Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equality, for which she serves as deputy director, and works on a wide variety of issues including economic and politic inequality, femicide, education, and other human rights issues. She has testified at a hearing by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about violence against women in the region, sexual minorities, and indigenous women, including the Mixe and has attended hearings and presented reports to both the United Nations and the Organization of American States regarding forced disappearances, torture, and violence against women. In 2011, Sánchez Maya and other human rights activists were able to pressure Oaxacan legislators to pass Law for the Defense of Human Rights to limit state intimidation and protect citizen's rights. In 2012, she sought the office of state Ombudsman for the Defence of Human Rights of the People of Oaxaca (DDHPO) and had the support of NGOs and citizens, but the appointment went to Arturo Peimbert. Sánchez Maya has been vocal in criticism of the ombudsman for failure to implement the Victims Act and convene the Committee of Victims. In 2015, Sánchez Maya was advocating for laws to protect journalists and human rights defenders from threats and violence. She stated that this year, the number of incidents has risen markedly.
The Defensoría del Pueblo de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela is a state-funded human rights agency in Venezuela responsible for investigating complaints against any public authority. Along with the Public Ministry and the Comptroller-General of the Republic, the office forms the 'citizens’ power' branch of the Government of Venezuela. The three bodies collectively form the Republican Moral Council, a body established to promote moral and ethical behaviour by public officials.
Alejandra Mora Mora is a Costa Rican jurist, lawyer, professor, and politician. She has been a human rights activist, especially in the area of women's rights. She served as her country's Minister of Women's Affairs from 2014 to 2018, was president of the National Institute for Woman (INAMU), and director of the women's section of the Ombudsman's Office of Costa Rica.
The 2019 Sacaba massacre occurred when Bolivian soldiers and police attacked and broke up a protest led by Bolivian coca growers at Huayllani in Sacaba municipality, Cochabamba on 15 November 2019. It came in the first week of the interim presidency of Jeanine Áñez. Marchers intended to enter the town of Sacaba and proceed to the departmental capital of Cochabamba to protest the ousting of Bolivian president Evo Morales, but were stopped by the police and military. During the afternoon, police and soldiers clashed with protesters, and eventually soldiers opened fire on the crowd. Eleven demonstrators were killed; an estimated ninety-eight people were wounded, including four journalists and eight members of the security forces. Two hundred twenty-three protesters were arrested, many of whom suffered mistreatment and at least nine of whom were tortured.
The Ombudsman's Office of Bolivia is an independent governmental institution established by the Constitution, charged with overseeing the fulfillment, protection, and promotion of human rights in the country. The Ombudsman's Office is functionally, financially, and administratively independent of the four branches of Bolivian government. It was established on 22 December 1997 by Law N° 1818, and is currently regulated by Law N° 870 of 13 December 2016. Governance scholar Tom Pegram writes that "the Bolivian Ombudsman's Office has been recognized as arguably the most effective state actor in terms of advancing rights and active citizenship".
Augusto Jordán Rodas Andrade is a Guatemalan attorney and civil servant who from 2017 until 2022 served as Ombudsman of Guatemala, a controversial office in Guatemala's highly polarized political landscape. His 2022 candidacy for the presidency of the San Carlos University was sabotaged, just like his attempt to run, together with Thelma Cabrera, for the 'Movement for the Liberation of the Indigenous Peoples' (MLP) in the 2023 presidential elections.
Pedro Francisco Callisaya Aro is a Bolivian academic, constitutional lawyer, and jurist serving as the sixth ombudsman of Bolivia since 2022. Callisaya developed his career in academic circles, completing multiple graduate and postgraduate courses in the fields of constitutional law and human rights. After exercising a couple of minor public posts in the late 1990s, Callisaya entered the Ombudsman's Office, where he worked for over a decade. He served for two terms on the Departmental Court of Justice of La Paz from 2012 to 2016 and 2017 to 2021.
An ombudsman is a government employee who represents the people. Most countries offer ombudsman services.