Roberta Clarke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | Barbadian |
| Education | Hugh Wooding Law School |
| Occupation | lawyer |
| Employer | Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) |
| Known for | Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights |
| Predecessor | Flávia Piovesan |
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.
Clarke was born on Barbados and after training as a lawyer she practised on Trinidad and Tobago. She then went to work for the United Nations where she worked in the Caribbean, Libya, East and Southern Africa and in the Asia Pacific. [1]
In 2014 she was UN Women's Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific and the Representative in Thailand. [2]
She was elected as one of the seven commissioners for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in January 2022 at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). She was elected for a four-year term. There were five candidates for the three vacant positions as commissioners and the other two successful candidates were from Mexico and Colombia. She had the support of Barbados's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS). [3]
She became the Second Vice President of the IACHR commission. The President was the Jamaican Margarette May Macaulay and the first vice President was Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño from Panama. This was one of the first times that the commission was led by an all woman team and the first time that they all came from Central America or the Caribbean. [4] Clarke succeeded Flávia Piovesan as the commission's Rapporteur on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bisexual, and Intersex Persons. [5]
In 2024 new IACHR commissioners were elected, including Gloria de Mees and Andrea Pochak, to replace long serving commissioners Macauley, Julissa Mantilla Falcón and Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño. The initial President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) was Clarke. [6]
She is a campaigner for women's rights and she has been President of the Coalition against Domestic Violence in Trinidad and Tobago. [1]
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).
Dame Billie Antoinette Miller, DA, OOC is a Barbadian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister. Miller is a member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Barbados do not possess the same legal rights as non-LGBT people. In December 2022, the courts ruled Barbados' laws against buggery and "gross indecency" were unconstitutional and struck them from the Sexual Offences Act. However, there is no recognition of same-sex relationships and only limited legal protections against discrimination.
The Judiciary of Barbados is an independent branch of the Barbadian government, subject only to the Barbadian Constitution. It is headed by the Chief Justice of Barbados. Barbados is a common law jurisdiction, in which precedents from English law and British Commonwealth tradition may be taken into account.
Arosemena is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Maureen Cecilia Clarke Clarke is a Costa Rican attorney and women's rights leader. She was president of the Inter-American Commission of Women.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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