27 124. In its Report on the Situation of Human Rights of Asylum Seekers within the Canadian Refugee Determination System, the Commission provided the following description of the evolution and content of these instruments: The 1951 Convention was adopted to address refugee situations resulting from World War II, and thus places a heavy emphasis on the rights of non-return and assimilation. The 1967 Protocol expanded the applicability of the 1951 Convention by removing the geographic and temporal restrictions which had limited the application of the latter to persons displaced pursuant to World War II. The 1951 Convention and its Protocol define: who is and is not a refugee, or has ceased to be a refugee; the legal status of a refugee, and his or her rights and duties in the country of refuge; 111 and matters relative to the implementation of the respective instruments. Under the regime of the 1951 Convention modified by the 1967 Protocol, a refugee is a person who: • owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; • is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; • or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence 112 as a result of such events is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. The 1951 Convention defines three basic groups that, while otherwise meeting the foregoing criteria, are excluded from refugee status: persons already subject to UN protection or assistance; persons not considered in need of international protection due to having been accorded treatment equivalent to that of nationals by the country of residence; and persons deemed undeserving of international protection. The latter group includes persons with respect to whom there are "serious reasons for considering" that they have committed "a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity," "a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to admission," 113 or "acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.” With respect to persons accorded refugee status, the corresponding protections must be 114 maintained unless or until they come within the terms of one of the "cessation clauses." 115 125. In this connection, in accordance with international and national law, the right to seek and be granted asylum is subject to certain limitations, most pertinently, the exclusionary clauses set out in article 1(f) of the 1951 Convention,116 which may be applied where it is established that there are "serious reasons for considering" that the person concerned committed one of the acts described. The 111 IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights of Asylum Seekers within the Canadian Refugee Determination System. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106. Doc. 40. Rev. 1. February 28, 2000. par. 22. Cf. Office of the UNHCR, Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status (reedited, Geneva, 1992), pp. 4-5. 112 IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights of Asylum Seekers within the Canadian Refugee Determination System. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106. Doc. 40. Rev. 1. February 28, 2000. par. 22. 113 IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights of Asylum Seekers within the Canadian Refugee Determination System. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106. Doc. 40. Rev. 1. February 28, 2000. par. 23. 114 IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights of Asylum Seekers within the Canadian Refugee Determination System. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106. Doc. 40. Rev. 1. February 28, 2000. par. 24. At the inter-American level and taking into account the peculiarities of the region, the Cartagena Declaration broadens the definition of refugees. This instrument provides that, “(…) in view of the experience gained from the massive flows of refugees in the Central American area, it is necessary to consider enlarging the concept of a refugee, bearing in mind, as far as appropriate and in the light of the situation prevailing in the region, the precedent of the OAU Convention (article 1, paragraph 2) and the doctrine employed in the reports of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Hence the definition or concept of a refugee to be recommended for use in the region is one which, in addition to containing the elements of the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol, includes among refugees persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.” Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, Cartagena de Indias, November 22, 1984, p. 3. 115 Bolivia adopted the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol into its legal system as a Law of the Republic by Law 2071 of April 14, 2000. 116 IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights of Asylum Seekers within the Canadian Refugee Determination System. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106. Doc. 40. Rev. 1. February 28, 2000. par. 58.