of the matter, the Inter-American Court considered that it had competence to hear and to
decide (even to be able to declare violated) Article 26 of the Pact of San José. However, in
that particular case, it found that there had not been a violation of this treaty-based
provision. 43 When examining the merits of the matter, the Inter-American Court considered
that the economic, social and cultural rights referred to in Article 26 are subject to the
general obligations contained in Articles 1(1) and 2 of the American Convention, as are the
civil and political rights established in Articles 3 to 25. 44
21.
The competence of the Inter-American Court to rule on economic, social and cultural
rights, under the normative content of Article 26 of the Pact of San José, can also be seen in
the considerations expressed in the 2009 concurring opinion of the former president of the
Inter-American Court, Sergio García Ramírez, in the Case of Acevedo Buendía et al. v. Peru,
which, to some extent, explains the decision of the said jurisdictional organ. 45
22.
Thus, in his concurring opinion, the former inter-American judge recognized that, up
until that time, the treatment of economic, social and cultural rights “has been very limited”
and that, in that case, the Inter-American Court “had made progress” on the issue of those
rights when “reaffirming its competence – which should now be well-established” – to rule
on possible failures to comply with Article 26” of the American Convention. Accordingly, the
Inter-American Court “understands that the observance of Article 26 may be claimed and
required.”
23.
In this sense, in the Case of Acevedo Buendía et al., the Inter-American Court made
express reference to the “interdependence” of rights in order to examine the economic,
social and cultural rights referred to in Article 26 of the Pact of San José. 46 However, it
found that, together with the interdependence, it was necessary to emphasize the
“indivisible” nature of human rights, as it explicitly established in the judgment to which this
separate opinion refers, when considering the two concepts: “interdependence and
indivisibility” 47.
24.
Based on their interdependence (reciprocal dependence), the enjoyment of some
rights depends on the realization of others, while their indivisibility denies any separation,
categorization or hierarchy among rights for the effects of their respect, protection and
guarantee. Moreover, some judges of previous compositions of the Inter-American Court
have referred to the “independence and indivisibility” of human rights. 48
43
Cf. Case of Acevedo Buendía et al. v. Peru (“Discharged and Retired Employees of the Office of the
Comptroller”), supra, third operative paragraph.
44
Cf. Case of Acevedo Buendía et al. v. Peru (“Discharged and Retired Employees of the Office of the
Comptroller”), supra, para. 100. It should not be forgotten that, in this matter, the Commission in its Merits
Report did not find that the content of Article 26 had been violated, but the representatives of the victims did
allege this when expressly stating that “the State is responsible for non-compliance with Article 26 (Progressive
development of economic, social and cultural rights) of the Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) (Obligation to
Respect Rights) thereof,” para. 4 of the judgment in the Case of Acevedo Buendía.
45
Concurring opinion of Judge Sergio García Ramírez with regard to the Judgment of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights in the Case of Acevedo Buendía et al. (“Discharged and Retired Employees of the Office of
the Comptroller”) of July 1, 2009, paras. 15 to 21.
46
Cf. Case of Acevedo Buendía et al. v. Peru (“Discharged and Retired Employees of the Office of the
Comptroller”), supra, para. 101.
47
Para. 131 of the Judgment.
48
See, for example, the partially concurrent and partially dissenting opinion of Judge ad hoc Ramon Fogel,
paras. 23 and 30, in the Case of the Yakye Axa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay, supra, and the opinion of
Judge Antonio Cançado Trindade, para. 7, in the Case of the Dismissed Congressional Employees (Aguado Alfaro et
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