regard to the rights, they are the “Civil and Political Rights”68 and the
“Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”69
c) In the case of the organs, these are Commission, the Court and the OAS
General Assembly; the first is responsible for the promotion and defense of
human rights,70 the second, for interpreting and applying the Convention 71
and the third for adopting the necessary measures to ensure compliance with
the pertinent rulings;72
48. The harmonious interpretation of these provisions reveals that States that have
accepted the Court’s contentious jurisdiction can only be required – in relation to a case
that has been submitted to the Court – to duly respect the civil and political rights
“recognized,” established,” “guaranteed,” or “protected” by the Convention and also,
provided it eventually becomes necessary, to adopt “in accordance with [the]
constitutional processes [of the corresponding State] and the provisions of this
Convention, such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to
those rights or freedoms.”
49. To the contrary, with regard to the rights derived “from the economic, social,
educational, scientific and cultural standards contained in the [OAS] Charter,” the
States can only be required to adopt, “by legislation or other appropriate means,”
“measures both internally and through international cooperation, especially those of an
economic and technical nature, with a view to achieving progressively […] the full
realization” of the said rights, and this “subject to available resources.”
50. That said, it is necessary to place on record, with regard to the application of this
method of interpretation, that the OAS Charter incorporated “broader standards with
respect to economic, social, and educational rights,” and that the Convention
determined “the structure, competence, and procedure of the organs responsible for
these matters.”73
51. In other words, it was the Convention itself that, in compliance with this mandate, gave
civil and political rights a differentiated treatment from the economic, social and cultural
rights, expressed, the former, in Chapter II of Part I of the Convention and the latter
in Chapter III of the same part and instrument. Thus, the indivisibility of the civil and
political rights and of the economic, social and cultural rights to which the Preamble of
Part I, Chapter II, arts.3 to 25. Right to recognition of juridical personality (Art. 3), right to life, (Art.
4), right to personal integrity (Art. 5), freedom from slavery (Art. 6), right to personal liberty (Art. 7),
right to a fair trial (Art. 8), freedom from ex-post facto laws (Art. 9), right to compensation (Art. 10),
right to privacy (Art. 11), freedom of conscience and religion (Art. 12), freedom of thought and expression
(Art. 13), right of reply (Art. 14), right of assembly (Art. 15), freedom of association (Art. 16), rights of
the family (Art. 17), right to a name (Art. 18), rights of the child (Art. 19), right to nationality (Art. 20),
right to property (Art. 21), freedom of movement and residence (Art. 22), right to participate in
government (Art. 23), right to equal protection (Art. 24) and right to judicial protection (Art. 25).
68
69
70
71
Supra, para. 32.
Supra, footnote 18.
Supra, footnote 10.
72
Art. 65: “To each regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States the Court shall submit, for the
Assembly's consideration, a report on its work during the previous year. It shall specify, in particular, the cases in which a state has
not complied with its judgments, making any pertinent recommendations.”
73
Preamble to the Convention, para. 5.