11
poverty, cannot be limited to them, as said assistance does not attack those factors
that generate poverty in general, and especially extreme poverty, and therefore it
cannot create said conditions for a decent life. In this regard, it is necessary to take
into account what the Inter-American Court has asserted regarding the need for
interpretation of an international protection instrument to “go hand in hand with the
changing times and current living conditions.” The Court has also pointed out that
said evolutionary interpretation, pursuant to the general rules of treaty
interpretation, has significantly contributed to furthering International Human Rights
Law. 27
33.
In my opinion, the evolutionary interpretation of the right to life embodied in
the American Convention must take into account the socio-economic situation of
Paraguay and of most Latin American countries, where extreme poverty has
increased in absolute and relative terms despite implementation of social protection
policies. Interpretation of the right to life involves not only compliance, by the State,
with social protection measures that temporarily ensure minimum living conditions,
but also addressing the causes generate poverty, reproduce its conditions, and
create additional poor population, as discussed in the framework of the United
Nations. 28 This poses the need to link measures for eradication of poverty with the
set of phenomena that give rise to it, bearing in mind the impact of decisions by the
States, international and multi-lateral bodies; 29 reproduction of conditions of poverty
entails responsibilities of the international and national actors and institutions
involved.
34.
In this context, the ability of the States to intervene, in developing countries
such as Paraguay, and application of international provisions regarding extreme
poverty are not a juridical matter that involves only the State, which is often subject
both to its limited financial resources and to structural factors linked to the
“adjustment process,” which the Paraguayan State does not control in an isolated
manner, as set forth in the Reply to the Application (para. 185). 30 International
responsibility is not limited to the right to international assistance when the State
Party cannot attain, on its own, the model set forth in the Covenant, embodied in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 31
27
Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Case of the “Street Children” (Villagrán Morales et al.)
Judgment of November 19, 1999, para. 193, and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, The Right to
Information on Consular Assistance in the Framework of the Guarantees of the Due Process of Law Advisory opinion OC – 16/99, para. 114.
UNESCO, Poverty as a violation of Human Rights. 2004, by José Bengoa, Member of the United
Nations Sub-Commission for the protection and promotion of human rights, Chairman of the United
Nations working group on extreme poverty.
28
29
E/CN.4/ Sub 2/2004/44 para. 11, 17 and 19.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Joint concurring opinion of judges Antônio Augusto
Cançado Trindade and Alirio Abreu Burelli, Case of the “Street Children” (Villagrán Morales et al.), para. 6.
Bearing in mind that conduct of the States, and especially of small ones, vis-à-vis multinational
corporations that control markets exhibits weakness, the international community as a whole must
effectively acknowledge that the responsibility is shared by the actors involved. E/CN.4/Sub 2/2004/44,
para. 19 and 20.
30
31
Articles 2 and 11 of the Covenant are pertinent. The text of the article refers to “international
assistance and co-operation”, while Article 11 establish that “The States Parties to the present Covenant,
recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through
international co-operation, the measures, including specific programmes, which are needed (...) Taking