136. Both the Commission and the Court have stressed the importance of political rights by recognizing and protecting the right and the duty of every citizen to participate in his or her country’s political life, and to promote the strengthening of democracy and political pluralism132 . The Court has emphasized that because of its importance, the American Convention under Article 27 prohibits their suspension and the essential judicial guarantees for their protection. 137. The Inter-American Court has stated that Article 23 of the American Convention contains various norms that refer to the rights of the individual as a citizen; that is, as titleholder of the decision-making process in public matters, in his capacity as a voter by means of his vote, or as a public servant; in other words, to be elected by the people or by appointment or designation to occupy a public office. In words of the Court, “as distinct from almost all the other rights established in the Convention that are recognized to every person, Article 23 of the Convention not only establishes that its titleholders must enjoy rights, but adds the word “opportunities.” The latter implies the obligation to guarantee with positive measures that every person who is formally the titleholder of political rights has the real opportunity to exercise them. As the Court has previously indicated, it is essential that the State create optimum conditions and mechanisms to ensure that political rights can be exercised effectively, respecting the principle of equality and non-discrimination”133. 138. The rights enshrined in Article 23 of the American Convention can be exercised through broad and diverse activities that people do in order to participate in public affairs of a country and, under that rule, “citizens have the right to play an active role in the conduct of public affairs directly through referenda, plebiscites or consultations or through freely elected representatives”134. 139. When examining the scope of Article 23, the Commission has stated that if Article 23 was to be fully respected elections had to be authentic, universal, periodic, and by secret ballot or some other means that enabled voters to express their will freely135. 140. For its part, the United Nations, Human Rights Committee for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (hereinafter “Human Rights Committee”), has indicated that “States should take measures to guarantee the requirement of the secrecy of the vote during elections (…) this implies that voters should be protected from any form of coercion or compulsion to disclose how they intend to vote or how they voted, and from any unlawful or arbitrary interference with the voting process”136. 141. The two organs or the Inter- American system have pointed out that the exercise of political rights and freedom of thought and expression are closely linked and mutually reinforcing137. 132 IACHR, Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 54. December 30, 2009, chapter II, para. 18; I/A Court H.R., Case of Yatama v. Nicaragua. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of June 23, 2005. Series C No. 127, para. 192. 133 I/A Court H.R., Case of Yatama v. Nicaragua. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of June 23, 2005. Series C No. 127, para. 195; I/A Court H.R., Case of Castañeda Gutman v. México. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of August 6, 2008. Series C No. 184, para. 145. 134 I/A Court H.R., Case of Castañeda Gutman v. México. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of August 6, 2008. Series C No. 184, para. 147. Similarly, United Nations, Human Rights Committee, when interpreting Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the wording of which is very similar to the provision in the American Convention, establishes broad parameters concerning the regulation of political rights. When interpreting this norm, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has stated that political rights must be guaranteed for election or constitutional amendment, referendum and other elections. See United Nations, Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 25, The right to participate in public affairs, voting rights and the right of equal access to public service (Art. 25) of July 12, 1996, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.7, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fc22.html 135 IACHR, Report 14/93, Case 10.956, http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/93eng/Mexico.10956.htm 136 Luis Felipe Bravo Mena, October 7, 1993, available at: Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 25, para. 20. I/A Court H.R., Case of Ricardo Canese v. Paraguay. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of August 31, 2004. Series C No. 111, para. 90; IACHR, Freedom of Expression and the Electoral Process: The Case of Opinion Polls and Exit Polls, 2005, paras. 11-15, available at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/expression/reports/thematic.asp. Likewise the European Court of Human Rights has ruled 137 27