6
16.
I conclude this Concurring Opinion going a step further in the matter. The right to
information on consular assistance, besides being within the guarantees of the due process of Law, has a
direct incidence on the validity of other human rights internationally acknowledged, such as the right to
personal liberty (Article 7 of the American Convention). In the heart of this Court, I have always
maintained that the best hermeneutics in matters of human rights protection is the one that related the
protected rights with each other, indivisible as they are, - and not one that inadequately seeks to
separate them, wrongfully weakening the basis of the protection.
17. In this Court’s pioneering Advisory Opinion No. 16, - a
backdrop in the history of contemporary Public International Law
itself, - this Tribunal has stated that Article 36(1)(b) and (c)
of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 refers to
“consular assistance in a specific situation: the deprivation of
freedom” (para. 81). The individual right to information on
consular assistance in the framework of human rights, in order to
duly assist those deprived of their freedom is also present in
this situation (para. 83). The hermeneutics I have defended in the
heart of this Court, and that I continue and will continue to
firmly defend, - is, in my opinion, the best option in order to
achieve an integrated protection of the rights inherent to all
human beings.
Antonio August Cançado Trindade
Judge
Pablo Saavedra Alessandri
Secretary