The Americas research team are tracking selected decisions from the Inter-American System of Human Rights (Commission and Court) and UN human rights treaty bodies (Human Rights Committee, Committee Against Torture and Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)) involving Canada, Colombia and Guatemala. These States have been chosen for the research based on a range of specific criteria relevant to consider implementation issues that allows the team to examine and compare approaches to the implementation of decisions from different bodies.

After a careful consideration of all cases decided internationally against these countries, the Team identified a selected group of decisions that were particularly significant in relation to implementation such as their connection to armed conflict or to violations in peace time, the length of time that has passed since the decision was notified to the parties, the structural roots/aspects of the violations found and of the measures ordered, the multiple forms of redress ordered by the bodies and their level of specific and the mechanisms used by the bodies to promote implementation, among others.

The decisions being tracked are as follows:

Canada

United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT)

• Communication No. 327/2007, Régent Boily

United Nations Human Rights Committee (CCPR)

• Communication No. 24/1977, Sandra Lovelace
• Communication No. 694/1996, Arieh Hollis Waldman
• Communication No. 829/1998, Roger Judge
• Communication No. 1051/2002, Mansour Ahani
• Communication No. 1763/2008, Ernest Sigman Pillai et al.
• Communication No. 1881/2009, Masih Shakeel

United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

• Communication No. 19/2008, Cecilia Kell

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

• Report No. 78/11, Case 12.586, John Doe et al 

Colombia

United Nations Human Rights Committee (CCPR)

• Communication No. 563/1993, Nydia Erika Bautista de Arellana

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

• Report No. 105/05 (Friendly Settlement), Villatina Massacre
• Report No. 43/08 (Merits), Leydi Dayán Sánchez
• Report No. 59/14 (Friendly Settlement), Alba Lucía Rodríguez Cardona

Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR)

• Judgment of 15 September 2005 (Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of the "Mapiripán Massacre"
• Judgment of 31 January 2006 (Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre
• Judgment of 11 May 2007 (Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of the Rochela Massacre
• Judgment of 20 November 2013 (Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of the Afro-descendant communities displaced from the Cacarica River Basin (Operation Genesis)

Guatemala

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

• Report No. 68/03 (Friendly Settlement), Community of San Vicente Los Cimientos
• Report No. 80/07 (Merits), Martín Pelicó Coxic et al.

Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR)

• Judgment of 22 February 2002 (Reparations and Costs) and Judgment of 25 November 2000 (Merits), Case of Bámaca Velásquez
• Judgment of 25 November 2003 (Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of Myrna Mack Chang
• Judgment of 3 July 2004 (Reparations and Costs) and Judgment of 4 May 2004 (Merits), Case of Molina Theissen
• Judgment of 20 June 2005(Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of Fermín Ramírez
• Judgment of 15 September 2005 (Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of Raxcacó Reyes
• Judgment of 24 November 2009 (Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of the “Las Dos Erres” Massacre
• Judgment of 4 September 2012 (Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of the Río Negro Massacres
• Judgment of 19 May 2014(Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs), Case of Veliz Franco et al.
• Judgment (Spanish) of 19 November 2015 (Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs), Velásquez Paiz et al.

Under the project the Americas team have undertaken desk-based research to prepare baseline studies on each of the countries which have then informed the in-country activities and areas of engagement at the national level. Six roundtable stakeholder consultations have been held (two per country) in Canada, Colombian and Guatemala involving Government representatives, people responsible for implementing decisions within State institutions, members of the judiciary, litigators, academics and members of relevant civil society organisations.

Various semi-structured interviews have been conducted in each of the three countries with a range of relevant stakeholders to examine the extent of implementation with the chosen decisions on individual communications, friendly settlements, Commission’s reports or judgments from the Court, identify national and supranational measures and procedures relating to implementation and factors that may influence or hinder the level of implementation of decisions/recommendations.

Additional research/impact activities involve preparing expert submissions and providing technical support to processes at the regional level aimed at strengthening monitoring of implementation of decisions; as well as presentations to and participation in relevant regional and international seminars and conferences.