These types of proceedings fulfill different roles, above all to avoid harm. In this region we have seen the emergence of a political system where relatively free elections occur in the majority of the countries within the framework of judicial powers that are neither modern nor efficient; police who do not obey the law and resort to methods that are incompatible with democracy; overarching poverty; the existence of vulnerable groups like women, children, indigenous populations, and disabled persons; and a culture built on the systematic denial of values by authoritarian governments, and what has occurred far back into history.
In this context, the case system is not only a way
to provide an early warning that a country has begun to deteriorate and
could once again open up possibilities of having extra-constitutional
actors intervene in the country's affairs, but it is also a way to begin
broadening democracy, to begin extending democracy, and to
transform the Inter-American System into a system that permits the
expansion of values. There have been many advances in this sense in
terms of the modification of norms of contempt that gag the press, of
the illegitimate searches of women who visit their loved ones in the
prisons, in terms of what is detention and a reasonable period of time to
be detained, etc., with a jurisprudential impact that will broaden and
strengthen democracy.
Again, cases concerning sexual exploitation of women and
children could succeed in broadening IACHR's manner of action. The
cases that are taken could be based on express provisions of the
American Convention of Human Rights. In reviewing all the
Convention's provisions, the trafficking of women and children
violates the following:
1) the right to juridical personality (this will deal with children of course); and
2) the right to personal integrity, as stated in Article 5,
paragraph 1:
"Everyone has the right to have their
physical, psychological and moral integrity respected". Paragraph 2
states: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or
degrading punishment or treatment". When a country offers no
adequate protection to infants and children who are the repeated objects
of violations and of sexual abuse and are given in to corruption, in a
sense, we see cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, which could lead
to torture.
The Inter-American Commission was one of the first bodies to
establish that rape is a form of torture an issue that has been dealt
with by international tribunals for international crimes. Here, the right
to personal integrity is compromised, and even though a case has not
jurisprudentially. Article 6 [of the American Convention] prohibits
slavery and servitude. Article 7, the right to personal liberty, deals with
the freedom of movement, and if the laws of a State do not provide this
guarantee, that could also be challenged the principle of legality, the
laws of a country should prohibit child trafficking. Again, noncompliance
with the law violates Article 9 of the American
Convention.
Article 11, according to which every person has a right to
have their honor respected and dignity recognized intrinsically becomes
vulnerable. Family protection (Article 17) is also made vulnerable.
The right to one's name in specific cases (Article 18) could also be
violated. Rights of the child (Article 19) specifically states that every
minor child has the right to some measure of protection because of his
condition as a minor, on the part of his family, society and the state. I
would like to hear of a case involving trafficking of children that does
not involve a violation of Article 19. Without any prejudgment, it does
not seem, in the abstract, that someone could make an argument that
child trafficking does not violate this article of the American
Convention. Article 23 on political rights is also pertinent.
Sometimes a superficial vision exists as to what a political right is, e.g. to vote and
to be elected. But Article 23, paragraph 1, states "Every citizen shall
enjoy the following rights and opportunities to take part in the conduct
of public affairs...". Could children that are exploited or transported to
different countries participate in those public affairs? No, it does not
appear so. This is the principle of equality before the law, of legal
protection, and so on.