14 Countries Ratified Inter-American Convention on Discrimination
By Luis Fernando Astorga Gatjens (lferag@racsa.co.cr)
Fourteen countries of the American continent have already ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities. Colombia and Ecuador are the most recent states to ratify.
This Convention was approved by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), on June 6, 1999, in the city of Antigua, Guatemala and the ratification process was opened on June 8.
This is the only convention of its kind in the world. No other regional organization has adopted a specific treaty to protect and foster human rights of disabled persons.
This Inter-American Convention currently is the only international and legally binding instrument to serve as a baseline for the new International Convention of Human Rights for Persons with Disabilities that is currently being considered by the United Nations, (Resolution 56/168, on December 19, 2002), on the initiative of Mexico.
The Inter-American Convention entered into force on September 14, 2001, pursuant to the Article VIII (section 39, which states that: "The Convention shall enter into force for the ratifying states on the 30th day following the date of deposit of the sixth instrument of ratification by a member state of the Organization of American States." The sixth instrument of ratification was deposited by Brazil, on August 15, 2001.
Costa Rica was the first state to ratify and deposit the instrument of ratification. We did so on December 8, 1999 and February 8, 2000.
The Committee should have started its work
Together with the ratification and the deposit of the corresponding instruments, another important moment takes place after the 11th country complies with this requirement, a Committee is established, pursuant to the Article VI, section 1, these criteria must be met: "To follow up on the commitments undertaken in this Convention, a Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, composed of one representative appointed by each state party, shall be established." (Bold type is ours).
Section 2 of this article indicates that: "The committee shall hold its first meeting within 90 days following the deposit of the 11th instrument of ratification. Said meeting shall be convened by the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and shall be held at the Organization's headquarters, unless a state party offers to host it."
Since Nicaragua deposited the eleventh instrument of ratification on 25 November, 2002, the first meeting of this Committee should had taken place on February 22, 2003. But the meeting did not take place. It is probable that state parties, have not appointed their representatives to the Committee.
On of the obligations assigned to this Committee is to study the reports submitted by each state party on the situation of persons with disabilities.
For this first meeting of the Committee, as indicated on Article 4, section 3: "states parties undertake to submit a report to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States for transmission to the Committee so that it may be examined and reviewed. Thereafter, reports shall be submitted every four years."
Pursuant to Article 4, section 4, the reports submitted must: "include information on measures adopted by the member states pursuant to this Convention and on any progress made by the states parties in eliminating all forms of discrimination against persons with disabilities. The reports shall indicate any circumstances or difficulties affecting the degree of fulfillment of the obligations arising from this Convention."
Furthermore, this Committee for examining the progress made in the application of the Convention and for the exchange of experiences among states parties and, pursuant to Article 4, section 5: "The reports prepared by the committee shall reflect the deliberations, shall include the information on any measures adopted by the states parties pursuant to the Convention, on any progress they have made in eliminating all forms of discrimination against persons with disabilities, and on any circumstances or difficulties they have encountered in the implementation of the Convention, and shall include the committee's conclusions, its observations, and its suggestions for the gradual fulfillment of the Convention."
States that have ratified the Convention
The following Chart presents the names of the states parties by date on which they have ratified the Convention and have deposited the corresponding instrument of ratification, to the General Secretary of the Organization of American States, César Gaviria.
| States Parties |
Date of ratification by the Parliament of the signatory state |
Date on which the ratification instrument was deposited |
| Costa Rica |
December 8, 1999 |
February 8, 2000 |
| Argentina |
September 28, 2000 |
January 10, 2001 |
| Mexico |
December 6, 2000 |
January 25, 2001 |
| Panama |
January 24, 2001 |
February 16, 2001 |
| Uruguay |
May 24, 2001 |
July 20, 2001 |
| Brazil |
July 17, 2001 |
August 15, 2001 (*) |
| Peru |
July 10, 2001 |
August 30, 2001 |
| Chile |
December 4, 2001 |
February 26, 2002 |
| El Salvador |
January 15, 2002 |
March 8, 2002 |
| Paraguay |
June 28, 2002 |
October 22, 2002 |
| Nicaragua |
July 15, 2002 |
November 25, 2002 (*) |
| Guatemala |
August 8, 2002 |
January 28, 2003 |
| Colombia |
|
|
| Ecuador |
|
|
|
