Ecuador leads group that may curtail IAC’s ability to protect freedom of expression

Washington Post – Opinion piece

César Gaviria Trujillo is a former president of Colombia and past secretary general of the Organization of American States. A historic showdown set to occur at Friday’s meeting of the general assembly of the Organization of American States could determine the future of human rights protections throughout the Western Hemisphere. A group of nations led by Ecuador is pushing to “reform” the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its office on freedom of expression. The purported aim of these changes is to “strengthen” human rights protections. If implemented, however, the reforms will severely weaken the commission and make it easier for governments to ignore basic rights and limit free speech. Read Article