For the past three years, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), an OSI grantee, has urged the Organization of American States (OAS) to grant victims greater access to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and Court. In November, the Permanent Council of the OAS took a crucial step toward that goal by agreeing unanimously on the rules that will govern a new legal aid fund.
CEJIL hailed the vote as fundamental to a more victim-centered approach for the investigation and prosecution of human rights cases. The decision by the OAS will help overcome the "contradiction that exists between the need for victims to play a larger role in litigation before the Commission and the Court and their inability to pay the costs," said Viviana Krsticevic, executive director of CEJIL.
CEJIL estimates that the cost of litigating even a relatively simple case before the Inter-American System of Human Rights can reach US$55,000, without counting legal fees, an amount that is far beyond the means of most litigants.
Under the new rules of procedure approved by the OAS, member states, permanent observers, and public or private donors will be able contribute to the fund. A Scandinavian donor has already committed US$3 million, according to the Colombian ambassador to the OAS, whose government is helping to promote the fund.
CEJIL provides free advice and legal representation to victims of human rights violations and to organizations that represent them before international courts when they are unable to secure justice in their own countries. The Human Rights Center at the University of Chile Law School, another OSI grantee, has been asked to develop a training program for public defenders from the region to prepare them to act as advocates for victims.