The other side of the Law: The dictatorships of Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in the 1970s.

• Grant number: 24/23790-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of America
• Principal Investigator: Mariana Martins Villaça
• Grantee: Alexandre Queiroz de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), of the Organization of American States (OAS), has established itself as one of the most important bodies for the promotion and protection of Human Rights in the Americas since its foundation in 1959. There is a strong historical narrative of triumph over the IACHR, especially in confronting the Latin American military dictatorships in the 1970s, a time of greatest tension and projection of Human Rights in the continent. However, its performance is permeated by internal contradictions, structural issues of the Inter-American System, the appropriation of International Human Rights Law and the Political History of the Americas. The relationship with the member states of the OAS is a fundamental element for understanding its functioning, and in this research we aim to analyze the process with three states that managed to resist, at least partially, the Commission's actions. The documentation from the archives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of these countries, as well as the IACHR itself, reveals how the dictatorships of Brazil (1964 - 1985), Paraguay (1954 - 1989) and Uruguay (1973 - 1985) used different forms of negotiation and pressure to prevent the Commission's visit and the disclosure of allegations of human rights violations. Therefore, we are interested in connecting and comparing these experiences, paying attention to the political trajectory of the Commission and the respective dictatorships and the issues that are still emblematic of human rights policy in the Americas.