INTRODUCTION

          The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has the honor to submit its Report to the General Assembly, in compliance with the provisions of Article 53.f of the Charter of the Organization of American States.

          This Report contains five chapters and has been prepared in accordance with Resolution 331 (VIII-0/78) of the General Assembly and Article 63 of the Regulations of the Commission.

          Chapter I is a summary of the Commission's origin and juridical bases.  This chapter also contains a brief account of the Commission's relationship with other organs of the inter-American system and regional and global institutions of a similar nature during 1995.

          Chapter II refers to the activities undertaken by the Commission during the period covered by this Report.  Emphasis is placed on the Commission's principal activities, as well as the subjects it dealt with and the most important measures taken during its various sessions.  It includes the participation of the Commission in the twenty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly as well as the resolution adopted by this organ in relation to the work of the Commission in the field of human rights.

          Chapter III is entitled "Reports on Individual Cases."  This chapter contains several decisions adopted by the Commission regarding specific cases presented to it, which the Commission processed in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.

          In Chapter IV the Commission has decided not to include individual country reports, as was the practice in the past.  Instead it decided to establish new criteria during 1996 regarding human rights reports to be included in future annual reports.  This year, Chapter IV contains background information on the draft declaration of the Inter-American Instrument on the Human Rights of Indigenous peoples as adopted at its 90th regular meeting.

          In Chapter V, the Commission has presented a progress report on conditions of detention in the Americas, and also a progress report on the project to promote and protect the right of women in the hemisphere to be free from discrimination.

          Finally, the current state of Conventions and Protocols on Human Rights, approved within the inter-American system, press communiques and speeches issued by the IACHR during the period covered in this Annual Report are included as Annexes.

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