ANNUAL REPORT 2025

The IACHR Annual Report is a benchmark publication showcasing the organization’s work. It summarizes the current human rights situation in the region and discusses recent challenges and progress.

It includes information on the IACHR’s progress and achievements through its different mechanisms. It also contains an overview of the human rights situation in the region, follow-up on recommendations, and a breakdown of the IACHR’s budget.

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Petition and Case System

This system is a unique mechanism for protecting human rights in the region by achieving justice and reparation, continuing the fight against impunity, and implementing structural measures that help improve different areas of people’s lives.

Progress and achievements

The IACHR receives and evaluates petitions on alleged violations of the human rights enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights and other applicable instruments in relation to OAS Member States. Petitions are only considered if they comply with the requirements established in these instruments, the IACHR Statute, and the Rules of Procedure.

At the initial review stage, a general or prima facie standard is applied to verify that the petition submitted meets the requirements. A decision is then reached regarding whether the case will proceed to the opening stage, during which petitioners have four months to provide additional information.

Petitions:

3.357 petitions received
2.771 petitions reviewed

Decisions about petitions

533 petitions opened

Decisions to open a petition are made at the initial review stage, when the IACHR decides whether the case should proceed to the admissibility and merits stages.

2.040 petitions were rejected

A petition is rejected if it does not meet the admissibility requirements set out in the Rules of Procedure.

198 requests for further information from petitioners

Before the IACHR rules on the petition's admissibility, it may request additional information from the petitioner.

The IACHR may decide to close a petition or case if it finds that the grounds for it no longer exist or are no longer valid. Before the decision to archive a petition or case is reached, the petitioning parties are requested to submit the necessary information and are informed that the case may be closed. Once the deadline for submitting this information has passed, the case is closed.

Pursuant to Article 42.1 of its Regulations, it ordered the definitive archiving of 48 inactive petitions—which were at the initial review stage—and the archiving of 254 petitions and cases currently in processing.

Read Articule 42.1

Petitions submitted to the IACHR must contain the information specified in Article 28 of its Rules of Procedure. After verifying that petitions comply with these requirements and considering the parties’ positions, the IACHR rules on the petition's admissibility or inadmissibility.

In 2025, there was a total of 170 reports on admissibility

96 on admissibility | 74 on inadmissibility | 47 on the application of Article 36.3

132 merits reports were adopted—a historic increase, representing a sixfold rise over the last ten years.

During the merits stage, the IACHR determines whether human rights violations have occurred. This stage concludes with the approval of the merits report, which includes recommendations to the States in cases where the facts are deemed to constitute human rights violations.

País	Cantidad
Argentina	9
Bolivia	1
Brasil	7
Chile	4
Colombia	32
Costa Rica	1
Ecuador	9
El Salvador	3
Estado Unidos	3
Guatemala	3
Honduras	2
México	14
Panamá	2
Paraguay	3
Perú	3
Uruguay	1
Venezuela	5

The IACHR provided information regarding the status of portfolios of petitions and cases pending before the Commission on 21 occasions, concerning 19 OAS member states.

Of the total, 11 involved meetings dedicated to a detailed review of the portfolios: Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Of the remaining 10, one related to a specific request from Bolivia, while another was provided as a courtesy due to the State of Peru’s expressed inability to hold the meeting previously agreed upon for this exercise. The remaining eight involved the *ex officio* transmittal of information regarding Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Suriname.

The adoption of 491 decisions related to granting extensions to States for the implementation of recommendations; referring cases to the Court; or publishing merits reports.

The holding of 25 working meetings to foster dialogue between the parties.

The preparation of 11 technical notes aimed at assisting States in implementing reparations granted to victims.

The referral of 33 cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; and

The decision not to refer 8 cases, following the identification of substantial progress in the implementation of recommendations, and to proceed with the publication of the merits reports.

Friendly Settlements

The friendly settlement mechanism of the IACHR’s petitions and cases system achieves negotiated agreements that establish reparation measures for victims; its impact can extend to society in general.

11 requests and cases with full compliance

16

cases with partial compliance

69 Full compliance
23 Substantial partial compliance
21 Partial compliance

113

reparation measures

More progress on implementing measures of reparation.

20

Argentina

74

Colombia

5

Mexico

Precautionary measures

A precautionary measure is a protection mechanism through which the IACHR requests that a State protect one or more people who are at serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm.

1.969

requests for precautionary measures

73

precautionary measures granted

7.681

protected persons

Requests received by country

País	Cantidad recibidas
Antigua y Barbuda	1
Argentina	190
Bahamas	1
Belize	2
Bolivia	45
Brasil	273
Canadá	14
Chile	75
Colombia	462
Costa Rica	40
Cuba	40
Dominica	1
Ecuador	79
El Salvador	37
Estados Unidos	110
Guatemala	43
Guyana	1
Haití	2
Honduras	31
Jamaica	1
México	247
Nicaragua	16
Panamá	28
Paraguay	22
Perú	85
República Dominicana	8
Trinidad y Tobago	3
Uruguay	12
Venezuela	100

Provisional measures submitted to the

Inter-American Court

New request for provisionary measures and 2 requests to expand existing measures

87 legal briefs presented regarding provisional measures

IACHR and the IA Court

33

The IACHR referred cases to the IA Court

The IACHR participated in 52 hearings

7

5

26 private hearings of contentious cases being monitored

Argentina

5

Ecuador

Chile

4

El Salvador

26 public hearing on a request for an advisory opinion

3

Guatemala

2

Brasil

1

Nicaragua

3

Venezuela

2

Peru

1

Panama

Follow-up on published merits reports

The IACHR monitors the implementation of recommendations set forth in its published merits reports. To this end, it employs a variety of actions and tools—including hearings, working visits, working meetings, and requests for information—that enable it to guide the parties toward compliance with the case, as well as to gather information regarding the compliance measures implemented by the State. In its Annual Report, the Commission publishes the status of compliance with the recommendations included in each case.

156

8.3% Full compliance

62.8% Partial compliance

28.2% Pending compliance

published merits reports

Cases under active monitoring

80

Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador,

United States, Granada, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Uruguay.

Read Chapter 2

Regional human rights trends

Democratic elections held across the Americas.
Increasing efforts by domestic and foreign interest groups aimed at undermining judicial independence.
Escalating polarization is eroding institutional frameworks as partisan allegiances take precedence over democratic norms.

Democracy, the rule of law, and human rights are still the cornerstones needed for peace, stability, and development. Checks and balances are critical to preventing abuses of power, ensuring equality before the law, and promoting social cohesion.

Persistent high levels of violence and insecurity linked to organized crime remain a challenge.
Continued militarization throughout the region and excessive use of force in response to protests.
Frequent use of states of emergency suspending civil liberties to address citizen security.
Shrinking civic space and limitations on protest rights, disproportionate use of force.
Increasing hostility toward freedom of expression
Organized crime threatens justice operators.
Weakening of institutions focusing on memory, truth, and justice policies.

Lack of key legal frameworks for historical memory and the search for disappeared persons.
Setbacks in combating impunity, such as laws enabling the statute of limitations for crimes against humanity or setbacks on landmark criminal proceedings.
Public security policies must provide effective and efficient responses to societal demands, adopt a comprehensive approach to the root causes of crime and its consequences, and operate within the limits established by international and inter-American standards to ensure that human rights are fully respected.

Some States have advanced legislation and public policies to guarantee rights derived from family relationships between same-sex couples.
Inclusion of historically marginalized individuals and groups in the labor market and education systems.
Progress on promoting political participation and access to basic services for Indigenous communities and people of African descent.
Increased guarantees of economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights for people with disabilities.
Recognition of the rights of older people and a strengthening of care systems.
Rise in hate speech, disinformation, and attacks on the rights of LGBTI people, women, people of African descent, and Indigenous and tribal peoples.
Increase in initiatives that jeopardize the full participation and autonomy of people with disabilities.
Weakening of legislation, policies, and institutions to combat discrimination and violence against women and LGBTI people, contributing to increased gender-based violence.
Poverty continues to affect a significant number of children and adolescents, who are also exposed to violence in family, educational, and institutional settings.

Conditions of detention have deteriorated in several countries in the region, and people deprived of their freedom are experiencing overcrowding, lack of access to basic services, and inadequate reintegration programs.
Intraprison violence and torture persist, as do the use of highly restrictive detention regimes in some countries, including measures that severely limit contact with family members and legal counsel.
Use of rhetoric and policies that stigmatize migrants and displaced persons by authorities.
Threats of mass detention and deportation have severely impacted individuals migrating for various reasons or seeking international protection.
Setbacks entailing the adoption of restrictive migration policies aimed at halting population movements and limiting access to protection procedures.
·States mus establish laws, policies, and practices that combat all forms of discrimination, while societies must actively work to ensure that all individuals enjoy dignity and rights in fair, equal societies

Antigua and Barbardos

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

click on the countries

Read chapter 4A

Democracy denied

In Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, the essential components of democracy and democratic institutions are under serious threat, jeopardizing the full exercise of the human rights enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The situations in these countries include the abuse of power, the erosion of the rule of law, and widespread, serious, and systematic violations of the human rights recognized in the American Declaration and the American Convention.

Cuba

Absence of the core components of representative democracy, stemming from the continuation of a one-party system, the lack of free elections, limited political pluralism, and the prohibition on engaging in political association.

Systematic state intimidation and repression of political dissidents.

The government is preventing the implementation of reforms needed to restore the separation and independence of public powers, improve living conditions, and combat impunity in cases of human rights violations.

Nicaragua

A constitutional reform that eliminated the principle of separation of powers, consolidating an authoritarian regime centralized in the Office of the President of the Republic, now held by one male and one female co-president with six-year terms.

The enactment of new laws and legal reforms aimed at extending the current wave of repression beyond national borders, and the intensification of repression during elections in areas on the country’s Caribbean coast—one of the few remaining areas where civic and democratic space had not been entirely suppressed.

Arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, severe conditions of detention, acts of torture, arbitrary deprivation of nationality, prohibitions on nationals returning to the country, exile, religious persecution, and severe restrictions on civic space.

Venezuela

The political and human rights crisis in Venezuela stems from the complete co-optation of state institutions by a regime whose ultimate goal is to remain in power through illegitimate means.

Before, during, and after the presidential election on July 28, the regime employed a repressive strategy to remain in power through state terrorism tactics designed to suppress political participation, obstruct the process of free, fair, and transparent elections, and instill fear in the population.

The widespread perception of electoral fraud triggered around 300 spontaneous demonstrations, primarily led by young men living in poverty. In response, the regime escalated systematic repression, using fear as a tool of social control.

Follow-up on recommendations

The IACHR monitors compliance with the recommendations issued in its country reports. This follow-up is conducted through requests for information from States, on-site visits, and input received from civil society.

Brazil

32 Recommendations under review

3.13% Full compliance

0% Substantial partial compliance

40.62% Partial compliance

356.25% Pending compliance

El Salvador

23 Recommendations under review

0% Full compliance

0% Substantial partial compliance

13% Partial compliance

70% Pending compliance

IACHR in numbers

The IACHR’s annual budget covers its operational and personnel expenses and is financed through the Regular Fund (contributions from OAS member states); specific funds (contributions from external donors designated for specific programs and activities); and the Indirect Cost Recovery Fund (ICR), which covers administrative expenses associated with the management of these resources.

41%

Special funds

Financial resources provided by donors (Member States, permanent observers, or permanent representatives).

58%

approved by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) and financed through annual payments by OAS Member States.

Regular Funds

1%

ICR Fund

This fund is approved by the General Assembly, covers indirect costs for funded initiatives, and supports the administrative functioning of the IACHR.

Read Chapter 6