2016 | American Society of International Law - The Situation of Reparations in the Inter-American Human Rights System: Analysis and Comparative Considerations

This ASIL ‘Insight’ offers a brief comparison of its reparations practice with that of the European and African human rights courts and the UN’s Human Rights Committee. In contrast with the other courts, the Inter-American court relies on a judicial monitoring mechanism once the court has ordered a state to provide reparations to victims of that state’s violations of the ACHR. Thus, for example, the IACtHR monitored Chile’s implementation of reparations ordered against it in the 2013 case of García Lucero v. Chile. States must inform the IACtHR about compliance with its judgments. Although the General Assembly of the Organization of American States takes no action to oblige states to comply, it requires states to inform the IACtHR on compliance and may note non-compliance in its annual report.

The Inter-American court has a robust record of ordering both monetary compensation and rehabilitative reparations, as well as restitution. The latter is only rarely ordered by the other courts in this brief survey.