Inter-American Democratic Charter
The Inter-American Democratic Charter was adopted on 11 September 2001 by a special session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, held in Lima, Peru. It is an inter-American instrument with the central aim of strengthening and upholding democratic institutions in the nations of the Americas. The Charter, which is binding on all 34 of the currently active OAS member states, spells out what democracy entails and specifies how it should be defended when it is under threat.
Background
Beginning in the 1980s, and especially after the Cold War, as international interest in multilateral action in support of human rights and democracy resulted in several conventions and treaties at the United Nations and other regional organizations of states, the Organization of American States held a series of diplomatic conferences on the issue of democracy. Democracy is one of the foundational principles of the OAS, and it was enshrined in its charter from the beginning. In 1985, the Protocol of Cartagena de Indias strengthened the charter's original language on democracy by asserting that "representative democracy is an indispensable condition for the stability, peace and development of the region" and "[t]he solidarity of the American States and the high aims which are sought through it require the political organization of those States on the basis of the effective exercise of representative democracy". However, the charter also exhorts the organization to promote democracy "with due respect for the principle of nonintervention," and lacks any mechanism for collective action among the states in defense of democracy.
The
Provisions
Article 1 frames the purpose and goal of the Charter:
- "The peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it."
Title IV establishes how the Organization is to react following "an unconstitutional interruption of the democratic order or an unconstitutional alteration of the constitutional regime that seriously impairs the democratic order in a member state." Article 19 states that such an interruption or alteration constitutes "an insurmountable obstacle to its government's participation in sessions of the General Assembly, the Meeting of Consultation, the Councils of the Organization, the specialized conferences, the commissions, working groups, and other bodies of the Organization." Consequently, Article 20 provides that following such a breakdown in a member state's constitutional regime, any other member state or the Secretary General may request the immediate convocation of the Organization's Permanent Council to undertake a collective assessment of the situation and to take such decisions as it deems appropriate. Should the Permanent Council's diplomatic efforts prove fruitless in re-establishing the constitutional order, or if the situation is deemed particularly urgent, a special session of the General Assembly may be convened to address the matter. That special session may then resolve, by a two-thirds vote of the member states, to suspend the membership of the state in question.
Once the situation that led to suspension has been resolved, the suspended member may be re-instated by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly.
The Charter contains additional provisions dealing with actions to be adopted by member states to promote a culture of democracy within their countries, and it sets a framework for the conduction of the OAS's electoral observation missions in the member states.
Applications
Venezuela, 2002
The Inter-American Democratic Charter was formally invoked for the first time in April 2002 on the occasion of the
Honduras, 2009
The Inter-American Democratic Charter was not invoked again until the
Venezuela, 2014
On the one-month anniversary of continued protests and political unrest in Venezuela, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, said in a hearing before the House of Representatives that the United States was prepared to invoke the Democratic Charter on Venezuela if necessary. [7]
Venezuela, 2016
On 19 May, the
Peru, 2023
Due to concerns with the
See also
References
- ^ The Carter Center, "The Carter Center Americas Program", retrieved 2008-07-21
- U.S. State Department, 11 September 2001; retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ Declaración del Grupo de Río sobre la situación en Venezuela Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, Rio Group, 12 April 2002; retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ Bush Must Re-Embrace Latin Leaders After Break Over Chávez Andrew Reding, Pacific News Service, 19 April 2002; retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ Declaración del Presidente Fox sobre la situación actual en Venezuela Archived 2018-11-11 at the Wayback Machine Office of the President of the United Mexican States, 12 April 2002; retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ Chavez and Fox recall ambassadors BBC News, 14 November 2005; retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ Kerry: The United States is ready to impose sanctions on Venezuela Archived 2014-03-13 at the Wayback Machine, El Universal (Caracas), 12 March 2014; retrieved 2014-03-13.
- ^ "Why Venezuela Must be Expelled from the OAS". HuffPost. 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ Sánchez, Diego Quispe (2023-09-08). "Congreso aprueba golpe contra el sistema de justicia". La República (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-09-09.
- ^ Saavedra, Narda (2023-09-08). "Organizaciones internacionales piden aplicar carta democrática al Perú por investigación a la JNJ". La República (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-09-09.