Organisation of American States (OAS) - American Convention on Human Rights

The Convention was adopted on 22 November 1969. Article 1 provides that:

"State Parties to the Convention shall respect the rights and freedoms under the Charter and ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms, without any discrimination for reasons of, [inter alia] ... sex. For the purposes of the Convention, "person" refers to every human being".

Therefore, the rights set out under the Convention are to be applied equally to women and men. These include the following "Civil and Political Rights" set out in Chapter 2:

• Art. 3 Right to juridical personality
• Art. 4 Right to life
• Art. 5 Right to humane treatment
• Art. 6 Freedom from slavery
• Art. 7 Right to personal liberty
• Art. 8 Right to a fair trial
• Art. 9 Freedom from ex post facto laws
• Art. 10 Right to compensation
• Art. 11 Right to privacy
• Art. 12 Freedom of conscience and religion
• Art. 13 Freedom of thought and expression
• Art. 14 Right of reply
• Art. 15 Right of Assembly
• Art. 16 Freedom of Association
• Art. 17 Rights of the Family
• Art. 18 Right to a name
• Art. 19 Rights of the child
• Art. 20 Right to nationality
• Art. 21 Right to property
• Art. 22 Freedom of movement and residence
• Art. 23 Right to participate in government
• Art. 24 Right to equal protection
• Art. 25 Right to judicial protection

Note that article 27 allows for the suspension of these rights in "time of war, public danger, or other emergency that threatens the independence or security of a State Party". However these measures must not be inconsistent with the State's other obligations under international law and must not involve discrimination on the ground of inter alia, sex or social origin.

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