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OAS General Assembly Fails to Approve Democratic Charter One of the most productive outcomes was an accord to restructure the organization. A resolution introduced by Argentina commits the General Secretary to present a plan to achieve this goal in October. Mexico and Peru were among the countries calling for restructuring to improve the OAS's ability to carry out its role in the hemisphere. "Reality demands a deep and general revision of the inter-American system," argued Mexico's assistant secretary of foreign relations, Gustavo Iruegas. The work carried out by the OAS is insufficient, he claimed, and the organization would be strengthened and function more smoothly with a new structure in place. An area in which the General Assembly failed to meet its objectives was in approving the Democratic Charter proposed by the hemisphere's leaders at the Third Summit of the Americas in April. The charter was intended to outline the standards and procedures for addressing member states in cases of unconstitutional interruptions of democratic rule. The draft text, which was rejected, provided for the suspension of nondemocratic states and a special meeting of the foreign ministers of the hemisphere within a period of 10 days. A two-thirds vote by these officials would determine whether an unconstitutional rupture of the democratic system had in fact occurred, in which case the state in question would be suspended from the OAS and all of its bodies. Sixteen of the 34 countries joined Venezuela in questioning the notion of "representative democracy." Most of Venezuela's support came from the Caribbean states. As a result, the General Assembly was unable to garner enough votes to approve the Democratic Charter, limiting itself to agreement on a supporting document. "This is a dense and complex issue, but also one of relative urgency," commented General Secretary César Gaviria. He expressed the hope that the Special Assembly scheduled for October will agree on definitions of the concepts acting as a stumbling block to final approval of the charter. Another major topic of discussion at the General Assembly was strengthening the Inter-American system of human rights. Currently, the inter-American judges meet three times a year, convening for a fourth time only if sufficient funds are available. Costa Rica proposed increasing the budget to allow this body to work more effectively. In addition to funding, argued its president, Claudio Grossman, it is essential for states to take measures against those who do not comply with the commission's recommendations. He mentioned the specific cases of Mexico, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. Pedro Nikken, president of the Inter-American Human Rights Institute, also called on civil society to play a more aggressive role in defending human rights. The discussion culminated in a resolution to "significantly increase" the budget of the Inter-American Court and Commission on Human Rights, to enable these bodies to meet more regularly and address more cases of human rights violations. The members also approved a study to facilitate direct access by complainants to the system; currently, only the commission and member states can present cases before the court. Other issues addressed by the General Assembly included indigenous rights, freedom of expression and gender equality. However, many observers were disappointed by the meeting's failure to achieve a "real and sincere" commitment by the member states to the ideals of democracy. This important issue remains pending for the Special Assembly in October.
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