The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is undergoing a deep institutional and legitimacy crisis after it was revealed that one of its commissioners, Arif Bulkan, is simultaneously a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice, in a clear violation of the internal rules of the inter-American system itself and of the UN international standards.
The situation, publicly denounced by María Anne Quiroga, director of the Global Center for Human Rights, exposes the collapse of the independence and impartiality of the organization.
During an interview with writer Agustín Laje, Quiroga explained that Bulkan is acting "as judge and party," by holding two incompatible positions: judge in a superior Caribbean court and commissioner at the IACHR, where he performs prosecutorial and supervisory functions over member states. According to her, this dual role represents a blatant conflict of interest that jeopardizes the credibility of the inter-American system as a whole.
Quiroga warned that, from his two positions, Bulkan can validate as a judge the same ideological perspectives he promotes as a commissioner, for example, in his reports on LGBTI people and indigenous peoples, and she emphasized the serious imbalance caused by the politicization of human rights from an ideological rather than a legal perspective.
