Artículo sobre el caso Vélez Loor vs. Panamá (derechos de los migrantes)

Este reporte fue elaborado por Oswaldo Ruiz-Chiriboga.

En el último volumen de la revista Law and Business Review of the Americas (No. 18, 2012), Ashley Mason publicó el artículo titulado “Interpretation of the American Convention in Latin America: The Impact of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' Decision In Vélez Loor V. Panama on Irregular Migrant Rights”.  Esta es la introducción del artículo:

“The case of Vélez Loor v. Panama represents the first decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter "Inter-American Court") that addressed the human rights of irregular migrants. Irregular migrants have been defined as individuals who "lac[k] legal status in a transit or host country." The Inter-American Court's holding that Panama's migration policies violated the American Convention of Human Rights (hereinafter "American Convention") will prohibit mandatory punitive detention of irregular migrants, invoke scrutiny toward detention center standards, and apply the due process protections of the American Convention to migrants.  This emerging change in international law is timely because human rights committees have recently documented arbitrary detention of migrants as a pervasive concern in Latin American countries such as Argentina.  By extending the American Convention's protections to irregular migrants, the court has contributed toward international reform efforts to protect this marginalized group”.