Who we are
Mission
To be a two-way bridge connecting local struggles with universal justice by democratizing access to United Nations mechanisms.
Visión
We make the universal human rights system work for grassroots actors. IPHR is the organization that connects, supports, and translates United Nations opportunities into accessible defense strategies for collectives across Latin America.
Why We Do This
Because international law must be a living tool, not an unattainable ideal. The United Nations system was designed as the ultimate shield against abuses of power and as a guarantor of human dignity. In the context of today’s global crisis, ensuring access to these mechanisms is a moral imperative. We provide technical support to grassroots organizations because protecting our shared universal values is an unavoidable duty as humanity.
Our Team
Víctor Rodríguez Rescia (President)
Current member of the UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement. Former member of the UN Human Rights Committee and its Special Rapporteur on Follow-up to Views, former Chair of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, former Deputy Secretary of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and former Director of the Center for Human Rights for the Americas at DePaul University (Chicago, USA), based in Costa Rica.
He is also a member of the General Assembly of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, the Assembly of the International Commission of Jurists (Geneva), and a visiting professor at universities in Latin America and Europe, including Columbia University (New York, USA) and the University of Verona (Italy). He has published extensively on human rights, strategic litigation, access to justice, and social responsibility, and has broad experience as an independent consultant and evaluator of development and human rights programs. He currently serves as President of the Centre for Civil and Political Rights (Geneva, Switzerland) and of the International Institute for Social Responsibility and Human Rights.
Luis F. Fernández (Vice President)
More than 17 years of experience focused on understanding and improving the relationship between citizens and government: from academia, researching citizen participation and governance; from government, leading engagement between organizations, collectives, and authorities and designing participatory public policies; from political parties, coordinating relationships with organizations and movements to advance agendas and participate in electoral processes; and from civil society, working on community organizing and advocacy.
Founder and Executive Director of Práctica: Laboratory for Democracy, promoting participation and leadership development for social movements. Member of the Latin American Network for Political Innovation. Former professor at the School of Government of Tecnológico de Monterrey and former Electoral Councilor of Mexico’s National Electoral Institute in Mexico City for the Constituent Assembly process and the 2012 and 2015 electoral cycles.
Jessica Bellanger (Secretary)
Jose Rodriguez (Treasurer)
Theory of Change
Identification of cases (patterns of human rights violations) through partner organizations in Latin America or other regions.
Legal documentation developed jointly with IIRESODH’s legal team.
Strategic litigation: submission of cases in Geneva and selection of the mechanisms that maximize impact.
Advocacy: international pressure on the State.
Change: victim reparations and/or public policy reform.
How to Contact Us
Please write to contacto@pidh.ch
Or contact us via WhatsApp at +33 6989-73700 (Geneva)