Secretary of State Antony Blinken 2201 C St NW  Washington, DC 20520 202-647-6575 secretary@state.gov

RE: U.S. State Department withdrawal of leading human rights expert’s candidacy to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights  

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Dear Secretary Blinken:

We the undersigned groups and individuals are deeply concerned and dismayed by the U.S. State Department’s withdrawal of Professor James Cavallaro’s nomination for commissioner to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (“the Commission”) of the Organization of American States (“OAS”).

On February 10, the State Department nominated Cavallaro because he is, in the State Department’s own words, “a leading scholar and practitioner of international law with deep expertise in the region as well as the Inter-American human rights system.” Cavallaro served on the Commission for the 2014-2017 term, including as Commission President from 2016-2017. 

Cavallaro’s recent nomination was welcomed by many in the human rights community in the United States and throughout the OAS region. Four days later, the State Department withdrew its nomination. The Associated Press reported that Cavallaro’s statements about the Israeli government and criticisms of the influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups led to the withdrawal of his nomination. The State Department noted that Cavallaro’s statements “clearly do not reflect U.S. policy” and “are not a reflection of what we believe.” Cavallaro reports that State Department officials informed him that the basis for the withdrawal of his nomination was his posts on Twitter about Israel and Palestine. 

It is alarming that the State Department has reversed its decision and disqualified one of the most distinguished, independent human rights experts on the Americas from joining the region’s human rights oversight body based at least in part on his well-grounded analyses of international human rights issues.

The State Department should reinstate Cavallaro’s nomination for the following reasons:

1. Cavallaro is one of the most distinguished human rights advocates in the Americas.

Following Cavallaro’s leadership of the human rights programs at both Harvard and Stanford Law Schools, the State Department nominated him to the Commission in 2013. He served both as Commissioner (2014-2017) and President (2016-2017), as well as Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty. In these roles, his numerous achievements and contributions have had lasting consequences for victims’ access to justice and the protection of human rights in the OAS region.

2. Commissioners on the Inter-American Commission are independent human rights experts, not spokespeople for their country’s foreign policies. 

The effectiveness of the Inter-American Commission rests on the independence of its Commissioners from their governments. This is reflected in the Inter-American Commission’s Rules and Procedures, which prohibit commissioners from participating in discussions and voting on matters that concern the country of which they are a national.

3. Cavallaro’s criticism of the Israeli government is consistent with the findings of prominent human rights organizations. 

Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights organizations, advocates, and scholars have all published reports concluding that the Israeli government’s repression of Palestinians amounts to apartheid.

4. Withdrawing the candidacy of a distinguished human rights advocate for their criticism of human rights abuses in Israel/Palestine or any other context sets a dangerous precedent that impacts human rights advocacy across the globe.

Human rights practitioners and scholars should not fear professional reprisal for expressing their views about human rights violations, especially those carried out by U.S. allies. This undermines free expression, academic freedom, and the work of all human rights advocates, particularly those who do not have the same kind of platform as Cavallaro.

The State Department’s move is harmful to the global human rights movement and undermines the credibility of the United States in advocating for human rights in other parts of the world.

Sincerely,

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

B’Tselem

Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

International Human Rights Clinic, Harvard Law School

Additional Signatories:

Institutional:

Jewish Voice for Peace Action (JVP Action)

Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN)

Freedom Forward

Front Line Defenders (FLD)

Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA)

International Human Rights Clinic, Boston University School of Law

Individuals (title and affiliation listed for identification purposes only): 

Former Candidates & Commissioners, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; former & current United Nations Mandate Holders:

David Kaye, UC Irvine School of Law, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression (2014-2020)

Aua Baldé, Catholic University of Portugal, current Human Rights Expert and United Nations Mandate Holder

Leilani Farha, Global Director, The Shift, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing (2014-2020), Commissioner, International Commission of Jurists

Flávia Piovesan, Professor at the Catholic University of São Paulo, Commissioner (2018-2021) and Vice President (2021) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Paulo Abrão, Visiting Scholar at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, Executive Director Washington Brazil Office, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission (2016-2020)

Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Former Minister, Secretariat of State for Human Rights, Brazil, and Commissioner, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States (2003-2011)

Alexandra Huneeus, Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin, 2021 U.S. Nominee to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Gay J. McDougall, Member, UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Vice Chair 2018-2019), Former UN Special Rapporteur on Minorities, Senior Fellow and Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Leitner Center for International Law and Justice / Center for Race, Law, and Justice Fordham University School of Law

Academics and Advocates with Expertise in Human Rights:

Jamil Dakwar, Director, ACLU Human Rights Program

​​Luis Arriaga, SJ, President of the Association of Universities Entrusted to the Society of Jesus in Latin America, President, Universidad Iberoamericana, AUSJAL, Rector del ITESO (2018-2022)

Moshik Temkin, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, Visiting Distinguished Professor, Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University

Edward Telles, Distinguished Professor and Director, Program for International Migration, University of California, Irvine

Susan M. Akram, Clinical Professor and Director, International Human Rights Clinic, Boston University School of Law

Gastón Chillier, Human Rights Activist and Associate Director of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO)

Samuel Moyn, Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and Professor of History at Yale University

Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), Chief Executive, Howard League for Penal Reform, London, United Kingdom

Sibongile Ndashe, Executive Director, Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) Johannesburg, South Africa

David Palumbo-Liu, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, Stanford University

Vladyslav Lanovoy, Assistant Professor of Public International Law, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada

Jânia Saldanha, Professor, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, UNISINOS, Brazil, Institut des Hautes Études de la Amérique Latine (2016-2017), Université Paris III, Sorbonne-Nouvelle, Université Catholique de Lille (2022)