Part I State Obligations and Rights Protected, Ch.I General Obligations, Art.1: Obligation to Respect Rights

Abstract

This chapter analyzes Article 1-1, which is a key-provision of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). It provides the main set of obligations borne by the States parties, that is, obligations to respect and to ensure, and defines the rights holders of the ACHR as all persons under the jurisdiction of the States Parties. The same provision further outlines the general principle of non-discrimination to be respected when the States Parties fulfill their general obligations to respect and ensure all the rights of the ACHR. That provision alone sets out the fundamental philosophical and legal conception of the inter-American system. It irradiates and determines the whole Convention; the enjoyment and exercise of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the treaty have a universal scope and shall be recognized in favor of all persons, regardless of their nationality and citizenship or any other conditions.