The president of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas, appointed on Tuesday the three independent members of the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua, which was approved on March 31 through the resolution Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Nicaragua.
The group of experts will be chaired by the German, Jan-Michael Simon; who will be accompanied by the Chilean, Alexandro Álvarez, and the Colombian, Ángela María Buitrago.
All of them have the mandate to “undertake exhaustive and independent investigations of all alleged human rights abuses and violations committed in Nicaragua since April 2018, in particular the possible gender dimensions of those abuses and violations, and their deep structural causes.” , reads the Human Rights Council resolution.
In addition, the group of experts must “establish the facts and circumstances relating to the alleged abuses and violations, collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze information and evidence and, if possible, identify those responsible, and allow that information to be accessible and can be used in support of current and future accountability initiatives,” the resolution continues.
The appointment of the experts was made on the basis of recommendations made to the President of the Human Rights Council by various stakeholders, as well as expressions of interest by applicants, to find impartial and highly qualified candidates to fill these positions.
?NEW
Human Rights Council president @FVillegasARG you have appointed:
?Jan-Michael Simon of Germany (chair)
?Alexandro Alvarez of Chile
?Angela Maria Buitrago of Colombiato the newly impanelled Group of Human Rights Experts on #Nicaragua.
INFO ▶ https://t.co/K430T6rrNO pic.twitter.com/AYkF8CHRLN
— UN Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) May 24, 2022
The Group of Experts on Human Rights has an initial duration of one year and during that time they must formulate “recommendations with a view to improving the situation of human rights” in the country and will present a report to the Human Rights Council in its 52nd session. of sessions from February to March 2023, during an interactive dialogue.
Jan-Michael Simon, the chairman of the think tank
Jan-Michael Simon is an expert in criminal law, criminal policy and international public law. A lawyer by training, he regularly combines research with field work and practice on issues related to human rights, the rule of law, the fight against impunity and anti-corruption, mainly in the Americas, particularly in Central America.
Simon currently works as a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and the Law.
He has previously worked for international missions against impunity and corruption, such as the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, sponsored by the United Nations, and the Support Mission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, promoted by the United States Organization. Americans between 2015 and 2017.
He also worked as an investigator for the UN-sponsored Historical Clarification Commission in Guatemala, investigating human rights violations and acts of violence in the internal armed conflict. In addition, he led the mission of the European Commission on security and justice in Guatemala. Aside from his native German, he is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and speaks an intermediate level of French.
Alexandro Álvarez, human rights at the international level
Alexandro Álvarez is a lawyer and law professor with diverse experience in legal, administrative, public policy and legislative matters. His practice focuses primarily on international human rights law.
Álvarez recently served as an international consultant to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on human rights, justice and the rule of law in Nicaragua (2021-2022). Previously, he worked with the Special Follow-up Mechanism for Nicaragua of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2018-2021), where she supervised the human rights situation in the country, coordinated the interdisciplinary team in the context of the current human rights crisis, and also worked in the field as a human rights specialist .
He has also held numerous legal and policy advisory positions with the Chilean government, focusing on human rights and indigenous peoples. He served as the main legislative assistant to the Indigenous Representative of the National Congress; legal and political adviser to the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security; legal assistant to the Cabinet of the Minister of Health; legislative assistant to the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency; principal legal adviser to the National Corporation for Indigenous Development; and legal advisor to the Cabinet of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning.
Ángela María Buitrago, Colombian expert in criminal law
Ángela María Buitrago is a Colombian lawyer and former prosecutor. She is also a professor of criminal law at the Externado de Colombia University. She has extensive experience in criminal law and human rights at a professional level. In addition, she is well versed in international systems and the operation of expert research groups, since she was part of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) in Mexico. Likewise, she has presented numerous expert reports before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, including from a gender perspective.
Buitrago has a Master’s in Criminal Law and a Doctorate in Law and Sociology from the Externado de Colombia University. He is a member of the Colombian Institute of Colombian Procedural Law, the Ibero-American Institute of Procedural Law and the Criminal Lawyers Association of Santa Fe de Bogotá and Cundinamarca.
