James L. Cavallaro Announced, then Withdrawn as U.S. Candidate for IACHR Commissioner

On February 10, 2023, the U.S. State Department announced its selection of James L. Cavallaro as the United States’ candidate for commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the 2024-2027 term. The IACHR is one of the principal organs of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose function is to promote the observance and protection of human rights and to serve as a consultative organ of the Organization in these matters and is made up of seven independent members who serve in a personal capacity.

Professor Cavallaro is a visiting professor at Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, Berkeley Law School and UCLA School of Law, as well as the founder and President of the University Network for Human Rights (UNHR), which works to facilitate supervised, interdisciplinary engagement in human rights practice at universities and foster the next generation of human rights advocates. If elected, this will be his second term serving as commissioner – he previously served during the 2014-2017 term, including as its president from 2016-2017.  

Member states of the OAS will vote to fill four IACHR commissioner seats during elections at the June 2023 General Assembly in Washington, D.C. Find the State Department’s press release here, and the UNHR’s press statement here.

Update: The United States has withdrawn Professor Cavallero as a candidate for the OACHR. More here.