A proteção aos refugiados no sistema interamericano de direitos humanos: reflexões a partir do caso Pacheco Tineo

Abstract

This study deals with the evolution of the refugee concept and its growing dialogue with the International Human Rights Law. International Refugee Law stems from the Second World War and seeks to protect more and more individuals whose human rights are systematically violated (civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights), and due to those violations are forced to leave their countries in search of international protection. More than identifying an individual in a situation of vulnerability, it is necessary to recognize him as a refugee and to allow him access to a system of rights. In this perspective, the concept of refugee remains vital for the system of protection resulting in constant conceptual expansion through interpretations in light of International Human Rights Law. Therefore, this work has the specific objective of analyzing the concept established by the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the regional advances that have broadened the scope of the universal definition, especially in the regional context of the Inter-American Human Rights System. The protection approach used in the context of the Americas is analyzed in the light of the 1984 Cartagena Declaration, the American Convention of Human Rights, and other universal protection instruments. The progress observed regionally is translated into a recent precedent of the Inter-American System, Pacheco Tineo vs. Plurinational State of Bolivia. The rights ensured in this case demonstrate that the region is moving towards the consolidation of a refugee protection system that is based on the analysis of demands in light of International Human Rights Law. Although the case has not brought conceptual advances, it has brought a series of procedural advances that result in the recognition and protection sought by individuals in situations of extreme vulnerability. The methodology used in this study is based on descriptive and normative approaches, based on bibliographical, documentary and jurisprudential research. The analysis uses reference works on International Human Rights Law, International Refugee Law and on the Inter-American Human Rights System. The method used is a deductive approach, starting with the construction of the concept of refugee throughout the twentieth century and analyzing the complementarity of the human protection aspects represented in the judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.