IACHR selects Mexican Tania Reneaum as executive secretary

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announced Tuesday that it had selected Tania Reneaum Panszi, a Mexican national, to serve as executive secretary of the organization, a position previously held on an interim basis by Colombian María Claudia Pulido.

“The selection of Tania Reneaum Panszi, a Mexican national, was the result of a broad, open, transparent, and participatory process,” the IACHR said in a statement, explaining that the woman’s term will be four years.

According to the autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), Reneaum was chosen from among ten finalists and more than 450 candidates, including Pulido.

The Mexican holds a Ph.D. in Law from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona (Spain) and has two master’s degrees: one in Criminal Law and Comparative Social Problems from the University of Barcelona and another in Legal Sciences from Pompeu Fabra University.

In addition, the IACHR argued that Reneaum was chosen because “she has more than 23 years of professional experience working for human rights in academia and with civil society, government and international organizations”.

Reneaum’s selection comes half a year after OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro’s decision in August of last year not to renew the mandate of the then executive secretary of the IACHR, Paulo Abrao, which, according to the Commission, undermined its “autonomy and independence”.

Given this measure, the IACHR expressed “its strongest protest; as well as its alarm at a serious attack against its independence and autonomy”, since, in January 2020, the human rights body had unanimously decided to renew Abrao’s mandate for the period 2020-2024.

Abrao, a Brazilian national, replaced Mexican Emilio Álvarez Icaza as executive secretary of the IACHR in 2016.

With extensive experience in human rights, public policy, finance, and budget, Abrao distinguished himself for his plans to modernize the IACHR.

Source: efe