ABSTRACT
The Inter-American system for the protection of human rights is based and, has evolved from, the premise that the defence of the rights of the individual and the effective exercise of representative democracy are closely interrelated. In December 1985 the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly adopted the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture. In an advisory opinion, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights dealt with some aspects of the freedom of expression in the American Convention. Article 27 of American Convention on Human Rights enumerates the non-derogable rights and freedoms are: the right to judicial personality; the right to life; the right to humane treatment; freedom from slavery; freedom from ex post facto laws; freedom of conscience and religion; the rights of the family; the right to a name; the rights of the child; the right to nationality; and the right to participate in government or in the judicial guarantees essential for the protection of such rights.
