An administrative court of the OAS (Organization of American States) ruled that the institution’s secretary general, the Uruguayan Luis Almagro, caused moral, personal and professional damages to the Brazilian Paulo Abrão, former executive secretary of the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ) for statements made when he decided not to renew his mandate at the head of the commission.
Abram took office in August 2016 and, in 2020, days after his term expired, Almagro did not renew his tenure because of complaints filed against him by the body’s internal affairs officer, Neida Pérez.
At the time, Almagro said that “the seriousness and gravity of the complaints” do not allow the term to be renewed. An anonymous source told the AFP news agency in 2020 that there were more than 60 complaints of “labor harassment” and “manipulation of competitions and hiring” and that many employees ended up leaving the IACHR for this reason.
The IACHR, however, was in favor of keeping the Brazilian in his post and criticized Almagro’s decision. In 2020, Colombia, the US and Brazil were dissatisfied with Abram’s work and were pushing for him to leave.
During the dispute, both the commission and Almagro made statements that, according to the ruling of the administrative court, caused the aforementioned damages to Abram. Now, the OAS secretary general must compensate the Brazilian with the equivalent of 12 months of his salary, in addition to paying the legal costs of the process.
Almagro, however, will not have to indemnify Abram for the non-renewal itself, as the court considered that the contract ended “due to the expiration of its term”. of the court” and insisted that the court “recognises that the contract in question was terminated not by conclusion decided by the appointing authority, but by the expiration of the term”.
Also to the news agency, Abram said he considered that this point [do vencimento do contrato] is also favorable to you, as it indicates that your stay at the post has not come to an end “for reasons other than the end of the stipulated period at the post.
“For me this is a very significant victory, because it clears my name,” he says. The Brazilian also says that, for him, the most important thing was to know if Almagro had fulfilled all the formal requirements in the non-renewal process and that “the court strongly affirms that no, he did not”.
AFP also reached out to the IACHR, which declined to comment on the case. Of the six judges on the court, only two disagreed with the sentence.
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