Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts
The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (Grupo Interdisciplinario de Expertos Independientes, GIEI) is the title shared by a series of committees of human rights experts appointed by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to investigate particular incidents or scenarios of human rights violations. Legal scholars described the first such group, focused on a mass "disappearance" in Mexico, as "the first experience of international monitoring carried out within a criminal investigation process of its kind. It can be replicated and contribute to the investigation of emblematic cases and regional settings where processes of mass victimisation have occurred."[1]
The instances of the Group so far are:
- Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for the Ayotzinapa Case, established 2014, reactivated 2020[1][2]
- Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for Nicaragua, created July 2018[3]
- Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for Bolivia, examining human rights abuses during the Bolivian political crisis from September to December 2019
In July 2017, a study was published explaining how at least 19 experts were infected by israeli spyware Pegasus whilst investigating the mass disappearance of 43 mexican students in Iguala, the largest human rights scandal in modern Mexican history. [4][5] The infection took place during 2016.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Patrón, Mario; Espinosa, Santiago Aguirre; Brewer, Stephanie; de Robina, Sofía; Aguilar, María Luisa (2017). "An Unprecedented Exercise of International Supervision". Sur International Journal on Human Rights. 14 (25): 189–206. ISSN 1806-6445.
- ^ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2020-05-07). "IACHR and Mexican State Sign Agreement to Reinstate the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) for the Ayotzinapa Case". Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2009-08-01). "IACHR Announces Establishment of Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for Nicaragua". www.oas.org. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ Scott-Railton, John; Marczak, Bill; Razzak, Bahr Abdul; Crete-Nishihata, Masashi; Deibert, Ron (2017-07-10). Reckless III: Investigation Into Mexican Mass Disappearance Targeted with NSO Spyware (Report). University of Toronto.
- ^ "Mexican armed forces facilitated Ayotzinapa disappearances: Panel". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-06-23.