Elected by the member states of the UN Human Rights Council, Ignacio de Casas will be one of the 18 experts on the Advisory Committee of this multilateral body created to promote the protection of human rights globally. With more than 15 years of experience in the Universidad AustralHe currently serves as academic secretary and as deputy director of the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Law.

Nominated by the Republic of Argentina, and with the consensus of the entire Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, Ignacio de Casas was elected to the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council. His appointment was ratified this Wednesday, October 8 , following the election held by the Member States of the Human Rights Council at its most recent session, which just concluded in Geneva.

The Advisory Committee functions as a think tank and research group for the Human Rights Council and is composed of 18 experts from different continents. In this election, there were seven vacant positions, one of which, for which de Casas was appointed, was for the Latin America and Caribbean region. The Advisory Committee is composed of five members from African States and five from Asian and Pacific States; two from Eastern European States; three from Latin American and Caribbean States; and three from Western European and other States.  

In selecting the members of the Advisory Committee, the Human Rights Council gives due consideration to gender balance and the appropriate representation of different civilizations and legal systems. The technical and objective requirements that experts must meet to be appointed to the Advisory Committee include (a) recognized competence and experience in the field of human rights; (b) high moral character; and (c) independence and impartiality.

“I will do everything in my power to ensure that the Advisory Committee can consolidate its role as a global guarantor of human dignity. A more just international order, centered on fundamental human rights, will be the guiding values ​​of my actions. I am convinced that the Advisory Committee fulfills a strategic function by generating expert and action-oriented analyses that are vital for the Human Rights Council,” said Ignacio de Casas. 

With over two decades of experience in international human rights law, Ignacio de Casas has litigated landmark cases before the UN and OAS protection systems. His most recent case was the defense of the four justices of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Honduras who were arbitrarily dismissed by the government during the presidency of Porfirio Lobo. De Casas, along with two other professors and a graduate of the Law School of the Universidad AustralThey took the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the highest court on the matter in the Americas, which condemned the State of Honduras in 2024. They also have experience in cases involving Uruguay, Mexico, and, of course, Argentina.

De Casas is a lawyer from the University of Mendoza, holds a master's degree in human rights from the University of Oxford, and a doctorate in law from the Universidad AustralHe currently serves as Academic Secretary of the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Austral He teaches Public International Law and Human Rights. In 2006, he founded the Latin American Center for Human Rights, an NGO with consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2015.