Chapter 2 Evolution of the IACHR initiatives on Guantanamo | 23 EVOLUTION OF THE IACHR INITIATIVES ON GUANTANAMO A. The IACHR’s mandate 16. The United States has been a member of the Organization of American States since 1951, when it deposited the instrument of ratification of the OAS Charter. 4 The United States is therefore subject to the obligations derived from the OAS Charter, Article 20 of the Statute of the IACHR, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, and Article 51 of its Rules of Procedure. 17. The Commission has traditionally interpreted the scope of the obligations established under the American Declaration in the context of the universal and inter-American human rights systems more broadly, in light of developments in the field of international human rights law since the instrument was first adopted, and with due regard to other rules of international law applicable to Member States. 5 18. In its response to this report, the Government of the United States holds that, although it has undertaken a political commitment to uphold the American Declaration, this is a non-binding instrument that does not itself create legal rights or impose legal obligations on signatory States. 6 According to the well-established and long-standing jurisprudence and practice of the inter-American system, however, the American Declaration is recognized as constituting a source of legal obligation for OAS member states, including in particular those States that are not 4 Organization of American States, Department of International Law, Charter of the Organization of American States, Signatories and Ratifications. Available at: http://www.oas.org/dil/treaties_A41_Charter_of_the_Organization_of_American_States_sign.htm#United States See, generally, IACHR, Report No. 80/11, Case 12.626, Merits, Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) et al., United States, July 21, 2011, para. 118; IACHR, Report Nº 81/10, Case 12.562, Wayne Smith, Hugo Armendariz, et al., United States, July 12, 2010; IACHR, Report Nº 63/08, Case 12.534, Andrea Mortlock, United States, July 25, 2008; IACHR, Report Nº 40/04, Case 12.053, Maya Indigenous Community, Belize, October 12, 2004; IACHR, Report Nº 75/02, Case 11.140, Mary and Carrie Dann, United States, December 27, 2002; IACHR, Report Nº 62/02, Case 12.285, Michael Domingues, United States, October 22, 2002. Submission of the Government of the United States to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with respect to the Draft Report on the Closure of Guantanamo, OEA/Ser.L/V.II.Doc. 30 January 2015, March 30, 2015, p. 2. 5 6 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR