Can you imagine a U.S. Supreme Court justice also working for the State Department? But if we apply this hypothetical scenario of an official acting as both judge and jury to global governance mechanisms in the Americas, the scandal is inevitable.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Commissioner Arif Bulkan is currently serving as a judge on the Caribbean Court of Justice while simultaneously acting as a prosecuting party in the Inter-American System, “violating a basic principle of law and public service,” according to María Anne Quiroga of the Global Center for Human Rights.

According to the researcher, this dual role creates a conflict of interest that violates the rules of the IACHR itself, the Inter-American System, and U.N. international standards. “If the situation isn’t resolved soon, the States, which are only now becoming aware of the unacceptable conduct of the judge-commissioner, will demand accountability before the Permanent Council,” she stated.

But what is the IACHR? Created in 1959 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the organization defines itself as an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) responsible for promoting and protecting human rights in the Americas. It is, in short, a supranational governance structure, operating within the framework of globalism, and composed of seven independent members.

Quiroga warned that Bulkan, one of them, can use his two positions as a judge to validate the perspectives he promotes as a commissioner, for example, through his reports on LGBTI people and indigenous peoples.

Finally, the young woman announced a petition campaign to demand Bulkan’s resignation. For her, this controversy “is just the tip of the iceberg: the numerous abuses, the continued non-compliance with norms, and the collapse of the IACHR’s institutional neutrality are becoming a threat to States, to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and to the entire Inter-American Human Rights System.”

But who is Arif Bulkan? His official biography at the IACHR states that this Guyanese lawyer and academic in constitutional, criminal, and human rights law was appointed commissioner for the period from January 2024 to December 2027. But his track record seems to indicate a deep history of progressive activism on issues such as “legal reform for the benefit of diverse communities, including indigenous peoples, LGBTI people, people with disabilities, and people living with HIV/AIDS,” in university settings, and in another supranational organization: the United Nations.

“The IACHR remains silent. Those who defend life and family are punished, while ideological activists are protected,” accused Sebastián Schuff, president of the Global Center for Human Rights, in an email released by the organization. He added that the Bulkan case is “a flagrant violation of the norms that require independence and neutrality,” and demanded that the OAS put an end “to this ideological capture of the human rights system by the left.”

According to Schuff, the IACHR’s executive secretary and leftist activist Tania Reneaum failed to prevent the conflict from the moment Bulkan applied to the Caribbean Court of Justice, and “now exposes the Commission to an institutional scandal and an accusation of double standards.”

Doubts about the legitimacy of global governance bodies are on the rise, especially because they serve as platforms where tyrannical governments gain political capital. Will the IACHR survive this crisis?