Universal Declaration of Human Rights

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Eleanor Roosevelt with the Spanish language version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Created	1948
Ratified	10 December 1948
Location	Palais de Chaillot, Paris
Author(s)	Draft Committee
Purpose	Human rights

Poster
The human rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly of its 183rd meeting, held in Paris on 10 December 1948

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a historic document that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 183rd session on 10 December 1948 as Resolution 217 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. Of the then 58 members of the United Nations, 48 voted in favor, none against, eight abstained, and two did not vote.

The Declaration consists of 30 articles affirming an individual's rights which, although not legally binding in themselves, have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, economic transfers, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions, and other laws. The Declaration was the first step in the process of formulating the International Bill of Human Rights, which was completed in 1966, and came into force in 1976, after a sufficient number of countries had ratified them.

Some legal scholars have argued that because countries have constantly invoked the Declaration for more than 50 years, it has become binding as a part of customary international law. However, in the United States, the Supreme Court in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain (2004), concluded that the Declaration "does not of its own force impose obligations as a matter of international law." Courts of other countries have also concluded that the Declaration is not in and of itself part of domestic law.

Structure and content

The underlying structure of the Universal Declaration was introduced in its second draft, which was prepared by René Cassin. Cassin worked from a first draft, which was prepared by John Peters Humphrey. The structure was influenced by the Code Napoléon, including a preamble and introductory general principles. Cassin compared the Declaration to the portico of a Greek temple, with a foundation, steps, four columns, and a pediment.

The Declaration consists of a preamble and thirty articles:

• The preamble sets out the historical and social causes that led to the necessity of drafting the Declaration.
• Articles 1–2 established the basic concepts of dignity, liberty, equality, and brotherhood.
• Articles 3–5 established other individual rights, such as the right to life and the prohibition of slavery and torture.
• Articles 6–11 refer to the fundamental legality of human rights with specific remedies cited for their defence when violated.
• Articles 12–17 established the rights of the individual towards the community (including such things as freedom of movement).
• Articles 18–21 sanctioned the so-called "constitutional liberties", and with spiritual, public, and political freedoms, such as freedom of thought, opinion, religion and conscience, word, and peaceful association of the individual.
• Articles 22–27 sanctioned an individual's economic, social and cultural rights, including healthcare. Article 25 states: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services." It also makes additional accommodations for security in case of physical debilitation or disability, and makes special mention of care given to those in motherhood or childhood.
• Articles 28–30 established the general ways of using these rights, the areas in which these rights of the individual can not be applied, and that they can not be overcome against the individual.

These articles are concerned with the duty of the individual to society and the prohibition of use of rights in contravention of the purposes of the United Nations Organisation.

History

Background

During World War II, the Allies adopted the Four Freedoms—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want—as their basic war aims. The United Nations Charter "reaffirmed faith in fundamental human rights, and dignity and worth of the human person" and committed all member states to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion".

When the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany became fully apparent after World War II, the consensus within the world community was that the United Nations Charter did not sufficiently define the rights to which it referred. A universal declaration that specified the rights of individuals was necessary to give effect to the Charter's provisions on human rights.

Creation and drafting

In June 1946, the UN Economic and Social Council established the Commission on Human Rights, comprising 18 members from various nationalities and political backgrounds. The Commission, a standing body of the United Nations, was constituted to undertake the work of preparing what was initially conceived as an International Bill of Rights.

The Commission established a special Universal Declaration of Human Rights Drafting Committee, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, to write the articles of the Declaration. The Committee met in two sessions over the course of two years. 

Canadian John Peters Humphrey, Director of the Division of Human Rights within the United Nations Secretariat, was called upon by the United Nations Secretary-General to work on the project and became the Declaration's principal drafter. At the time, Humphrey was newly appointed as Director of the Division of Human Rights within the United Nations Secretariat.

Other well-known members of the drafting committee included René Cassin of France, Charles Malik of Lebanon, and P. C. Chang of the Republic of China. Humphrey provided the initial draft that became the working text of the Commission. 

Hansa Mehta of India suggested to add "all human beings are created equal" instead of "all men are created equal" in the declaration. 

According to Allan Carlson, the Declaration's pro-family phrases were the result of the Christian Democratic movement's influence on Cassin and Malik.

Once the Committee finished its work in May 1948, the draft was further discussed by the Commission on Human Rights, the Economic and Social Council, the Third Committee of the General Assembly before being put to vote in December 1948. During these discussions many amendments and propositions were made by UN Member States.

British representatives were extremely frustrated that the proposal had moral but no legal obligation. (It was not until 1976 that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights came into force, giving a legal status to most of the Declaration.)

Adoption

The Universal Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly as Resolution 217 on 10 December 1948 in Palais de Chaillot, Paris, as the third United Nations General Assembly was held there. Of the then 58 members of the United Nations, 48 voted in favour, none against, eight abstained and Honduras and Yemen failed to vote or abstain.

The meeting record provides firsthand insight into the debate. South Africa's position can be seen as an attempt to protect its system of apartheid, which clearly violated several articles in the Declaration. The Saudi Arabian delegation's abstention was prompted primarily by two of the Declaration's articles: Article 18, which states that everyone has the right "to change his religion or belief"; and Article 16, on equal marriage rights. The six communist countries abstentions centred around the view that the Declaration did not go far enough in condemning fascism and Nazism. Eleanor Roosevelt attributed the abstention of Soviet bloc countries to Article 13, which provided the right of citizens to leave their countries.

Voting in the plenary session:
Green countries: voted in favour; Orange countries: abstained;
Black countries: failed to abstain or vote;
Grey countries: were not part of the UN at time of voting

 

The 48 countries that voted in favour of the Declaration are:

• Afghanistan
• Argentina
•  Australia
•  Belgium
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Burma
•  Canada
• Chile
•  China
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
•  Cuba
•  Denmark
• Dominican Republic
•  Ecuador
•  Egypt
• El Salvador
•  Ethiopia
•  France
•  Greece
• Guatemala
•  Haiti
•  Iceland
•  India
•  Iran
•  Iraq
•  Lebanon
• Liberia
•  Luxembourg
•  Mexico
•  Netherlands
•  New Zealand
• Nicaragua
•  Norway
•  Pakistan
•  Panama
• Paraguay
•  Peru
• Philippines
• Siam
•  Sweden
•  Syria
• Turkey
•  United Kingdom
•  United States
•  Uruguay
•  Venezuela

a. Despite the central role played by the Canadian John Peters Humphrey, the Canadian Government at first abstained from voting on the Declaration's draft, but later voted in favour of the final draft in the General Assembly.

Eight countries abstained:

•  Czechoslovakia
•  Poland
•  Saudi Arabia
•  Soviet Union
•  Byelorussian SSR
•  Ukrainian SSR
•  South Africa
•  Yugoslavia

Two countries did not vote:

•  Honduras
•  Yemen

Other countries only gained sovereignty and joined the United Nations later,^[31] which explains the relatively small number of states entitled to the historical vote, and in no way reflects opposition to the universal principles.

International Human Rights Day

The Declaration of Human Rights Day is commemorated every year on December 10, the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration, and is known as Human Rights Day or International Human Rights Day. The commemoration is observed by individuals, community and religious groups, human rights organizations, parliaments, governments, and the United Nations. Decadal commemorations are often accompanied by campaigns to promote awareness of the Declaration and human rights. 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of the Declaration, and was accompanied by year-long activities around the theme "Dignity and justice for all of us".

Significance and legal effect

Significance

In miniature book

 

In 1948, the UN Resolution A/RES/217(III)[A] adopted the Declaration on a bilingual document in English and French, and official translations in Chinese, Russian and Spanish. In 2009, the Guinness Book of Records described the Declaration as the world's "Most Translated Document" (370 different languages and dialects). The Unicode Consortium stores 431 of the 503 official translations available at the OHCHR (as of June 2017). 

In its preamble, governments commit themselves and their people to progressive measures that secure the universal and effective recognition and observance of the human rights set out in the Declaration. Eleanor Roosevelt supported the adoption of the Declaration as a declaration rather than as a treaty because she believed that it would have the same kind of influence on global society as the United States Declaration of Independence had within the United States. In this, she proved to be correct. Even though it is not legally binding, the Declaration has been adopted in or has influenced most national constitutions since 1948. It has also served as the foundation for a growing number of national laws, international laws, and treaties, as well as for a growing number of regional, sub national, and national institutions protecting and promoting human rights. 

For the first time in international law, the term “the rule of law” was used in the preamble of the Declaration. The third paragraph of the preamble of the Declaration reads as follows: "Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law."

Legal effect

While not a treaty itself, the Declaration was explicitly adopted for the purpose of defining the meaning of the words "fundamental freedoms" and "human rights" appearing in the United Nations Charter, which is binding on all member states. For this reason, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental constitutive document of the United Nations. In addition, many international lawyers believe that the Declaration forms part of customary international law and is a powerful tool in applying diplomatic and moral pressure to governments that violate any of its articles. The 1968 United Nations International Conference on Human Rights advised that the Declaration "constitutes an obligation for the members of the international community" to all persons. The Declaration has served as the foundation for two binding UN human rights covenants: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The principles of the Declaration are elaborated in international treaties such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention Against Torture, and many more. The Declaration continues to be widely cited by governments, academics, advocates, and constitutional courts, and by individuals who appeal to its principles for the protection of their recognised human rights.

Reaction

Praise

The Universal Declaration has received praise from a number of notable people. The Lebanese philosopher and diplomat Charles Malik called it "an international document of the first order of importance", while Eleanor Roosevelt—first chairwoman of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that drafted the Declaration—stated that it "may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere." In a speech on 5 October 1995, Pope John Paul II called the Declaration "one of the highest expressions of the human conscience of our time" but the Vatican never adopted the Declaration. In a statement on 10 December 2003 on behalf of the European Union, Marcello Spatafora said that the Declaration "placed human rights at the centre of the framework of principles and obligations shaping relations within the international community."

Criticism

Islamic countries

Turkey, a secular state with an overwhelmingly Muslim population, signed the Declaration in 1948. However, the same year, Saudi Arabia abstained from the ratification vote on the Declaration, claiming that it violated Sharia law. Pakistan—which had signed the declaration—disagreed and critiqued the Saudi position. Pakistani minister Muhammad Zafarullah Khan strongly argued in favor of including freedom of religion. In 1982, the Iranian representative to the United Nations, Said Rajaie-Khorassani, said that the Declaration was "a secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition", which could not be implemented by Muslims without conflict with Sharia. On 30 June 2000, members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) officially resolved to support the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, an alternative document that says people have "freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Shari'ah", without any discrimination on grounds of "race, colour, language, sex, religious belief, political affiliation, social status or other considerations". 

Some Muslim diplomats would go on later to help draft other UN human rights treaties. For example, Iraqi diplomat Bedia Afnan's insistence on wording that recognized gender equality resulted in Article 3 within the ICCPR and ICESCR. Pakistani diplomat Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah also spoke in favor of recognizing women's rights.

A number of scholars in different fields have expressed concerns with the Declaration's alleged Western bias. These include Irene Oh, Abdulaziz Sachedina, Riffat Hassan, and Faisal Kutty. Hassan has argued:

What needs to be pointed out to those who uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be the highest, or sole, model, of a charter of equality and liberty for all human beings, is that given the Western origin and orientation of this Declaration, the "universality" of the assumptions on which it is based is – at the very least – problematic and subject to questioning. Furthermore, the alleged incompatibility between the concept of human rights and religion in general, or particular religions such as Islam, needs to be examined in an unbiased way.

Irene Oh argues that one solution is to approach the issue from the perspective of comparative (descriptive) ethics.

Kutty writes: "A strong argument can be made that the current formulation of international human rights constitutes a cultural structure in which western society finds itself easily at home ... It is important to acknowledge and appreciate that other societies may have equally valid alternative conceptions of human rights."

Ironically, a number of Islamic countries that, as of 2014, are among the most resistant to UN intervention in domestic affairs, played an invaluable role in the creation of the Declaration, with countries such as Syria and Egypt having been strong proponents of the universality of human rights and the right of countries to self-determination.

"The Right to Refuse to Kill"

Groups such as Amnesty International and War Resisters International have advocated for "The Right to Refuse to Kill" to be added to the Universal Declaration. War Resisters International has stated that the right to conscientious objection to military service is primarily derived from—but not yet explicit in—Article 18 of the UDHR: the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

Steps have been taken within the United Nations to make this right more explicit, but—to date (2017)—those steps have been limited to less significant United Nations documents. Sean MacBride—Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize laureate—has said: "To the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights one more might, with relevance, be added. It is 'The Right to Refuse to Kill'."

American Anthropological Association

The American Anthropological Association criticized the UDHR while it was in its drafting process. The AAA warned that the document would be defining universal rights from a Western paradigm which would be unfair to countries outside of that scope. They further argued that the West's history of colonialism and evangelism made them a problematic moral representative for the rest of the world. They proposed three notes for consideration with underlying themes of cultural relativism: "1. The individual realizes his personality through his culture, hence respect for individual differences entails a respect for cultural differences", "2. Respect for differences between cultures is validated by the scientific fact that no technique of qualitatively evaluating cultures has been discovered", and "3. Standards and values are relative to the culture from which they derive so that any attempt to formulate postulates that grow out of the beliefs or moral codes of one culture must to that extent detract from the applicability of any Declaration of Human Rights to mankind as a whole."

Bangkok Declaration

During the lead up to the World Conference on Human Rights held in 1993, ministers from Asian states adopted the Bangkok Declaration, reaffirming their governments' commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They stated their view of the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights and stressed the need for universality, objectivity, and non-selectivity of human rights. However, at the same time, they emphasized the principles of sovereignty and non-interference, calling for greater emphasis on economic, social, and cultural rights—in particular, the right to economic development over civil and political rights. The Bangkok Declaration is considered to be a landmark expression of the Asian values perspective, which offers an extended critique of human rights universalism.

Organizations promoting the UDHR

International Federation for Human Rights

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) is nonpartisan, nonsectarian, and independent of any government, and its core mandate is to promote respect for all the rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Amnesty International

In 1988, director Stephen R. Johnson and 41 international animators, musicians, and producers created a 20-minute video for Amnesty International to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration. The video was to bring to life the Declaration's 30 articles.

Amnesty International celebrated Human Rights Day and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration all over the world by organizing the "Fire Up!" event.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) is a non-profit, nonsectarian organization whose work around the world is guided by the values of Unitarian Universalism (UU) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It works to provide disaster relief and promote human rights and social justice around the world.

Quaker United Nations Office and American Friends Service Committee

The Quaker United Nations Office and the American Friends Service Committee work on many human rights issues, including improving education on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They have developed a curriculum to help introduce High School students to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

American Library Association

In 1997, the council of the American Library Association (ALA) endorsed Article 19 from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Along with Article 19, Article 18 and 20 are also fundamentally tied to the ALA Universal Right to Free Expression and the Library Bill of Rights. Censorship, the invasion of privacy, and interference of opinions are human rights violations according to the ALA. 

In response to violations of human rights, the ALA asserts the following principles: 

“

The American Library Association opposes any use of governmental prerogative that leads to intimidation of individuals that prevents them from exercising their rights to hold opinions without interference, and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas. We urge libraries and librarians everywhere to resist such abuse of governmental power, and to support those against whom such governmental power has been employed. The American Library Association condemns any governmental effort to involve libraries and librarians in restrictions on the right of any individual to hold opinions without interference, and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas. Such restrictions, whether enforced by statutes or regulations, contractual stipulations, or voluntary agreements, pervert the function of the library and violate the professional responsibilities of librarians. The American Library Association rejects censorship in any form. Any action that denies the inalienable human rights of individuals only damages the will to resist oppression, strengthens the hand of the oppressor, and undermines the cause of justice. The American Library Association will not abrogate these principles. We believe that censorship corrupts the cause of justice, and contributes to the demise of freedom.

”

Youth for Human Rights International

Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is a non-profit organization founded in 2001 by Mary Shuttleworth, an educator born and raised in apartheid South Africa, where she witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of discrimination and the lack of basic human rights. The purpose of YHRI is to teach youth about human rights, specifically the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and inspire them to become advocates for tolerance and peace. YHRI has now grown into a global movement, including hundreds of groups, clubs and chapters around the world.

Human rights in Africa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Africa, the idea of human rights is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Contributing to the establishment of human rights system in Africa are the United Nations, international law and the African Union which have positively influenced the betterment of the human rights situation in the continent. However, extensive human rights abuses still occur in many sections of the continent. Most of the violations can be attributed to political instability (as a consequence of civil war), racial discrimination, corruption, post-colonialism, economic scarcity, ignorance, illness, religious bigotry, debt and bad financial management,  monopoly of power, lack/absence of judicial and press autonomy, and border conflicts. Many of the provisions contained in regional, national, continental, and global agreements remained unaccomplished.

African human rights system

The African Charter is a human rights document made up of 68 articles carved up into four sections -- Human and Peoples’ Rights; Duties; Procedure of the Commission; and Applicable Principles. It merges the three clusters of rights, namely, civil and political rights, economic, social, and cultural rights, and group and peoples’ rights. It enforces obligations on individual members of each African society and connects the ideas of human rights, peoples’ rights, and duties on people.

The organ commissioned to interpret the Charter, as well as investigate individual complaints is the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR). The ACHPR was established based on Art. 30 of the Charter and was inaugurated in November 1987. The ACHPR meets two times a year and its secretariat is headquartered in Banjul (Gambia).

Promotion of human rights and its protection

Human rights education

Human rights are “rights one has simply because one is a human being.” These privileges and civil liberties are innate in every person without prejudice and where ethnicity, place of abode, gender, cultural origin, skin color, religious affiliation, or language, do not matter. The right to learn and to be knowledgeable about human rights is known as human rights education. It basically refers to “all learning that develops the knowledge, skills, and values of human rights.”

Human rights education covers an extensive array of ideals and standards that include peace, justice and tolerance, egalitarianism, diplomacy, and value for human dignity. By upholding recognition of and advancing respect for human rights in all civilizations, it allows learners to dynamically contribute in putting together a sustainable and a non-violent future.

According to Amnesty International, human rights education is a purposeful, participatory practice intended to empower people and communities by nurturing the love for knowledge, encourage the acquisition of skills, and development of attitudes and mindset aligned with globally accepted standards. It aspires to put together a culture of respect for prompt action in the protection and encouragement of human rights for all citizens.

In law enforcement, human rights education aims to elevate learners’ consciousness  and understanding of rights agreements in order to guarantee the safeguarding of people's rights in a community, transparency in government dealings and activities, liability/responsibility in civic transactions, and the balanced and impartial employment of force.

In most cases, human rights education manifests through popular education or community education with the purpose of organizing people and activating constituencies in the expansion and intensification of social movements.These community-based models have been created and established in rustic areas of Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Such human rights education efforts are seen as both a political and an academic approach to assist democratic processes and achieve dynamic citizenship. Given focus in these education efforts are civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights and a combination of equality rights for certain type of groups. As a result, human rights education differs in substance, method and strategy, extent, concentration, profundity, and accessibility.

African women's rights

Significant improvements have been made toward the development of African women’s rights and female political involvement at both the national and local levels. The continent has espoused a number of lawful mechanisms, like the Maputo Protocol, declarations, such as the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, and resolutions aimed to guarantee women’s rights. These instruments likewise created numerous monitoring entities to ensure the fulfillment of African women’s ideals. However, African women have continuously been confronted with absurd challenges in the sphere of economics, in their social lives, and in their positions within the community, specifically when it comes to healthcare and education. Sufficient healthcare, contraception awareness, and understanding of safe abortion is deficient because of the continent’s derisory health infrastructure, making it tough for women to have satisfactory access to health clinics.  Moreover, African women incessantly tail behind African men in their facility to have access, use, and control of land and other resources, which make them defenseless in states of conflict and unprotected in times of calamities.

The Maputo Protocol fixes the values for women’s human rights in Africa. In this treaty, the description of violence against women distinguishes both physical and emotional aggression as well as threats of cruelty and sadism. It identifies the role of women in political and public life while persuading state parties to allocate more in time and money for legislation and other procedures that could secure equal representation of women and men in decision-making.

The protocol provides for the legal ban on female genital mutilation as well as the consent to abortion in cases of rape, incest, sexual mauling, and the continued pregnancy that threatens the mental and physical health/life of the mother or the fetus. It is also the first international human rights agreement to unequivocally talks about HIV/AIDS. Other provisions  contained in the protocol address established but destructive practices, child marriage, polygamy, inheritance, economic empowerment, women’s political participation, education, and women in armed conflict.

African children's rights

Different types of violence and maltreatment wreak havoc on the lives of numerous children in Africa. These include economic and sexual abuse, gender bias in education, and being caught in the crossfire during armed conflicts. According to UNICEF, there are approximately 150 million children in the 5-14 age range who are engaged in hard labor and adult work.

Created to defend children and safeguard their innate rights, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) was created. It also serves as the major legal instrument within the African human rights system that clarifies the rights and privileges that African nations must guarantee to their children. Other concerns that African states want the charter to address include issues confronting children living under apartheid, child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), internal conflicts and displacement, rights of children whose mothers have been incarcerated, unsanitary living conditions, and the role of the family in adoption and fostering.

Child soldiers

Definition

According to the Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups, a child soldier is a “any person below 18 years of age who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys, and girls used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes." Child soldiers are often compulsorily drafted by use of force, by kidnapping them or by issuing grave threats to them. Others willingly sign up to avoid extreme hardships and poverty.

One of the biggest reasons for employing child soldiers is that they are viewed as dispensable, or “throwaways” and maintaining them does not cost much. They are also seen as more susceptible compared to adults, who already have more defined personalities. Since children lack a sense of apprehension, they accept more hazardous errands without analyzing what they are getting into.

Organizations safeguarding African human rights

There are nine international organizations working for the protection of African human rights, namely, Human Rights Watch, International Committee of the Red Cross, Global Rights, Amnesty International, International Federation for Human Rights, Refugees International, UN Watch, Human Rights Foundation, and Protection International. 

Human rights situation by country

North Africa

Mauritanian blogger Mohamed Mkhaïtir was sentenced to death after he wrote an article critical of religion and the caste system in Mauritania.

 

In Algeria, major human rights issues include unauthorized intrusion of privacy, establishment of laws barring specific of free expression, criminal defamation laws that are usually indistinct, restrictions on freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, corruption of government officials, lack or absence of independence and neutrality in the judiciary, gross domestic violence against women, prohibition of same sex activities, sexual abuse on LGBTI persons, and human trafficking. While the government took efforts in examining, taking legal action, and punishing public officials who commit violations, impunity for police and security officials still exists and remains a problem in this country.

By 2016 in Egypt, public criticism of the government was declared banned. People get arrested when they have been suspected or proven to be involved in protests or attended protest rallies. Travel bans were ordered and assets of known human rights organizations were seized or frozen. Criminal charges were directed at NGO directors and the head of the Press Syndicate and against Egypt's leading anti-corruption personality. Members of the security forces continue to persecute and torment detainees and hundreds of people have mysteriously disappeared with little or no accountability in the part of government officials for infringement of the law.

As of April 2018, a UN document reported that thousands of horrible human rights violations have been performed by state-affiliated militias in Libya. Based on Amnesty International reports, forces allied to existing competing governments -- in addition to the armed groups and private armies – continuously commit with grave callousness the desecration of global decrees and aggression towards human rights. These groups carry out random attacks in densely populated areas leading to thousands of civilian deaths. They persistently abduct, capriciously arrest and detain thousands of people for an indefinite period. Ruthless persecution and employment of other cruel methods were conducted inside prison cells. Women are confronted with abject discrimination, including illogical limitations on their right to travel. The death penalty continues to be in force.

• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Sudan
• Tunisia
• Western Sahara

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Angola
• Benin
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Republic of the Congo
• Djibouti
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mali
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

International human rights law

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, agreements between sovereign states intended to have binding legal effect between the parties that have agreed to them; and customary international law. Other international human rights instruments, while not legally binding, contribute to the implementation, understanding and development of international human rights law and have been recognized as a source of political obligation.

 

The relationship between international human rights law and international humanitarian law is disputed among international law scholars. This discussion forms part of a larger discussion on fragmentation of international law. While pluralist scholars conceive international human rights law as being distinct from international humanitarian law, proponents of the constitutionalist approach regard the latter as a subset of the former. In a nutshell, those who favors separate, self-contained regimes emphasize the differences in applicability; international humanitarian law applies only during armed conflict.

A more systemic perspective explains that international humanitarian law represents a function of international human rights law; it includes general norms that apply to everyone at all time as well as specialized norms which apply to certain situations such as armed conflict between both state and military occupation (i.e. IHL) or to certain groups of people including refugees (e.g. the 1951 Refugee Convention), children (the Convention on the Rights of the Child), and prisoners of war (the 1949 Third Geneva Convention).

United Nations system

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993, in terms of which the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was established. 

In 2006, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights was replaced with the United Nations Human Rights Council for the enforcement of international human rights law.

International Bill of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a UN General Assembly declaration that does not in form create binding international human rights law. Many legal scholars cite the UDHR as evidence of customary international law. 

More broadly, the UDHR has become an authoritative human rights reference. It has provided the basis for subsequent international human rights instruments that form non-binding, but ultimately authoritative international human rights law.

International human rights treaties

Besides the adoption in 1966 of the two wide-ranging Covenants that form part of the International Bill of Human Rights (namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), other treaties have been adopted at the international level. These are generally known as human rights instruments. Some of the most significant include the following:

• the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPCG) (adopted 1948 and entered into force in 1951);
• the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (CSR) (adopted in 1951 and entered into force in 1954);
• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) (adopted in 1965 and entered into force in 1969);
• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (entered into force in 1981);
• the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT) (adopted in 1984 and entered into force in 1987);
• the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (adopted in 1989 and entered into force in 1990);
• the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW) (adopted in 1990 and entered into force in 2003);
• the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (entered into force on 3 May 2008); and
• the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) (adopted in 2006 and entered into force in 2010).

Regional protection and institutions

Regional systems of international human rights law supplement and complement national and international human rights law by protecting and promoting human rights in specific areas of the world. There are three key regional human rights instruments which have established human rights law on a regional basis:

• the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights for Africa of 1981, in force since 1986;
• the American Convention on Human Rights for the Americas of 1969, in force since 1978; and
• the European Convention on Human Rights for Europe of 1950, in force since 1953.

Americas and Europe

The Organisation of American States and the Council of Europe, like the UN, have adopted treaties (albeit with weaker implementation mechanisms) containing catalogues of economic, social and cultural rights, in addition to the aforementioned conventions dealing mostly with civil and political rights:

• the European Social Charter for Europe of 1961, in force since 1965 (whose complaints mechanism, created in 1995 under an Additional Protocol, has been in force since 1998); and
• the Protocol of San Salvador to the ACHR for the Americas of 1988, in force since 1999.

Africa

The African Union (AU) is a supranational union consisting of 53 African countries. Established in 2001, the AU's purpose is to help secure Africa's democracy, human rights, and a sustainable economy, in particular by bringing an end to intra-African conflict and creating an effective common market.

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights is the region's principal human rights instrument, which emerged under the aegis of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) (since replaced by the African Union). The intention to draw up the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights was announced in 1979. The Charter was unanimously approved at the OAU's 1981 Assembly. 

Pursuant to Article 63 (whereby it was to "come into force three months after the reception by the Secretary General of the instruments of ratification or adherence of a simple majority" of the OAU's member states), the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights came into effect on 21 October 1986, in honour of which 21 October was declared African Human Rights Day.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) is a quasi-judicial organ of the African Union, tasked with promoting and protecting human rights and collective (peoples') rights throughout the African continent, as well as with interpreting the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and considering individual complaints of violations of the Charter. The Commission has three broad areas of responsibility:

1. promoting human and peoples' rights;
2. protecting human and peoples' rights; and
3. interpreting the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.

In pursuit of these goals, the Commission is mandated to "collect documents, undertake studies and researches on African problems in the field of human and peoples' rights, organise seminars, symposia and conferences, disseminate information, encourage national and local institutions concerned with human and peoples' rights and, should the case arise, give its views or make recommendations to governments."

With the creation of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (under a protocol to the Charter which was adopted in 1998 and entered into force in January 2004), the Commission will have the additional task of preparing cases for submission to the Court's jurisdiction. In a July 2004 decision, the AU Assembly resolved that the future Court on Human and Peoples' Rights would be integrated with the African Court of Justice.

The Court of Justice of the African Union is intended to be the "principal judicial organ of the Union." Although it has not yet been established, it is intended to take over the duties of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, as well as to act as the supreme court of the African Union, interpreting all necessary laws and treaties. The Protocol establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights entered into force in January 2004, but its merging with the Court of Justice has delayed its establishment. The Protocol establishing the Court of Justice will come into force when ratified by fifteen countries.

There are many countries in Africa accused of human rights violations by the international community and NGOs.

Inter-American system

The Organization of American States (OAS) is an international organization headquartered in Washington, DC. Its members are the thirty-five independent nation-states of the Americas. 

Over the course of the 1990s, with the end of the Cold War, the return to democracy in Latin America, and the thrust toward globalisation, the OAS made major efforts to reinvent itself to fit the new context. Its stated priorities now include the following:

• strengthening democracy;
• working for peace;
• protecting human rights;
• combating corruption;
• the rights of indigenous peoples; and
• promoting sustainable development.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States, also based in Washington, D.C. Along with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San José, Costa Rica, it is one of the bodies that comprise the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights. The IACHR is a permanent body which meets in regular and special sessions several times a year to examine allegations of human rights violations in the hemisphere. Its human rights duties stem from three documents:

1. the OAS Charter;
2. the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man; and
3. the American Convention on Human Rights.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights was established in 1979 with the purpose of enforcing and interpreting the provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights. Its two main functions are therefore adjudicatory and advisory:

• Under the former, it hears and rules on the specific cases of human rights violations referred to it.
• Under the latter, it issues opinions on matters of legal interpretation brought to its attention by other OAS bodies or member states.

Many countries in the Americas, including Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela,^{[citation needed]} have been accused of human rights violations.

European system

The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is the oldest organisation working for European integration. It is an international organisation with legal personality recognised under public international law, and has observer status at the United Nations. The seat of the Council is in Strasbourg in France.

The Council of Europe is responsible for both the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. These institutions bind the Council's members to a code of human rights which, although strict, is more lenient than that of the UN Charter on human rights.

The Council also promotes the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the European Social Charter. Membership is open to all European states which seek European integration, accept the principle of the rule of law, and are able and willing to guarantee democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms.

The Council of Europe is separate from the European Union, but the latter is expected to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council includes all the member states of European Union. The EU also has a separate human rights document, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The European Convention on Human Rights has since 1950 defined and guaranteed human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. All 47 member states of the Council of Europe have signed this Convention, and are therefore under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In order to prevent torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture was established.

The Council of Europe also adopted the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in May 2005, for protection against human trafficking and sexual exploitation, the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse in October 2007, and the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in May 2011. 

The European Court of Human Rights is the only international court with jurisdiction to deal with cases brought by individuals rather than states. In early 2010, the court had a backlog of over 120,000 cases and a multi-year waiting list. About one out of every twenty cases submitted to the court is considered admissible. In 2007, the court issued 1,503 verdicts. At the current rate of proceedings, it would take 46 years for the backlog to clear.

Monitoring, implementation and enforcement

There is currently no international court to administer international human rights law, but quasi-judicial bodies exist under some UN treaties (like the Human Rights Committee under the ICCPR). The International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction over the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights enforce regional human rights law. 

Although these same international bodies also hold jurisdiction over cases regarding international humanitarian law, it is crucial to recognise, as discussed above, that the two frameworks constitute different legal regimes.

The United Nations human rights bodies do have some quasi-legal enforcement mechanisms. These include the treaty bodies attached to the seven currently active treaties, and the United Nations Human Rights Council complaints procedures, with Universal Periodic Review and United Nations Special Rapporteur (known as the 1235 and 1503 mechanisms respectively).

The enforcement of international human rights law is the responsibility of the nation state; it is the primary responsibility of the State to make the human rights of its citizens a reality.

In practice, many human rights are difficult to enforce legally, due to the absence of consensus on the application of certain rights, the lack of relevant national legislation or of bodies empowered to take legal action to enforce them.

In over 110 countries, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have been set up to protect, promote or monitor human rights with jurisdiction in a given country. Although not all NHRIs are compliant with the Paris Principles, the number and effect of these institutions is increasing.

The Paris Principles were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Paris from 7 to 9 October 1991, and adopted by UN Human Rights Commission Resolution 1992/54 of 1992 and General Assembly Resolution 48/134 of 1993. The Paris Principles list a number of responsibilities for national human rights institutions.

Universal jurisdiction

Universal jurisdiction is a controversial principle in international law, whereby states claim criminal jurisdiction over people whose alleged crimes were committed outside the boundaries of the prosecuting state, regardless of nationality, country of residence or any other relationship to the prosecuting country. The state backs its claim on the grounds that the crime committed is considered a crime against all, which any state is authorised to punish. The concept of universal jurisdiction is therefore closely linked to the idea that certain international norms are erga omnes, or owed to the entire world community, as well as the concept of jus cogens. 

In 1993, Belgium passed a "law of universal jurisdiction" to give its courts jurisdiction over crimes against humanity in other countries. In 1998, Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London following an indictment by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón under the universal-jurisdiction principle.

The principle is supported by Amnesty International and other human rights organisations, which believe that certain crimes pose a threat to the international community as a whole, and that the community has a moral duty to act. 

Others, like Henry Kissinger, argue that "widespread agreement that human rights violations and crimes against humanity must be prosecuted has hindered active consideration of the proper role of international courts. Universal jurisdiction risks creating universal tyranny—that of judges".