INTERNATIONAL
PROTECTION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS
(PART I)
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I. HUMAN RIGHTS
• are commonly understood as: "fundamental rights
to which a person is inherently entitled simply
because she or he is a human being.„
• Human rights are thus conceived as universal
(applicable everywhere) and egalitarian (the
same for everyone).
• These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal
rights, in both national and international law.
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FOUNDATIONS: THE AMERICAN AND
FRENCH DECLARATIONS OF RIGHTS
• 1. The US Declaration of Independence (1776) (and later
the Bill of Rights (1791)) and the French Declaration of the
Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) , were the
outcome of political struggles that drew on natural law and
liberal theories of rights.
• 2. The American Declaration emphasized:
• - the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of hapiness
• 3. The French Declaration stressed:
• - the right to liberty, property, security and resistance to
oppresion.
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• Both declarations had a considerable influence on international human rights law,
particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
• Important –symbolic significance & important reference point – demands for
equality, freedom and self-determination.
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THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE US AND
FRENCH DECLARATIONS
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1. the rights of the MAN
2. granted rights are predominantly CIVIL AND POLITICAL
3. reflecting and privileging certain CLASS INTERESTS
4. the documents failed to address a number of
PRACTICES THAT VIOLATE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS.
• A paradox- these rights were declared while the American
settlers were invading indigenous peoples‘ land,
destroying thir culture, practising slavery. French pursued
imperialism and colonialism; women were effectively
excluded from the enjoyment of rights.
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WORLD WAR I
• WWI marked the culmination of a prolonged power struggle between European
states.
• Nationalism, imperialism and the availability of industrially produced weapons
with a disregard for human rights resulted in disastrous war that shattered the
existing order.
• At that time: international human rights not reflected in the international legal
order.
• THE RESULTS:
• 1. Women- became more publicly engaged as a result of the war- demanding
equal rights – suffragettes in England calling for women‘s right to vote.
• 2. Calls by socialist movements for the realization of social and economic rights.
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• 3. It laid the foundation for the recognition of the right to self-determination
and
minority rights.
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND
HUMAN RIGHTS
• The League of Nations: established to PROMOTE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND TO ACHIEVE INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY.
• What‘s so important? –it established a system of minority protection mainly for
Eastern Europe, Turkey and Iraq which was seen as integral to maintaining
peace following the break up of the Habsburg and Ottoman empires in the
region.
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II. HISTORY- UN
• The Charter of the United Nations was adopted on 26 June 1945- it referred
to human rights and fundamental freedoms as one of the aims of the
Organization (UN);
• Specifically mentioning the right to self-determination of peoples and
• Non-discrimination – as belonging to the internationally recognized human
rights.
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CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS (SIGNED IN
SAN FRANCISCO, 1945)
• The Statute of the International Court of Justice is
an integral part of the Charter.
• The most relevant provisions for the protection of
HR:
• PREAMBLE: “WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED
NATIONS DETERMINED …. to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and
worth of the human person, in the equal rights of
men and women and of nations large and small,
…“
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CHAPTER I: PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES,
ARTICLE 1:
• The Purposes of the United Nations are:…
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on
respect for the principle of equal rights and selfdetermination of peoples, and to take other appropriate
measures to strengthen universal peace;
3.To achieve international co-operation in solving
international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or
humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging
respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for
all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or
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religion;…
UN FROM 1945- 1948
• In the time 1945- 1948 delegates to the United
Nations discussed and drafted an
• international declaration on the subject of
human rights that has become a standard of
principles for human rights.
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MEMBER STATES-UN
• At the time that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was
adopted, there were only 58 Member States to the United Nations.
• Today there are 193 members.
• As they have gained their freedom, these new Members States have
often integrated the UDHR directly into their national constitutions
and have affirmed and reaffirmed their faith in the Universal
Declaration through numerous UN resolutions and international
human rights treaties.
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UN – GENERAL ASSEMBLY
• One of the early acts of the General Assembly was to draft and
adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (resolution 217
A of 10 December 1948)
• More recent UN actions include:
• the adoption of international human rights treaties,
• the creation of the position of United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights in 1993
• and the establishment of the Human Rights Council in 2006.
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UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS (1948)
• Many of the basic ideas that animated the movement developed
after the Second World War and The Holocaust - culminating in
the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.
• The ancient world did not possess the concept of universal
human rights
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UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS
• represents the first comprehensive agreement among nations as to
the specific rights and freedoms of all human beings.
• Among others, these include civil and political rights such as• the right not to be subjected to torture,
• to equality before the law, to a fair trial, to freedom of movement, to
asylum and
• to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression.
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ARTICLE 1 OF THE UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSAL
DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (UDHR):
• „All human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood.“
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THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN
RIGHTS
• The Commission on Human Rights was made up of 18 members
from various political, cultural and religious backgrounds.
• Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of American President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, chaired the UDHR drafting committee.
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UNHR- A "COMMON STANDARD OF
ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL PEOPLES AND
ALL NATIONS"
• over the past fifty years the Universal Declaration has
become a cornerstone of customary international law, and
• all governments are now bound to apply its principles.
• It successfully encompasses legal, moral and philosophical
beliefs held true by all peoples, it has become a living
document which asserts its own elevating force on the
events of our world.
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UNITED NATIONS HIGH
COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
• In 1993, the General Assembly created the post of United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• From 2008 to Sept. 1, 2014 - The appointment of Navanethem
(Navi) Pillay as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights .
• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights provides
secretariat support for all UN human rights bodies and maintains
the specialized human rights document databases, including:
Charter-based bodies database; Treaty body database;
Universal Human Rights Index; Universal Periodic Review.
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HUMAN RIGHTS BODIES
• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) works to offer the best expertise and support to
the different human rights monitoring mechanisms in the
United Nations system :
• UN Charter-based bodies, including the Human Rights
Council, and
• bodies created under the international human rights
treaties and made up of independent experts mandated to
monitor State parties' compliance with their treaty
obligations.
• Most of these bodies receive secretariat support from the
Human Rights Council and Treaties Division of the Office of
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the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
CHARTER-BASED BODIES:
• Charter bodies include:
• A) the former Commission on Human Rights, the Human Rights Council , and
• B) Special Procedures.
• The Human Rights Council, which replaced the Commission on Human
Rights, held its first meeting on 19 June 2006. This intergovernmental body,
which meets in Geneva 10 weeks a year, is composed of 47 elected United
Nations Member States who serve for an initial period of 3 years, and
cannot be elected for more than two consecutive terms. The Human Rights
Council is a forum empowered to prevent abuses, inequity and
discrimination, protect the most vulnerable, and expose perpetrators.
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SPECIAL PROCEDURES
• is the general name given to the mechanisms established by the Commission on Human
Rights and assumed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country
situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.
• Special Procedures are either:
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an individual –a special rapporteur or representative, or independent expert—or
• a working group.
• They are prominent, independent experts working on a voluntary basis, appointed by the
Human Rights Council.
• Special Procedures' mandates usually call on mandate-holders to examine, monitor, advise
and publicly report on human rights situations in specific countries or territories, known as
country mandates, or on major phenomena of human rights violations worldwide, known
as thematic mandates. There are 30 thematic mandates and 8 country mandates. All
report to the Human Rights Council on their findings and recommendations. They are
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sometimes the only mechanism that will alert the international community on certain
human rights issues.
III. EMERGENCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination (entry into force 1969), membership 173
parties.
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, 1976, 160 parties.
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1976, 164
parties.
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, 1981, 186 parties.
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• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1987, 146 parties.
• Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990, 193 parties.
• Intrernational Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 2003, 42
parties.
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2008,
65 parties.
• International Convention for the Protection of All Persons
from Enforced Dissapearance. The text was adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly on 2006 and opened for
signature on 6 February 2007. It entered into force on 23
December 2010.As of September 2013, 93 states have
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signed the convention and 40 have ratified it.
ARE GOVERNMENTS LEGALLY REQUIRED TO
RESPECT THE PRINCIPLES OUTLINED IN THE
UDHR?
• Yes.
• most of those who adopted the UDHR did not imagine it
to be a legally binding document,
• the legal impact of the Universal Declaration has been
much greater than perhaps any of its framers had
imagined.
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UNIVERSAL DECLARATION AS AN ESSENTIAL
LEGAL CODE
• Prime ministers, presidents, legislators, judges, lawyers, legal
scholars, human rights activists and ordinary people throughout
the world have accepted the Universal Declaration as an essential
legal code.
• Dozens of legally binding international treaties are based on the
principles set forth in the UDHR,
• and the document has been cited as justification for numerous
United Nations actions, including acts of the Security Council. 28
CAN THE PRINCIPLES OF THE UNIVERSAL
DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS BE
ENFORCED?
• YES- Actions undertaken by the United Nations have included the
dispatch of UN investigators, called Special Rapporteurs, to monitor
and report on abuses, the establishment of human rights field
missions in trouble-spots where the UN conducts peacekeeping
operations, and
• the imposition of economic and political sanctions.
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50-YEAR OLD UDHR ADEQUATELY ADDRESS
CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS DILEMMAS?
• By design, it is an open-ended and forward-looking document.
• For instance: Article Two (anti-discrimination) says, that everyone is entitled to
all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration, "without distinction of
any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status." By adding the phrase,
"or other status," the UDHR’s framers recognized that with time other kinds of
discrimination might attract public attention, and they worked to anticipate this.
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THE RIGHTS FROM HISTORY OR TODAY’S
PROBLEMS?
• the challenges that the UDHR addressed in 1948 are still very much present in our world.
• Governments continue to torture and murder individuals because of their beliefs, their
ethnicity, or their opinions. Millions across the globe remain "ill-housed, ill-clad, illnourished."
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IV. INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
(ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in
June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six
principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York
(USA).
The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law,
- legal disputes submitted to it by States and
- to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United
Nations organs and specialized agencies.
The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of 9 years
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by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
TWO INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS
• In recent years, the UN Security Council has created two international tribunals to bring to
justice those individuals responsible for acts of genocide and other crimes against
humanity committed in :
• Rwanda and
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the former Yugoslavia.
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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR
THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
(ICTY)
• The United Nations Security Council decided on 22
February 1993, "that an international tribunal shall be
established for the prosecution of persons responsible for
serious violations of international humanitarian law
committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since
1991„
• Inside the Tribunal at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCwORJDn0sQ&featur
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e=youtu.be
V. THE PERMANENT INTERNATIONAL
CRIMINAL COURT
• (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty
based, international criminal court established to help end
impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of
concern to the international community.
• The ICC is an independent international organization, and is not
part of the United Nations system.
• Its seat is at The Hague in the Netherlands. Although the Court’s
expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives
voluntary contributions from governments, international
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organizations, individuals, corporations and other entities.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR8qPyCrrsM
THE CREATION OF A PERMANENT
INTERNATIONAL COURT
The international community has long aspired to, and, in the 20th century, it
reached consensus on definitions of genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes.
The Nuremberg and Tokyo trials addressed war crimes, crimes against peace, and
crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War.
• In the 1990s after the end of the Cold War, tribunals like the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda were the result of
consensus that impunity is unacceptable. However, because they were
established to try crimes committed only within a specific time-frame and
during a specific conflict, there was general agreement that an independent,
permanent criminal court was needed.
• On 17 July 1998 , the international community reached an historic milestone
when 120 States adopted the Rome Statute, the legal basis for establishing the
permanent International Criminal Court.
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• The Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60
countries.
ICC AND ICJ
• As of 1 July 2012, 122 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute.
• The ICC, which tries individuals, is also different from the International Court
of Justice (ICJ), which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations for
the settlement of disputes between States.
• The ad hoc tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of
Justice also have their seats in The Hague.
• The ICC does not replace national criminal justice systems; rather, it
complements them. It can investigate and, where warranted, prosecute and
try individuals only if the State concerned does not, cannot or is unwilling
genuinely to do so.
• To date, four States Parties to the Rome Statute – Uganda, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Mali – have referred
situations occurring on their territories to the Court. In addition, the Security
Council has referred the situation in Darfur, Sudan, and the situation in Libya37.