Introduction to Human Rights Law

Chapter One
Introduction to human Right Law

• Nature and Definition of Human Rights

• Historical Development
• Pre World War II Developments and Post
World War II Developments
• Theories of Human Rights: Justification
• Classification of Human Rights
• Sources of Human Rights Law
 Chapter Two
Human Rights Systems: (Substantive Rights,
Institutions and Procedures)
• The Universal System: The UN System
• The Legal Framework
• Reservations and Declarations
• Restrictions and Derogations
• Institutions and Procedures
• Treaty Based Mechanisms and Non-treaty
Based (Charter Based) Mechanisms
 Chapter three
Systems of Protection for Vulnerable Groups

• Women’s rights
• The rights of the child
• Minority protection regime
• The rights of indigenous people
• Protection of disabled persons
• Elderly Persons
• Refugees
• Stateless person
• Migrant workers
• HIV Positive Persons and AIDS Victims
 Chapter Four
Culture, Globalization and Human Rights

• Culture and Human Rights

• Globalization and Human Rights
Chapter five
Responses To Grave Violation Of Human
Rights
• National responses -Transitional Justice
• International Responses
 Chapter One
Nature and Definition of Human Rights

• Human rights are those rights that attach to

all persons equally, by virtue of their
humanity, irrespective of race, nationality, or
membership of any particular social group.
• Thus it belong to an individual as a
consequence of being human.
• The concept of human rights is based on the
belief that every human being is entitled to
enjoy her/his rights without discrimination.
 Cont..
• Human rights differ from other rights in two
respects.
Firstly, they are characterised by being:
• Inherent in all human beings by virtue of their
humanity alone (they do not have, e.g., to be
purchased or to be granted);
• Inalienable (within qualified legal boundaries); and
• Equally applicable to all.(Universal)
Secondly, the main duties deriving from human rights
fall on states and their authorities or agents, not on
individuals.
• Human rights laws regulates the
relationship between state and citizens.
• Human rights laws elaborates the
state’s obligations toward citizens.
• Human rights law obliges Governments
to do certain things and prevents them
from doing others.
• Human rights protects individuals and
groups against certain state’s actions
and omissions.
 WHY Human Right?
• The Very idea of basic rights originated from the need to
protect the individual against the (arbitrary) use of state
power.
• Thus attention was therefore initially focused on those rights
which oblige governments to refrain from certain actions.
Why it is important
• To protect dignity ( to protect and preserve every individual
humanity, to ensure all can live a life of dignity and a life that
is worthy of human being).
• The concept of human right empowers people and tell them
that they derserve diginity from society.
• They protect vulnerable groups
 Cont..
• To promote the right of others and to respect
the human right of other
• Prevent abuse
• Challange mistreatment( gives power to speak
up and challange the poor treatment)
• Promote equality...no one should be abused
or discrimnated
 Cont..
• As human rights are viewed as a precondition for
leading a dignified human existence, they serve as
a guide and touchstone for legislation.
• The individual-state relationship is known as the
‘vertical effect’ and while individual –individual is
known as ‘horizontal effect’.
• This is to mean that, while the primary purpose of
human rights is to establish rules for relations
between the individual and the state, several of
these rights can also have implications for relations
among individuals.
 Cont..
• ‘horizontal effect’ implies, among other things,
that a government not only has an obligation to
refrain from violating human rights, but also has
a duty to protect the individual from
infringements by other individuals.
For instances, the right to life thus means that the
government must strive to protect people against
homicide by their fellow human beings.
 Historical Development
Pre World War II Developments

• The origins of human rights may be found both in Greek

philosophy and the various world religions.
• In the Age of Enlightenment (18th century) the concept of
human rights emerged as an explicit category.
• Man/woman came to be seen as an autonomous
individual, endowed by nature with certain inalienable
fundamental rights that could be invoked against a
government and should be safeguarded by it.
 The Magna Charta Libertatum of 1215,
 the Golden Bull of Hungary (1222),
 the English Bill of Rights of 1689 and etc
 The Magna Charta Libertatum of
1215,
• Great Charter of Freedoms
• It was signed in 1215 by King John of
England under pressure from
rebellious barons.
• The barons, who were powerful
feudal lords, rebelled against the
king's abuses of power. They forced
him to agree to a charter that would
limit his authority and protect their
rights.
 Cont.

• The Magna Carta is often seen as a

foundational document (landmark in the
history of human rights and constitutional
law) in the history of human rights for several
reasons:
Rule of Law: No one is above the law , the king
was required to govern according to the law
 due process and the right to a fair trial
guaranteed the freedom of the Church from royal
interference, an early recognition of religious
rights.
 The Golden Bull of Hungary
(1222)
• is a landmark document in Hungarian history
Issued by King Andrew II of Hungary, it was a
constitutional charter that limited the power
of the monarchy and guaranteed certain rights
to the nobility and other freemen.
• in the early 13th century, Hungary was facing
internal unrest including excessive taxation,
land issues , and the centralization of power.
• The Golden Bull contained 31 articles
 Its contribution to HR
• Rule of Law:
 it established the principle that even the king was subject to the
law.
• Protection Against arbitrary abuse of power.
 By guaranteeing nobles the right to a fair trial and protection
from unjust imprisonment
• Right to Resistance:
 The clause allowing nobles to resist the king if he violated their
rights was a precursor to later ideas of justified rebellion against
tyranny, a concept central to modern human rights.
• Property Rights:
 The protection of inheritance and property rights was an early
recognition of economic rights, which are now considered a
fundamental aspect of human rights.
 The English Bill of Rights of 1689
• is a landmark document in the history of human
rights and constitutional law.
• It was enacted following the Glorious Revolution of
1688,
• The Bill of Rights was designed to address grievances
against the monarchy and to establish certain
fundamental rights and liberties for individuals.
• Its role in the development of human rights is
significant for several reasons:
 Cont..
Limitation of Monarchical Power:
• Explicitly limited the powers of the monarchy
and established the supremacy of Parliament.
• It prohibited the monarch from suspending laws,
maintaining a standing army without
parliamentary consent.
• This was a crucial step in laying the groundwork
for the idea that rulers are subject to the law
and that government power should be limited.
 Cont..
Protection of Individual Liberties
The Bill of Rights guaranteed several key individual rights,
including:
• Freedom of speech in Parliament:
Members of Parliament were granted the right to free speech
and debate without fear of prosecution or interference.
• Protection against cruel and unusual punishment
which later influenced the development of modern human
rights protections against torture and inhumane treatment.
• Right to Fair Trial:
The Bill of Rights reinforced the right to a fair trial by
prohibiting the imposition of fines or forfeitures without a trial.
 Cont..
Influence on Later Human Rights
Documents
• The English Bill of Rights served as a
foundational document for later human rights
instruments,
• including the United States Bill of Rights (1791) ,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
Many of its principles, such as the protection of
free speech, the prohibition of cruel punishment,
and the right to a fair trial, are echoed in modern
human rights frameworks.
 Cont..
However;
These documents specified rights, which could
be claimed in the light of particular
circumstances (e.g. threats to the freedom of
religion), but
1. they did not yet contain an all-embracing
philosophical concept of individual liberty.
2. Freedoms were often seen as rights conferred
upon individuals or groups by virtue of their
rank or status
 Cont..

• In the centuries after the Middle Ages, the concept of liberty became
gradually separated from status and came to be seen not as a privilege but
as a right of all human beings.
• Spanish theologists and jurists played a prominent role in this context.
The work of Francisco de Vitoria (1486-1546) and Bartolomé de las Casas
(1474-1566) should be highlighted.
• These two men laid the (doctrinal) foundation for the recognition of freedom
and dignity of all humans by defending the personal rights of the indigenous
peoples inhabiting the territories colonised by the Spanish Crown.
• The Enlightenment was decisive in the development of human rights
concepts. The ideas of Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), one of the fathers of
modern international law, of Samuel von Pufendorf (1632-1694), and of John
Locke (1632-1704) attracted much interest in Europe in the 18th century.
 Cont..
• Locke, for instance, developed a comprehensive concept of
natural rights; his list of rights consisting of life, liberty and
property. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) elaborated
the concept under which the sovereign derived his powers
and the citizens their rights from a social contract.

• The term human rights appeared for the first time in the
French Déclaration (1789), later in American Declaration of
Independence (July 1776).
• It was based on the assumption that all human beings are
equal.
• It also referred to certain inalienable rights, such as the right
to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
 Cont..
• Later on Taking into account the principle of equality as
contained in the French Declaration of 1789, several
constitutions drafted in Europe around 1800 not only
contained classic rights, but also included articles which
assigned responsibilities to the government in the
fields of employment, welfare, public health, and
education.
• Social rights of this kind were also expressly included in
the Mexican Constitution of 1917, the Constitution of
the Soviet Union of 1918, and the German Constitution
of 1919
 Post World War II Developments

• The atrocities of World War II put an end to the traditional

view that states have full liberty to decide the treatment of
their own citizens.
• The signing of the Charter of the United Nations (UN) on 26
June 1945 brought human rights within the sphere of
international law. Less than two years later, the UN
Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR),which was
established early in 1946, submitted a draft Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
• The UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Declaration in
Paris on 10 December 1948.
 Cont..
• Since the 1950s, the UDHR has been backed up by a large
number of international conventions. The most significant
of these conventions are the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR).
• These two Covenants, together with the UDHR, form the
International Bill of Human Rights.
• At the same time, many supervisory mechanisms have
been created, including those responsible for monitoring
compliance with the two Covenants.
 Cont..
• Human rights have also been receiving more
and more attention at the regional level.
• For example, in the European, the Inter-
American and the African context, standards
and supervisory mechanisms have been
developed have already had a significant
impact on human rights compliance in the
respective continents, and promise to
contribute to compliance in the future.
 Classification of Human Rights
• The term ‘human rights’, is used to denote a
broad spectrum of rights ranging from the
right to life to the right to a cultural identity.
• These rights can be ordered and specified in
different ways. At the international level, a
distinction has sometimes been made
between
1. civil and political rights, on the one hand, and
economic, social and cultural rights on the
other.
2. Classic Rights (the non-intervention of the
state (negative obligation), Social Rights( those
rights’ requiring active intervention on the part
of the state).
• Classfying human rights in terms of negative
and positive obligations may have its own
defects for a certain right may involve both
negative and positive obligations for its
effective realization.
 Cont..
• Classic rights, such as civil and political rights,
often require considerable investment by the
state.
• The state does not merely have the obligation to
respect these rights, but must also guarantee that
people can effectively enjoy them.
• Hence, the right to a fair trial, for instance,
requires well-trained judges, prosecutors, lawyers
and police officers, as well as administrative
support. Another example is the organisation of
elections, which also entails high costs.
 Cont..
• On other hand, the right to housing implies the
right not to be a victim of forced eviction;
• the right to work encompasses the individual’s
right to choose his/her own work and also requires
the state not to hinder a person from working
• the right to education implies the freedom to
establish and direct educational establishments;
• the right to the highest attainable standard of
health implies the obligation not to interfere with
the provision of health care.
 Cont…

3. Fundamental And Basic Rights : Fundemental rights are

include those rights which are basic to normal life,while
basic rights are those basic to real life and
ablosulte.Fundemantal rights are may vary from country
to country while basic rights had universal recognition.
4. Individual and collective rights: The fundamental purpose
of human rights is the protection and development of the
individual (individual rights), some of these rights are also
exercised by people in groups (collective rights). For
instances, Freedom of association and assembly, freedom
of religion, the freedom to form or join a trade union, and
the right to self-determination
 Cont..
5. First(civil and political rights) ,
second(economic, social and cultural rights)
and third generation rights(the right to
development, the right to peace and the right
to a clean environment): The division of human
rights into three generations was first proposed
by Karel Vasak at the International Institute of
Human Rights in Strasbourg. France city
 His division follows the principles of Liberté,
Égalité and Fraternité of the French Revolution
 Cont..
• Although human rights have been classified in
a number of different manners it is important
to note that international human rights law
stresses that all human rights are
universal, indivisible and
interrelated.
• (Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
(1993), para. 5).
 Sources of Human Rights Law
• HRL has the same source with international law,
sources of international law are provided under Article
38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice
A) International conventions, whether general or
particular;
b) International custom, as evidence of general practice
accepted as law;
c) The general principles of law recognized by civilized
nations;
d) Subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law
such as judicial decisions and teachings of the most highly
qualified publicists.
 Cont..
• The sources of IHRL may include the following:-
A) International conventions, whether general or particular: Treaties signed
among the state is the primary sources of IHRL. ‘covenant’, ‘convention’
and ‘protocol’ are major sources of IHRL.

International treaties are contracts signed between

states.
They are legally binding and impose mutual obligations on the
states that are party to any particular treaty (states parties).

The main particularity of human rights treaties is that they

impose obligations on states about the manner in which they
treat all individuals within their jurisdiction.

Human rights treaties have been adopted at the universal level

or regional level.
 Cont…
• Even though the sources of international law
are not hierarchical, treaties have some
degree of primacy.
• Nowadays, more than forty major
international conventions for the protection of
human rights have been adopted.
• International human rights treaties bear
various titles, including
 Cont..
• In addition the Human Rights Committee in its General Comment
24 (1994) has summed up the rights which can be assumed to
belong to this part of international law which is binding on all
states, irrespective of whether they have ratified relevant
conventions, and to which no reservations are allowed ,which
include,
• engage in slavery, to torture, to subject persons to cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment, to arbitrarily deprive
persons of their lives, to arbitrarily arrest and detain persons, to
deny freedom of thought and religion..
• to presume a person guilty unless he proves his innocence, to
execute pregnant women and children, racial or religious hatred,
to deny to persons of marriageable age the right to marry, or to
deny to minorities the right to enjoy their own culture, profess their
own religion, or use their own language.
 Cont..

b) International custom : It is general practice that had a broad

consensus in terms of content and applicability and accepted
as law.
 Customary law is binding on all states (except those that may
have objected to it during its formation), whether or not they
have ratified any relevant treaty.
 Many scholars argue that some standards laid down in UDHR
have become part of customary international law as a result
of subsequent practice; therefore they would be binding upon
all states.
 No opposition made by state during its adoption and
ratification. Inaddition many states had inculcate the
provisions of UDHR in laws.
 Cont..
• jus cogens, or peremptory norms : are
norms accepted and recognized by the
international community of states as a whole
as norms from which no derogation is
permitted.
• Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties (VCLT) any treaty which conflicts with
a peremptory norm is void.
 Cont..
c) The general principles of law:
play two important roles: on the one hand, they
provide guidelines for judges, in particular, in
deciding in individual cases;
on the other hand, they limit the discretionary power
of judges and of members of the executive in their
decisions in individual cases.
Eg: the principle of proportionality, which is
important for human rights supervisory mechanisms
in assessing whether interference with a human right
may be justified.
 Cont…
• Subsidiary means for the determination of
rules of law:
• judicial decisions of some regional and
national courts and also teachings of the most
highly qualified publicists(such as Amnesty
International and the International
Commission of Jurists)
 Quiz
• Briefly discuss the limitations of the
classification of Human rights as
1. Classic Rights and Social Rights
2. civil and political rights, on the one hand, and
economic, social, and cultural rights
 human rights and basic human needs

• The ideas of human rights and basic human

needs are closely connected.
• Human rights – rights that apply for every
person because they are a human – can be
seen as rights to the fulfilment of, or ability
to fulfil, basic human needs.
• These needs provide the grounding for human
rights.
Chapter – Two
 Chapter Two: Human Rights Systems :( Substantive Rights, Institutions and Procedures )

The Universal System: The UN System

A. The UN Charter: The Charter’s primary aim was
1. To save succeeding generation from the scourge
of war and
2. To ensure the maintenance of international
peace and security.
 Within such broad and ambitious objectives, a
respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms hold a pivotal place in charter.
What are the five main objectives of the UN?
• Maintain International Peace and Security.
• Protect Human Rights.
• Deliver Humanitarian Aid.
• Support Sustainable Development and Climate
Action.
• Uphold International Law.
 Cont..
• UN Charter 111 Articles
• In relation to human right protection we can
mention the following 7 Articles
• The United Nations granted respect for
human rights the status of one of the
fundamental purposes of the organization.
Look at (Paragraph 3 of the preamble, Article
1(3), Articles 55 and 56, Article 76(C), Article
13(1)(b), Article 62(2) and (3), and Article 68).
 Cont.
1 Article 1 (2) and (3),
To develop friendly relations among nations based on
respect for the principle of equal rights and take other
appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights
and for fundamental freedoms for all without
distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion
2. Article 13(1)(b),
promoting international co-operation in the economic,
social, cultural, educational, and health fields, and
assisting in the realization of human rights and
fundamental
 Cont..
3. Article 55
• the UN shall promote:
– higher standards of living, full employment, and
conditions of economic and social progress and
development;
– universal respect for, and observance of, human rights
and fundamental freedoms for all without disti
4. Article 56
– All Members pledge themselves to take joint and
separate action in co-operation with the Organization
for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article
55.
 Cont..
5. Article 62 (2) , The economic and social
council ,
– It may make recommendations for the purpose of
promoting respect for, and observance of, human
rights and fundamental freedoms for all.
6. Article 68
– The Economic and Social Council shall set up
commissions in economic and social fields and for
the promotion of human rights.
 Cont..

The basic objectives of the trusteeship system,

7. Article 76(c)
• to encourage respect for human rights and for
fundamental freedoms for all without
distinction as to race, sex, language, or
religion, and to encourage recognition of the
interdependence of the peoples of the world;
and
 Cont..
 They set out in the charter as as one
prerequisite for ensuring international peace
and security, friendly relations among nations,
welfare of peoples and other socioeconomic
objectives.
 Both the number and the scope of human rights
provisions in the UN Charter is prima facie quite
impressive in itself when the UN Charters is
contrasted with the Covenant of the League of
Nations, which was entirely silent on human
rights issues.
 Cont..

• In spite of these efforts however, the Charter

has not adequately addressed the problem of
colonialism.
• Further more While the Charter refers the
concept of human rights and fundamental
freedoms, their definition is missing, nor does
the Charter make any mention of the
machinery to be used to secure their
observance.
 B. The UDHR
• The task of preparing a declaration was given to the
Commission on Human Rights which consists of a drafting
committee of eight members chaired by Mrs. Eleanor
Roosevelt.
• In 1948 the Commission adopted the draft Declaration and
submitted it through the Economic and Social Council to the
General Assembly.
• The UDHR, adopted by a resolution of the United Nations
General Assembly (UNGA).
• although not a treaty, is the earliest comprehensive human
rights instrument adopted by the international community.
• After lengthy discussions, at the Chaillot Palace in Paris, the
Declaration was adopted on 10 December 1948.
 The Preamble to the Declaration is significant for
several reasons.
• 1). It refers to the concepts of inherent human dignity
and the inalienable nature of human rights as the
philosophical sources of the Declaration and
inspirations for further development of human rights.
(para 1)
2). It announces the advent of a world in which human
beings shall enjoy freedom of speech belief and
freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as
the highest aspiration of the common people (para 2
3). It set out the rights and freedoms contained in the
Declaration as a common standard of achievement for
all peoples and nations.
 Cont..
• The UDHR was drafted around four pillars –
dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood.
Each pillar represents an ideal considered
essential to the enjoyment of an individual's
life in their community.
 Cont..
• The operative part of the Declaration can be divided into
three groups of provisions.
• The first group (Article 1) contains an affirmation of the
philosophical foundations of human rights by saying that
human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights.
• They are endowed with reason should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood.
• The second group of provisions proclaims a number of
general principles which include the principle of equality
and non-discrimination (Article 2) and others.
• This principles plays a fundamental role in the whole of
human rights law.
 Cont..

• The third group is it Substantive part.

Substantively rights in the Declaration
contains civil and political rights(in Articles 3
to 21) as well as economic, social and cultural
rights(22-27).
• Article 29
• Everyone has duties to the community in
which alone the free and full development of
his personality is possible.
The Important aspect of UDHR
• The Declaration has established the very first
international catalogue of human rights as a
common standard of achievement for all peoples
and all nations.
• This model catalogue may thus be said to play also
the role of the first definition of human rights, the
definition which is missing from the UN Charter
• Basis for further development of human rights in
international law.
• All in all, UDHR is one of the best legal
instruments on human rights ever adopted.
 Cont..
• Create opportunities for developing
international procedures and mechanisms for
the implementation of HR in UN.
• The incorporation of economic, social and
cultural right to UDHR has been substanial
innovation in modern international law of
human right.
 The Important aspect of UDHR

• its "universality," meaning it asserts that all human

beings.
• making it a global standard for human rights that
applies to everyone, everywhere, and is not limited
by cultural or political boundaries.
• Broad scope:
• It covers a wide range of rights, including civil,
political, economic, social, and cultural rights.
• Non-discriminatory:
• The Declaration explicitly prohibits discrimination
based on any grounds.
 Cont..
• Global reach:
• Although not legally binding on its own, it
serves as a foundational document for
international human rights law and has been
incorporated into many national
constitutions.
• it set out, for the first time, fundamental
human rights to be universally protected.
 Cont..
• The UDHR is the most translated document in
the world, available in more than 500
languages.
• The UDHR is not legally binding, but its rights
and freedoms have been incorporated into
many national constitutions.
ICCPR and ICESCR

 After the adoption of the Universal Declaration, the

Commission on Human Rights embased on the second
part of “the Bill of Human Rights” namely the
development of norm that were undisputedly binding on
those states that choose to adhere to them. .I.e. ICSECR
and ICCPR with its two optional protocols(Bill of rights).
 As of January 2021 , 173 states are parties to
the ICCPR and 171 states to the ICESCR .
 Cont..
• The commission proposed 1950 to keep all right in
one convention.
• However, USA and other western state argue against
it but in favors of 2 separate convention ICCPR and
ICESCR

• ICCPR and ICESCR prepared by UN Commission on

Human Rights, by the request of UNGA as binding
HRs documents as well as the First Optional Protocol
to the ICCPR, which established an individual
complaints procedure were adopted 1966.
 Cont..
• Both Covenants and the Optional Protocol
entered into force in 1976. A Second Optional
Protocol to the ICCPR, on the abolition of the
death penalty, was adopted in 1989 and
entered into force in 1991.

• NB: The „International Bill of Human Rights‟

consists of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the ICESCR, and the ICCPR and its two
Optional Protocols.
 ICCPR
 It contains 53 articles, of which 27 are of a normative character and the
left are more procedural nature.
 It has optional protocol establishing a procedure for individual complaints,
and a second optional protocol, adopted in 1989 aiming at the abolition of
the death penalty.
 As of January 2001, 98 states are parties to the first protocol and 45 states
to the second.
 Pursuant to Article 28 of the Covenant, a Human Rights Committee is
established, consisting of 18 members, who are nominated and elected by
states but who serve in their individual capacity.
Its mandate is
 To consider the reports that all states parties are under a duty to submit
regularly to the committee,
 to consider interstate complaint and
 to deal with the individual complaints that may come before it under the
first optional protocol .
 ICESCR
• It consists of 31 articles, of which the first 15 are of
a normative character and the last 16 of a more
procedural nature.
• In its normative articles it sets out many of the
fundamentals for the well being and prosperity of
an individual.
• A core provision is Article 11, which recognizes the
rights of everyone to an adequate standard of living,
including adequate food, clothing and housing, and
to the continuous improvement of living conditions
 CONT..
• Each state party is under an obligation to
undertake steps “to the maximum of its
available resources with a view to achieving
progressively the full realization of the rights
recognized in the present covenant, by all
appropriate means, including particularly the
adaption of legislative measures. Article 27
 CONT..
• Much debate had been held on the difficulties
to enforce and measure to what extent a state
party is fulfilling its obligation under the
Covenant. However, several fundamental
principles apply, e.g. the important principle
of non-discrimination.
 Cont..

• The covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights do not make provision for the
establishment of a separate treaty body.
• Originally; the ECOSOC delegated this work to
a special group of government experts.
However, in 1985, the ECOSOC decided to
instead create the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, a body composed
of eighteen members.
 ICCPR and ICESCR
• The two covenants contain some
identical or similar provisions, such
as
 The right to self determination (Article
17 both covenants)
 The principle of non-discrimination
(Article 2 of both covenants).
 The rights should not be used as a
pretext for the destruction of other
rights, are the same (Article 5 of both
covenants).
 Cont..

• It Contain Art 53
• 27 Articles are Normative character
• 1st optional protocol: individual complaints
• 2nd optional protocol: 1989 Abolish of death
penality
 ICCPR
• The Human Rights Committee is the body of 18
independent experts that monitors implementation
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights by its State parties.

• All States parties are obliged to submit regular

reports to the Committee on how civil and political
rights are being implemented. States must report
initially one year after acceding to the Covenant
and then whenever the Committee requests.
 D The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

• It entered into force after having been adopted in 1965 by

the General Assembly.
• As of January 2001 has 156 states parties,
• It was the first United Nations human rights instrument
outside the provisions on Human Rights in the Charter
that established an international monitoring system,
including a procedure for individual complaints.
• The convention was essentially the work of the General
Assembly itself, in consolation with various other bodies.
• It contains 25 articles, of which the first seven articles are
of a normative character.
 Cont..
• The Convention sets out a number of detailed
prohibitions and obligations to prevent discrimination
based on the grounds of race, color, descent, or
national or ethnic origin. States are under an
obligation to criminalize dissemination of ideas based
on racial superiority and hatred and participation in
racial organizations or activities.
• A Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD), consisting of 18 independent
experts created by the states parties after being
nominated by such states parties, examines and
comments on reports submitted by the parties
 E The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

• The commission on the status of women was established in the

early days of the United Nations, in 1943. In 1967, the General
Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
• This was a reaction based on a growing concern that additional
means for promoting and protecting equal enjoyment of human
rights by women is necessary.
• In 1974 the Commission began drafting a convention. The
Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in 1979, which
is entered into force in 1981, and has as of January 2001 165
states parties.
• The Convention consists of 30 Articles, of which the first 16 are of
a normative character.
 Cont..
• It identifies many areas where there have been a
notorious discrimination against women; for example in
regard to political and civil rights, economic rights and
employment. It calls for equal rights for women,
regardless of their marital status. It calls for national
legislation to ban discrimination.
• It allows for temporary special measures to accelerate
the achievement of equality between men and women.
• The Convention establishes a Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women consisting
of 23 members nominated and elected by states parties
but serving in their personal capacity.
 F. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

• On 10 December, 1984, another major step was taken when the General
Assembly adopted the Convention Against Torture on Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which entered into force
in 1987.
• The Convention has, as of January 2001, 122 states parties
• The Convention provides for a definition of torture in its first article, which
includes intentional acts for certain enumerated reasons which causes
severe pain or suffering of physical or mental nature for a persons, “When
such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the
consent or acquiescence of a public, official or other person acting in an
official capacity.
• The Convention establishes a committee Against Torture, consisting of ten
members, nominated and elected by states parties but serving in their
personal capacity
 G. The Convention of the Right of the Child

• The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in

1989, and entered into force in 1990. It soon received
unprecedented support and achieved unique political
commitments.
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first
specific Human Rights treaty that has achieved an almost
Universal adherence.
• As of January 2001 it has 190 states parties and only the
United States and Somalia have failed to accede to the
Convention. The Convention consists of 54 articles, of
which the first 42 are of a normative character.
• The Convention is all encompassing and sets up a holistic
approach where civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights are included, all being of importance for
safeguarding the dignity of the child and a harmonious
development of his personality.
 Cont..
• Four general principles have guided the authors of
the Convention, and later been highlighted by the
committee on the Rights in the General Guidelines as
the core message of the Convention.
• Firstly, the principle of the full and equal value of
children and that each child shall enjoy the rights set
out in the convention without discrimination (Article
2 and 4 of the Convention.)
• Secondly, the principle that in all actions concerning
children the best interest of the child shall be the
primarily consideration (Article 3 of the Convention).
 Cont..
• Thirdly, the principle of the right to life does not only
entail the right to be protected against being killed
but a right to survival and development (Article 6 of
the Convention).
• Fourthly, the principle that children, who are capable
of forming their own views, shall also have the right to
participate and express their views, which shall be
duly respected (Article 12 of the Convention).
• The Convention establishes a Committee on the
Rights of the Child, originally composed of 10
members, but which the states parties in 1995,
decided should be enlarged to 18 members.
 Reservations and Declarations
• Although it is desirable that states become party to
a convention unconditionally, this is often not the
case.
• A state may, by formulating reservations,
declarations and interpretative statements, seek to
limit its domestic application beyond what is
permissible under the limitations.
• These deliberate acts may enable a state to
participate in a multilateral treaty that it would
otherwise be unable or unwilling to participate in.
 Reservation
• A reservation is a statement made by a state by which it purports to
exclude or alter the legal effect of certain provisions of a treaty in their
application to that state.
• In other words it seeks to exclude or modify the legal effect of the treaty’s
provisions in their application to the state author.
• A state may, when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to a
treaty, formulate a reservation unless:
(a) The reservation is prohibited by the treaty;
(b) The treaty provides that only specified reservations, which do not
include the reservation in question, may be made; or
(c) In cases not falling under subparagraphs (a) and (b), the reservation is
incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty.
 Reservations often reflect an admission (oppossition) that the country in
question cannot, or will not, bring its conduct up to international standards
 Cont..
• The effectiveness of a reservation is dependent on its acceptance by
other states parties.
• That is any other state party may object to it, Unless expressly permitted
by a treaty.
• As a rule, a reservation is considered accepted by another state party if
that state party has raised no objection within twelve months after it has
been notified of the reservation (Article 20(5)VCLT).
• Meanwhile, the UN Commission on Human Rights has also stated that
reservations should be formulated ‘as precisely and narrowly as possible
(Resolution 1998/9).
• Thus reservations may thus not be general, but must refer to a particular
provision of the covenant and indicate in precise terms its scope in
relation thereto.
• But is also true that, General reservations may be encouraged other
states to follow suit, and thereby reduce the ability of the state making
the reservation to complain when other states make similar reservations.
 Declarations
• Some conventions allow or even require states parties to make declarations
concerning the extent to which they are bound by a certain provision. Such
statements may relate to the competence of a supervisory mechanism.
• This type of declaration, as provided by the instruments, does not pose
major problems.
• interpretative declarations is whereby the state party to a treaty indicates
merely how it interprets a particular article.
• It seeks only to clarify the meaning or scope of the treaty provisions. ( i
accept the treaty but if it means---- and not include .....)
• Such interpretative declarations may raise certain problems in international
law as to their differentiation with reservations.
• One of the major differences between a ‘reservation’ and an ‘interpretative
declaration’ lies in the author’s purpose in making that declaration.
 Restrictions and Derogation
Restriction
• Conventions and other instruments may contain a number of restrictions or
limitations to the rights they stipulate.
• It is only few rights and freedoms are ‘absolute’.
• At the same time, such restrictions must be used only to establish the proper
limits of the protected right and not as an excuse for undermining the right
itself or destroying it altogether.
• In general, there must be a proportionate relationship between the
restriction of the right as such and the reason for the restriction.
• The reasons of limitation to rights guaranted might be the rights of others, by
the security of all, and by the just demands of the general(common) welfare,
Public morality ,national security in a democratic society’.
• But for a few rights, such as freedom from torture or slavery, no limitations
have been formulated.
 Cont..
 Any limitation must comply with the following minimum requirements:
• It must not be interpreted so as to jeopardise the essence of the right
concerned;
• It must be interpreted strictly in the light and context of the particular right;
• It must be prescribed by law and be compatible with the object and purpose
of the instrument;
• It must be based on a law;
• It must be necessary; there must be a pressing social need, assessed on a
case-by-case basis. The limitation be useful is in itself not sufficient; it must
be consistent with other protected rights.
• The restriction must be justified by the protection of a strictly limited set of
well-defined public interests( national security, public safety, public order
(ordre public), the protection of health or morals, and the protection of the
rights and freedoms of others.
 Cont..

• Thus, any restriction on the enjoyment of the

rights enshrined in human rights instruments
must be legally established, non-discriminatory,
proportional, compatible with the nature of the
rights, and designed to further the general
welfare.
• Finally, it is also important to stress that the
burden falls upon states parties to prove that a
limitation imposed upon the enjoyment of the
rights is legitimate.
 Derogations
• Some human rights instruments allow states to take measures
derogating temporarily from some of their obligations.
• Derogating measures must be of an exceptional and
temporary nature.
• The rationale for derogation provisions is to strike a balance
between the sovereign right of a government to maintain
peace and order during public emergencies, and the
protection of the rights of the individual from abuse by the
state.
• Thus, the state is allowed to suspend the exercise of some
rights when necessary to deal with an emergency situation .
e.g., derogation of the right to peaceful assembly
 Cont..
 However, Article 4(2) of ICCPR, Article 15(2) of ECHR and
Article 27(2) of ACHR), a number of rights can under no
circumstances be limited or derogated from.
 Such rights are often called notstandsfest - a German term -
and include the right to life, freedom from slavery, torture and
imprisonment for debt, the principle of legality in the field of
criminal law, freedom of thought, conscience and religion and
the right to juridical personality.
 The Human Rights Committee, in its General Comment 29 sets
out in detail the conditions that must be met in order to
derogate from the rights contained in the ICCPR and refers in
length to those rights which are not derogable.
 Institutions and Procedures
 The numerous human rights conventions under the framework of the United
Nations and the regional systems in Africa, the Americas and Europe have led to
the creation of a wide range of mechanisms for monitoring compliance with the
standards agreed upon.
 There are two distinctive types of supervisory mechanism:
a) Treaty-based mechanism: supervisory mechanisms enshrined in legally binding
human rights instruments or conventions. e.g., the Human Rights Committee
and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The African Commission and
future Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the European Court and commission
of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court and Commission of Human Rights
are also treaty bodies.
 The treaty-based procedures are the mechanisms established within the context
of a specific human rights treaty.
 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)
was the first human rights treaty of universal application to provide for a
mechanism of supervision.
 Cont..
B) Non-treaty- based mechanisms: supervisory
mechanisms not based on legally binding human
rights treaty obligations.
 Under the UN framework, the non-treaty-based
mechanisms are referred to as ‘charter-based’
mechanisms,
 This type of mechanism is based on the
constitution or charter of an intergovernmental
human rights forum, or on decisions taken by
the assembly or a representative body of the
forum in question.
 Cont..
 The various supervisory procedures established in human rights treaties can
be divided into four main groups:
1).Reporting procedures:States parties to them are obliged to report
periodically to a supervisory body on the implementation at the domestic
level of the treaty in question.
 They submitt reports on the measures they have adopted which give effect
to the rights recognised in the treaty and on the progress made in the
enjoyment of those rights.
 The report is analysed by the relevant supervisory body, which comments on
the report and may request the state concerned to furnish more information.
 The treaty bodies also receive information on a country’s human rights
situation from other sources, including non-governmental organisations, UN
agencies, other intergovernmental organisations, academic institutions, and
the press.
 Cont..
 These reports are mostly used to reports aimed at
counter balancing the information submitted by the
state.
 Based on this dialogue, the Committees decide on
their concerns and recommendations to the state
concerned, referred to as ‘concluding observation.
 All UN human rights conventions contain a
reporting procedure: Article 16 of ICESCR, Article 40
of ICCPR, Article 9 of CERD, Article 19 CAT, Article 44
of CRC, Article 18 of CEDAW and Article 73 of CMW
 Cont..
2). Inter-state complaint procedure: Some human rights instruments allow states parties to
initiate a procedure against another state party, which is considered not to be fulfilling its
obligations under the instrument. E.g Article 41 of ICCPR; Article 21 of CAT; Article 11 of CERD
set a possiblity.
 In most cases, such a complaint may only be submitted if both the claimant and the
defendant state have recognised the competence of the supervisory body to receive this type
of complaint.
 In practice, inter-state complaint mechanisms are seldom used.
3). Individual complaint procedure: In order for an individual to bring a
case/communication/petition under a human rights convention, the following requirements
have to be met:
a) the alleged violating state must have ratified the convention invoked by the individual;
b) the rights allegedly violated must be covered by the convention concerned; and c)
proceedings before the relevant body may only be initiated after all domestic remedies have
been exhausted.
 At the UN level, individual complaint mechanisms are found under five conventions: in the
First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR; Article 22 of CAT; Optional Protocol to the CEDAW;
Article 14 of CERD and Article 77 of CMW.
 Cont..
 The two major stages in any case are known as the ‘admissibility’ stage and the ‘merits’
stage.
 The ‘admissibility’ of a case refers to the formal requirements that the complaint must
satisfy before the relevant committee can consider its substance.
 Article 56 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights outlines the conditions
for the admissibility of communications submitted to the African Commission on Human
and Peoples' Rights
Admissability
1. Exhaustion of Local Remedies
2. Not a Duplicate
3. The communication should not contain insulting language towards the state party or its
institutions.
4. Clear and Concise Statement of Facts:
5. it is not ‘exclusively’ based on news disseminated through the mass media reports.
6. Time period: Article 56(6) ACHPR. The Communications must be ‘submitted within a
reasonable period from the time local remedies are exhausted
 cont..
Standing
The applicant should have locus standi to bring the case before the committee.
Exception: Public interest litigation (actio popularis) allows anyone to file a
complaint before it on behalf of victims without necessarily getting the consent of
the victims.

The merit
 The ‘merits’ of the case are the substance, on the basis of which the committee
decides whether or not the rights under a treaty have been violated.
 Procedurally the flow is as follows; individual complaint----state response---
individual comments---decision by concerned committe.
 There is no appeal against committees’ decisions.
 When a committee decides that the state party has violated a right, or rights,
enshrined in the treaty, it invites the state party to supply information within
a given time limit on the steps it has taken to give effect to the committee’s
findings.
 Cont..
4). Inquiries and other procedures: The supervisory bodies
may also initiate a visit to gather information, or do so as
part of a regular visit-programme.
 One example of a visit-programme - an enquiry – and in
loco visits procedure - is that set out in Articles 126 and
132 of the Third Geneva Convention (1949), and the
provision in Article 143 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
providing for on-site visits to places of internment or
detention.
 Mention should also be made of the International Fact-
Finding Commission established under Article 90 of
Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.
 Non-treaty Based (Charter Based) Mechanisms

A). International Court of Justice (ICJ)

 It is the principal judicial organ of the UN.
 All member states of the United Nations are ipso facto
parties to the statue of the court.
 The jurisdiction of the court in all legal disputes concerning:
(a) the interpretation of a treaty;
(b)any fact which, if established, would constitute a breach
of an international obligation; and
(c) the nature or extent of the reparation to be made for
the breach of an international obligation.
 In Addition
• The General Assembly or the Security Council may request the court
to give an advisory opinion on any legal question
• Other organs of the United Nations and specialized agencies, which
may at any time be so authorized by the General Assembly, may also
request advisory opinions of the court on legal questions arising
within the scope of their activities.
• A number of human rights instruments contain provisions where by
any dispute between the contracting states relating to the
interpretation, application or fulfillment of the instrument may be
submitted to the Court at the request of any of the parties to the
dispute.
• Thus, with power within its jurisdiction and advisory opinion the ICJ
are used to monitor state compliances to its international obligations.
 Cont..
B. Security Council: Under the charter of the United Nations member states
have conferred on the Security Council primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international peace and security.
 To shoulder this responsibility, It may investigate any dispute, or any
situation which might leads to international friction or give rise to a
dispute.
 When the Security Council determines the existence of any threat to the
peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression, it may make
recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken to maintain or
restore international peace and security measures which the security
council may initially take include complete or partial interruption of
economic relations and of rail, sea, air postal, telegraphic, radio, and other
means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations. If such
measures would be, or prove to be, inadequate, it may take such action by
air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore
international peace and security.
 Cont..
The Security Council has dealt with several
human rights problems, including massive and
repeated violations in South Africa, Somalia,
Haiti, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda; the situation in
the occupied Arab territories; the instances of
hostage and abduction.
 Cont..
c United Nations General Assembly: One of the functions of the United Nations
General Assembly is to intiate studies and make recommendations for the
purpose of ‘assisting in the realization of human rights and fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction as to race, languages or religion.
 The General Assembly has established a number of subsidiary organs which are
concerned with human rights. This include:-
 The International Law Commission: whose object is the promotion of the
progressive development of international law and its codification.
 The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which
provides protection and assistance for refugees and other displaced persons.
 The Special Committee on Declaration, or the ‘Committee 24’, whose principal
function is to monitor the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
 Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,
 Cont..
D).Economic and Social Council :is authorized by the charter of the United
Nations to make recommendations for the purpose of promoting respect
for, and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.
E. UN Human Rights Council :The Commission on Human Rights is the principal
functional organ of the United Nations concerned with human rights.
 It consists of fifty-three members-all-states-who are elected from time to
time by ECOSOC.
 it is this body that drafted the UDHR, the ICCPR and ICESR, and all the
principal human rights instruments.
F. International Lab-our Organizations (ILO)
• The ILO as a specialized agency of the UN system has long been concerned
with labor rights.
• It has developed several complicated procedures for monitoring state
behavior in the area of labor rights
 Regional Human Rights systems
• The European Human Rights System:In May 1948, 800 prominent
members of the various sectors of the European Community drawn
from nineteen European states( politicians, lawyers and those active
in wartime resistance movements) met in The Hague, under the
auspices of the International Committee of Movements for European
Unity, to demonstrate their support for the cause of Europeans Unity.
• The immediate consequence of the Hague Congress was the creation,
one year later of the Council of Europe Comprising two principal
organs, a Committee of Ministers and a Parliamentary Assembly.
• Twelve states signed the EHCR in Rome on 4 November 1950. It
entered into force in September 1953, and has now been ratified by
all member states.
 The Inter-American Human Rights System:
• The Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) was
singed on 30 April 1948 at the Ninth International Conference of
American States convened in Bogota. The Charter enters into
force on 13 December 1951.
• In 1959, in Santiago, the fifth meeting of consultation of ministers
of foreign affairs adopted a resolution creating the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights. In 1965, the Commission was
authorized to examine and report on communication submitted
to it, thereby initiating an individual petition system.
• In 1970, the protocol of Buenos Aires which amended the Charter
changes the status of the commission from an ‘autonomous
entity’ into one of the principal organs of the OAS.
 The African Human Rights System
• The other regional human rights instrument is the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR).
• The draft prepared by African experts was considered at two
sessions of the conference of OAU Ministers of Justice held in
Gambia in 1980 and 1981.
• In June 1981, the ACHPR was unanimously adopted at the Nairobi
Assembly of Heads of states and Government of the OAU.
• It became operative in October 1986, and an African Commission
began functioning on 2 November 1987.
• In 1998, the thirty-fourth summit of Head of State and
Government of the OAU adopted a protocol to the ACHPR for the
establishment of an African Court on Human and People’s Rights
 The Arab and Asian Human Rights Systems
• The Arab and Asian states have not yet created regional human rights
regimes, but some steps have been taken in that direction.
• In 1968, the Council of the Arab League adopted a resolution relating to
the creation of a Permanent Arab Commission on Human Rights.
• On September 15, 1994, the League of Arab States approved an Arab
Charter on human Rights building on earlier texts adopted by regional
non-governmental organizations and inter-governmental organizations.

• It requires acceptance by seven states before it comes into force. As of

January 1, 1998, only Egypt had ratified the Charter. Iraq signed it on
February 5, 1996.

• Arab Charter on Human Rights entered into force on March 15, 2008.
 Cont..

• In Asia, despite efforts by NGOs and the U.N.,

governments in the region have been unwilling in
general to ratify global human rights instruments, or
create a regional human rights system.
• As of March 1998, for instance, 27 states in the region,
including virtually all Pacific Island States, had not signed
or ratified either the UN Covenants or the Torture
Convention.
• B/C of: The vastness of geographical scope of the region,
the vast differences in culture, language, political
ideology and economic development among nations.
 cont..

• Asian Human Rights Charter (1998):

– Launched in Gwangju, South Korea, by the AHRC
– Not a formal treaty adopted by Asian states, but a
declaration
– Focuses on promoting human rights in developing countries,
particularly in Asia.
• ASEAN Human Rights Declaration:
– This declaration, adopted by ASEAN member states in 2012,
sets out fundamental human rights principles for the region.
While not legally binding, it serves as a framework for
promoting human rights and can be used to hold countries
accountable for their commitments
 Chapter three: Systems of Protection for Vulnerable Groups

• There are particular groups who, for various reasons, are

weak and vulnerable and consequently require special
protection for the equal and effective enjoyment of their
human rights.
• Often human rights instruments set out additional
guarantees for persons belonging to these groups; i.e., the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has
repeatedly stressed that the ICESCR is a vehicle for the
protection of vulnerable groups within society, requiring
states (parties) to extend special protective measures to
them and ensure some degree of priority consideration,
even where in the face of severe resource constraints.
 Cont..
• These group include:-
1) women and girls; 2) children; 3) refugees; 4)
internally displaced persons; 5) stateless
persons; 6) national minorities; 7) indigenous
peoples; 8) migrant workers; 9) disabled
persons; 10) elderly persons; 11) HIV positive
persons and AIDS victim
 Women’s rights
• Women are subject to discrimination in all stages of life;
in income, education, health and participation in society
and they are particularly vulnerable to specific violations
such as gender-based violence, trafficking and sex
discrimination.
• Various international bodies have been established with
the aim of eradicating policies, actions and norms that
perpetuate discrimination against women and violate
women’s human rights.For instances, the UN Charter and
the International Bill of Human Rights (see e.g. Article 3 of
ICESCR and Article 3 of ICCPR) proclaim equal rights for
men and women and ban discrimination on the grounds
of sex.
 Cont..
• In addition to these instruments. the UN Convention for the
Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of
the Prostitution of Others (1949), the UN Convention on the
Political Rights of Women (1952) and the UN Convention on the
Nationality of Married Women (1957). Furthermore, the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) Article 7
establishes that rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution,
forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation and other forms of
sexual violence are each to be considered a crime against
humanity.
 In addition to this general instruments, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW is one of the most important instruments for the
protection of women.
 cont.

 This Convention sets out internationally accepted principles

and measures to achieve equal rights for women everywhere
 It sets out equal rights for women, regardless of their marital
status, in all fields - political, economic, social, cultural and civil
and calls for national legislation banning discrimination.
 It allows for temporary special measures (‘affirmative action’) to
accelerate the achievement of equality in practice between men
and women (Article 4), and actions to modify social and cultural
patterns that perpetuate discrimination (Article 5).
 requir Other measures aim at equal rights for women in political
and public life (Article 7);
 Cont..
 equal access to education and equal choice of curricula
(Article 10);
 non-discrimination in employment and pay (Article 11); and
 guarantees of job security in the event of marriage and
maternity (Article 11).
 call for non-discriminatory health services for women,
including services related to family planning, and equal legal
capacity to that of men.
 States Parties agree that all contracts and other private
instruments that restrict the legal capacity of women’shall be
deemed null and void’ (Article 15).
 Special attention is given to the problems of rural women
(Article 14).
 Cont..
 However, the effectiveness of the Convention in promoting the
rights it contains is significantly undermined by the numerous
reservations made by States Parties.
 Most reservations aim to preserve religious and national
institutions that are contrary to the rights guaranteed and many
are obviously incompatible with the object and purpose of the
Convention
• On 6 October 1999, the General Assembly adopted an Optional
Protocol to the CEDAW, which entered into force in 2000.
• The Protocol establishes a procedure that allows individual
women, or groups of women, to submit claims of violations of
rights protected under the Convention to the CEDAW Committee.
• In July 2004, only 60 out 177 states had ratified the Optional
Protocol.
 Supervision

• The CEDAW establishes the Committee on the Elimination

of Discrimination Against Women to oversee the
implementation of the rights it guarantees.
• This is done principally by examining reports submitted by
states parties, but in 1999, an optional protocol expanded
the powers of the Committee to include competence to
receive individual complaints.
• The Optional Protocol also establishes a distinctive feature:
an inquiry procedure that allows the Committee to initiate
investigations into suspected grave or systematic violations
by a state party of the rights contained in the Convention.
 Cont..
• In this regard the Committee can carry out visits to
the country in question.
• The Committee has contributed significantly to
the interpretation of the obligations imposed by
the Convention through its General
Recommendations which have dealt with several
issues of utmost importance for women like
violence against women, equal renumeration for
work of equal value,female curcumstaion and etc.
• The committe didnot recieved and intertained
individual complaints so far.
 The rights of the child
• Every child has the right to grow to adulthood in health, peace and
dignity.
• Ensuring the rights of children to health, nutrition, education, and
social, emotional and cognitive development is imperative for every
country and entails obligations for every government.
• Due to thier attachment to thier mother and hence women are still
primary care-givers for children, so ensuring women’s rights is
positively linked to children’s enjoyment of human rights.
• There are different legal instruments in relation to the protection
of the rights of children which include:- a Declaration on the Rights
of the Child by leage of nation(1924), UNGA Declaration on the
Rights of the Child(1959)and the Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC) on 20 November 1989.
 Cont..
 Four general principles have guided the
authors of the Convention(art.1)
The principle of non-discrimination (Article 2);
The best interests of the child (Article 3);
 The right to life, survival and development
(Article 6); and
 Respect for the views of the child (Article 12).
 Cont..
• Underpinning the CRC are three core concepts; protection,
provision and participation:
A) protection against, e.g., violence, abuse, neglect,
maltreatment or exploitation (Article 19);
B) provision of, e.g., name and nationality (Article 7), social
security, adequate standard of living and education (Articles
26 to 28);
C) participation through the right of a child to express its views,
to freedom of thought and to freedom of association
(Articles 12 to 15).
• It is the first instrument to specifically grant child rights and
protection as autonomous human beings.
 Cont..
• However, Some international instruments contain more
protective clauses than the CRC. For instance, Article 32 CRC
regarding child labour does not explicitly define a minimum
age for admission to employment.
• ILO 138 stipulates that the minimum age for admission to
employment or work shall not be less than 15 years and that
developing countries may initially specify a minimum age of
14 years.
• Similarly, while the CRC forbids recruitment of children below
15 years for the armed forces, Article 77 of Protocol I to the
Geneva Conventions of 1949, affords superior protection as
regards recruitment of children between 15 and 17 years of
age.
 Cont..
• Two optional protocols to the CRC were adopted by the UNGA in
2000.
• The first Optional Protocol to the CRC, on the Involvement of
Children in Armed Conflict aims raising the minimum age of
individuals taking part in armed conflict to 18 and includes a
unique provision stipulating that non-state forces should not
recruit persons under 18.
• The Second Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution and Child Pornography stipulates. Here the
states have to ensure that certain acts against children are
criminalised, and that states are obliged to prosecute or extradite
offenders under their jurisdiction.
• Regional human rights instruments have also set for the
protection of children’s rights in thier different legal instruments.
 Supervision

• The CRC establishes the Committee(10 members) on the Rights of the

Child to supervise the progress made by the states parties in achieving
the realisation of their obligations contained in the Convention, hence
individual compliants mechanisms.
• The Committee also adopts General Comments for the interpretation of
the rights contained in the CRC after assessing state reports.
• A mention should be made of the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), one of the key organisations concerned with children’s rights.
• UNICEF was created in 1946 with aim of providing European children
facing famine and disease with food, clothing and health care.
• The organisation focuses on improving the child’s environment, the
improvement of primary health care, water supply, nutrition, education
and community development.
 Minority protection regime
The rights of indigenous people

 There is no all agreeable definition of Indeginous people so

far . But Mr Martinez Cobo, the rapporteur of the Sub-
Commission, defined indeginous people that consists the
following important elements.
 Indigenous peoples have a strong affinity with the land they
live on. Their environment is essential for their survival as a
cultural entity; it is decisive for their social and cultural
conditions;
 They are not dominant in their present national society,
usually they have little if any influence on state policy;
 They generally speak their own language and have common
cultural qualities; and
 Cont....
 Their political/organisational structure is generally of a
decentralised nature.
 Some estimated 5,000 indigenous peoples comprising around
300 million persons live in more than 70 countries from the
Arctic to the Amazon.
 The Mayas in Guatemala, the Inuit in Canada, the Masai in
Tanzania, and the Naga in India are good examples of these
people.
 The first international standard on indigenous populations was
ILO in 1957.
 Since the 1970s, the United Nations has been involved in
initiatives, frequently in co-operation with the ILO and the
OAS, concerning the development of specific standards for the
protection of indigenous peoples.
 Cont...
 In 1982, the UN Working Group on Indigenous
Populations was created.
 One of its commitments was the drafting of a Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Populations, which was
adopted by the Sub-Commission in August 1994.
 The draft Declaration consists of 45 articles, including the
definition.
 As of July 2004, there was still no consensus on a draft
text; indigenous peoples and governments differ on
issues related to the right to self-determination, collective
rights and the exclusive right to use natural resources that
guarnted by the draft declaration to these group of
people.
 Supervision
• At the UN treaty-based level, the Human Rights Committee
has been called upon several times by indigenous persons
to decide on possible infringements of their human rights.
• Three charter-based bodies have been established to deal
with issues relating to indigenous peoples at the UN:
a) The Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People. For
instance, In 2001, the UN Commission on Human Rights
appointed a Special Rapporteur on the Situation of the
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous
People, in response to the growing international concern
regarding the marginalization and discrimination against
indigenous people worldwide (Resolution 2001/57).
 Cont..
 The Special Rapporteur has under his mandate
addressed a wide range of human rights issues.
 He has, for instance, formulated a proposal for
a definition of indigenous peoples, and
addressed the role of intergovernmental and
non-governmental organisations, the
elimination of discrimination, and basic human
rights principles, as well as special areas of
action in fields such as health, housing,
education, language, culture and etc.
 Cont..

b) The Working Group on Indigenous Populations: Working Group on

Indigenous Populations has a two-fold mandate:
I) to review developments pertaining to the promotion and
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of
indigenous peoples; and
2) to give attention to the evolution of international standards
concerning indigenous rights.
This in addition to facilitating and encouraging dialogue
between governments and indigenous peoples,
c) The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: it serves as an
advisory body to the Economic and Social Council, with a mandate
to discuss indigenous issues relating to economic and social
development, culture, the environment, education, health and
human rights
 Protection of disabled persons
• Persons with disablities are mostly excluded from participation in
society and denied their human rights.
• Discrimination against the disabled can take many forms, ranging
from limited educational opportunities to more subtle forms, such
as segregation and isolation because of physical and social
barriers.
• The effects of discrimination are most clearly felt in the sphere of
economic, social and cultural rights, in the fields of, for instance,
housing, employment, transport, cultural life and access to public
services.
• International human rights instruments protect the rights of
persons with disabilities through the principles of equality and
non-discrimination.
 Cont..
• While UDHR expresely refered disabled
persons,ICCPR and ICESCR are silent about the
rights of these gropus of people even thougght
some of thier articles has relevence for protection
their rights.
• Several international and regional human rights
instruments contain specific provisions concerning
persons with disabilities. For instances, the African
Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights stipulates
Article (18(4)), CRC(Article 23 ), The
revised European Social Charter(15).
 Cont..
• Two international conventions dealing directly with the
rights of disabled persons have been drafted.
• 1) Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities 1999).
• It is the only regional convention of its kind in the world.
• 2) ILO 159 concerning Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment (Disabled Persons) (1983).
• Specific non-binding instruments have also been adopted at
the international level addressing the rights of disabled
persons. These instruments include the Declaration of the
Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons , the Declaration on the
Rights of Disabled Persons ,the World Programme of Action
concerning Disabled Persons and etc.
 Supervision

• In 1994, The position of Special Rapporteur on Disability of the United

Nations Commission for Social Development was established.
• The task of the Special Rapporteur is to monitor implementation of
the Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons
with Disabilities and to advance the status of people with disabilities
throughout the world.
• Furthermore, under the auspices of the UN, the Division for Social
Policy and Development of the United Nations Secretariat is the focal
point on matters relating to disability.
• It deals, inter alia, with the promotion, monitoring and evaluation of
the implementation of the World Programme of Action and the
Standard Rules.
• It prepares publications, promotes national and international
programmes and works closely with and supports governments and
NGOs in the field of disability.
 Cont....
• In 1982, World Programme of Action concerning
Disabled Persons (WPA) was adopted by the General
Assembly.
• The WPA emphasises the need to approach disability
from a human rights perspective and that persons with
disabilities should not be treated in isolation, but
within the context of normal community services.
• In order to provide a time frame for the
implementation of the World Programme of Action,
the General Assembly proclaimed 1983-1992 the
United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons
 Elderly Persons

• As the world’s population ages and the traditional role

of the family as the main support of older people
weakens, the elderly are increasingly vulnerable to
abuse and various forms of negative stereotyping and
discrimination.
• For instancers, In developing countries with limited
social security systems, the emigration of the younger
members has left the elderly, traditionally cared for by
members of their families, to fend for themselves.
• The rights stipulated for the elderly in international
instruments stem from the principles of dignity and
non-discrimination.
 Cont..

• Neither the UDHR nor its derivatives,

the ICCPR and ICESCR , contain any explicit
reference to older persons, but many
provisions of these instruments are of direct
relevance to ensuring equal opportunities and
the full participation of the elderly.
• However, ICESCR Committee expressly
addresses the economic, social and cultural
rights of older persons in General Comment
No. 6.
 Cont...
• Three regional human rights instruments expressly mention
older persons as a group in need of special protection.African
Charter(18(5), The Revised European Social Charter(23) and
Protocol San Salvador(17)

• No convention expressly dealing with the rights of the

elderly has been adopted - as in the case of women and
children - a number of steps towards the improvement of the
lives of older persons have been taken under the auspices of
the United Nations.For instances, the Vienna International
Plan of Action on Ageing(1982), the United Nations Principles
for Older Persons(1991), Proclamation on Ageing(1992),
A Second International Plan of Action on Ageing(2002).
 Cont..
 This plan includes a number of central themes setting out goals,
objectives and commitments.
These include:
(a) The full realisation of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all
older persons;
b) The achievement of secure ageing;
c) Empowerment of older persons;
d) Provision of opportunities for individual development;
e) Ensuring the full enjoyment of all human rights, and the elimination of all
forms of violence and discrimination against older persons;
f) Gender equality among older persons;
g) Recognition of the importance of families;
h) Provision of health care, support and social protection for older persons;
and
k) Recognition of the situation of ageing indigenous persons
 Supervision

• Several supervisory bodies are progressively developing the

application of their respective instruments to afford
protection to this group and now concluding observations
frequently offer recommendations on the protection of
elderly persons.
• For example, the Concluding Observations of the ICESCR on
Jamaica E/2002/22 (2001); CEDAW Committee on Iceland
A/57/38 (2002) and CERD Committee on Iraq
CERD/C/304/Add. 28 (1997)).
• Plus the UN Commission for Social Development is
responsible for follow-up and appraisal of the
implementation of the 2002 International Plan of Action on
Ageing.
 Refugees

• The followings documents can be considred as cornerstone

documents for protections of refuge erights.
 The UDHR,
 The 1950 UNHCR(the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees)
 The 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and
 The 1967 Protocol(the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees).
 While the international community has generally responded swiftly
and generously to refugee crises in the past 50 years, some
worrying trends are emerging.
 Current refugee movements frequently take the form of mass
exoduses rather than individual flights and many of today’s
refugees do not fit the definition contained in the 1951
Convention.
 Cont..
• According to this convention a refugee is someone who has a
well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her ,Race ,
Religion ,Nationality ,Membership in a particular group, or
Political opinion and Is outside his/her country of origins; and
unable or unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that
country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.
• In general, asylum will not be granted if the person concerned
can enjoy protection elsewhere.
• However, there can be situations in which it would be inhumane
to return someone who does not fulfil the criteria for refugee
status under the Refugee Convention. This can be the result of
general circumstances in the country of origin such as, for
example, war and hunger, the risk of torture or cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment upon return.
 Cont..
• Granting of asylum may therefore imply both admission as
refugee on the basis of the 1951 Convention and permission to
stay on humanitarian grounds.
• The 1951 Convention specifies who is a refugee and what rights
a refugee has, once she/he has been recognised as such. In
Article 33, the principle of non-refoulement is established.
• This principle forbids states to expel or return a refugee, in any
manner whatsoever, to the frontiers of territories where his/her
life or freedom would be threatened on account of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
political opinion.
• The non-refoulement principle also encompasses non-rejection
at the border and can oblige a state to accept a person on its
territory.
 Cont..
• The 1951 Convention also includes ‘exclusion clauses’,
which stem from the understanding that the commission
of some types of crimes justifies the exclusion of the
perpetrators from the benefits of refugee status.
The 1951 Convention does not apply to persons with regard
to whom there are ‘serious reasons’ for considering they
have committed the following crimes:
a) Crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against
humanity;
b) Serious non-political acts; and
c) Acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the
United Nations.
 Cont..
• The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, as amended
by the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, is the most
important international instrument protecting the rights of refugees.
• It says,Refuge is [A]ny person who owing to well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his
nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail
himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a
nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual
residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.
• In addition to international and regional refugee conventions,
international human rights law and international humanitarian law
play a significant role in guaranteeing international protection of
refugees.E.g ICCPR(7),CAT(3),CRC,Fourt Geneve Convention(44)
 Supervision
• Both the 1951 Convention (Article 35) and its 1967 Protocol
(Article II) bestow upon UNHCR responsibility for supervising
implementation by states.
• UNHCR was created to provide international protection to
refugees and to find durable solutions to refugee problems.
• These functions include:
1) securing legal and practical protection to refugees with and
through governments,
2). overseeing the mobilisation and co-ordination of resources
for the well-being and survival of refugees and
3). encouraging conditions in conflict zones that will allow
refugees to return voluntarily to their countries of origin.
 Cont..
In addition to providing protection to refugees, UNHCR’s
mandate has been expanded to include persons in refugee-
like situations, internally displaced persons, stateless
persons, and returnees (refugees who have returned to their
own countries).
 UNHCR seeks long-term and durable solutions to refugee
problems by helping refugees return voluntarily to their
home countries if the situation allows it; monitoring the
treatment and promoting the reintegration of returnees
after repatriation has taken place; helping refugees integrate
in their countries of asylum and resettling refugees to third
countries when needed.
 Stateless person
• A stateless person is the person who is not considered a national of any
state under operation of its law.
• Statelessness occurs for many different reasons.
 May be because of extended stay abroad or
 because of marriage or dissolution of marriage to a person of a different
nationality.
 In the case of children, if they are born to stateless persons or refugees, or
in some cases out of wedlock, they may be denied citizenship.
 faulty administrative practices, such as excessive fees or the failure to be
notified of registration or other obligations.
 Governments may change their nationality laws and deny certain groups
nationality under the new laws in order to marginalise them or to facilitate
their expulsion from the state’s territory.
 The transfer of territory or sovereignty or the disintegration and formation
of new states may leave thousands of people stateless or with disputed
claims of citizenship.
 Cont..
 The disintegration of several states, the rise of ethnic
consciousness in many parts of the world and the fear of
large-scale population movements involving stateless persons
at the end of the Cold War led to a profound change in
international relations and forced the issue of statelessness
onto the agenda of the international community
• Nationality and citizenship provide a legal basis for the
exercise of many human rights.
• Persons without a nationality are in many countries denied
numerous human rights that citizens take for granted, like
access to schools and medical care, ownership of property,
marriage and foundation of a family and enjoyment of legal
protection
 Supervision
• Similar to the situation of IDPs, there is today no specific body
that deals with the problem of statelessness.
• UNHCR was provisionally asked to assume the responsibilities.
• The High Commissioner’s Executive Committee and the UN
General Assembly to adopt and endorse the Conclusion on the
Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and the Protection of
Stateless Persons (Resolution 50/152). In addition, UNHCR was
requested to ‘actively promoteTo this end, UNHCR has taken a
number of practical steps to strengthen its efforts with regard to
stateless persons. It has appointed a legal expert on the problem
of statelessness, and has actively assisted governments in the
preparation and implementation of nationality legislation while
encouraging them to accede to the 1954 and 1961 statelessness
conventions.
 Migrant workers
• Traditionally, poverty and the inability to earn a decent living are major reasons
behind migration from one country to another, as well as war, civil strife, insecurity
and persecution arising from discrimination. But migrant workers and their families
frequently find themselves in situations of vulnerability in their host countries, in
part due to their living and working outside of their state of origin.
• Migrant workers often face discrimination in terms of employment: exclusion from
certain jobs, difficulty in access to vocational training and contracts that are inferior
to those of nationals.
• Historically, the rights of migrant workers have fallen under general diplomatic
protection, based on the international law governing the treatment of non-nationals.
• In 1990, the UNGA adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Familis.
• The Convention does not create new rights for migrants, but aims at guaranteeing
equality of treatment and the same working conditions for migrants and nationals, as
well as guaranteeing the rights of migrants to maintain ties to their countries of
origin. milies .
 Supervision
• The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families provides for the establishment of a
Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Members of Their Families
• In 1997, the UN Commission on Human Rights established the Working Group
of Intergovernmental Experts on the Human Rights of Migrants with a mandate
to gather all relevant information on the obstacles existing to the effective and
full protection of the human rights of migrants, and to elaborate
recommendations to strengthen the promotion, protection and
implementation of the human rights of migrants.
• In 1999 the Commission appointed a Special Rapporteur on the human rights
of migrants, to examine ways and means to overcome the obstacles existing to
the full and effective protection of the human rights of migrants, including
obstacles and difficulties for the return of migrants who are non-documented
or in an irregular situation
 HIV Positive Persons and AIDS Victims

• HIV positive persons and AIDS victims are often

subject to violations of many rights; some economic
and social such as work-related rights and access to
health care facilities, but also in relation to the
enjoyment of civil rights, such as the right to privacy
and freedom of movement.
• The key human rights principles essential for
effective protection of people with HIV/AIDS are to
be found in existing international instruments, such
as the ICESCR; ICCPR; CEDAW; CAT; CERD; and the
CRC
 Chapter Four: Culture, Globalization and Human Rights

Universal Human Rights and Cultural Relativism

 How can universal human rights exist in a culturally diverse
world?
 As the international community becomes increasingly
integrated, how can cultural diversity and integrity be
respected? Is a global culture inevitable?
 If so, is the world ready for it?
 How could a global culture emerge based on and guided by
human dignity and tolerance?
These are some of the issues, concerns and questions underlying
the debate over universal human rights and cultural relativism.
 Cultural relativism
• Cultural relativism is the assertion that human
values, far from being universal, vary a great deal
according to different cultural perspectives.
• Some would apply this relativism to the promotion,
protection, interpretation and application of
human rights which could be interpreted
differently within different cultural, ethnic and
religious traditions.
• According to this view, human rights are culturally
relative rather than universal.
 Cont...
• This relativism would pose a dangerous threat
to the effectiveness of international law and
the international system of human rights that
has been painstakingly constructed over the
decades.
• If cultural tradition alone governs State’s
compliance with international standards, then
widespread disregard, abuse and violation of
human rights would be given legitimacy.
 Cont..
• Accordingly, the promotion and protection of
human rights perceived as culturally relative
would only be subject to State discretion,
rather than international legal imperative.
• By rejecting or disregarding their legal
obligation to promote and protect universal
human rights, States advocating cultural
relativism could raise their own cultural norms
and particularities above international law
and standards.
 Universal Human Rights and International Law

• Human rights are emphasized among the purposes of the United

Nations as proclaimed in its Charter, which states that human
rights are "for all without distinction".
• Accordingly Human rights are the natural-born rights for every
human being, universally. They are not privileges.
• The Charter and other subsequent covenants and conventions
further commits the all Member and signatory States to action
promoting "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights
and fundamental freedoms.
• The universal nature of human rights is literally written into the
title of the UDHR. Its Preamble proclaims the Declaration as a
"common standard of achievement for all peoples and all
nations".
 cont..
• Thus, there was no substantial objection to the universality
of human rights up on the adoption of the UDHR in 1948.
• Universalism holds that rights are everywhere and
everywhere the same.
• Therefore, international human rights instruments use
expressions like “everyone” has the right to liberty, “all
persons” are entitled to equal protection, “no one” shall be
subjected to torture, and “everyone” has the right to
adequate standard of living.
• However, At the 1993 Vienna Convention on Human Rights
some states led by China declared that human rights must be
interpreted against the backdrop of cultural differences. This
position is referred to as cultural relativism.
 Cont..
• Furthermore the Vienna Declaration and programme of Action
of 1993 continues to reinforce the universality of human rights,
stating, "All human rights are universal, indivisible and
interdependent and interrelated".
• This means that political, civil, cultural, economic and social
human rights are to be seen in their entirety. One cannot pick
and choose which rights to promote and protect. They are all of
equal value and apply to everyone.
• According to this declaration "the universal nature" of all
human rights and fundamental freedoms is "beyond question".
• It is clearly stated that the obligation of States is to promote
universal respect for, and observance of, human rights.
• Not selective, not relative, but universal respect, observance
and protection, regardless of particular cultural perspectives
 Cont..
• To deny human rights on the grounds of cultural
distinction is discriminatory.
• PPL of Non-discrimination protects individuals and
groups against the denial and violation of their
human rights on any grounds including culture.
• If a State dismisses universal human rights on the
basis of cultural relativism, then rights would be
denied to the persons living under that State's
authority.
• The denial or abuse of human rights is wrong,
regardless of the violator's culture.
 Human Rights, Cultural Integrity and Diversity

• Universal human rights do not impose one cultural standard, rather one
legal standard of minimum protection necessary for human dignity.
• As a legal standard adopted through the United Nations, universal
human rights represent the hard-won consensus of the international
community, not the cultural imperialism of any particular region or set
of traditions.
• Like most areas of international law, universal human rights are a
modern achievement, new to all cultures.
• Human rights are neither representative of, nor oriented towards, one
culture to the exclusion of others.
• Universal human rights reflect the dynamic, coordinated efforts of the
international community to achieve and advance a common standard
and international system of law to protect human dignity.
 Inherent Flexibility

• universal human rights emerge with sufficient flexibility to respect

and protect cultural diversity and integrity.
• The flexibility of human rights to be relevant to diverse cultures is
facilitated by the establishment of minimum standards and the
incorporation of cultural rights.
• States have maximum room for cultural variation without diluting or
compromising the minimum standards of human rights established
by law.
• These minimum standards are in fact quite high , requiring from the
State a very high level of performance in the field of human rights.
• The Vienna Declaration provides explicit consideration for culture in
human rights promotion and protection, stating that "the significance
of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural
and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind".
 Cont..

• Human rights which relate to cultural diversity and

integrity encompass a wide range of protections,
including: the right to cultural participation; the
right to enjoy the arts; conservation, development
and diffusion of culture; protection of cultural
heritage; freedom for creative activity; protection of
persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic
minorities; freedom of assembly and association;
the right to education; freedom of thought,
conscience or religion; freedom of opinion and
expression; and the principle of non-discrimination.
 Cultural Rights

• Every human being has the right to culture, including the right to enjoy
and develop cultural life and identity. Cultural rights, however, are not
unlimited. The right to culture is limited at the point at which it infringes
another human right.
• This means that cultural rights cannot be invoked or interpreted in such a
way as to justify any act leading to the denial or violation of other human
rights and fundamental freedoms.
• As such, claiming cultural relativism as an excuse to violate or deny
human rights is an abuse of the right to culture.
• In now a days, cultural rights do not justify torture, murder, genocide,
discrimination on grounds of sex, race, language or religion, or violation
of any of the other universal human rights and fundamental freedoms
established in international law. Any attempts to justify such violations on
the basis of culture have no validity under international law.
 A Cultural Context

• Traditional cultures should be approached and recognized as partners to

promote greater respect for and observance of human rights if they are in
line the minimum standard.
• Drawing on such compatible practices and common values from
traditional cultures would enhance and advance human rights promotion
and protection.
• This insight would enable human rights advocacy to assert the cultural
relevance, as well as the legal obligation, of universal human rights in
diverse cultural contexts.
• Recognition and appreciation of particular cultural contexts would serve
to facilitate, rather than reduce, human rights respect and observance.
• Working in this way with particular cultures inherently recognizes cultural
integrity and diversity, without compromising or diluting the
unquestionably universal standard of human rights
 Globalization, Development and Human
Rights
• The relation between globalization, development and
human rights raises policy and legal questions. One such
question is whether globalization of market-oriented
economic system is essential for development and
protection of human rights?
• Human rights have become an integral part of the
process of globalization in many ways.
• However it tends to intensifies impoverishment by
increasing the poverty, insecurity, fragmentation of
society and thus violates human rights and human
dignity of millions of people.
 cont..
• To curb these effects ,the Preamble of the Declaration of the Right
to Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1986,
describes “development as a comprehensive economic, social,
cultural and political process that aims at the constant improvement
of the well-being of the entire population and of all individuals on
the basis of their active, free and meaningful participation in
development and in the fair distribution of resulting benefits”.
• Furthermore, the 1990 UN Global Consultation on the Right to
Development as a Human Right, stated that the right to
development is an inalienable human right with the human being as
the central subject to the right and that all the aspects of the right
to development set forth in the Declaration of the Right to
Development are indivisible and interdependent, and these include
civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.
 Cont..
• It was further maintained that the right to
development is the right of individuals, groups
and peoples to participate in, contribute to,
and enjoy continuous economic, social,
cultural and political development, in which all
human rights and fundamental freedoms can
be fully realized.
 Cont...
• A development strategy that disregards or
interferes with human rights is the very negation
of development.
• However the global integration of the structures,
processes, and ideologies produce injustice,
oppression, exploitation and mal-development in
society. The systematic integration of the forces
that are dominant in the globalization process
intensifies human rights violations.
 Development Aid and Human Rights
• The General Assembly has, by consensus resolutions, called for
such development aid to reach 0.7 per cent of the GNP of
developed countries. Actually less than half of that target has
been attained. For example, the United States gives only less than
0.2 per cent, instead of 0.7 per cent.
• Overseas Development Aid (ODA) presents debatable issues from
the perspective of human rights.
• Donor countries tend to emphasize their narrow concepts of
human rights as a prerequisite to sanction development
assistance.
• They also emphasize the pragmatic political fact that aid is not
likely to be provided if the beneficiary states violated basic human
rights.
 Trade and Human Rights

• Global trade is being liberalized and opened up in this era of

globalization.
• Even though A UN Commission on Transnational Corporations
attempt to draft Code of Conduct that requiring transnational
corporations to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms in
the countries where they operate, it has failed
• The TNCs which have gained strength in the post-globalization era is
the main actor in several developed countries in formulating new
foreign policies to shape a new global order that at the end of the
day violate human rights .
• A few hundred corporate giants, many of them bigger than most
sovereign nations are engaging in d/t business activities that violate
HR directly or indirectly.
 Cont..
• By acquiring earth-spanning technologies, by
developing products that can be produced
anywhere and sold everywhere, by spreading
credit around the world, and by connecting global
channels of communication that can penetrate
any village or neighborhood, these institutions we
normally think of as economic rather than
political.
• private rather than public, are becoming the world
empires of the twenty-first century.
 Impact of Globalization on Human Rights

• With the expansion of trade, market, foreign investment,

developing countries have seen the gaps among themselves
widen.
• The imperative to liberalize has demanded a shrinking of state
involvement in national life, producing a wave of privatization,
cutting jobs, slashing health, education and food subsidies, etc.
affecting the poor people in society.
• In many cases, liberalization has been accompanied by greater
inequality and people are left trapped in utter poverty.
• The Human Development Report of 1997 revealed that poor
countries and poor people too often find their interests
neglected as a result of globalization.
 CHAPTER FIVE: RESPONSES TO GRAVE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

 Amnesty International has commented that ‘the twentieth century was

perhaps the bloodiest in history.
 Millions of people were victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, war
crimes, torture, extra judicial executions and "disappearances.“For instances,
 Government forces massacred more than half a million civilians in Indonesia
in the mid-1960s in an attempt to suppress communism.
 Estimates of people killed by the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot in
Cambodia vary between 300,000 and 2,000,000.
 During the rule of Id Amin in Uganda from 1972-1978, more than 250,000
people were killed.
 Cont..

 In 1994 between 500,000 & 1,000,000 people were killed in

the government-directed genocide in Rwanda
 The systematic & gross violations committed by State officials
as an instrument of achieving some policy or by non-state
actors like rebel groups in case of civil war
 Thus it is clear that human rights cannot be realized without
having an effective mechanism of dealing with such
systematic & gross violations
 The 21st century is also witnessing similar cruelties and
injustices
• There two responses :
1.National responses -Transitional Justice and
2.International responses
 National responses -Transitional Justice

• It is an accepted principle that violations of rights Including systematic

& gross violations shall first be addressed at national level.
• Thus, the perpetrators of such violations/crimes shall be brought to
justice at national level.
• The international system of addressing such violations becomes
relevant if the domestic system is unable/unwilling to provide
remedies.
• The question of addressing such violation at national level doesn’t
arise unless there is some sorts of transitions. Thus the need is
addressed through what is usually referred to as transitional justice.
• Transitional justice broadly signify the mechanisms by which societies
in transition deal with past violations.
• It thus represents the various modalities of addressing past violations.
 Cont...
The three main needs that arise in societies in transition are the following:
1) The need for justice: Victims of violations or their relatives and the society
at large need to see the perpetrators of the violations are brought to justice.
It is thus necessary that transitional justice should provide a mechanism
by which this need may be satisfied.
2) The need to know the truth: The society in general, and victims or relatives
in particular, wants to know who among its members did participate in
the violations.
 As the past violations were committed systematically & grossly, the
society, even victims/relatives, may not know all that happened & all the
perpetrators & the degree of their participation.
 Thus, the need to know who did what & why is one of the basic issues
that may arise at the time of transition.
 It is claimed that knowing the truth about the past is crucial to build a
viable, rights-respecting & democratic society as well as to ensure that
violations wouldn’t happen again.
 Cont...

3. The need for conciliation እርቅ/negotiations there is a

general understanding that one groups of the
society are victims while others are perpetrators or
vice versa. This and other factors are likely to
cultivate among members of the society a mentality
of suspicion, mistrust & even animosity.
 A society desirous of moving forward should
therefore address this mentality.
 Society should have a mechanism of reconciling its
divided members & building trust, confidence &
mutual respect among its members
 The modalities of transitional Justice

 There are certain modalities of transitional justice that are well

known & well utilized by different socialites.
a) Prosecution: it involves the apprehension of perpetrators, the
gathering of evidence, and the filing of criminal charges,
judicial hearing and decision according to the law.
 The main concern here is to maintain the rule of law,
international obligation and moral duty to the victim.
 The duty to prosecute, particularly, exists in relation to grave
breaches of IHRL and IHL like War crimes, the crime of
genocide, crimes against humanity
 The rule of law thus requires that no person is exempt from the
law.
 Thus it is a mechanism of fighting impunity.
 Cont..
b). Truth & reconciliation. The main priority of this modality is to
reveal truths about the past, create conciliation, and achieve a
successful transition.
 Usually, the commission/authorized organ seeks & documents
the truth about the past by this procedure. Members of the
society are encouraged to come forward and speak their
stories. Thus, both victims/relatives & perpetrators give their
statements and such other information relating to the past.
c) Amnesty. Is refers to an official act, usually through law,
prospectively barring prosecutions of a class of persons for a
particular set of actions or events.
 Amnesties can be blanket or partial; they may be official, with,
for example, the passing of a law, or de facto, where a state
simply does not prosecute.
 Cont..
 It is important to keep two points in mind. First, these
mechanisms are not exhaustive. Other mechanisms may
include offering reparations to victims of State-sponsored
violence, reforming institutions like the police & the
courts, & removing perpetrators from positions of power
(lustration). Secondly, they are not exclusive of each
other. States may use a combination of these
mechanisms to attain the desired goal.
 A number of factors may influence society’s choice
including the availability of resources, the relative
strength & weakness of the outgoing regime & the
incumbent regime, political willingness, & many others.
 2. International Responses
• The international response is premised on the conviction that
such violations constitutes crimes against the whole
nations/international community, and results from the
inadequacy/ non-existence of national responses.
• Thus, certain crimes do constitute international crimes for
which the perpetrators are held individually responsible.
• The mechanism by which international law ensures that has
taken different forms. These include:
(1) the recognition & application of the principle of universal
jurisdiction,
(2) prosecution and trial by ad hoc international tribunal, and
(3) prosecution & trial by a permanent international tribunal
called the International Criminal Court.
 1. Application of the principle of Universal Jurisdiction.

• It is classically defined as ‘a legal principle allowing or

requiring a State to bring criminal proceedings irrespective
of the location of the crime and the nationality of the
perpetrator or the victim’.
• The principle of universal jurisdiction holds that certain
crimes are so heinous that any state can prosecute them,
regardless of where they were committed or the nationality
of the perpetrator.
• This principle is said to derogate from the ordinary rules of
criminal jurisdiction requiring a territorial or personal link
with the crime, the perpetrator or the victim.
 Cont...

• The rationale behind it is broader: ‘ it is based on

the notion that first certain crimes are so harmful
to international interests that states are entitled-
and even obliged to bring proceedings against the
perpetrator, regardless of the crime and the
nationality of the perpetrator or the victim’,second,
no safe havens must be available for those who
committed them.
• Universal jurisdiction allows for the trial of
international crimes committed by anybody,
anywhere in the world.
 Cont...
• There are offences recognized by international
law as punishable by any country.
These are;
(i) piracy, (ii) slavery, (iii) war crimes, (iv), Crimes
against peace, (v) crimes against humanity, (vi)
genocide, and (vii) torture. Eichmann Case in
1961, the Demanjuk Case in 1985, and more
recently the Pinochet Case in 1999 and the
Butare Four Case in 2001 are a good examples
 cont..
• The recognition of universal jurisdiction by the state as a principle is not
sufficient to make it an operative legal norm.
• There are basically three necessary steps to get the principle of universal
jurisdiction working:
1) The existence of a specific ground for universal jurisdiction,
2) A sufficiently clear definition of the offence & its constitutive elements,
and
3) National means of enforcement allowing the national judiciary to exercise
their jurisdiction over these crimes.
 If one of these steps is lacking, then the principle will most probably just
remain a pious wish.
 In practical terms, the gap between the existence of the principle and its
implementation remains quite wide.
 Irrespective of its limited application, the principle of universal jurisdiction
provides a mechanism by which the international community responds to
some systematic violations of rights that constitute international crimes.
 2.Prosecution and trial by Ad hoc tribunal

• These tribunals have specific/limited jurisdiction over crimes listed

under the instrument creating the tribunal.
• The first among these tribunals is the International Military Tribunal at
Nuremberg established by the London Agreement of August 1945.
Many Nazi officials were prosecuted before this tribunal.
• Other ad hoc tribunal includes the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia & for Rwanda (ICTY & ICTR respectively).
• The Statutes establishing these tribunals set out the crimes that fall
with in the jurisdiction of each tribunal.
• These are ad hoc tribunal established to address certain crimes
committed in certain geographic location or during specific period
• These tribunals are established pursuant to the Decision of the UN
Security Council
 3. The procedure under the ICC

• It is established pursuant to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,

which was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, on 17 July 1998.
• The Statute entered in to force on 1 July 2002 and the Court is now fully functional
at its seat in The Hague.
• The Rome Statute provides for the creation of a permanent international criminal
court to prosecute people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes.
• The court functions as complementary organ. Thus, the Rome Statute embodies
the principle of complemntarity.
• The principle of complementarity can be defined as a functional principle aimed at
granting jurisdiction to a subsidiary body when the main body fails to exercise its
primary function.
• Thus, the ICC has jurisdiction over the stated international crimes when States are
unable or unwilling to prosecute these crimes at national level. By so doing it
makes sure those that committed grave crimes are brought to justice & contributes
to the fight against impunity.