General characteristics of the major UN treaties on human rights

The UN currently has seven human rights treaties: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.Each of these seven human rights treaties has a monitoring body, composed of independent experts who examine the reports that signatory nations submit under the treaty. These committees are also in charge of issuing "concluding observations/comments", where they summarize their concerns about certain states and also give recommendations for the future.Four of the treaty committees have mechanisms to deal directly with individual complaints of human rights violations under their respective treaties. These four bodies are: the Human Rights Committee, for the ICCPR; the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, for the ICERD; the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, for CEDAW; and the Committee against Torture, for CAT. Strict regulations exist regarding when an individual may formally issue a complaint to one of the monitoring bodies. All domestic options for settling the violation must have been previously exhausted. Additionally, the individual issuing the complaint must be under the jurisdiction of a state that is a party to the relevant treaty. No complaint may be made anonymously; it must come from either the victim, a representative of the victim, or, in rare circumstances in which it is impossible for either of these people to complain, a third, non-anonymous party may issue a complaint. The event in question must have occurred on or after the later date of either the treaty's entrance into force or the date the state in question signed the treaty.

61) The International Bill of Human Rights is an informal name given to one General Assembly resolution and two international treaties established by the United Nations. It consists of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted in 1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) with its two Optional Protocols and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). The two covenants entered into force in 1976, after a sufficient number of countries had ratified them.

In the beginning, different views were expressed about the form the bill of rights should take. In 1948, General Assembly planned the bill to include UDHR, one Covenant and measures of implementation. The Drafting Committee decided to prepare two documents: one in the form of a declaration, which would set forth general principles or standards of human rights; the other in the form of a convention, which would define specific rights and their limitations. Accordingly, the Committee transmitted to the Commission on Human Rights draft articles of an international declaration and an international convention on human rights. At its second session, in December 1947, the Commission decided to apply the term "International Bill of Human Rights" to the series of documents in preparation and established three working groups: one on the declaration, one on the convention (which it renamed "covenant") and one on implementation. The Commission revised the draft declaration at its third session, in May/June 1948, taking into consideration comments received from Governments. It did not have time, however, to consider the covenant or the question of implementation. The declaration was therefore submitted through the United Nations Economic and Social Council to the General Assembly, meeting in Paris.

Later the draft covenant was divided in two (decided by the General Assembly in 1952^[1]), differing with both catalogue of rights and degree of obligations (ICESCR uses less strict "progressive realisation").

 

62) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. The full text is published by the United Nations on its website.

It consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws. The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols. In 1966 the General Assembly adopted the two detailed Covenants, which complete the International Bill of Human Rights; and in 1976, after the Covenants had been ratified by a sufficient number of individual nations, the Bill took on the force of international law. The Declaration continues to be widely cited by governments, academics, advocates and constitutional courts and individual human beings who appeal to its principles for the protection of their recognised human rights.

 

63) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976. It commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. As of March 2012, the Covenant had 74 signatories and 167 parties.^[1]

The ICCPR is part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).^[2]

The ICCPR is monitored by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (a separate body to the United Nations Human Rights Council), which reviews regular reports of States parties on how the rights are being implemented. States must report initially one year after acceding to the Covenant and then whenever the Committee requests (usually every four years). The Committee normally meets in Geneva and normally holds three sessions per year. There are two Optional Protocols to the Covenant. The First Optional Protocol establishes an individual complaints mechanism, allowing individuals to complain to the Human Rights Committee about violations of the Covenant.^[61] This has led to the creation of a complex jurisprudence on the interpretation and implementation of the Covenant. As of October 2011, the First Optional Protocol has 114 parties.^[62]

The Second Optional Protocol abolishes the death penalty; however, countries were permitted to make a reservation allowing for use of death penalty for the most serious crimes of a military nature, committed during wartime.^[63] As of December 2010, the Second Optional Protocol had 73 parties

 

64) The UN Committee on Human Rights. The procedure for individual complaints to the Human Rights Committee.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year for four-week sessions (spring session at UN headquarters in New York, summer and fall sessions at the UN Office in Geneva) to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR, and to examine individual petitions concerning 112 States parties to the Optional Protocol.^[1]

The Committee is one of nine UN human rights treaty bodies, each responsible for overseeing the implementation of a particular treaty.

States that have ratified or acceded to the First Optional Protocol (currently 114 countries) have agreed to allow persons within their jurisdiction to submit complaints to the Committee requesting a determination whether provisions of the Covenant have been violated. For those countries, the Human Rights Committee functions as a mechanism for the international redress of human rights abuses, similar to the regional mechanisms afforded by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights or the European Court of Human Rights. The First Optional Protocol entered into force on 23 March 1976

The members of the Human Rights Committee, who must be "of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights", are elected by the member states but on an individual basis, not as representatives of their countries. They serve four-year terms, with one-half of their number elected every second year at the General Assembly. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has the jurisdiction to examine individual complaints (or communications) concerning the violation of rights contained within the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), by virtue of the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant.^[4] This treaty is one of five international human rights treaties that contain individual complaints procedures.^[5] In addition, there are bodies with procedures in place to consider complaints that are not within the jurisdiction of the treaty body system. The Committee assesses complaints on a closed basis in accordance with Article Five of the First Optional Protocol and for that reason only the original written complaint, the response from the State and the reply by the author will be considered

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71) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (French: L'Organisation des Nations unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture; UNESCO; pron.: /juːˈnɛskoʊ/) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). Its purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, andhuman rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the UN Charter.^[1] It is the heir of the League of Nations' International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation.

UNESCO has 196 Member States^[2] (it recently added Palestine in November 2011) and eight Associate Members.^[3][4] Most of the field offices are "cluster" offices covering three or more countries; there are also national and regional offices. UNESCO pursue its objectives through five major programs: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information. Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programmes; international science programmes; the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press; regional and cultural history projects; the promotion of cultural diversity; translations of world literature; international cooperation agreements to secure the world cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Sites) and to preserve human rights, and attempts to bridge theworldwide digital divide. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.^[5]

UNESCO’s aim is "to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information".^[6]

Other priorities of the Organization include attaining quality education for all and lifelong learning, addressing emerging social and ethical challenges, fostering cultural diversity, a culture of peace and building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication

72 ) The ILO's work in the field of human rights protection.

The ILO aims to ensure that it serves the needs of working women and men by bringing together governments, employers and workers to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes. The very structure of the ILO, where workers and employers together have an equal voice with governments in its deliberations, shows social dialogue in action. It ensures that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in ILO labour standards, policies and programmes.

The ILO encourages this tripartism within its constituents and member States by promoting a social dialogue between trade unions and employers in formulating, and where appropriate, implementing national policy on social, economic, and many other issues.

The ILO accomplishes its work through three main bodies (The International labour Conference, the Governing body and the Office) which comprise governments', employers' and workers' representatives.

The work of the Governing Body and of the Office is aided by tripartite committees covering major industries. It is also supported by committees of experts on such matters as vocational training, management development, occupational safety and health, industrial relations, workers’ education, and special problems of women and young workers.

Regional meetings of the ILO member States are held periodically to examine matters of special interest to the regions concerned.

73) Regional international treaties for the protection of human rights. General characteristics.

In each Region there are organisations that have worked with their Regional System. Only in Asia the system is less developed. However for each of the Regions it is important to work with the systems as it can strengthen the setting of positive precedents and enforce implementation of women's rights in your region. In the case of the American, European and African System there is also a Court in place that gives judgements and guidance on the implementation of the Regional Treaties. Working with the Regional System provides the opportunity for setting precedents for the implementation of human rights standards in the region. How far along the system is in its development and precedent setting differs per continent, but it is worth the exploration. Increasing the use of the system also enhances its legitimacy and development as authoritative body. Regional Human Rights Treaties

Regional treaties most relevant to economic, social and cultural rights

- American Convention on Human Rights (1969)

- Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Protocol of San Salvador) (1988)

- African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981)

- African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990)

- Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003)

- European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950)

- European Social Charter (1961)

- Revised European Social Charter (1996)

74) International cooperation in the field of human rights within the framework of the major international organizations of a regional nature.