Sources Of Human Rights

1. Week 4 Sources Of Human Rights

2. Since the second world war international • human rights law has been developing • in an unpredictable way and has become • a basic part of international law as a • whole International Organization, whose • concern is directed on the human person • or certain categories of human persons.

3. 1- International instruments (General instruments). • With the creation of the United Nations in 1945, after the violence against humanity of the Second World War, human rights became a matter of international concern. • The international community recognized the need to develop commonly-agreed minimum standards for the treatment of persons by governments and agreed to take measures to safeguard human rights.

4. The UN Charter, an international treaty that is legally binding to all Member States, contains important provisions on human rights. The Charter recognizes international cooperation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights for all as one of the purposes of the organization (Article 1).

5. The Charter states that the UN shall promote universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion (Article 55). By joining the United Nations, Member States pledge to take action in cooperation with the UN to achieve respect for human rights (Article 56).

6. In the framework of the United Nations, the international community has engaged in a process of setting standards for creating a legal framework for the effective promotion and protection of human rights. This has led to the development of numerous treaties, declarations, guidelines, and other instruments that detail the contents of human rights, the obligations of states, and the mechanisms to protect them and monitor their implementation.

7. Treaties, conventions, and covenants are legally binding documents. This means that if a state is party to a treaty, it has an obligation to take measures to protect and promote the rights contained therein.

8. The explanation of the generally-worded human rights clauses of the U.N. charter took the form of the International Bill of Human Rights, which contains: ( 1 ) The Universal Declaration of human rights of 1948. ( 2 ) The International Covenant on Economic, social and cultural rights of 1966. ( 3 ) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966.

9. These instruments present with a view for establishing a world-wide system for the promotion and protection of human rights, in recognition that " the dignity and the equal rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom , justice and peace in the world ".

10. International Bill of Rights Among the many instruments developed by the international community, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights form what is known as the “International Bill of Rights.” The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948, represents the first comprehensive agreement among nations as to the specific rights and freedoms of all human beings.

11. The rights and freedoms of all human beings include civil and political rights, such as the rights to life, not to be subjected to torture, to liberty, to equality before the law, to a fair trial, to freedom of movement, to assembly, to asylum, to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression, and others. They also include economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to food, clothing, housing and medical care, to social security, to work, to equal pay for equal work, to form trade unions, to education, and others.

12. The Declaration is not, by itself, a legally binding document (unlike the UN Charter and other international treaties). It contains legal, moral, and philosophical beliefs believed by all people, it has a very strong moral and political authority. However, some of its provisions (for example, the right to life, the prohibition of torture, and others) are considered to be part of customary international law and are legally binding for all states.

13. The two International Covenants are treaties (The International Covenant on Economic, social and cultural rights of 1966. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966). They sets legal obligations on states parties. Most UN Member States have ratified the two Covenants, thus committing to take action to ensure that the rights guaranteed by these treaties are effectively implemented and enjoyed by people under their jurisdiction.

14. 2- Regional Instruments Other instruments, covering a large number of human rights, have been drown up at the regional level .They are treaties that are developed within a specific region and are open for ratification only to the states belonging to that region.

15. So far, there are human rights treaties for Africa, Europe, and the Americas: (1) The American declaration of the rights and duties of man of 1948. And the American convention on human rights of 1969. (2) The European convention of human rights and fundamental freedoms of 1950 with its five protocols and European social charter of 1961.

16. (3) The African Charter on human and people's rights of 1981. "The regional convents represent an effort by the States concerned to try out new methods of realizing human rights in practice, and that, from this point of view, they are justified".

17. 3- Specific instruments There are also some specific instruments such as: ( 1 ) The convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of Genocide of 1948. ( 2 ) The international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination of 1965 . ( 3 ) The international convention on the suppression and punished of the crime of Apartheid of 1973 . ( 4 ) The convention of the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women of 1979 . ( 5 ) The conventions and recommendation of the International Labor Organization. ( 6 ) The conventions of the U.N.E.S.C.O (Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict – the convention against discrimination in education)