HUMAN RIGHTS Introduction

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HUMAN RIGHTSIntroduction

• VHS Hietzing, 27 October 2008
• Dr. Sabine Vogler

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Outline

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
• Rationale / History
• 30 Articles
• Values
• How did it continue?
• Human rights treaties and bodies
• Regional documents
• Who commits human rights violations?
• How to improve the human rights situation?
• AI Example of a NGO working for human rights

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights / 1

• Throughout the word, there are many people who
  do not enjoy the bas rights which have come to be
  accepted in many parts of the world as inherent
  rights of all individuals, without which no one
  can live in dignity and freedom.

Eleanor Rooseveld, 1948
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Universal Declaration of Human Rights / 2

• Attempts in history to promote (human) rights
• Bill of Rights (England)
• Bill of Rights (United States)
• Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
  Citizen (France)
• Covenant of the League of Nations
• In response to the atrocities of the 2nd World
  War

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights / 3

• Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December
  1948 (? Human Rights Day)
• Declaration (not a treaty itself, the Declaration
  was explicitly adopted for the purpose of
  defining the meaning of the words "fundamental
  freedoms" and "human rights" appearing in the
  United Nations Charter, which is binding on all
  member states.)
• 30 Articles

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights / 4

• Article 1All human beings are born free and
  equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed
  with reason and conscience and should act towards
  one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
• Article 2Everyone is entitled to all the
  rights and freedoms set forth in this
  Declaration, without distinction of any kind,
  such as race, colour, sex, language, religion,
  political or other opinion, national or social
  origin, property, birth or other status.

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights / 5

• Political and civil rights
• Ensuring things such as the protection of
  peoples' physical integrity procedural fairness
  in law protection from discrimination based on
  gender, religion, race, etc individual freedom
  of belief, speech, association, and the press
  and political participation
• Economic, social and cultural rights
• Socio-economic rights like the right to food,
  the right to housing and the right to health.

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights / 6

• Please assign the articles of the UDHR to the
  two groups of
• Political and civil rights
• and
• Economic, social and cultural rights
• Find good short titles!

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UDHR / 7 - Values

• Human rights are universal. Rights inherent to
  all human beings, whatever our nationality, place
  of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin,
  colour, religion, language, or any other status.
• Human rights are inalienable. They should not
  be taken away, except in specific situations and
  according to due process.
• Human rights are interrelated, interdependent and
  indivisible.

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Continuation / 1 Year 1966

• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights 1966
• First Optional Protocol
• Second Optional Protocol
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and
  Cultural Rights 1966
• UDHR 2 Covenants incl. OP form the
  International Bill of Human Rights

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Continuation / 2 IC Content

• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights 1966
• First Optional Protocol enables the Human Rights
  Committee, set up under the Covenant, to receive
  and consider communications from individuals
  claiming to be victims of violations
• Second Optional Protocol no one within the
  jurisdiction of a State party to the Protocol may
  be executed
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and
  Cultural Rights 1966

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Continuation / 3 IC Limitations

• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights
• contains no general provision applicable to all
  the rights provided for in the Covenant
  authorizing restrictions on their exercise
• Certain rights may never be suspended or limited,
  even in emergency situations (rights to life, to
  freedom from torture, to freedom from enslavement
  or servitude, to protection from imprisonment for
  debt, to freedom from retroactive penal laws, to
  recognition as a person before the law, and to
  freedom of thought, conscience and religion)
• IC on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• rights provided for therein may be limited by
  law, but only in so far as it is compatible with
  the nature of the rights and solely to promote
  the general welfare in a democratic society

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Continuation / 4 Further covenants

• ICCPR and ICESCR entered into force in 1976(3
  months after the date of deposit with the
  Secretary-Gen. of the 35th instrument of
  ratification or accession)
• Further HR treaties
• International Convention on the Elimination of
  All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1965
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
  Discrimination against Women, 1979
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
  Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
  1984
• Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989

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Continuation / 5 HR Treaty Bodies

• Human rights treaty bodies are committees of
  independent experts that monitor implementation
  of the core international human rights treaties)

• 7 HR Treaty bodies, e.g.
• Human Rights Committee (CCPR) ? ICCPR
• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
  Against Women (CEDAW) ? Convention on the
  Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
  against Women
• Committee Against Torture (CAT) ? Convention
  against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
  Degrading Treatment

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Continuation / 6 HR Treaty Bodies

• Consideration of State parties reports
• Initial report, periodic reports (every 4-5
  years)
• Government reports plus informations from NGOs,
  UN agencies, academics, press etc.
• Consideration of individual complaints
  communications
• Complaints by individuals
• Inter-state complaints
• Inquiries (only CAT CEDAW)
• General comments

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Continuation / 7 Further HR Bodies

• Human Rights Council
• Subsidiary body of the General Assembly and
  reports directly to it made up of 47 States (till
  2006 Commission on Human Rights)
• It ranks below the Security Council, which is the
  final authority for the interpretation of the UN
  Charter
• New Universal Periodic Review assess the human
  rights situations in all 192 UN Member States
• Complaint Procedure
• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

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Continuation / 8 Special Rapporteurs

• Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel,
  inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
• Urgent Appeals
• Allegation Letters
• Country Visits

Manfred Nowak
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Continuation / 9 Regional documents

• Africa
• African Charter on Human andPeoples' Rights
  (1979)
• African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
• African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (2004)
• Americas
• American Convention on Human Rights (1978)
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights

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Who commits human rights violations?

• States?
• States party to the covenants, treaty?
• Non-state actors?
• Non-governmental entities (NGE)
• Multinational companies
• Individuals?

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How to improve the human rights situation?

• Further treaties
• Increase the number of ratifications
• Awareness-raising with people about their rights
  (human rights education)

• Human rights violations
• Supporting victims
• Highlighting the pattern of human rights
  violations
• Supporting human rights defenders

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Group work

• Two questions
• 60 years after the UHDR where do we stand
  today?
• Is FGM (female genital mutilation) a human rights
  violation?

• Two questions
• Is human rights a concept of the Western world?
• Is poverty a human rights violation?

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL / 1

• AI Statute vision and mission
• Amnesty Internationals vision is of a world in
  which every person enjoys all of the human rights
  enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
  Rights and other international human rights
  instruments.
• In pursuit of this vision, Amnesty
  Internationals mission is to undertake research
  and action focused on preventing and ending grave
  abuses of these rights.

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL / 2
International Secretariat
AI section
AI section
AI structure
AI Austria
AI is a volunteersbased organisation!
Office
young amnesty
local group
TUA

• Austria
• 60 local groups
• 60 young amnesty groups
• 10 action groups

• worldwide
• 140 countries (gt 50 sections)
• 1.1 million members
• 4.300 groups

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL / 3

• Mobilizing the publicto put pressure on
  governments by
• public demonstrations
• vigils
• letter-writing campaigns
• human rights education
• awareness-raising events (e.g. concerts)
• direct lobbying
• targeted appeals
• email petitions and other online actions

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THANK YOUFOR YOUR ATTENTION!

• Sabine Vogler
• c/o Amnesty International Austria
• Trade Union Action Group
• Moeringgasse 10/1
• A-1150 Wien
• Tel. [phone]
• e-mail gewerkschafterInnen_at_amnesty.at
• http//www.amnesty.at/gewerkschafterInnen/
• http//www.amnesty.at/regionwien/