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Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights
1. What are Human Rights? Julia Kozma
and Johanna Lober University of ViennaLudwig
Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, Vienna
What are Human Rights?
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The Golden Rule
Do naught to others which, if done to thee,
would cause thee pain this is the sum of
duty. Hinduism
What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow
man. That is the entire law all the rest is
commentary. Judaism
Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you. Christianity
No one of you is a believer until he desires for
his brother that which he desires for
himself. Islam
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would
find hurtful. Buddhism
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What are Human Rights?

• Descriptive, legal and philosophical
  approaches
• Those fundamental rights, which empower human
  beings to shape their lives in accordance with
  liberty, equality and respect for human dignity
• The sum of civil, political, economic, social,
  cultural and collective rights laid down in
  international and regional human rights
  instruments, and in the constitutions of states
• The only universally recognized value system
  under present international law comprising
  elements of liberalism, democracy, popular
  participation, social justice, the rule of law
  and good governance

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Human Rights Terminology
Human rights Fundamental rights (international
law) (national constitutional law) Human
rights Citizens rights (for everyone) (for
citizens) Human rights Peoples
rights (individual rights) (collective rights)
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Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights
2. History of Human Rights Julia Kozma
und Johanna Lober University of ViennaLudwig
Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, Vienna
History of Human Rights
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Timeline
International Human Rights Law
Vienna World Conference on Human Rights
Constitutionalism

• Selective Protection Regimes
• Diplomatic protection
• Humanitarian Law
• Prohibition of Slavery
• Minority Protection

Banjul Charter / Decl. Right to Development
Socialism
Magna Charta
Liberalism
1993
Covenants CCPR / CESCR
Natural Law Doctrine
1981/1986
1215
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Habeas Corpus
1966
United Nations Charter
American Decl. of Independence/Constitution
Atlantic Charter
1948
WW II
1679
1945
1941
Peace Treaty of Versailles / League of Nations
Déclaration des droits de lhomme/ French Const.
Belgium Const.
1776/ 1789
WW I
German Const.
ICRC
1789/ 1791
1919
1831
1848
1875
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Philosophical Foundations I

• Doctrine of natural law inalienable rights
• Samuel Pufendorf (De iure naturae et gentium,
  1672, 2. Book, 1. Chapter 5)
• Der Mensch ist von höchster Würde, weil er eine
  Seele hat, die ausgezeichnet ist durch das
  Licht des Verstandes, durch die Fähigkeit, die
  Dinge zu beurteilen und sich frei zu
  entscheiden ....
• John Locke (Two Treatises of Government, 1690,
  II, 124, 123, 87)
• the great and chief end, therefore, of men
  uniting into commonwealths, and putting
  themselves under government, is the preservation
  of their property-that is, their lives, liberties
  and estates.
• gtIndividual human beings as subjects endowed
  with rights
• gtNew relationship between state and individual
  social contract

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Philosophical Foundations II

• American Declaration of Independence 1776
• we hold these truths to be self-evident that
  all men are created equal that they are endowed
  by their creator with certain inalienable rights
  that among these are life, liberty, and the
  pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these
  rights, governments are instituted among men
  deriving their just powers from the consent of
  the governed.
• French Déclaration des droits de lhomme et du
  citoyen 1789
• Article II Le but de toute association
  politique est la conservation des droits naturels
  et imprescriptibles de lhomme. Ces droits sont
  la liberté, la propriété, la sûreté et la
  résistance a loppression.
• Article III Le principe de toute souveraineté
  réside essentiellement dans la nation.
• Article VI La loi est lexpression de la
  volonté générale. Tous les citoyens ont droit de
  concourir personnellement ou par leurs
  représentants à sa formation.
• gtRevolutionary and emancipatory concept
  freedom, individual self-determination, political
  participation (democracy)

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Philosophical Foundations III

• Liberalism freedom from state interference
• Immanuel Kant (Über den Gemeinspruch 1793)
• Die Freiheit als Mensch, deren Prinzip für die
  Constitution eines gemeinen Wesens ich in der
  Formel ausdrücke Niemand kann mich zwingen auf
  seine Art (wie er sich das Wohlsein anderer
  Menschen denkt) glücklich zu sein, sondern jeder
  darf seine Glückseligkeit auf dem Wege suchen,
  welcher ihm selbst gut dünkt, wenn er nur der
  Freiheit Anderer, einem ähnlichen Zwecke
  nachzustreben, die mit der Freiheit von jedermann
  nach einem möglichen allgemeinen Gesetze zusammen
  bestehen kann, (d.i. diesem Rechte des Anderen)
  nicht Abbruch thut .
• John Stuart Mill (On Liberty 1859)
• ...to assert one very simple principle, as
  entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of
  society with the individual in the way of
  compulsion and control, whether the means used be
  physical force in the form of legal penalties or
  the moral coercion of public opinion. That
  principle is that the sole end for which mankind
  are warranted, individually or collectively, in
  interfering with the liberty of action of any of
  their number is self-protectionOver himself,
  over his own body and mind, the individual is
  sovereign .

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Philosophical Foundations IV

• Socialism equality over individual rights
• Karl Marx (Zur Judenfrage, 1843)
• Vor allem konstatieren wir die Tatsache, dass
  die sogenannten Menschenrechte, die droits de
  lhomme im Unterschied von den droits du citoyen,
  nichts anderes sind als die Rechte des Mitglieds
  der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft, d.h. des
  egoistischen Menschen, des vom Menschen und vom
  Gemeinwesen getrennten Menschen .
• Friedrich Engels (Anti-Dühring, 1877/78)
• Die Proletarier nehmen die Bourgeoisie beim
  Wort die Gleichheit soll nicht bloß scheinbar,
  nicht bloß auf dem Gebiet des Staates, sie soll
  wirklich, auch auf dem gesellschaftlichen,
  ökonomischen Gebiet durchgeführt werden .
• gt Priority of economic, social and cultural
  rights

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First Legal Codifications of Fundamental Rights

• Era of constitutionalism
• Applicable between the citizens and the state
• United States of America first 10 amendments to
  US Constitution (1789/91)
• France Declaration des droits de lhomme et du
  citoyen as part of French constitutions (1791)
• Belgium Constitution of 1831 as model for 19th
  century bills of rights
• Germany Paulskirchenverfassung (1848), Weimarer
  Reichsverfassung (1919), Bonner Grundgesetz
  (1949)
• Austria Staatsgrundgesetz (1867)
• Russia (USSR) Declaration of the rights of the
  working and exploited people (1917), Stalin
  Constitution (1936), Breshnjev Constitution
  (1977), 1993 Yeltsin Constitution (Russian
  Federation)
• China Constitutions of 1949, 1954, 1975, 1978
  and 1982
• India Constitution of 1950
• Brazil Constitution of 1988
• Uganda Constitution of 1995
• South Africa 1994 interim Constitution, 1996
  Constitution
• European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights of
  2000

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Antecedents of the International Protection of
Human Rights

• Limited by the doctrine of national sovereignty
  and principle of reciprocity
• Selective protection regimes in specific areas of
  mutual interest to states
• Diplomatic protection of aliens
• Prohibition of slavery (Quintuple Treaty (London
  1841/42) with 26 states parties, General Act of
  Berlin 1885, General Act and Declaration of
  Brussels 1890, Slavery Convention 1926/27)
• Protection of religious freedom (Augsburger
  Religionsfriede of 1555, Treaty of Westphalia of
  1648, Treaty of Versailles of 1871)
• Protection of minorities (various bi- and
  multilateral (peace) treaties, League of Nations
  1919)
• Humanitarian law (see next slide)
• Protection of labour rights (International Labour
  Office/ILO)

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Development of International Humanitarian Law

• Lieber Code 1863 (Instructions for the
  Government of Armies of the United States in the
  Field)
• Red Cross societies in Europe since 1863 today
  178 countries have national Red Cross and Red
  Crescent societies
• International Committee of the Red Cross 1875
• Hague Convention 1907
• Geneva Conventions 1929
• Geneva Conventions 1949 and Additional Protocols
  1977

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Internationalisation of Human Rights

• Holocaust painfully reveals double standard of
  international law
• Atlantic Charter 1941 (Roosevelt/Churchill)
• Sixth, after the final destruction of the Nazi
  tyranny, the hope to see established a peace
  which will afford to all nations the means of
  dwelling in safety within their own boundaries,
  and which will afford assurance that all the men
  in all the lands may live out their lives in
  freedom from fear and want
• Need to protect human rights in international
  law/international relations
• Preamble of the UN Charter 1945
• We the Peoples of the United Nations determined
  to save succeeding generations from the scourge
  of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought
  untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith
  in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and
  worth of the human person,hereby establish an
  international organization to be known as the
  United Nations.
• Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human
  Rights 1948
• Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights
  have resulted in barbarous acts which have
  outraged the conscience of mankind

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights1948

• Need for a common understanding of human rights
• Whereas Member States have pledged themselves
  to achieve, in co-operation with the United
  Nations, the promotion of universal respect for
  and observance of human rights and fundamental
  freedoms,
• Whereas a common understanding of these rights
  and freedoms is of the greatest importance for
  the full realization of this pledge,
  (Preamble)
• All human beings are born free and equal in
  dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason
  and conscience and should act towards one another
  in a spirit of brotherhood. (Art. 1)
• First comprehensive universal catalogue of human
  rights non-discrimination (Art. 2), personal
  liberties and freedoms (Art. 3-5, 12-13, 16,
  18-20), procedureal guarantees (Art. 6-11),
  rights to nationality and to seek asylum (Art.
  14, 15), political participation (Art. 21),
  economic, social and cultural rights (17, 22-27)
• But no binding instrument, only declaration of
  intent

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Three Generations/ Dimensions of Int. Human
Rights Law
Civil and Political Rights Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, 1966
Economic, social and cultural rights Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966
Collective Rights UN GA Res Declaration on the
Right to Development 1986 African Charter of
Human and Peoples Rights 1981
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1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
4. The promotion and protection of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms must be
considered as a priority objective of the United
Nations in accordance with its purposes and
principles, in particular the purpose of
international cooperation. In the framework of
these purposes and principles, the promotion and
protection of all human rights is a legitimate
concern of the international community 5. All
human rights are universal, indivisible and
interdependent and interrelated. The
international community must treat human rights
globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same
footing, and with the same emphasis. While the
significance of national and regional
particularities and various historical, cultural
and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind,
it is the duty of states, regardless of their
political, economic and cultural systems, to
promote and protect human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
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The Three Ps

• Promotion
• Standard setting
• Advisory Service
• Human Rights Education

• Protection
• Individual complaints
• Inter-state complaints
• State reporting
• Inquiry and investigation
• Fact-finding
• Human rights field
• monitoring
• Condemnation
• Sanctions
• Humanitarian
• intervention

• Prevention
• Early warning and
• early action
• Conflict resolution
• Preventive visits to
• places of detention
• Preventive deployment
• of civilian and/or military
• field personnel
• International criminal law

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From Declarations to Enforcement of Human Rights
(I)

• Declaration
• non-binding document/resolution of political
  bodies (UNGA, Parliamentary Assembly, etc.), e.g.
• Universal Declaration 1948
• American Declaration 1948
• Convention/Covenant
• binding international treaty, e.g.
• UN Covenants 1966/76
• European Convention 1950/53
• American Convention 1969/78
• African (Banjul) Charter 1981/86

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From Declarations to Enforcement of Human Rights
(II)

• Implementation
• human rights treaty monitoring, e.g.
• complaints procedure
• reporting procedure
• inquiry procedure
• Enforcement
• sanctions and enforced measures, e.g.
• expulsiom from international organizations
• economic sanction
• humanitarian interventions
• international criminal tribunals
• reduction or suspension of development
  cooperation, financial aid, etc.