16
gious, economic and political groups. one refects the undamental concept that everyone is entitledto certain rights solely by virtue o their humanity.ther important historical antecedents o human rights lie in nineteenth century efforts to prohibit theslave trade and to limit the horrors o war. For example, the
Geneva Conventions
established bases o international
humanitarian law,
which covers the way that wars should be ought and the protectiono individuals during armed confict. ey specifically protect people who do not take part in the fight-ing and those who can no longer fight (e.g. wounded, sick and shipwrecked troops, prisoners o war).oncern over the protection o certain vulnerable groups was raised by the League o ations at the endo the First World War. For example, the
International Labour Organisation
(L, originally a body o the League o ations and now a U agency) established many important conventions setting stan-dards to protect working people, such as the inimum ge onvention (11), the Forced Labour on-vention (130) and the Forty-hour Week onvention (135). lthough the international human rights ramework builds on these earlier documents, it is principally based on United ations documents.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
wo major infuences in the mid-twentieth century propelled human rights onto the global arena andthe awareness o people around the world. e first was struggles o colonial people to assert their inde-pendence rom oreign powers, claiming their human equality and right to sel-determination. e sec-ond catalyst was the econd World War. e extermination by azi Germany o over six million Jews,Roma people, homosexuals and persons with disabilities horrified the world. alls came rom across theglobe or human rights standards to bolster international peace and protect citizens rom abuses by gov-ernments. ese voices played a critical role in the establishment o the United ations in 145 and areechoed in its ounding document, the U harter.Rights or all members o the human amily were first articulated in the United ations
Universal Dec-laration of Human Rights
(UHR), one o the first initiatives o the newly established United ations.ts thirty articles together orm a comprehensive statement covering economic, social, cultural, politi-cal, and civil rights. e eclaration is both universal (it applies to all people everywhere) and indivis-ible (all rights are equally important to the ull realization o one’s humanity). ee PPENDICES, P. 289,or both the complete text and a child-riendly version o the UHR.
The human rights framework
lthough the Universal eclaration has achieved the status o customary international law in itsmore than sixty years, as a
declaration
it is only a statement o intent, a set o principles to whichUnited ations member states commit themselves in an effort to provide all people a lie o humandignity. For the rights defined in a declaration to have ull legal orce, they must be written into docu-ments called
conventions
(also reerred to as
treaties
or
covenants
), which set international normsand standards.mmediately ater the Universal eclaration was adopted, work began to codiy the rights it containedinto a legally binding convention. For political and procedural reasons, these rights were divided betweentwo separate covenants, each addressing different categories o rights. e
International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
articulates the specific, liberty-oriented rights that a state may nottake rom its citizens, such as reedom o expression and reedom o movement. e
InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
addresses those articles in the UHR that define an individual’s rights to sel-determinations as well as basic necessities, such as ood, hous-ing and health care, which a state should provide or its citizens, in so ar as it is able. e U General
Leave a Comment