HUMAN RIGHTS

National Human Rights Institutions

Since the early 1990s, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have become prominent instruments for the enforcement of human rights on the national level. While in 1990 only few NHRIs existed in the OSCE region, these bodies now exist in more that 40 OSCE participating States. Generally, NHRIs are public institutions independent from the executive that promote and monitor states’ implementation of and compliance with their obligations to protect human rights. These bodies are state-funded, permanent and independent, and are usually established by constitutional mandate, legislation, or still in rare cases by a presidential executive order. The mandate includes the power to protect and promote economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights.

While their main role is to protect and promote human rights at the national level,  NHRI increasingly play a role at the international level. They advocate for the ratification of international treaties and support the implementation of recommendations from international mechanisms. Once accredited as compliant with international standards according to the United Nations Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions, the so-called Paris Principles , NHRIs may speak in their own right at the UN Human Rights Council about the human rights situation in their country and can provide reports to UN treaty bodies in addition to and independently from written submissions by state parties.

At the national level, NHRIs exercise their functions in many different ways.  Typical functions include processing and resolving human rights complaints filed by citizens and inhabitants of a country against public authorities, making policy recommendations to government, promoting national laws and practices that conform to international standards, conducting inquiries into significant allegations of abuse, and promoting human rights in the community in general. Often NHRIs chose to focus on specific areas seeking to protect the most vulnerable and marginalized groups of society such as minorities, women, children, the elderly and disabled, and detainees.

The terminology of “NHRIs” encompasses different types of bodies, mainly human rights commissions, ombuds offices and human rights institutes/human rights centres. While in the Asian-Pacific region and Africa, NHRIs have been established mostly as human rights commissions,  most NHRIs in the OSCE region exist in the form of Ombuds Offices.

One of the most important roles of NHRIs is to provide recommendations to governments on specific and general human rights issues, such as government human rights policies, or the ratification of international treaties. In addition, NHRIs are in many cases invested with the responsibility to review existing legislation and initiate discussions on new legislation pertaining to any human rights-related topic or to suggest reforms of the laws.

Especially Ombuds Offices further receive and investigate complaints of individuals of human rights abuses. The role of these independent bodies is primarily focused on investigating such alleged abuses and then publishing the results of these investigations, often also on conciliation or arbitration of issues.  Only in very exceptional cases do such bodies have the authority to impose legally binding outcomes on parties to complaints proceedings. Finally, most NHRIs are often entrusted with the responsibility of improving community awareness of human rights issues.

PREAMBLE

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

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,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTSas a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1. 

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. 

Article 2. 

Everyone 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. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. 

Article 3. 

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. 

Article 4. 

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. 

Article 5. 

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 

Article 6. 

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. 

Article 7. 

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. 

Article 8. 

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. 

Article 9. 

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. 

Article 10. 

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. 

Article 11. 

(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. 

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed. 

Article 12. 

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. 

Article 13. 

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. 

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. 

Article 14. 

(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. 

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. 

Article 15. 

(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. 

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. 

Article 16. 

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. 

(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. 

(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. 

Article 17. 

(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. 

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. 

Article 18. 

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. 

Article 19. 

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. 

Article 20. 

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. 

(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association. 

Article 21. 

(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. 

(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. 

(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures. 

Article 22. 

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. 

Article 23. 

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. 

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. 

(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. 

(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. 

Article 24. 

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. 

Article 25. 

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. 

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. 

Article 26. 

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. 

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. 

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. 

Article 27. 

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. 

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author. 

Article 28. 

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. 

Article 29. 

(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. 

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. 

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. 

Article 30. 

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. 

THE FOUNDATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Humberto Calamari of Panama, Vice-Chairman of the UN General Assembly's Third (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) Committee, presiding, in 1958, over a meeting on the draft International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - which built on the achievement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, using it as its foundation. (UN Photo)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is generally agreed to be the foundation of international human rights law. Adopted in 1948, the UDHR has inspired a rich body of legally binding international human rights treaties. It continues to be an inspiration to us all whether in addressing injustices, in times of conflicts, in societies suffering repression, and in our efforts towards achieving universal enjoyment of human rights.

It represents the universal recognition that basic rights and fundamental freedoms are inherent to all human beings, inalienable and equally applicable to everyone, and that every one of us is born free and equal in dignity and rights. Whatever our nationality, place of residence, gender, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status, the international community on December 10 1948 made a commitment to upholding dignity and justice for all of us.

Foundation for Our Common Future

Over the years, the commitment has been translated into law, whether in the forms of treaties, customary international law, general principles, regional agreements and domestic law, through which human rights are expressed and guaranteed. Indeed, the UDHR has inspired more than 80 international human rights treaties and declarations, a great number of regional human rights conventions, domestic human rights bills, and constitutional provisions, which together constitute a comprehensive legally binding system for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Building on the achievements of the UDHR, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights entered into force in 1976. The two Covenants have developed most of the rights already enshrined in the UDHR, making them effectively binding on States that have ratified them. They set forth everyday rights such as the right to life, equality before the law, freedom of expression, the rights to work, social security and education. Together with the UDHR, the Covenants comprise the International Bill of Human Rights.

Over time, international human rights treaties have become more focused and specialized regarding both the issue addressed and the social groups identified as requiring protection. The body of international human rights law continues to grow, evolve, and further elaborate the fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the International Bill of Human Rights, addressing concerns such as racial discrimination, torture, enforced disappearances, disabilities, and the rights of women, children, migrants, minorities, and indigenous peoples.

Universal Values

The core principles of human rights first set out in the UDHR, such as universality, interdependence and indivisibility, equality and non-discrimination, and that human rights simultaneously entail both rights and obligations from duty bearers and rights owners, have been reiterated in numerous international human rights conventions, declarations, and resolutions. Today, all United Nations member States have ratified at least one of the nine core international human rights treaties, and 80 percent have ratified four or more, giving concrete expression to the universality of the UDHR and international human rights.

How Does International Law Protect Human Rights?

International human rights law lays down obligations which States are bound to respect. By becoming parties to international treaties, States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfill human rights. The obligation to respect means that States must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights. The obligation to protect requires States to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses. The obligation to fulfill means that States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights.

Through ratification of international human rights treaties, Governments undertake to put into place domestic measures and legislation compatible with their treaty obligations and duties. The domestic legal system, therefore, provides the principal legal protection of human rights guaranteed under international law. Where domestic legal proceedings fail to address human rights abuses, mechanisms and procedures for individual and group complaints are available at the regional and international levels to help ensure that international human rights standards are indeed respected, implemented, and enforced at the local level.