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THE UNITED NATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

INTRODUCTION

The promotion and protection of human rights has been a major

preoccupation for the United Nations since 1945, when the Organization's
founding nations resolved that the horrors of The Second World War should
never be allowed to recur. Respect for human rights and human dignity "is
the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world", the General
Assembly declared three years later in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Over the years, a whole network of human rights instruments and
mechanisms has been developed to ensure the primacy of human rights and
to confront human rights violations wherever they occur.

Un’s Intergovernmental Bodies Dealing With Human Rights

a. The General Assembly It is the main deliberative body of the
United Nations. Made up of 185 Member States, it reviews and takes
action on human rights matters referred to it by its Third Committee
and by the Economic and Social Council.

b. The Economic and Social Council It is composed of 54 member

Governments, makes recommendations to the General Assembly on
human rights matters, and reviews reports and resolutions of the
Commission on Human Rights and transmits them with amendments
to the General Assembly. To assist it in its work, the Council
established the Commission on Human Rights, the Commission on
the Status of Women and the Commission on Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice. It also works closely with agencies of the United
Nations system which have a special interest in human rights matters.

c. The Commission on Human Rights It is the main policy-making

body dealing with human rights issues. Composed of 53 member
Governments, it prepares studies, makes recommendations and drafts
international human rights conventions and declarations. It also
investigates allegations of human rights violations and handles
communications relating to them.The Commission has established a
number of subsidiary bodies, including the Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.

d. The Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and

Protection of Minorities

This body undertakes studies and makes recommendations to the

Commission concerning the prevention of discrimination against
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racial, religious and linguistic minorities. Composed of 26 experts,

the Sub-Commission meets each year for four weeks. It has set up
working groups and established Special Reporters to assist it with
certain tasks.

e. The Commission on the Status of Women It is composed of 32

members, prepares recommendations and reports to the Economic
and Social Council on the promotion of women's rights in political,
economic, social and educational fields. It makes recommendations to
the Council on problems requiring attention in the field of women's
rights.

f. The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Composed of 40 members, it is the main United Nations policy-

making body on criminal justice. It develops and monitors the United
Nations programme on crime prevention.

To enhance respect for fundamental human rights and to further

progress towards their realization, the United Nations adopted a three-
pronged approach: (a) establishment of international standards, (b)
protection of human rights, and (c) United Nations technical assistance.

ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

International Human Rights standards were developed to protect people's

human rights against violations by individuals, groups or nations.

The following declarations adopted by the international community are not

legally binding: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948),
the Declaration on the Right to Development (1986) and the Declaration on
the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (1992). Many
countries have incorporated the provisions of these declarations into their
laws and constitutions. International covenants and conventions have the
force of law for the States that ratify them.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are legally binding
human rights agreements. Both were adopted in 1966 and entered into force
10 years later, making many of the provisions of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights effectively binding. Conventions include the Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (forced in
1951); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination (entered into force in 1969); the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (entered into
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force in 1981); the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (entered into force in 1987);
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (entered into force in 1990); and
the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of their Families (adopted in 1990, not yet in force).

PROTECTION

Conventional mechanisms (treaty bodies), and extra-conventional

mechanisms (United Nations special reporters, representatives, experts and
working groups) have been set up in order to monitor compliance with the
various international human rights instruments and to investigate alleged
human rights abuses.

Under the conventional mechanisms the following treaty bodies,

composed of experts serving in their personal capacity, were established to
monitor compliance with United Nations human rights instruments: the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC); the Committee
against Torture (CAT), the Human Rights Committee (Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights) and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). These
Committees are established under the respective instruments, with members
elected by the States parties, with the exception of the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, whose membership is elected by
ECOSOC.

To monitor the implementation of treaty obligations at the national

level, the treaty bodies examine reports of States parties. Each year they
engage in dialogue with approximately 100 national Governments and issue
concluding observations, commenting on the situations of the countries and
offering suggestions and recommendations for improvement. In addition,
the Committees are entitled to hear and consider certain individual
communications.

Under the extra-conventional mechanisms, a number of procedures

have been established to monitor compliance with human rights norms.
Thematic procedures include the Representative of the Secretary-General on
internally displaced persons; working groups on enforced or involuntary
disappearances and on arbitrary detention; and special reporters dealing with
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; torture; the independence
and impartiality of the judiciary; jurors and assessors and the independence
of lawyers; religious intolerance; the use of mercenaries; freedom of opinion
and expression; racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia; the sale of
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children, child prostitution and child pornography; and the elimination of

violence against women.

In addition, there exists a procedure, established by the Economic and

Social Council in 1970 (the so-called 1503 Procedure), for dealing with
communications relating to gross and attested violations of human rights. If
considered admissible, communications are reviewed by a Working Group
of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities, which decides whether to transfer the communication to the
Working Group of the Commission on Human Rights. Communications
remain confidential until such time as the Commission may decide to make
recommendations to the Economic and Social Council.

UN HUMAN RIGHTS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

The United Nations advisory services programme began in 1955 on a

small scale, providing institution-building assistance and other services to
Member States at their request. In 1987, the Secretary-General established
the Voluntary Fund for Advisory Services and Technical Assistance in the
field of Human Rights. Over the last few years, the United Nations Centre
for Human Rights and Electoral Assistance Division has received increasing
numbers of requests for technical assistance, which is usually offered in the
following areas:

* Reforming national laws: Incorporation of international human rights

norms into national laws and constitutions is a key element in the protection
of human rights.

* Supporting democratization and advising on electoral

procedures: Since democratization has been a priority issue for advisory
services, assistance has been provided to several nations on holding
elections and setting up national human rights institutions.

* Assisting in the drafting of national laws and preparation of national

reports: Regional and subregional training courses have been held in
Africa, Latin America and Asia and the Pacific.

* Strengthening national and regional institutions: Assistance has been

provided to institutions in various countries to strengthen human rights
protection and promotion activities.

* Training criminal justice personnel--judges, lawyers, prosecutors and

police: Training in the field of human rights includes seminars, courses,
workshops, fellowships, scholarships, the provision of information and
documentation.
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Good offices of the Secretary-General

The Secretary-General can use his "good offices" confidentially to

raise human rights concerns with Member States, including issues such as
the release of prisoners and commutation of death sentences. Results of such
communications are reported to the Security Council.

Although the idea of creating a post of High Commissioner for

Human Rights dates back to the 1960s, the General Assembly established
the post of High Commissioner only in December 1993.

The High Commissioner carries out the "good offices" function in the
field of human rights on behalf of the Secretary-General and is therefore
now the United Nations official with principal responsibility for human
rights activities. He is responsible for promoting and protecting human
rights for all and maintains a continuing dialogue with Member States. His
functions may be summarized as follows:

• Crisis management
• Prevention and early warning
• Assistance to States in periods of transition
• Promotion of substantive rights
• Coordination and rationalization of the human rights programme

The Centre for Human Rights in Geneva, part of the United Nations
Secretariat, in this connection implements the policies proposed by the High
Commissioner.