Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

Chapter 2. Human Rights Background

A. What Are Human Rights?

The modern human rights era can be traced to struggles to end slavery, genocide, discrimination, and
government oppression. After World War I, many scholars, activists, and some national leaders called for a
declaration and accompanying international system—the League of Nations—to protect the most basic
fundamental rights and human freedoms. Atrocities during World War II made clear that previous efforts to secure
individual rights and curtail the power of governments to violate these rights were inadequate. The time was ripe
for adoption of a globally recognized instrument that enshrined these values. Thus was born the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as part of the emergence of the United Nations (UN).

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Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

The UDHR was the first international document that spelled out the “basic civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights that all human beings should enjoy.”2 The UN General Assembly ratified the declaration
unanimously on December 10, 1948.3 The vote to adopt the UDHR was considered a triumph as it unified diverse
nations and conflicting political regimes.
The UDHR was not legally binding, though it carried great moral weight. In order to give the human rights listed in
the UDHR the force of law, the United Nations drafted two covenants, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The
division of rights between these two treaties is artificial, a reflection of the global ideological divide during the Cold
War. Though politics prevented the creation of a unified treaty, the two covenants are interrelated, and the rights
contained in one covenant are necessary to the fulfillment of the rights contained in the other. Together, the
UDHR, ICCPR, and ICESCR are known as the International Bill of Human Rights. They contain a comprehensive
list of human rights that governments must respect and promote, including:
x Right to life;
x Equality;
x Security of person;
x Freedom from slavery;
x Freedom from arbitrary arrest/detention;
x Freedom of movement and residence;
x Due process of law;
x Freedom of opinion and expression;
x Freedom of association and assembly;
x Right to safe and healthy working conditions;
x Right to form trade unions and to strike;
x Right to adequate food, clothing, and housing;
x Right to education; and
x Right to health.

B. Why Are Human Rights Important?

Human rights reflect the minimum standards necessary for people to live with dignity and equality. Human rights
give people the freedom to choose how they live, how they express themselves, and what kind of government
they want to support, among many other things. Human rights also guarantee people the means necessary to
satisfy their basic needs, such as food, housing, and education, so they can take full advantage of all
opportunities. Finally, by guaranteeing life, liberty, and security, human rights protect people against abuse by
individuals and groups who are more powerful. According to the United Nations, human rights:
Ensure that a human being will be able to fully develop and use human qualities such as
intelligence, talent, and conscience and satisfy his or her spiritual and other needs.4

2
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “International Human Rights Law,” accessed Jan. 13, 2014,
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/InternationalLaw.aspx.
3
The 58-member General Assembly unanimously ratified the UDHR, with eight abstentions. United Nations, “A United Nations Priority,”
accessed Jan. 13, 2014, http://www.un.org/rights/HRToday/declar.htm.
4
UN CyberSchoolBus, “Understanding Human Rights,” accessed Jan. 13, 2014,
http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/about/understanding.asp.

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Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

Human rights are not just theoretical; they are recognized standards to which governments are to be held
accountable.5 There are five basic tenets underlying human rights as they apply to all people. Human rights are:

x Universal in that they belong to all people equally regardless of status. All people are born free and equal
in dignity and rights.
x Inalienable in that they may not be taken away or transferred. People still have human rights even when
their governments violate those rights.
x Interconnected because the fulfillment or violation of one right affects the fulfillment of all other rights.
x Indivisible as no right can be treated in isolation. No one right is more important than another.
x Non-discriminatory in that human rights should be respected without distinction, exclusion, restriction, or
preference based on race, color, age, national or ethnic origin, language, religion, sex, or any other
status, which has the purpose or effect of impairing the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental
freedoms.6

C. Who Is Responsible for Upholding Human Rights?

Governments
Under human rights treaties, governments have primary responsibility for protecting and promoting human rights.
But governments are not solely responsible for ensuring human rights. The UDHR states:
Every individual and every organ of society … 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.7
This provision means that not only the government, but also businesses, civil society organizations, and
individuals are responsible for promoting and respecting human rights.
When a government ratifies a human rights treaty, it assumes a legal obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill the
rights contained in the treaty. Governments are obligated to make sure that human rights are protected by both
preventing human rights violations against people within their territories and providing effective remedies for those
whose rights are violated.8

5
U.S. Human Rights Fund, Perfecting Our Union: Human Rights Success Stories from Across the United States (New York: U.S. Human
Rights Fund Public Interest Projects, March 2010), 6. Also available online at http://www.justdetention.org/pdf/ushumanrightsfund.pdf.
6
The Advocates for Human Rights, Human Rights Toolkit (Minneapolis, MN: The Advocates for Human Rights 2011), 4. Also available online
at http://discoverhumanrights.org/uploads/human_rights_toolkit_final_2.pdf.
7
UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Preamble.
8
The Advocates for Human Rights, Human Rights Toolkit, supra note 6, at 5.

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Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

Government parties to a treaty must:

International Human Rights System

The international human rights system, a network of human rights treaties and standards created and monitored
by international and regional human rights bodies, provides advocates with many avenues for improving human
rights conditions. Where governments resist or ignore one means of human rights enforcement, advocates can
encourage or compel compliance through other mechanisms. Advocates can also use international human rights
decisions and recommendations as part of their education and advocacy strategies.
United Nations
The United Nations is a global organization made up of almost every country in the world. The United Nations
promotes and protects human rights through several key human rights bodies:
x Human Rights Council. The UN Charter called for the
creation of an inter-governmental body, which is today called
the Human Rights Council, responsible for strengthening the
promotion and protection of human rights worldwide. The
Human Rights Council consists of 47 UN member countries that
meet regularly to conduct a Universal Periodic Review of
human rights in all countries around the world, to address
situations of human rights violations, to receive complaints, and
to make recommendations on how to improve the fulfillment of
human rights. Through the Special Procedures of the Human An interactive dialogue during the Universal Periodic
Review
9
The Advocates for Human Rights, Human Rights Toolkit, supra note 6, at 7.

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Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

Rights Council, independent experts hold mandates to examine, monitor, advise about, and publicly report
on either a human rights situation in a specific country or a thematic human rights issue.

x Treaty Monitoring Bodies. There are nine core international human rights treaties. Each treaty establishes a
committee of experts to monitor implementation of the treaty provisions by countries that have ratified the
treaty. Some treaty bodies also are able to take complaints from individuals and others whose human rights
have been violated. The following are the nine core human rights treaties and their years of adoption:

Treaty Acronym Year

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CERD 1965

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICCPR 1966

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ICESCR 1966

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEDAW 1979
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
CAT 1984
Punishment
Convention on the Rights of the Child CRC 1989
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers
CRMW 1990
and Members of Their Families
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities CRPD 2006
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
CED 2006
Disappearance

x Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Other UN Agencies. The OHCHR is
the center of most human rights activities of the United Nations. It coordinates UN action to protect and
promote human rights and includes country and regional offices that work with local partners to ensure
implementation of and education about human rights standards. The OHCHR also supports the work of the
Human Rights Council and the core treaty monitoring bodies. Several other agencies within the United
Nations deal with human rights issues, including agencies such as the UN Development Program and the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees.10

In addition to creating international human rights treaty law, the United Nations expands the world’s
understanding of the scope and content of human rights by drafting non-binding international standards that
reflect international consensus on specific human rights issues, such as declarations, principles, and guidelines.
Examples of these instruments include:
x Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment;
x Declaration on the Human Rights of Individuals Who Are Not Nationals of the Country in which They Live;
x Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
x Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities;
x Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention;11
x Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;

10
OHCHR, “Human Rights Bodies,” accessed Jan. 15, 2014, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/Pages/HumanRightsBodies.aspx.
11
Also known as International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 (1989).

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Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

x United Nations Principles for Older Persons;

x Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; and
x United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty.

Other International Human Rights Bodies

In addition to the United Nations, there are other international organizations involved in creating, monitoring, and
enforcing international human rights standards. Some of these international organizations focus on a particular
category of human rights issues, while others restrict their focus to a geographic region.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) oversees a group of legally binding conventions that guarantee
certain human rights related to work, especially “freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right
to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor; the effective abolition of child
labor; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.”12
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the
most serious international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.13 The ICC is based on the
Rome Statute, a treaty ratified by 122 countries that provides jurisdiction over these crimes and complements the
national legal system.

12
International Labor Organization, “Conventions and Recommendations,” accessed Jan. 15, 2014,
http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/introduction-to-international-labour-standards/conventions-and-recommendations/lang--en/index.htm.
13
International Criminal Court, “About the Court,” accessed Nov. 10, 2010, http://www.icc-
cpi.int/en_Menus/ICC/About%20the%20Court/pages/about%20the%20court.aspx.

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Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

Regional Systems for the Protection of Human Rights

In addition to the international human rights system, there are currently three region-specific, treaty-based
systems for the protection of human rights. The three regional systems were each established under the auspices
of a larger intergovernmental organization for regional cooperation: the Council of Europe, the Organization of
American States, and the African Union:1415

14
European Court of Human Rights, “Information Documents: The Court in Brief,” accessed Jan. 7, 2014,
http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Court_in_brief_ENG.pdf; Hellenic Resources Network, “European Convention on Human Rights and its
Five Protocols,” accessed Jan. 7, 2014, http://www.hri.org/docs/ECHR50.html.
15
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, “History,” accessed Jan. 7, 2014, http://www.achpr.org/about/history.

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Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

D. What Is the Connection Between Human Rights and Domestic Law?

International human rights law provides an important framework for guaranteeing the rights of all people
regardless of the countries in which they live. International human rights law is contained in many different types
of documents, including treaties, charters, conventions, and covenants. Despite the different official names, all of
these documents are considered treaties and have the same effect under international law: a country that ratifies
a treaty is legally obligated to protect the rights it describes.
Countries have different methods for joining or consenting to be bound by multilateral human rights treaties.
Some countries use a process called accession which requires only one step—depositing the instrument of
accession with the United Nations. Other countries require a two-step process of signing and ratification. For
example, for the United States to become a party to a treaty, the President must first sign and then present it to
the Senate, where two-thirds of the Senators must vote to ratify it.16 Regardless of the method for ratifying a
treaty, however, the end result is the same. Through accession or ratification, a country agrees to be legally
bound by the terms of the treaty.
Countries that ratify treaties are allowed to enter reservations to those instruments. Reservations are statements
made by a country that modify the legal effect of certain provisions of the treaty. Entering a reservation allows a
government to agree to most of a treaty, while excluding or limiting parts that might be controversial or
unconstitutional in its own country.
The means by which an international treaty enters into national legislation differs depending on the parliamentary
system and national procedures. In some countries, the constitution or other legal provisions allow direct
application of the treaty. In others, national legislation must be passed first to make the provisions of the treaty
applicable.
Even after treaty ratification, however, the strongest protection for the rights of individuals is often domestic law. In
some countries, the constitution may provide fundamental, minimum human rights protections. For example,
many of the rights contained in the U.S. Constitution are also found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR), especially rights related to political and civil liberties. Although the U.S. Constitution provides strong
protections for civil and political rights, it lacks similar guarantees for the economic, social, and cultural rights
identified in the UDHR. In the United States, fulfillment of those rights depends on national and state legislation
rather than on the U.S. Constitution. U.S. courts also provide a remedy for people whose fundamental rights have
been violated. Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court specify fundamental rights that have analogs in human rights
treaties, such as the presumption of innocence in a criminal trial17 and freedom of movement.18
Many diaspora community groups and others doing social justice work use multiple strategies, including human
rights monitoring, documentation, and advocacy, to advance their missions. Integrating a human rights approach
into social justice work keeps all avenues for advocacy open, whether at the local, national, or international level.

International Humanitarian Law

International Humanitarian Law, also known as the law of war or armed conflict, is a body of law created to
place restrictions on the conduct of hostilities (the use of certain weaponry and means of warfare), to protect
people who are not or who are no longer participating in the conflict (e.g., civilians, prisoners of war,

16
U.S. Senate, “Treaties,” accessed Jan. 7, 2014, http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Treaties.htm.
17
Coffin v. United States, 156 U.S. 432 (1895).
18
Paul v. Virginia, 75 U.S. 168 (1869); Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116 (1958).

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Chapter 2: Human Rights Background

wounded and sick, and humanitarian workers), and to confine the use of violence to the achievement of the
objectives of the conflict.19 The overarching goal of international humanitarian law is to “ensure the safety
and dignity of people in times of war.”20

The rules of international humanitarian law set forth in the four Geneva Conventions (1949) and their two
Additional Protocols (1977) differ in content and application depending upon the type of conflict. The most
comprehensive international humanitarian law rules apply to situations of “international armed conflict” (i.e.,
conflicts between countries).21 Less extensive
rules cover situations of “internal armed
conflict” (i.e., those that take place within a
country and involve one or more groups and
possibly the country’s government).22
Both international humanitarian law and
international human rights law share a
common goal of protecting the rights and
dignity of individuals, but that goal is pursued
in different ways in the two separate but
overlapping bodies of law.23 International
humanitarian law operates in a specific
emergency situation—armed conflict; human Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
and Riyad Ksheik, head of the Sahnaya sub-branch of the Syrian Arab
rights law applies more broadly and seeks Red Crescent, listen to a displaced woman tell her story.
generally to protect the rights of individuals
regardless of the presence of conflict.24 In addition, no derogations are allowed from international
humanitarian law rules;25 however, governments may suspend some human rights during a public
emergency that threatens the country’s security.26

19
American Red Cross, “Fact Sheet: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights,” accessed Jan.7, 2014,
http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m21969262_IHL_and_HR_Factsheet.pdf; Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights, “Fact Sheet No. 13: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights,” accessed Jan. 7, 2014,
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet13en.pdf.
20
International Committee of the Red Cross, IHL: The Basics of International Humanitarian Law (Geneva: ICRC, 2005). Also available online
at http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/publications/icrc-002-0850.pdf.
21
American Red Cross, “Fact Sheet: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights,” supra note 19.
22
American Red Cross, “Fact Sheet: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights,” supra note 19.
23
International Committee of the Red Cross, International Humanitarian Law: Answers to Your Questions (Geneva: ICRC, Oct. 2002), 36. Also
available online at http://www.ehl.icrc.org/images/stories/resources/ihl_answers_to_your_questions.pdf.
24
American Red Cross, “Fact Sheet: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights,” supra note 19.
25
Ibid.
26
International Committee of the Red Cross, International Humanitarian Law: Answers to Your Questions, supra note 23, at 36.

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Photograph and Image Credits

Photograph and Image Credits

Chapter 2
page 5 United Nations, Photo No. 1292 (Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States holding a Universal
Declaration of Human Rights poster in English, November 1949.)
page 8 UN Photo/Jess Hoffman, UN Geneva Flickr stream
 URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51848516@N02/4887437465/in/photolist-8rToTc-8rToSt-8rDZ2X-
8rH4EQ-8rDhRZ-8rToUZ-8rToRi-8rWtDh-8rToU4-8rDi5e-8rWtBm-8rToPr-8rWtJN-8rDhSV-8rDhZv-
8rDhXr-8rGnWm-8rGnXS-8rGo4j-8rDi1P-8rGo5j-8rDhWk-8rDhYp-8rUgHN-8rVHMw-8rEVi2-8rVHQ3-
8rVHPo-8rVJCQ-8rRbz2-8rUgQd-8rUgUE-8rUgUf-8rUgSA-8rEVaa-8EKtsr-8rToMP-8EKtiK-8rVHLS-
8rRbBx-8EKtqM-8rVHRo-8rVHS1-8rVHNY-8rVHQC-8rVHNf-8rJ13d-8rVHKJ-8rVHKh-8rRbxv-8rRbyr
 Creative Commons License: http://CreativeCommons.org/Licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en
page 13 © Ibrahim Malla/ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross Flickr stream
 URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/icrc/11892623585/
 Creative Commons License: http://CreativeCommons.org/Licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en

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