What are human rights?

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex,
national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our
human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Characteristic:

a. Universal and inalienable

The principle of universality of human rights is the cornerstone of international human rights law. It is the
duty of States to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of their
political, economic and cultural systems.

Human rights are inalienable. They should not be taken away, except in specific situations and according to
due process. For example, the right to liberty may be restricted if a person is found guilty of a crime by a
court of law.

b. Interdependent and indivisible

All human rights are indivisible, whether they are civil and political rights, such as the right to life, equality
before the law and freedom of expression; economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to work,
social security and education , or collective rights, such as the rights to development and self-determination,
are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent. The improvement of one right facilitates advancement of the
others. Likewise, the deprivation of one right adversely affects the others.  

c. Equal and non-discriminatory

Non-discrimination is a cross-cutting principle in international human rights law. The principle is present in all
the major human rights treaties and provides the central theme of some of international human rights
conventions such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.  

The principle applies to everyone in relation to all human rights and freedoms and it prohibits discrimination
on the basis of a list of non-exhaustive categories such as sex, race, colour and so on. The principle of non-
discrimination is complemented by the principle of equality, as stated in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

d. Both Rights and Obligations

 Human rights entail both rights and obligations. States assume obligations and duties under international law
to respect, to protect and to fulfil 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 fulfil means that States must
take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights. At the individual level, while we are
entitled our human rights, we should also respect the human rights of others.

United Nations Organization is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation
in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and
achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of
Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple
subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.

Human rights Instruments

International human rights instruments can be classified into two categories:

1. declarations, adopted by bodies such as the United Nations General Assembly, which are not legally
binding although they may be politically so; and

2. conventions, which are legally binding instruments concluded under international law. International
treaties and even declarations can, over time, obtain the status of customary international law; an
international agreement, or treaty

Declarations:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on 10 December 1948 in Paris. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second
World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are entitled. It
consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights
instruments, national constitutions and laws.

The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols. In 1966 the General Assembly adopted the two detailed
Covenants, which complete the International Bill of Human Rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are sometimes referred to as the
international bill of rights.

Conventions:

1. Geneva conventions comprise four treaties and three additional protocols that set the standards in
international law for humanitarian treatment of the victims of war.

The Geneva Conventions comprise rules that apply in times of armed conflict and seek to protect people who
are not or are no longer taking part in hostilities, for example:

 wounded or sick fighters

 prisoners of war
 civilians
 medical and religious personnel
4 Treaties:
 First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed
Forces in the Field, 1864
 Second Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked
Members of Armed Forces at Sea, 1906
 Third Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 1929
 Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949
 3 Protocols:

 Protocol I (1977) relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts

 Protocol II (1977) relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts
 Protocol III (2005) relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (for medical services)

2. UN genocide treaty

The treaty defines genocide as the destruction of "a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group." Whereas the
Nuremberg trials were conducted by an international military tribunal and specified that "crimes against
humanity" related to war crimes, the 1951 U.N. Treaty encompasses war and peace:

Article I- The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of
war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

Article II- In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

a. Killing members of the group;

b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
destruction in whole or in part;
d. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
e. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

UN General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA/GA) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations
and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation. Its powers are to oversee the
budget of the United Nations, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, receive reports
from other parts of the United Nations and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly
Resolutions.

The General Assembly meets under its president or secretary general in regular yearly sessions.

Voting in the General Assembly on important questions – recommendations on peace and security; election
of members to organs; admission, suspension, and expulsion of members; budgetary matters – is by a two-
thirds majority of those present and voting. Other questions are decided by majority vote. Each member
country has one vote. Apart from approval of budgetary matters, including adoption of a scale of assessment,
Assembly resolutions are not binding on the members. The Assembly may make recommendations on any
matters within the scope of the UN, except matters of peace and security under Security Council
consideration. The one state, one vote power structure theoretically allows states comprising just eight
percent of the world population to pass a resolution by a two-thirds vote.

Human Rights Bodies

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) works to offer the best expertise and support
to the different human rights monitoring mechanisms in the United Nations system :
 1. UN Charter-based bodies, including the Human Rights Council, and
2. bodies created under the international human rights treaties and made up of independent
experts mandated to monitor State parties' compliance with their treaty obligations.

Charter-based bodies

 Human Rights Council

 Universal Periodic Review
 Commission on Human Rights (replaced by the Human Rights Council)
 Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

Special Rapporteur is a title given to individuals working on behalf of the United Nations who bear a
specific mandate from the UN Human Rights Council (or the former UN Commission on Human
Rights, UNCHR), to investigate, monitor and recommend solutions to human rights problems. They
are also called "Special Procedures".

Appointed by the UN Secretary General, these experts are "of high moral character and recognized
competence in the field of human rights." They act independently of governments. They do not
receive any financial compensation for their work, but they receive personnel and logistical support
from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Some of these experts
are called Special Representatives or Independent Experts.

Special Rapporteurs often conduct fact-finding missions to countries to investigate allegations of

human rights violations. They can only visit countries that have agreed to invite them.

Aside from fact-finding missions, Rapporteurs regularly assess and verify complaints from alleged
victims of human rights violations. Once a complaint is verified as legitimate, an urgent letter or
appeal is sent to the government that has allegedly committed the violation.

Thematic Special Rapporteurs are typically appointed to serve for 3 years, after which their mandate
can be extended for another 3 years. Country Special Rapporteurs are appointed to serve for 1 year,
and their term is renewed every year.

Treaty-based bodies

There are eight human rights treaty bodies that monitor implementation of the core international human
rights treaties :

 Human Rights Committee (CCPR)

 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
 Committee Against Torture (CAT) & Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) -
Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)
 Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
 Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW)
 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United
Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976. It commits its parties to
respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of
speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. As of October 2009,
the Covenant had 72 signatories and 166 parties.

The ICCPR is part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is monitored by the Human Rights Committee (a
separate body to the Human Rights Council which replaced the Commission on Human Rights, under the UN
Charter in 2006) with permanent standing, to consider periodic reports submitted by member States on their
compliance with the treaty. Members of the Human Rights Committee are elected by member states, but do
not represent any State.

First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is an international
treaty establishing an individual complaint mechanism for the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights ICCPR).

The first Optional Protocol to the ICCPR allows individuals, whose countries are party to the ICCPR
and the protocol, who claim their rights under the ICCPR have been violated, and who have
exhausted all domestic remedies, to submit written communications to the UN Human Rights
Committee.

States parties to the ICCPR undertake to ensure that women and men enjoy all the civil and political
rights in the Covenant on a basis of equality. In addition, article 26 of the ICCPR provides that all
people are equal before the law, are entitled to equal protection of the law without discrimination,
and that the law shall guarantee equal and effective protection against discrimination. The Human
Rights Committee has decided that article 26 of the ICCPR prohibits discrimination in law or in fact in
any field regulated by public authorities and that the scope of article 26 is not limited to civil and
political rights.

Second protocol Believing that abolition of the death penalty contributes to enhancement of human
dignity and progressive development of human rights,

Convinced that all measures of abolition of the death penalty should be considered as progress in
the enjoyment of the right to life.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a multilateral treaty adopted
by the United Nations General Assembly. It commits its parties to work toward the granting of economic,
social, and cultural rights (ESCR) to individuals, including labour rights and rights to health, education, and an
adequate standard of living.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United
Nations convention. The Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discrimination and the
promotion of understanding among all races. Controversially, the Convention also requires its parties to
outlaw hate speech and criminalize membership in racist organizations.

The Convention also includes an individual complaints mechanism, effectively making it enforceable against
its parties. This has led to the development of a limited jurisprudence on the interpretation and
implementation of the Convention.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in
1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women.  Consisting
of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an
agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

By accepting the Convention, States commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end
discrimination against women in all forms, including:

 to incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system, abolish all
discriminatory laws and adopt appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women;
 to establish tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women
against discrimination; and
 to ensure elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations or
enterprises.

 The Convention provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through ensuring
women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life -- including the right to vote and
to stand for election -- as well as education, health and employment.  States parties agree to take all
appropriate measures, including legislation and temporary special measures, so that women can enjoy all
their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment is an international human rights instrument, under the review of the United Nations, that aims
to prevent torture around the world.

The Convention requires states to take effective measures to prevent torture within their borders, and
forbids states to return people to their home country if there is reason to believe they will be tortured.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil,
political, economic, social, and cultural rights of children.

Two optional protocols were adopted on 25 May 2000. The First Optional Protocol restricts the
involvement of children in military conflicts, and the Second Optional Protocol prohibits the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography.

UN agencies and members of the family

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as
equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy. FAO's mandate is to raise levels of nutrition, improve
agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world
economy. FAO is the largest of UN agencies and its headquarters are in Rome, Italy.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

The International Labour Organization (ILO) deals with labour issues. Its headquarters are in Geneva,
Switzerland. Founded in 1919, it was formed through the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles, and was
initially an agency of the League of Nations. It became a member of the UN system after the demise of the
League and the formation of the UN at the end of World War II. Its Constitution, as amended to date, includes
the Declaration of Philadelphia on the aims and purposes of the Organization. Its secretariat is known as the
International Labour Office.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the
United Nations established in 1946. Its stated purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting
international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for
justice, the rule of law, and the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the UN Charter.

World Bank (WB)

The World Bank, a part of the World Bank Group (WBG), makes loans to developing countries for
development programmes with the stated goal of reducing poverty. The World Bank differs from the World
Bank Group in that the former only comprises the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
and the International Development Association, while the latter incorporates these entities in addition to
three others (i.e.IFC, MIGA & ICSID

World Health Organization (WHO)

The World Health Organization (WHO) acts as a coordinating authority on international public health.
Established on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate
and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an agency of the League of
Nations.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

It provides monetary cooperation and financial stability and acts as a forum for advice, negotiation and
assistance on financial issues.

AD Hoc HR Tribunal courts Enforcement and Accountability in the UN

1. Nuremburg tribunal

The Nuremberg trials were a series of trials held between 1945 and 1949 in which the Allies prosecuted
German military leaders, political officials, industrialists, and financiers for crimes they had committed during
World War II.

2. Tokyo Trials

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trials, the Tokyo War
Crimes Tribunal or simply as the Tribunal, was convened on May 5, 1946 to try the leaders of the Empire of
Japan for three types of crimes: "Class A" crimes were reserved for those who participated in a joint
conspiracy to start and wage war, and were brought against those in the highest decision-making bodies;
"Class B" crimes were reserved for those who committed "conventional" atrocities or crimes against
humanity; "Class C" crimes were reserved for those in "the planning, ordering, authorization, or failure to
prevent such transgressions at higher levels in the command structure."

The Tokyo trials were not the only forum for the punishment of Japanese war criminals, merely the most
visible. The tribunal was adjourned on November 12, 1948.
3. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is an international court established in November
1994 by the United Nations Security Council in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan
Genocide and other serious violations of the international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan citizens in
nearby states, between 1 January and 31 December 1994.

The tribunal has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, which are defined
as violations of Common Article Three and Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions (dealing with
war crimes committed during internal conflicts).

4. The Special Court for Sierra Leone is an independent judicial body set up to "try those who bear greatest
responsibility" for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sierra Leone after 30
November 1996 during the Sierra Leone Civil War. The court is located in Freetown.

The Special Court has two Trial Chambers and one Appeals Chamber. Each Trial Chamber consists of
three Judges, one appointed by the Government of Sierra Leone and two by the United Nations
Secretary-General. In addition, one alternate judge was appointed by the Secretary General to Trial
Chamber II in the case of Charles Taylor. The Appeals Chamber consists of five Judges, two appointed by
the Government of Sierra Leone and three appointed by the Secretary-General. The Presiding Judge of
the Appeals Chamber is the President of the Court. S/He is elected by a majority of the votes of the
Judges appointed to the Appeals Chamber for a renewable term of one year. The Judges are appointed
for a renewable term of three years.

5. The Cambodia Tribunal, is a national court established pursuant to an agreement between the Royal
Government of Cambodia and the United Nations to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for serious
violations of Cambodian penal law, international humanitarian law and custom, and violation of
international conventions recognized by Cambodia, committed during the period between 17 April 1975
and 6 January 1979. This includes crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

6. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a body of the United Nations
established to prosecute serious crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and to try
their perpetrators. The tribunal is an ad hoc court which is located in The Hague, the Netherlands.

There are 16 permanent judges and 12 ad litem judges who serve on the tribunal. They are elected to
four-year terms by the UN General Assembly. They can be re-elected.

ICC vs. ICJ

The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against
humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression (although it cannot currently exercise jurisdiction over the
crime of aggression).

It gives teeth to the two bodies of international law that deal with treatment of individuals: human rights and
humanitarian law.

Its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, entered into force—and it can only
prosecute crimes committed on or after that date.The official seat of the court is in The Hague, Netherlands,
but its proceedings may take place anywhere.[6]

Three divisions—the Pre-Trial Division, Trial Division and Appeals Division—which carry out the judicial
functions of the court.
It consists of the 18 judges of the court, elected to the court by the Assembly of States Parties. They serve
nine-year terms and are not generally eligible for re-election. All judges must be nationals of states parties
to the Rome Statute, and no two judges may be nationals of the same state. They must be “persons of high
moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required in their respective States
for appointment to the highest judicial offices”.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (often referred to as the International
Criminal Court Statute or the Rome Statute) is the treaty that established the International Criminal
Court (ICC). Among other things, the statute establishes the court's functions, jurisdiction and
structure.

Any amendment to the Rome Statute requires the support of a two-thirds majority of the states
parties, and an amendment will not enter into force until it has been ratified by seven-eighths of the
states parties. Any amendment to the list of crimes within the jurisdiction of the court will only apply
to those states parties that have ratified it.

The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in The Hague,
Netherlands. Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory
opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international organs, agencies, and the UN
General Assembly. The ICJ should not be confused with the International Criminal Court, which potentially
also has "global" jurisdiction.

The ICJ is composed of fifteen judges elected to nine year terms by the UN General Assembly and the UN
Security Council from a list of persons nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of
Arbitration. Judges serve for nine year terms and may be re-elected for up to two further terms. Elections
take place every three years, with one-third of the judges retiring (and possibly standing for re-election) each
time, in order to ensure continuity within the court.

Should a judge die in office, the practice has generally been to elect a judge of the same nationality to
complete the term. No two may be nationals of the same country. According to Article 9, the membership of
the Court is supposed to represent the "main forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems of the
world".

Qualifications of judges:

All judges should be "elected regardless of their nationality among persons of high moral character", who
are either qualified for the highest judicial office in their home states or known as lawyers with sufficient
competence in international law. Judges of the ICJ are not able to hold any other post, nor act as counsel.

What is UN Human rights committee?

Monitoring civil and political rights

The Human Rights Committee is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its State parties.

All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights are being
implemented. States must report initially one year after acceding to the Covenant and then whenever the
Committee requests (usually every four years). The Committee examines each report and addresses its
concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of "concluding observations”.
Furthermore, the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant gives the Committee competence to examine
individual complaints with regard to alleged violations of the Covenant by States parties to the Protocol.

The full competence of the Committee extends to the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant on the
abolition of the death penalty with regard to States who have accepted the Protocol.

The Committee also publishes its interpretation of the content of human rights provisions, known as general
comments on thematic issues or its methods of work.

What are the Regional mechanisms for protection of Human rights?

1. European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an international treaty to protect human rights and
fundamental freedoms in Europe. It was drafted by the Council of Europe. All Council of Europe
member states are party to the Convention and new members are expected to ratify the convention at
the earliest opportunity.

The Convention established the European Court of Human Rights. Any person who feels his or her rights have
been violated under the Convention by a state party can take a case to the Court. Judgements finding
violations are binding on the States concerned and they are obliged to execute them. The Committee of
Ministers of the Council of Europe monitors the execution of judgements, particularly to ensure payment of
the amounts awarded by the Court to the applicants in compensation for the damage they have sustained.
The establishment of a Court to protect individuals from human rights violations is an innovative feature for
an international convention on human rights, as it gives the individual an active role on the international
arena (traditionally, only states are considered actors in international law). The European Convention is still
the only international human rights agreement providing such a high degree of individual protection. State
parties can also take cases against other state parties to the Court, although this power is rarely used.

The Convention has several protocols. For example, Protocol 13 prohibits the death penalty. The protocols
accepted vary from State Party to State Party, though it is understood that state parties should be party to as
many protocols as possible.

Council of Europe vs. European Union

Council of Europe It has a particular emphasis on legal standards, human rights, democratic
development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation. It has 47 member states with some 800
million citizens. It is distinct from the European Union (EU) which has common policies, binding laws
and only twenty-seven members.

The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose
of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and
facilitating their economic and social progress." Therefore, membership is open to all European
states which seek European integration, accept the principle of the rule of law and are able and
willing to guarantee democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms.

Council of Europe member states maintain their sovereignty but commit themselves through
conventions (i.e. public international law) and co-operate on the basis of common values and
common political decisions.

European Union is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily
in Europe. EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws which apply in
 all member states, and ensures the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, including
the abolition of passport controls by the Schengen Agreement between 22 EU states.

European Court of Justice vs. European Court of Human rights

The European Court of Justice is the highest court in the European Union in matters of European
Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union it is tasked with interpreting EU law
and ensuring its equal application across all EU member states. It is composed of one judge per
member state — currently 27 — although it normally hears cases in panels of three, five or thirteen
judges.

The European Court of Human Rights is supra-national court, established by the European Convention
on Human Rights, which provides legal recourse of last resort for individuals who feel that their
human rights have been violated by a contracting party to the Convention.

The Convention was adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe, all 47 of whose member
states are parties to the Convention.

It is the role of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to supervise the execution of Court
judgments. This body cannot force states to comply, and the ultimate sanction for non-compliance is
expulsion from the Council of Europe.

2. The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty.

The Charter sets out rights and freedoms and establishes a supervisory mechanism guaranteeing their
respect by the States parties.

The Charter guarantees rights and freedoms which concern all individuals in their daily existence. The
basic rights set out in the Charter are as follows: housing, health, education, employment, social and
legal protection, free movement of persons and non discrimination.

States Parties to the Charter must submit annual reports on a part of the provisions of the Charter (be
it the 1961 Charter or the 1996 Revised Charter), showing how they implement them in law and in
practice. The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) is the body responsible for monitoring
compliance in the States party to the Charter.

The European convention and social charter treaty complement each other.

3. American Convention of Human Rights- the purpose of the Convention is "to consolidate in this
hemisphere, within the framework of democratic institutions, a system of personal liberty and social
justice based on respect for the essential rights of man."

Chapter I establishes the general obligation of the states parties to uphold the rights set forth in the
Convention to all persons under their jurisdiction, and to adapt their domestic laws to bring them into
line with the Convention. The 23 articles of Chapter II give a list of individual civil and political rights
due to all persons, including the right to life "in general, from the moment of conception", to humane
treatment, to a fair trial, to privacy, to freedom of conscience, freedom of assembly, freedom of
movement, etc. The single article in Chapter III deals with economic, social, and cultural rights. The
somewhat cursory treatment given to this issue here was expanded some ten years later with the
Protocol of San Salvador
 2 additional protocols

1. Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the area of

Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (more commonly known as the "Protocol of San
Salvador"), represented an attempt to take the inter-American human rights system to a
higher level by enshrining its protection of so-called second-generation rights in the
economic, social, and cultural spheres. The protocol's provisions cover such areas as the
right to work, the right to health, the right to food, and the right to education.

2. Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty

2 Organs responsible of monitoring

1. Commission

2. Court

Organization of American States

The goal of the member nations in creating the OAS was "to achieve an order of peace and justice, to
promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their
territorial integrity, and their independence."

Article 2 then defines eight essential purposes:

 To strengthen the peace and security of the continent.

 To promote and consolidate representative democracy, with due respect for the principle of
nonintervention.
 To prevent possible causes of difficulties and to ensure the pacific settlement of disputes that may
arise among the member states.
 To provide for common action on the part of those states in the event of aggression.
 To seek the solution of political, judicial, and economic problems that may arise among them
 To promote, by cooperative action, their economic, social, and cultural development.
 To eradicate extreme poverty, which constitutes an obstacle to the full democratic development of
the peoples of the hemisphere.
 To achieve an effective limitation of conventional weapons that will make it possible to devote the
largest amount of resources to the economic and social development of the member states.

4. OAS treaty mother charter

5. Inter-American Treaty

Tools of IA commission to determine Human rights violations:

a. Case system

b. Standard setting

c. Reports
 d. Hearings

6. African Charter on Human rights

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights is an international human rights instrument that is
intended to promote and protect human rights and basic freedoms in the African continent.

It followed the footsteps of the European and Inter-American systems by creating a regional human
rights system for Africa. The Charter shares many features with other regional instruments, but also
has notable unique characteristics concerning the norms it recognizes and also its supervisory
mechanism.

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Charter also recognises certain economic, social and cultural rights, and overall the Charter is
considered to place considerable emphasis on these rights. The Charter recognises right to work, the
right to health, the right to education, the right to housing and a right to food.

Peoples' Rights and Group Rights

It recognises collective or group rights, or peoples' rights. As such the Charter recognises group rights
to a degree not matched by the European or Inter-American regional human rights instruments.

African Union is an intergovernmental organization consisting of 53 African states. The only African
state not in the AU is Morocco. AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity
(OAU). The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-
annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. The AU's secretariat, the
African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) is a quasi-judicial body tasked with
promoting and protecting human rights and collective (peoples') rights throughout the African
continent as well as interpreting the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and considering
individual complaints of violations of the Charter.

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights is a regional court that rules on African Union states'
compliance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.

Judges are normally elected for six-year terms and can be re-elected once. The President and Vice-
President are elected to two-year terms.