The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone in the history of human rights. The Declaration, drafted by representatives of different legal and cultural circles from all regions of the world, was proclaimed by the General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) as a common standard to be attained by all peoples and nations. For the first time, it establishes fundamental human rights that must be universally protected. Since its adoption in 1948, the UDHR has been translated into more than 500 languages – the most translated document in the world – and has inspired the constitutions of many new independent states and democracies. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols (on the complaints procedure and on the death penalty) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its Optional Protocol, form the International Bill of Human Rights. Many NGOs supported the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the decision to establish it had been taken in 1993 at the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, which had recommended that the General Assembly consider as a matter of priority the establishment of such a High Commissioner for the Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights. This happened in the same year. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and confirmed by the General Assembly as a “person of high moral character” with expertise in the field of human rights as a United Nations official with primary responsibility for United Nations activities in the field of human rights: Its role includes the promotion, protection and effective exercise of all rights. Engagement and dialogue with Governments to protect human rights and strengthen international cooperation and United Nations coordination to promote and protect all human rights. As the principal United Nations representative for human rights, the High Commissioner heads, inter alia, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and its regional and country offices.
OHCHR supports the activities of a wide range of United Nations activities in the field of human rights and is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights and respect for universal human rights standards, including the World Programme for Human Rights Education. The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987) is an example. It is based on a system of visits by members of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) to places of detention such as prisons and juvenile detention centres, police stations, barracks and psychiatric hospitals. Members of the CPT monitor the treatment of detainees and, where necessary, recommend improvements to respect the right not to be tortured or treated inhumanely. This mechanism has since inspired the development of a similar United Nations mechanism. CPT delegations regularly visit States Parties to the Convention, but may organise additional ad hoc visits if necessary. As at 9 August 2012, the CPT had carried out 323 visits and published 272 reports. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the most important of all human rights instruments.
A philosophical question about human rights that strikes many people is how it is possible that such rights exist. This section explores several possible possibilities. This article deals with the concept of human rights, the existence and foundations of human rights, the question of which rights are human rights and relativism in relation to human rights. Complaints against a State are submitted to a commission or committee in a so-called quasi-judicial procedure. The Board of Supervisors then takes a decision and States are expected to comply, even if there is no enforcement procedure. Often, a State must make an additional declaration or ratify an optional protocol to signal its acceptance of the complaints system. The Human Rights Committee (or “ICCPR Committee”) and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (within the United Nations system) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (within the Organization of American States) are examples of bodies dealing with such complaints. Minorities are often the target of violence. Human rights standards call on governments to refrain from and protect themselves from such violence.
This work is done in part through the right to life, which is a standard individual right. It is also the law against genocide, which protects certain groups from attempts to destroy or decimate. The Genocide Convention was one of the first human rights treaties after the Second World War. The right not to commit genocide is clearly a collective right. It is owned by both individuals and groups and offers protection to groups as groups. It is largely negative in that it requires governments and other authorities not to destroy groups; But it also requires the creation of legal and other safeguards against genocide at the national level. The Commissioner may deal ex officio with any matter within his or her jurisdiction. Although the Commissioner cannot receive individual complaints, he can act on the basis of all relevant information on general aspects of human rights protection as enshrined in Council of Europe instruments. Such information and requests for treatment may be addressed to the Commissioner by governments, national parliaments, national ombudsmen or similar bodies, as well as by individuals and organisations. The Commissioner`s thematic work included the preparation of reports, recommendations, opinions and positions on the human rights of asylum seekers, immigrants and Roma.
Many people would argue that the poor human rights record in the world is due to the lack of appropriate enforcement mechanisms. It is often up to each State to implement recommendations. Whether individual or collective rights are effectively guaranteed depends in many cases on pressure from the international community and, to a large extent, on the work of NGOs. This is an unsatisfactory situation, as it can take a long time before a human rights violation is actually dealt with by the UN or the Council of Europe. Is there anything we can do to change that? First, it is essential to ensure that States guarantee human rights at the national level and develop an appropriate mechanism to remedy violations. At the same time, pressure must be exerted on States to engage in mechanisms that have enforcement procedures. In the current conflict between the “moral” (or “orthodox”) and “political” concepts of human rights, Griffin is strongly on the side of those who regard human rights as fundamentally moral rights. Their defining role, according to Griffin, is to protect people`s ability to form and pursue notions of a life worth living—a capacity Griffin variously calls “autonomy,” “normative agency,” and “personality.” This ability to shape, revise and pursue notions of a life worth living is considered a paramount value, the exclusive source of human dignity and thus the basis of human rights (Griffin 2008).
Griffin believes that people appreciate this ability “especially high, often more than their happiness.” Europe has a well-established system of human rights protection within the Council of Europe, the cornerstone of which is the European Convention on Human Rights with its Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights. The protection of human rights ultimately depends on mechanisms at the national level Since then, citizens` rights to property and freedom of expression and publication have been institutionalized and popularized. They have also been enshrined in the constitutions of democratic nations. International human rights law began in response to the horrors of war, particularly the Second World War, although the Geneva Conventions began earlier. The establishment of the United Nations gave international legitimacy to human rights, particularly because many nations signed the Charter of the United Nations, which explicitly mentions human rights (Preamble, Chapter I). Since the founding of the United Nations, it has adopted numerous treaties and resolutions committing signatories to respect human rights. It had also set up courts to prosecute persons suspected of gross violations of human rights. In addition, several other organizations have emerged and have been established by various treaties. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for example, ensures that signatories to the American Convention on Human Rights respect this treaty. The European Convention on Human Rights obliges members of the Council of Europe to respect the human rights obligations set out therein. The Convention explicitly mentions the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and calls on all signatories to respect the fundamental principles of the document. Both the European and American Human Rights Conventions have international tribunals before which complaints of human rights violations can be brought.
In addition, several African countries have signed the African Charter on Human and Peoples` Rights. Many countries have ratified United Nations international human rights instruments. Thus, many human rights instruments, tribunals and declarations have been established since the Second World War, some of which inspired early human rights proclamations such as the Universal Declaration.