2nd lecture

Human rights

Chapter one

History of the promulgation of the United Nations universal declaration of human rights.

Section 1

The effort to create common, internationally recognized human rights norms can be traced back in history, at least to the beginning of the antislavery movement, which targeted first the abolishment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and then the practice of holding slaves, humanitarian concerns and the rights language are employed also in addressing the condition of minorities in some nations. International concerns over the promotion and protection of human rights became more noticeable in the twentieth century during the world war one era. The international labor organization (ILO) was created by the Versailles peace treaty 1919 , to address labor rights and conditions and it has become a significant apparatus for the articulation of the common labor standards , especially after it became affiliated with the UN in 1945. The League of nations also had its covenant within the treaty of Versailles and it committed its member states to work toward establishing humane working conditions but it fails to take any steps against racism and it ends up with a fail in its primary purpose.

More genuine efforts toward the recognition and protection of human rights were displayed by private individuals and nongovernmental organizations.

Leagues for the international defense of human rights started to emerge in different countries. Italian and Chinese efforts led to the creation of the Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme in 1922, which had the purpose of advancing human rights across borders and included the preparation of a declaration of human rights for all people in its program.

Such a declaration had already been drafted by the Institut de Droit International in 1921.

After eight years of debate, in 1929, the institute adopted the Declaration of the International Rights of Man.

Asserting in its preamble that “it is essential to extend international recognition of the right of man to the entire world,” the Declaration continued with articles that identified the rights and specified that each state has the duty to protect these rights “without distinction of nationality, sex, race, language, or religion” .

There is no doubt that the goal of advancing human rights entered a special phase after the Second World War.

The United Nations (UN) played the key role: by incorporating the promotion of human rights into its Charter (1945); by adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), two covenants on civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights (1966), and numerous other conventions; by creating monitoring agencies; and by holding global conferences on human rights.

The cumulative effect of these has been the formation of an international human rights regime.

Most scholars agree that the momentum for the creation of the United Nations came from the desire to secure peace after World War II, and concern over protecting human rights was largely a response to the Nazi atrocities that had been committed during that war. the Universal Declaration and the other human rights documents were formulated through debates that involved participants and input from different cultures and religions. The eighteen-member Human Rights Commission of the UN, which drafted the Universal Declaration, included not only the five Great Powers (China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the USSR) but also thirteen other UN members that would rotate at three-year intervals. The first commission, which was established in 1946, included delegates from Australia, Belgium, Byelorussia, Chile, China, Egypt, France, India, Iran, Lebanon, Panama, the Philippines, Ukraine, USSR, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, and Yugoslavia .

The Declaration, referred to as “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” by its Preamble, was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, by forty-eight votes to zero, with only eight abstentions. The subsequent human rights treaties and treaty bodies further expanded the human rights obligations of states and created an international human rights regime.

Technically, the Universal -Declaration of Human Rights is not legally binding. However, over the years it has been transformed into a potent legal instrument and invoked in many treaties and national laws. While its precise legal status is still subject to debate, the current legal interpretations tend to treat it as complementary to the UN Charter, which specifies the member states’ human rights obligations but falls short of defining what they are and thus binding as is the Charter (Henkin, 1990). Consisting of a preamble and thirty articles, the Declaration proclaims that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (Article 1) and “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration without distinction of any kind” (Article 2). It also reiterates equality before the law and the right to equal protection of the law without discrimination (Articles 7—8). Although it does not provide an explicit classification of rights, the rights listed in the Declaration are placed into five categories:

civil, political, economic, social, and cultural.

1-First are the rights which aim to protect the liberty and physical and moral integrity of the

human person ,

The general instruments deal with three categories of human rights:

Section 2

CATEGORIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS

including: 1-The right to life

2-Freedom from slavery and forced labor

3-Freedom from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

4-Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention .

5-The right to a fair trail. 6-The right to privacy

7-Freedom of thoughts, conscience and religion .

the freedom of opinion and expression .

the right to peaceful assembly and to the freedom of association.

The right to take part in the conduct of public affairs.

The right to vote, to be elected , and to access to public service .

The second group includes :( political rights)

(a) the right to work ,to free choice of employment and to just and favorable conditions of the work.

(b ) the right to form and join tradeunions.

(c)the right to an adequate standard or living including food, clothing ,housing , medical and social services.

(d) the right of education (e) the right to participate in cultural

life and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress .

(3 )the final category contains social and cultural rights such as:

COMMON FEATURES

Section 3

1-First the principle of equality or non-discrimination which is in fact a guiding element of all the instruments and which represents the idea of justice in human rights law.

2-Another common feature is that of limitations which may be applied in relation to the exercise of rights and freedoms.

Some instruments in particular the Universal declaration and the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights contain a general limitation clause in relation to the instrument as a whole.

The general human rights instruments have certain common features which are very much part of human

rights law.

The limitation clause mentions such factors as respect for the rights of others, the just requirement of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

These instruments contain, however also a general limitation clause, allowing states parties to derogate from their obligations in of public emergency, with the provision that from certain elementary rights, no derogation is allowed under any circumstances.

3-A third common feature is the notion of duties or responsibilities. This notion is particularly well developed in the American declaration on the rights and duties of man and also in the African charter on human people's rights.

4-It should also be noted that the general human rights instruments contain machinery for international implementation.

Human rights institutions may perform one or more of the following five functions which constitute as many component part of a complete system for the control of the observance of human rights:

i-information, ii-investigation, iii-conciliation, iv-decision and v-sanction.

Equality and liberty according to the article 1

of the universal declaration of human

rights.

section4

( 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).

We remark that this article deals with some aspects of human rights especially: the right to life, the right to liberty , the right to equality . And these rights are the main rights and the fundamental human rights to all human being:

The first article of the universal declaration of human rights states that :

1-All human beings are born free so no one shall be held in slavery or servitude.

2-Everyone is equal in dignity and rights , so everyone shall enjoy the right of life for example the right of body safety and the right of freedom.

3-All the people are endowed with reason . 4-Every human being is endowed with

conscience . 5-People should act towards one another in

spirit of brotherhood, if so peace will be everywhere.

Generally ,according to this article:

Non discrimination according to article 2 of the universal declaration of human rights.

section5

(Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind such as race, color, sex, language, religion political views 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 )

The second article of the universal declaration of human rights declares that:

The second article of the universal declaration of human rights concentrates its intention to one of the main human rights, the right of non-discrimination.

It will be known that the first article in any provision is the most important also its importance can be deduced from the object of protection that is to say the protection of the right of equality .

1-Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms mentioned in the universal declaration of human rights .

2-In general , their shall be no distinction of any kind between people : hence all the people are equal in rights and obligations.

3-In particular , there shall be equality between people whatever their race, color, sex, language ,religion, political or opinion , national or social origin, property, birth or other status .

4-There shall never be distinction between people according to 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 other limitation of sovereignty.

We can deduce the following provision from the second article of the universal declaration of human rights:

End of the second lecture