HUMANRI

GHTSDI
GESTI
ONBYFELI
XCHI
BUI
KEUNI
VERSI
TYOFCALABAR

(
07089621300)

HUMANRI
GHTS

HumanRightsar
eright
swehav esimplybecauseweexi stashumanbeings.Theyembodykey
val
uesi
noursociet
ysuchasequalit
y,respect,di
gnit
y,f
air
ness.Count
ri
esoftenincor
por
ate
humanri
ghtsint
heirownnat
ural,
stateandl ocall
aws.

Humanri
ght
sar
einherenti
nhumanbei
ngsi
nthesenset
hatev
ery
onehasar
ightt
ohav
ethei
r
humanr
ight
spr
otect
ed.

Sect
ion2(
d)oft
hepr
otect
ionofHumanr
ight
sact1993

“2(
d)-‘
Humanr i
ghts’meanstheri
ghtsrel
ati
ngt
oli
fe,l
i
ber
ty,
equali
tyanddignit
yofthe
i
ndivi
dualguaranteedbytheConsti
tuti
onorembodi
edint
heint
ernati
onalcovenant
sand
enfor
ceablebycour t
sinIndi
a.”

Uni
ver
sal
Decl
arat
ionofHumanRi
ght
s1948(
UDHR)

“
All
humanbei
ngsar
ebor
nfr
eeandequal
inr
ight
sanddi
gni
ty.
”

Accor
dingt
otheUni
tedNat
ions

‘
Humanr i
ghtsar
er i
ghtsinherenttoallhumanbeings,regardlessofr ace,sex,national
it
y,
ethni
cit
y,l
anguage,rel
igi
on, oranyotherstat
us.
”Theser ightsinclude“ t
her i
ghttol i
feandli
ber
ty,
fr
eedom from sl
averyandt ort
ure,f
reedom ofopi
nionandexpr ession,therighttowor kand
educati
onetcandeveryonei senti
tl
edtoaccesstot heserights,withoutdiscriminati
on.

FEATURESOFHUMANRI
GHTS

Humanri
ght
sareinher
entf
rom Bir
th:Thi
smeansy
oudonot
hingony
ourown.Theyar
eri
ght
s
avai
l
abl
etoever
yindi
vi
dualf
rom bir
thtodeat
h.

Equal,
Uni
versalandInal
i
enable:
Thismeanst
hateveryonehasequal
humanri
ghts,
bothri
ch
andpoor,t
heseright
sareuniv
ersal
;Thesameri
ghtisevery
whereint
heworl
d.Andever
yoneis
i
nsuredunderthehumanr i
ght
s.

Recogni
zi
ngandr
espect
ingev
eryhumanbei
ngi
nev
erypol
i
tical
,soci
al,
cul
tur
all
yandeconomi
c
spher
es.

Tr
eat
ingot
her
sasweexpectot
her
stot
reatus

I
ndi
vi
sibl
e,I
nter
-r
elat
edandI
nter
-dependent
.

SOURCESOFHUMANRI
GHTS

Hi
stor
iansgi
vecr
edi
tst
otheMAGNACARTAA.
D1521.

Ot
her
shavegi
vencr
edi
ttotheFr
enchRev
olut
ionwhi
chgav
ebi
rt
htot
heDECLARATI
ONOF
RI
GHTSofMANANDCITIZENin1789

Theter
m HumanRightwasint
roducedtotheUni
tedSt
atesDeclar
ati
onofi
ndependencei
n
1776andbecamepartoft
heBill
ofRightsint
heUSConsti
tut
ion.

TheUDHR.Whi
chwasdr
aft
edaf
tert
heWor
ldWarI
I.

TheUni
tedNat
ionsandt
heUNChar
ter
.Al
lthesecont
ainsour
cesofHumanr
ight
s.

THEPHI
LOSOPHYOFHUMANRI
GHTS:
NATURALLAW ANDPOSI
TIVI
SM

Thephil
osophyofhumanri
ghtsattemptst oexaminetheunder l
yi
ngbasisoft
heconcepthuman
ri
ghtsandcrit
ical
l
ylookati
t’
sjustif
icat
ion.Sever
altheoreti
calappr
oacheshavebeenadvanced
toexpl
ainhowandwhyt heconceptofhumanr i
ghtsdeveloped.

Oneoft
heol
destWest
ernphi
l
osophi
esonhumanr
ight
sist
hatt
heyar
eapr
oductofanat
ural
l
aw.

Natur
alLawisat heoryi
net hi
csandphil
osophyt hatsaysthathumanbeingspossessint
ri
nsi
c
val
uesthatgov
ernourr easoningandbehavi
or.Itmaintai
nsthattheser
ulesofknowingri
ght
andwrongareinherenti
npeopl eandarenotcreatedbysocietyorcour
tjudges.

Forexample,Theideathati
tisaccept
edUni
versal
l
yandunderst
oodthatki
ll
i
ngahumanbeing
i
swr ong.I
tisalsoUniv
ersal
lyunderst
oodt
hatpunishi
ngsomeonef
orkil
li
ngthatper
soni
sri
ght.

ThePosit
ivi
sm t
heoryholdsthatl
awsandt heiroperat
ionderi
vevali
dit
yfrom thefactofhav
ing
beenenact
edbyauthorityorofder
ivi
nglogical
lyfr
om exist
ingdeci
sionsr at
herthanbeingfr
om
anymoralconsi
der
ation.Thist
heoryaroseinoppositi
ontothenaturalLawt heor
y.

Howev er,thetwotheoriesthatdominatecontempor aryhumanrightsdiscussi

onaret
heinterest
theoryandt hewil
ltheory.Int
erestt
heoryarguesthatt hepr
inci
palfuncti
onofhumanr i
ghtsisto
protectandpr omotecer t
ainessent
ialhumani nt
erests,whi
lewil
ltheoryattemptst
oestabl
ish
thev al
idi
tyofhumanr ightsbasedont heuniquehumancapaci tyforfr
eedom.
 HUMANRI
GHTSI
NHI
STORI
CALPERSPECTI
VE

FEUDAL

Theconceptof‘humanr i
ghts’i
nt hemoder nsensewasunknowninear
lymedieval
England.Al
l
menandwomenwer esubjecttothewi l
lofAlmight
yGodand,underHi
m,tohiseart
hlyagent
s,
pri
ncipal
l
ythekingandthehi gherclergy
,andcouldonl
ypract
icewhatt
heywishedwiththe
consentoratl
eastthetacitacceptance.

MAGNACARTA

Devel
opment swhichulti
mat elyl
edtomoder nnoti
onsoftheri
ghtsoflesserindiv
idual
sbegan
i
n1215wi t
htheissuebyKi ngJohnofMagnaCar ta,the“
GreatChart
er”,whichgrantedto
bar
onsandf r
eemeni nEngl andcer
tai
nspecifi
cri
ghts,mostnotabl
yfreedom from
i
mpr i
sonmentwithouttri
al.TheCharterwasestabli
shedasaper manentpartofthepoli
ti
caland
l
egallandscapebyitsconfirmati
oninit
sfinalf
ormin1225.

MagnaCar t
awasgener al
l
yacceptedonlybecauseoffort
unatepolit
icalci
rcumst
ancesduri
ng
thedecadebet
ween1215and1225, aperi
odofroyalminorit
y.TheChar t
erwasconfi
rmed
manymor eti
mesdur i
ngthe13thcentury
;themostsigni
ficantoccasionwasin1297,whenas
wellasnewcopiesbei
ngissuedthetextwasenteredonthest at
uteroll
,gi
vingi
tthest
atusofa
parl
i
amentaryst
atute.

THECHARTERANDHUMANRI
GHTS

Threeoft heCharter’
schaptersremainv al
i
di nEnglishl
aw,incl
udi
ngone( 1225,chapter29)that
guaranteedtoeachoft heking’ssubjectst
hatt heywouldnotsuff
erimpri
sonment“ exceptby
thejudgmentofhi speersorbyt helawoft heland”.Thi
sphrase–notdissimil
artomoder n
i
deasofhumanr ights–wasf orthefir
stti
meequat edwit
h“dueprocessoflaw”inast atuteof
1354.Inthatstat
ut ethephrase“nof r
eeman”wasr epl
acedby“nomanofwhat ev erestateor
conditi
onhemaybe” .Thishugelybroadenedt henumberofpeoplewhocoul dconsi der
themselvescoveredbyi t
.

Duri
ngt hesameperi
odaphi l
osophical
beli
efi
nnaturalri
ghts,
suchasf r
eedom andthesafe
possessionofbel
ongi
ngs,begantoappearint
hewr i
tingsofphil
osophersl
ikeWill
i
am of
Ockham.Howev ermost“ordi
narypeople”r
emaineduntouchedbysuchwr i
ti
ngs,astheywere
unabletoread.
Cr
eat
ionofPar
li
ament

TheageofMagnaCartaalsowi
tnessedthecreat
ionofParl
iament.Wi
ththegradual
i
nvol
vementofrepr
esent
ativ
esoflocalcommuniti
es,i
teventual
l
ydevel
opedintothefocal
poi
nt
ofr
epresent
ati
vedemocr
acywhichitistoday
.

Thefi
rstrecordedPar
li
amentbegani
nJanuary1237.Repr
esent
ati
vesoflocal
communit
ies
werefi
rstincl
udedin1254,
andthefi
rstsur
viv
ingsummons,tot
hecountyofKent
,dat
esfrom
1275.

Theconceptoft he“
communi t
yoft hereal
m”r epr
esentedsomet hi
ngwhi chmighthavebeen
ter
med“commonweal th”i
nalaterperi
od.Itbecameest abl
i
shedev enamongt helowerorder
s
ofsoci
ety.I
twasquot edin1265bysomeoft heinhabi
tantsofthev i
ll
ageofPeatl
ingMagnai n
Lei
cest
ershire,
whent heymadewhatcoul dbei nt
erpr
etedasapol i
ticalst
atement:t
heytook
acti
onagainsttheservant
sofamanwhom t heyconsideredtobeanenemyoft hecommuni t
y
ofther
ealm.Thoser esponsi
blespentseveral monthsinprison.

Ear
lyunr
est

Duringthe13thand14thcenturiesthosewhower enotrepresent
edinParli
amentsomet imes
tookactionsonthei
rownbehal f
.Inmanycasest hisbroughtthem i
ntoconfl
ictwitht
helocal
andnat i
onalaut
hori
ti
es.Oftentheywer ecrowntenants,
li
vingonmanor sancientl
ypartoft
he
royaldemesneandclaimingapr iv
il
egedlegalst
atus.Communal acti
onsalsot ookpl
aceont he
estatesofpri
vat
elandl
ords,especiall
ymonastichouses.

In1280thetenantsoftheabbotofBur
tononTrentatMi
ckl
eoveri
nDerbyshi
reproceeded
agai
nstthei
rlordbyresort
ingt
othecommonl aw,sui
ngoutr
oyalj
udi
cial
wr i
tst
odi st
rai
nhim.
Theiref
for
tsfai
ledintheendandtheyhadtosubmit.

Anearl
yexampl
eofanagri
cul
tural
“tradeunion”wasagroupof80landl
essfar
mlabor
ersat
Bart
onuponHumberi
nnorthLi
ncolnshir
e.I
n1302t hegr
oupattemptedtoi
mposealocal
mini
mum wageandcer
tai
nrestr
ict
ivepract
ices.

Thi
swassuppr
essedbyt
heki
ng’sbail
if
f,ontheor
dersoftheking’scounci
l
,al
thoughoneoft
he
par
ti
ci
pant
scomplai
nedt
othecourtofKing’
sBenchabouthisarrest
.

Pri
sonersinNot
tingham gaol
awai
ti
ngtri
al,
pet
it
ionedt
hekingandcounci
li
nc.1318.They
cl
aimedtobestarving,
andaskedf
ortheappoi
ntmentofj
usti
cestot
rythem pr
omptlyand,
they
hoped,r
eleaset
hem.
Bl
ackDeat
handPeasant
s’Rev
olt

TheBl ackDeat
hof1349andsubsequentout breaksofplague,suchasthatof1361,dr
asti
call
y
reducedthesupplyoftenantfarmersandagricul
turall
abor.Thi
shelpedtoimprovethe
economi cposi
ti
onofmanor ialtenantsandl
aborersinthecountrysi
de.Thel
andlor
dclasses
reactedimmediat
elythought heStatut
eofLaborers,passedbyPar l
i
amentin1351,whichtr
ied
tofreezewagesatthepr e-
plaguelevel.

Unrestint
hecount r
ysideled30y earsl
at ertothePeasant s’Revolt
,duringwhi chrebelsfrom
EssexandKent ,
inspir
edbyt heradicalspeechesofpr eacherslikeJohnBal l,tookandhel d
control
ofLondoni t
selfforatime.Ther evoltwassuppr essed,butnotbef oreitseffectshad
spreadtomanypar tsofEngland.BallwashangedatStAl bansamont hlater.Commi ssi
ons
weresetuptodeal withtheafter
mat hoft hePeasants’Rev olt
.Immedi atel
yaf tert
hehangi ngof
Ball
,JohnShir
le,fr
om Not ti
ngham, wasar rest
edandt ri
edi nCambr idgeafterhehaddef ended
Ballandhi
sviewsandspokenagai nstther uli
ngcl
assesi nal ocalpubli
chouse.

St
ruggl
efort
het
hrone

The15t hcentur ywasdominatedbydy nasticstruggl

esforthethroneofEnglandfoll
owi ng
HenryBolingbroke’susurpi
ngofRi char
dI Ii
n1399.Ther ewaslitt
lepoli
ti
caladvancement ,which
benefi
tedthe“ commonman” ,alt
houghf avorabl
eeconomi cconditi
ons,duetoashor tageof
tenant
sandl abor er
s,mayhav eledtoani mpr ov
ementi nl
ivi
ngstandards.Theirst
atus
i
mpr ovedtoo:t heparl
iamentaryfr
anchiseincount yel
ecti
onsextendedt oi
ncludefreeholder
s
holdi
nglandwhoseannual valueamount edt o40s.Thisprovi
sionlast
eduntilt
hegr eatrefor
m
actof1832.

TheMagnaCar taLiber
tat
um ( GreatCharterofFreedoms)whi chwast hechar
terofr i
ghts1215.
TheMagnaCar tawasani nstrumentofpeace( draftedbytheArchbishopofcanterbury)
betweenKingJohnIofEngl andandt herebelbarons.Ituphel
dt heri
ghtofchurches,protect
ed
thebaronsfr
om il
l
egalimprisonment ,ensuredaccesst oswif
tjusti
ceandlimi
tedf eudal
paymentstotheCrown.

COLONI
AL:

Alt
houghthehi st
oryofhumanr ight
sdoesnotment i
oncol oni
ali
sm asahist
ori
cal
epi
sodet
hat
haspart
icipatedi
nitscreat
ion,ther
eisnodoubtthatthereisaconnect
ion.Humanri
ght
sduri
ng
thecol
onialrulewasnon-exist
entonthepar
tofthecol oni
zed.

Col
onial
i
sm iswhent heimperi
alnati
onbeginsaconquestoveranar
eaandthenevent
uall
yis
abl
etoruleovertheareasthepr
ev i
ousnati
onhadcontrol
l
ed.Iti
sthecompl
etetakeoverofa
Nat
ionbyf or
eignrul
e.Forexample,Ni
geri
aisacolonyofBri
tai
n.
Colonial
i
sm br
ingswit
hitsev
er er
est
ri
cti
onsuponci v
illi
ber
ty,Humanri
ght
sar eaboutthe
ongoingstr
uggleofmargi
nal
izedandoppressedpeopleandindi
vi
dual
sagainstabuse.

Colonial
ism i
mpactsincl
udeenvir
onment aldegradati
on, t
hespreadofdiseases,economic
hardshipandinst
abil
it
yandhumanr ight
sv iol
ati
ons, whichareissuest
hatcanOut lastacoloni
al
rul
er.Iti
snosecretthathumanright
sarehi nder
edi nacol oni
alrul
eandin1776, Humanr i
ght s
wasi ntr
oducedtotheUnitedSt
atesDeclarati
onofi ndependenceandwhi chbecameabi llof
ri
ghtintheUSConst i
tuti
on.Thi
ssamebi llofri
ghtisseeni nourconsti
tuti
ontoday.

FRENCHREVOLUTI
ON:

Fr
enchDecl
arat
ionoft
heRi
ght
sofManandoft
heCi
ti
zenof1789,
Art
icl
e1ofwhi
chsay
sthat

“menarebornandr
emainfr
eeandequal
inri
ghts…”,
whi
chaccor
dingt
oency
clopedi
a
Bri
tanni
ca“wer
especi
fi
edasther
ight
sofli
ber
ty.”

WORLDWARS

Theadv ertofHumanRi ghtsmovement swasbor ninandaroundt

hewor ldwartwo.Twent i
eth
centur
ysawanunpr ecedentedhumanl osses,dev ast
ati
onduetothetwowor ldwars.Attheend
ofworldwart wo,TheUnitedNationswasest ablished.I
n1945inordertoestabl
i
shand
accompl i
shWor l
dpeace, pr
osperit
yandhappi nessofallhumansallovertheworl
dirrespecti
ve
ofrace,rel
igi
on,col
our,communi ty
,casteorCr eed.

Itwasther
einPari
sonDecember10t
h,1948,
theUnit
edNationsadopt
edtheUni
ver
sal
Declar
ati
onofHumanRight
s.TheUDHRprocl
aimsthatal
lhumanbeingsarebor
nfr
eeand
equali
ndigni
tyandri
ght
s.

TheUDHRi
sal
socal
l
edt
heUni
tedNat
ionsChar
ter
.

TheUDHRpr oclai
mst hatthepeopleofUnit
edNat ions“Re-af
fir
m Fait
hinthefundamental
humanri
ghts,inthedi gnit
yandwor thofthehumanper son,i
ntheequalri
ghtsofmenand
women“andi n“ universalrespectf
or,andobservanceofhumanr ightsandfundamental
fr
eedomsforallwithoutdi sti
ncti
onastorace,sex,languageorrel
igi
on.”

TheUDHRwast
heef
fectofacumul
ati
vet
hinki
ngofl
i
kemi
ndswi
tht
hesamegoal
inmi
nd.

TheUDHRisacollect
ionofwisdom fr
om t
hewor
ldcommuni
tyt
owor
ktoget
hert
owar
dsa
worl
dwit
houti
njusti
ce,hunger
,cruel
ty.
48outoft he58member soft heUnitedNat ionsGener
alAssemblyvotedinfav ourofthe
contentoftheUDHR, 8abstainedfrom votingand2wer eabsent.Thehugenumberofsuppor t
forthecharterdoesnotmeanhowev er,thattheUDHRwasaccept edwi t
houtdi ssent
ions.The
communi st
scount riesforexample,hadi ssueswithhowt hedocumentdidnotpayduer egard
tosoverei
gnt y
;Saudi Arabi
awasconcer nedaboutt hef
actthattheUDHRgav ev oi
cetot her i
ght
tochangeone’ srel
igionwhenev erheorshesochooses; andSouthAfri
cawhi chasatt het i
me
oftheUDHRwasst i
llundertheapar t
heidr egimewasuncomf or
tabl
ewi t
hthei ssueofr acial
equali
ty.

TheUNChar terthoughmadesepar atef r

om theUDHR, ref
lect
edt hei
mportanceandpr otecti
on
ofhumanr i
ghtsonani nternati
onallevel,becausetheUNChar t
eralsocamewi ththe
establi
shmentoft heI nternati
onalCour tofJustice,
whichisaveryimport
antpartofthe
enforcementofi nternati
onal humanr i
ght s.SeeChapter14oftheCharter
.Withthis
establi
shmentcamet hepr ocedureforthemember shi
pofICJ.TheUNChar teralsohasar ti
cles
thatwilli
nspirethecommi t
mentofmemberst ates,wi
thvari
ouscommi tt
eesanduni tssetupt o
ensurethepr eservati
onoft herel
ati
onshi pamongmemberst atesandthepoli
ti
cal,economi c
andot herri
ghtsoft heci t
izenofthesest ates.

POSTCOLONI
ALERA

Compar ati
veSt udiesofSout hAsi a,Africaandt heMi ddleEast22. 1-2(2002)59- 75Thel arge
maj orityofpost col
oni alstatesinAsi aandAf r
ica,thati st het went i
ethcent urycol onies,have
hadpoorhumanr i
ghtsr ecordssincei ndependence, wi tht hewor stregionalrecor dint heMiddle
East .Ofcour se, mostpubl icoffi
cialsinpost colonial stateseschewanypubl i
casser t
ionthat
thesev i
olati
onsr esultedf r
om col onial
ism t oav oidr esponsi bi
lit
yf ortheirstates’ humanr ight
s
violations.Theconv entionalexplanationf orsuchv iolationsi st hatclientali
stelit
esseekt o
cont rolpredat oryst at
esf orprebendar ygai nsand/ orar bi t
raryper sonal i
stregimesdomi nateby
arbitrarydecisi on-maki ngbyandf orar ulerwhoi sunconst r
ainedbyef fectiv
ei nstit
utions,where
statet errorisappl iedt oachievest abil
ity,repressopponent s,anddomi nateaccesst o
patronage.St atisti
cal studiesofpost coloni alstateshav eusedr egressionanal ysistoexpl ai
n
thecausesofunder development .Somehav emor er ecent l
yar guedt hatt hosecol onieswher e
foreignset tl
ersdev elopedquasi -democr ati
candcapi t
alistinstituti
onsbecamebet terat
prot ecti
nghumanRi ghts.

AFRI
CANCONCEPTOFHUMANRI
GHTS-TRADI
TIONALANDCONTEMPORARY

TRADI
TIONAL

Thet
radi
ti
onal
just
icesy
stemshav
ehi
stor
ical
l
yfunct
ionedasanal
ter
nat
iveorasa
compl ementt
othef or
mal St
atecourtsyst
em.Theyar etypi
call
ybasedoncustomarypracti
ces,
tr
aditi
onsandrul
esofcommuni t
iesthathave,
ov ert
ime,beendeemedt obecustomarylaw.
Theremaybeasi gnifi
cantnumberoft r
adi
ti
onaljust
icesystemswi t
hinagi
vencount
ry,as
di
fferentcommuniti
esoftenhavetheirowncustomarylaw.Customar yl
awmaybeor alor
wri
tten,anddeci
sionsmayormaynotber ecordedasjuri
sprudence.

Traditional just i
cesy st emsbasedonor al tradi t
ionsar eof tenrefer r
edt oas“ li
vingcust omar y
l
aw. ”Ithasbeenar guedt hatl ivingcust omar yl awi sdy nami candf lexiblebecausei tisbasedon
thecircumst ancesofapar ti
cul arcaseandev olvi
ngsoci al norms.Wr it
tencust omar ylawi s
oftenassoci at edwi thcol oni al-eraat tempt st ocodi fycust omar ylaw, whi chhasbeencr it
icized
forremov i
ngt hef l
exi bilityofcust omar yl awandnotal lowi ngittoev olvewi t htime.Howev er ,
othershav enot edt hatwr ittencust omar yl awasusedi nt hepost col onial er apr ovidesa
measur eofpr edictabi l
ityast owhatt hel awr equires, whi leretai
ni ngameasur eoff l
exibilit
yand
adapt abi l
it
yTr aditional justicesy stemsmayoper ateout sideofSt atecont r ol,althoughi nsome
Statest heyar el egal l
yr ecogni zedaspar toft hedomest icl egalorder .Thei rdeci sionsmaybe
l
egal l
ybi nding, buti nsomet ypesoft radi tional justicesy st emst heout comei ssi mi l
art o
medi ation, wher et hepar t
iesar ef reet oacceptorr ejectt hesuggest edset tlementofadi sput e.
Inmostcaseswher et radi ti
onal just i
cesy stemsar el egal lyrecogni zed, ther ear elimi tson
subjectmat terandper sonal jurisdiction, althoughsomet raditi
onal j
ust i
cesy stemshav e
compet encet odeci deser i
ouscr imes, incl udingmur der .Theobj ect iveoft hispubl icationi st o
analyzet hehumanr i
ght sconcer nst hatt radit i
onal justicesy stemsmaypr esent .Suchaf ocus
shouldbeunder stoodaspar tofanov er all effortatt hei nt ernati
onal level toencour ageand
suppor tnat i
onal l
egal sy stems, what ev ert heirnat ure, tof uncti
oni namannert hati scompat ibl
e
withint ernat i
onal humanr ight slaw.Nat i
onal judicial syst ems, forexampl e, arer egul arlythe
subjectofexami nat ionbyUni tedNat i
onshumanr ight sbodi es.TheHumanRi ght sCommi ttee,
forexampl e,hasdemonst ratedt hati twi ll cont i
nuet or ev iewnotonl yfor mal justicesy stemsf or
possibl ehumanr ight sv i
olat i
onsbut ,wher et heyexi st ,cust omar yj ust i
cesy stemsaswel l.
Inter
nat ional humanr ight sl awr ecogni zesl egal pluralism wi thi
nSt ates, prov i
dedt hatwhat ev er
typeofl egal sy stem i susedconf or mswi thi nternat i
onal humanr i
ght sstandar ds.

TheTradit
ionalconceptofHumanRi ghtsmadeuseofcust omarylaws,i
nNi geri
a,int
henorth,
ther
eistheShar i
aLaw, andtheConsti
tuti
onamongt heWestandEast .CustomaryLawsar e
l
awst ai
lor
-madet ofi
tthecustomsoft heindi
genesi
nt hecommuni t
y.Thesecust omaryl
aws
aresti
ll
inplacetodayinNigeri
a.Wit
ht heemergenceofAfricanHumanRi ghtlaws,Ni
geri
aasa
countr
yoperatesbothlaws.

CONTEMPORARY

InAfr
ica,thei
deaofhumanri
ght
sisacomparat
ivel
yrecentphenomenon.Cont
ribut
ingtothe
est
ablishmentofhumanri
ght
ssyst
em i
nAfr
icaaretheUnitedNati
ons,i
nter
nat
ionallawandthe
Af r
icanUni onwhi chhaveposi ti
v el
yinfl
uencedthebetter
mentoft hehumanrightssi tuati
onin
thecont i
nent .Howev er,
extensiv ehumanr i
ghtsabusesst i
lloccurinmanysectionsoft he
cont i
nent.Mostoft heviol
ationscanbeat t
ri
butedtopolit
icalinst
abil
i
ty(asaconsequenceof
civi
l war),r
acialdiscri
mination,corrupti
on,post-
coloni
ali
sm, economicscarci
ty,ignorance,
i
llness,reli
giousbi got
ry,debtandbadf i
nancialmanagement ,monopol yofpower ,
lack/absence
ofjudici
al andpr essautonomy ,andborderconfli
cts.Manyoft heprovi
sionscont ai
nedi n
regional,nati
onal,conti
nental ,
andgl obalagreementsremainedunaccompl i
shed.

Afri
canChar terisahumanr ight
sdocumentmadeupof68ar t
icl
escarv edupi nt
of our
sections—HumanandPeopl es’Rights;Dut
ies;
Pr ocedureoft heCommi ssion;andAppl icable
Pri
nci pl
es.I
tmer gesthethreeclustersofr
ight
s, namely,civi
landpoliti
cal ri
ghts,economi c,
social,andcult
uralr
ights,
andgr oupandpeopl es’ri
ghts.Itenforcesobligati
onsoni ndivi
dual
member sofeachAf r
icansociet
yandconnect st heideasofhumanr ight s,
peoples’r i
ghts,and
duti
esonpeopl e.

Theorgancommi ssionedtoint
erpr
ettheCharter,
aswel l
asi nv
estigat
eindi
vi
dual
complai
ntsi
s
theAfr
icanCommi ssiononHumanandPeopl e’
sRights(ACHPR) .TheACHPRwasestabli
shed
basedonArt.30oftheChar t
erandwasi naugurat
edinNov ember1987.TheACHPRmeet stwo
ti
mesay earandi
t ssecret
ari
atisheadquart
eredinBanjul(Gambia).

Signi
ficanti mpr ovement shav ebeenmadet owar dt hedev elopmentofAf ri
canwomen’ sri
ghts
andfemal epol i
tical i
nvolvementatbot hthenat i
onal andl ocal levels.Thecont i
nenthas
espousedanumberofl awf ul mechani sms, l
iket heMaput oPr ot ocol,decl
ar ati
ons, suchast he
Afri
canUni onSol emnDecl ar at
iononGenderEqual ityinAf rica,andr esol
utionsai medt o
guaranteewomen’ srights.Thesei nstrument slikewi secr eat ednumer ousmoni t
ori
ngent it
iesto
ensuret hef ul
fil
lmentofAf ricanwomen’ sideal s.Howev er,Af r
icanwomenhav econtinuously
beenconf r
ont edwi thabsur dchal lengesi nt hespher eofeconomi cs, i
ntheirsoci alli
ves,andin
thei
rposi ti
onswi thinthecommuni t
y ,
specif i
callywheni tcomest oheal t
hcar eandeducat i
on.
Suffi
cientheal thcar e,cont r
acept i
onawar eness, andunder standi ngofsaf eabor ti
oni sdefi
cient
becauseoft hecont inent’sder isoryheal t
hi nfrastruct ure,maki ngi ttoughf orwoment ohave
sati
sfact oryaccesst oheal thcl ini
cs.Mor eov er,Af r
icanwomeni ncessantlyt ai
lbehindAf ri
can
meni nt heirfacili
tyt ohav eaccess, use, andcont r
ol oflandandot herresour ces,whichmake
them def enselessi nst atesofconf l
ictandunpr ot ectedi nt i
mesofcal amities.

TheMaput oPr otocol f

ixestheval
uesf orwomen’ shumanrightsinAfri
ca.I
nthistr
eaty,
the
descri
pti
onofv i
olenceagainstwomendi sti
nguishesbot
hphy si
calandemot i
onalaggr
essionas
wellasthreatsofcr uel
tyandsadism.I ti
dentifi
estherol
eofwomeni npoli
ti
calandpubli
cli
fe
whilepersuadingstatepar t
iest
oallocatemor eintimeandmoneyf orlegi
slat
ionandother
proceduresthatcoul dsecureequalrepresentati
onofwomenandmeni ndecisi
on-
making.

Theprot
ocolpr
ovi
desforthelegalbanonfemalegenitalmutil
ati
onaswel lastheconsentto
abor
ti
onincasesofr
ape,incest,
sexualmaul
ing,andthecont i
nuedpregnancythatthreat
ens
themental
andphysi
calhealt
h/li
feofthemotherorthefetus.I
tisal
sot hefir
stint
ernati
onal
humanr i
ght
sagreementtounequi
vocal
lytal
ksaboutHIV/AIDS.Otherprovisi
onscontai
nedi
n
thepr
otocoladdr
essest
abli
shedbutdestr
ucti
vepract
ices,chi
ldmar r
iage,pol
ygamy ,
i
nheri
tance,
economicempowerment,women’spoli
ti
calparti
cipat
ion,educati
on,andwomeni
n
armedconfl
ict
.

Dif
ferentty
pesofv iol
enceandmaltreat
mentwreakhavocontheli
vesofnumerouschildr
enin
Afri
ca.Theseincludeeconomicandsexualabuse,
genderbi
asineducati
on,andbeingcaughti
n
thecrossfi
reduri
ngar medconfl
ict
s.Accor
dingtoUNICEF,t
herear
eapproximatel
y150mi l
li
on
chil
dreninthe5-14ager angewhoareengagedinhar
dlaborandadultwork.

Creat edt odef endchi ldrenandsaf eguardtheirinnater i

ghts,
theAfri
canChar teront heRi ghts
andWel f
areoft heChi ld(ACRWC)wascr eated.Ital
soser vesasthemaj orlegal i
nstrument
withint heAf ri
canhumanr i
ghtssy st
em thatclarifi
est heri
ghtsandpr i
vi
legest hatAfrican
nationsmustguar ant eet otheirchi l
dren.Otherconcer nsthatAfri
canstateswantt hechar t
erto
addr essi ncludei ssuesconf rontingchi l
drenlivi
ngunderapar thei
d,chil
dmar r
iage,femal e
genital mut i
lation( FGM) ,i
nternal confli
ctsanddi splacement,ri
ghtsofchildr
enwhosemot hers
havebeeni ncar cerated, unsanitarylivi
ngcondi ti
ons, andtherol
eoft hefamilyinadopt i
onand
fostering.

Therearepresent
lyNineint
ernationalorgani
zati
onswor ki
ngf ort
heprotecti
onofAf r
ican
humanr ight
s,namely
,HumanRi ght sWatch,I
nternati
onalCommi tt
eeoftheRedCr oss,Global
Rights,
Amnest yI
nter
nati
onal
,Internati
onalFederati
onforHumanRi ghts,Refugees
I
nt er
nati
onal,UNWatch,HumanRi ght
sFoundation,andProtecti
onInt
ernati
onal

ELEMENTSOFINTERNATI
ONALRESPONSI
BILI
TY-THERELATI
ONSHI
PBETWEEN
I
NTERNATIONALANDNATIONALLAW

Themai ndi f
ferencebetweeninternat
ionalandnati
onal lawisthati
nter
nati
onall
awr egul
ates
ext
ernalrelati
onsbetweent woormor ecountr
iesbyt hesigningoft
reati
esandagreements
concerni
ngt rade,war,seaoroilandinthiscase,pol
icies.Whi l
eNat
ionall
awalsocalled
domest i
clawi sappli
edwi t
hintheboundar i
esofacount ry
.IntheeyesofMonist
,thestate
merelyrepresentanindivi
dual.

I
nter
nat
ional
lawinv
olv
est heregul
ati
onoftherel
ati
onshipbetweensov
erei
gnst
ate,
domest
ic
l
awconfersr
ight
stoperson’
sandentiti
eswit
hinthesoverei
gnstat
e.

TheUni v
ersalDeclar
ationofHumanRi ghtsi
sgenerall
yagreedtobet hefoundati
onof
i
nt er
nati
onalhumanr ight
slaw.Adoptedin1948,t
heUDHRhasi nspir
edar ichbodyofl
egall
y
bindi
nginter
nationalhumanr i
ghtst
reati
es.I
tcont
inuestobeani nspirat
iontousall
whetherin
addressi
nginjusti
ces,inti
mesofconfli
cts,i
nsoci
etiessuf
feri
ngrepression,andi
noureff
orts
towardsachievi
nguni ver
salenj
oymentofhumanr i
ghts.

I
trepr
esent
stheuni
ver
sal
recogni
ti
ont
hatbasi
cri
ght
sandf
undament
alf
reedomsar
einher
ent
toall
humanbei ngs,
inal
ienableandequall
yappli
cabletoeveryone,andthateveryoneofusi s
bornfreeandequali
ndignityandright
s.Whateverournati
onali
ty,placeofresi
dence,gender,
nati
onalorethni
cori
gin,
colour,rel
i
gion,l
anguage,oranyotherstatus,t
heinter
nati
onal
communi t
yonDecember101948madeacommi tmenttoupholdingdigni
tyandjusti
cef oral
l
.

TheUni v
ersalDeclar
ationofHumanRi ghtsi
sgenerall
yagreedtobet hefoundati
onof
i
nt er
nati
onalhumanr ight
slaw.Adoptedin1948,t
heUDHRhasi nspir
edar ichbodyofl
egall
y
bindi
nginter
nationalhumanr i
ghtst
reati
es.I
tcont
inuestobeani nspirat
iontousall
whetherin
addressi
nginjusti
ces,inti
mesofconfli
cts,i
nsoci
etiessuf
feri
ngrepression,andi
noureff
orts
towardsachievi
nguni ver
salenj
oymentofhumanr i
ghts.

Itr
epresentstheuni
ver salr
ecognit
ionthatbasicright
sandf undament alfreedomsar einherent
toall
humanbei ngs,inali
enableandequallyappli
cabletoeveryone,andt hateveryoneofusi s
bornfreeandequalindi gni
tyandright
s.What everournati
onali
ty,placeofr esi
dence, gender,
nati
onalorethnicor
igin,col
our,rel
i
gion,l
anguage, oranyotherstatus,theinternati
onal
communi tyonDecember101948madeacommi tmenttoupholdingdignityandj usti
cef oral
lof
us.

Overthey ear
s,thecommi t
menthasbeent r
anslat
edi nt
ol aw,whetherintheformsoft r
eaties,
customaryinter
nationall
aw, generalpr
inciples,
regionalagreement sanddomest i
claw,t
hrough
whichhumanr i
ghtsareexpr essedandguar anteed.Indeed,theUDHRhasi nspiredmorethan80
i
nternati
onalhumanr ightstreati
esanddecl arat
ions,agr eatnumberofr egi
onal humanrights
conventi
ons,domest ichumanr i
ghtsbi
ll
s,andconst i
tut
ionalprov
isions,whichtogether
consti
tuteacompr ehensivelegall
ybindingsy st
em forthepr omotionandpr otecti
onofhuman
ri
ghts.

Buildingont heachi ev ementsoft heUDHR, theInternati

onalCovenantonCivilandPol i
ti
cal
Right s,andtheI nternat i
onalCov enantonEconomi c,Soci
alandCul t
uralRi
ghtsenteredinto
forcei n1976.Thet woCov enant shavedev elopedmostoft herightsalr
eadyenshrinedinthe
UDHR, makingt hem ef f
ect
ivelybindi
ngonSt atesthathav erat
if
iedthem.Theysetf orth
every dayr i
ghtssuchast herighttoli
fe,equalit
ybef or
ethelaw,freedom ofexpression,t
he
ri
ght st owor k,social securi
tyandeducat i
on.Toget herwiththeUDHR, theCovenant scomprise
theI nternati
onal Bil
l ofHumanRi ghts.

Ov ert i
me, i
nternationalhumanr ight
st reati
eshavebecomemor ef ocusedandspeci al
i
zed
regar di
ngbot htheissueaddressedandt hesoci
algroupsi denti
fiedasrequiri
ngprotecti
on.The
bodyofi nternati
onal humanright sl
awcont i
nuestogr ow,evolve,andfurtherel
aboratethe
fundament al r
ightsandf r
eedomscont ainedintheInternati
onalBi l
lofHumanRi ghts,
addr essingconcer nssuchasr acial
discriminati
on,tortur
e,enforceddisappearances,
disabi l
it
ies,andt heright
sofwomen, chil
dren,migr
ant s,minori
ti
es, andindi
genouspeopl es.

Cor
epr
inci
plesofhumanr
ight
sfi
rstsetouti
ntheUDHR,
suchasuni
ver
sal
i
ty,
int
erdependence
andindiv
isibi
lit
y,equali
tyandnon-discriminati
on, andthathumanr i
ghtssi
mul taneouslyent
ail
bothri
ghtsandobl i
gati
onsfrom dutybear ersandr ight
sowner s,
havebeenr eiter
atedin
numerousi nter
nationalhumanr i
ghtsconv entions,declar
ati
ons,andresol
utions.Today ,
all
Unit
edNat ionsmemberSt at
eshav er ati
fi
edatl eastoneoft heni
necoreinternati
onalhuman
ri
ghtstr
eaties,and80per centhaver ati
fi
edf ourormor e,giv
ingconcret
eexpr essiontothe
univ
ersali
tyoft heUDHRandi nt
ernationalhumanr i
ghts.

HowDoesI
nter
nat
ional
LawPr
otectHumanRi
ght
s?

Int
ernat
ionalhumanr ightsl awl ay sdownobl i
gat i
onswhi chStatesareboundt orespect.By
becomingpartiestointernat ional t
reaties,St
at esassumeobl igati
onsanddut i
esunder
i
nternat
ionall
awt orespect , topr otectandt of ul
fil
humanr ights.Theobligat
iontorespect
meanst hatStatesmustr ef rainf r
om int er
fer
ingwi thorcurtai
lingtheenj
oy mentofhumanr i
ght
s.
Theobligat
iontoprotectr equi resSt atestopr otectindi
vi
dualsandgr oupsagainsthumanr i
ght
s
abuses.Theobl i
gat
iont of ulfilmeanst hatStatesmustt akeposi t
iveact
iontofacil
itat
et he
enjoymentofbasichumanr ight s.

Throughr at
ifi
cati
onofi nternati
onal humanr ightstr
eat i
es, Government sunder t
aket oputi nt
o
placedomest icmeasur esandl egisl
at i
oncompat i
blewi t
ht heirtreatyobl i
gat
ionsanddut ies.
Thedomest iclegalsystem, therefor
e, provi
dest heprincipallegal protecti
onofhumanr i
ght s
guaranteedunderinternationallaw.Wher edomest i
clegal proceedi ngsf ai
ltoaddr esshuman
ri
ghtsabuses, mechanismsandpr ocedur esforindi
v i
dual andgr oupcompl aintsareav ai
lableat
theregionalandinter
nat i
onal l
ev el
st ohelpensur ethatinternati
onal humanr ightsstandar ds
areindeedrespected,impl ement ed,andenf orcedatthel ocal l
evel.

Secti
on12( 1)oftheAmendedConst i
tut
ionoft heFederalRepubli
cofNigeria1999(the1999
Constit
uti
on)provi
desthatnotreatyshallhav efor
ceoflawinNi ger
iaunlessithasbeen
enactedint
oal awoftheNati
onal Assembl y.Thisprovi
sionhasbeeninterpr
etedbythe
SupremeCour tandschol
ars,al
i
ke, tomeant hattr
eati
esareonlyappli
cableinNigeri
aift
heyare
enactedint
olawbyt heNati
onal Assembly.

TherearetwoschoolsofthoughtonInter
nat
ionall
awrelati
ngtothenati
onall
aw.TheMonist
andtheDuali
stschool.Monism andduali
sm ar
etwoappr oachestor
elat
ingmunici
pal
and
i
nternati
onal
law.Thetwoappr oacheshol
ddiff
erentv
iewsofhowi nt
ernati
onall
awexi
stsand
functi
onswit
hinnati
onall
egalsystems.

Moni
sm

Moni
sm st
ipul
atest
hati
nter
nat
ional
andmuni
cipal
lawco-
exi
sti
nthenat
ional
legal
order
.In
monistl
egal order
s“theStat
e’slegalsystem isconsi
deredt oincludeint
er nati
onal tr
eaties
wit
houttheneedf orseparat
e,domest i
c-l
ev elact
ion.
”Inthi
sr egard,thelegal pri
nciples,rul
es
andnormsi nanat i
onalsyst
em incl
udet hoseofdomest iclawal ongsidet hosederivedf rom
i
nternat
ionallaw.I
nthemoni stschool,t
hebasi cposit
ionisthatnat i
onal andi nt
ernationall
aw
harmoniousl
ycoexistinthenati
onallegal order
.

Somepr oponentsofmoni sm positthattherei

sahierarchical ar
rangementofl awi nvol
ving
i
nter
nationalandmunicipallawswi thinthesamelegalsy stem.Somei nthisschool oft
hought
posi
tthatint
ernati
onall
awi ssuper iortonati
onall
awwhi leothersopposet hisview.Themoni st
vi
ewthatinternat
ional
issuper i
ortodomest i
clawrequirest hati
nternati
onal l
awwi llpr
evai
lin
anyconfli
ctwithdomesticlaw,includingdomesti
clawofaconst it
utionalcharacter.

Natural
l
y ,
theopponentsaccepttheconceptofhierar
chical ar
rangementofnationaland
i
nternat
ionall
awsinthesamel egalsyst
em.Theirpointofdepar turei
sinthei
rv i
ewt hatnati
onal
l
awi ssuperi
ortoint
ernat
ionall
aw.Whatr emainsconst antinthemonistapproachist hat
i
nternat
ionall
awisdeemedt obe“ aut
omat i
cal
lyincorporatedintoeachnati
on’slegalsystem.”

Otherproponentsofmoni sm arguethatdomest i
candinternati
onallawarei
nterwov eninsucha
mannert hatther
eisnohi er
archical
relat
ionshipbet
weent het wo.Theideai
st hatther
eisa
univ
ersalorderwheredomest icandinter
nationalel
ements“ penetr
ateeachother”argumenthas
beenmadet hati
nternat
ionall
awshoul dinvali
datei
nconsistentnati
onall
aw.Thisisbroughtto
thefor
ei nCassese’s‘moderatemoni sm.’

Dual
i
sm

I
nthedualistl
egalorder
,atreat
ycanhav edomest iclegaleff
ectonlywherest epsprescr
ibedby
nat
ionall
awar etakentodeli
ber
atel
yinfusethetreatyintodomest i
claw.Sof orinter
nati
onall
aw
tobeappli
cablei
nt henati
onall
egalorder,i
tmustber ecei
vedthroughdomest i
clegi
slat
ive
measures.
”Thesedomest icmeasurestransfor
mi nternati
onall
awi nt
onational l
aw.

Duali
sm opposesmonism.TheDual istsmaintaint
hatinter
nati
onalandmunicipalhavea
separat
eandparall
elexi
stence.Totheduali
st s,munici
pall
awr egul
atestherel
ati
onship
betweenpersonsandentit
ieswithi
nt het
err
itoryoftheStatewhil
einter
nati
onalregul
atest
he
rel
ati
onshipsofmembersoft heint
ernati
onal communitywhichincl
udesStatesand
i
ntergover
nmentalor
ganizati
ons.

Thus, fr
om thedual
istv
iew“i
nternati
onalanddomest
iclawaredist
inct,eachnati
ondetermi
nes
foritsel
fwhenandt owhatext
entinternat
ional
lawi
sincorpor
atedint
oitslegalsyst
em andthe
statusofint
ernati
onall
awisdeterminedbydomesti
claw.”Intheduali
sts’worl
d,domesti
claw
determinetheappli
cabi
li
tyofi
nternati
onallaw.

THERELATI
ONSHI
PBETWEENTHESTATEANDTHEI
NDI
VIDUAL
Stateshav ethel egalobligat
iont oprotectandpr omot ehumanr i
ght s,i
ncludi
ngt herightto
social securi
ty,
andensur ethatpeopl ecanrealizet hei
rri
ghtswit
houtdi scri
mi nati
on.The
ov er
all r
esponsibil
ityoftheSt ateincludesensuringt hedueprovi
sionofbenef i
tsaccordingto
clearandt ransparenteligibi
l
itycriter
iaandent i
tlement s,
andtheproperadmi nist
rati
onoft he
i
nst i
tutionsandser v i
ces.Wher ebenef it
sandser vicesarenotprovideddirectlybypublic
i
nst i
tutions,t
heef fecti
veenf orcementoft helegislati
veframeworksi sparti
cularl
yimpor tantf
or
thepr ovisi
onofbenef i
tsandser vices.

Whatar etheduti
esofst
at e,
isaquest i
onwhichcannotbesati
sfactor
ilyansweredunti
land
unlessweknowandt horoughlyunderstandt
heconceptofthestate.Whatshouldbetheaim of
thestatei
sapr obl
em whichhasraisedagooddeal ofcont
rover
syi ntheli
ter
atureofPoli
ti
cal
Science.

Ther
eisnoconsensusofopi
nionamongt heexpert
sastot heai
m ofthestat
e.Int
heancient
age,
theJewsregar
dedthestateasadiv
ineinsti
tut
ionandhencetheymaintai
nedthatt
hestate
wasempoweredtoint
erf
erei
nal mostal
lthespheresoftheli
feoft
heindiv
idual
.

AncientGr eekphilosophersr
egardedthestat
east hesuprememor ali
nsti
tuti
on.The
i
nterferenceoft heStateinever
ysphereoftheindi
v i
dual
’sli
fewaspossi ble.Pl
atobel
ievedt
hat
thestatewast hedev el
opedform ofman.Accordi
ngt oAri
stot
le“thestateisthesupr
eme
associationthataimsatt hesupremegood.”Thewel f
areoftheindivi
dualisnotpossi
bleint
he
absenceoft hestate.

(
b)Vi
ewsoft
heFasci
stsandI
deal
i
sts:

Theideal
i
st sar
eoftheopini
onthattheindiv
idualcanmakehispr
ogressonlywithi
nthestat
e.
Divor
cedfrom t
hestat
e,theindi
vi
dualhasnosi gnif
icantr
olet
opl
ay.Accordi
ngt oHegel,
a
famousGer manPol
iti
calthi
nker
,“st
ateisamar chofGoduponearth”.Mr.Bosanquethas
regar
dedthestatef
arsuperi
ortotheindiv
idual.

Thus, i
nt heopini
onoft heideal
ist
st hei
ndividualhasnori
ghtt odisobeythecommandsoft he
state.Itisthecardi
naldutyoftheindivi
dualthatheshouldobeyt hecommandsoft hestat
e
unresistati
nglybecausethewi l
lofthestateistherealwi
lloftheindivi
dual.Hit
lerandMussoli
ni
regardedt hestatesuperi
ortotheindivi
dual.Accordi
ngtot hem i
twast hepr i
mar ydutyoft
he
i
ndiv i
dual t
osacrifi
cehimselfforthenoblecauseoft hestate.

(
c)Vi
ewsoft
heI
ndi
vi
dual
i
sts

Theindi
vi
dualist
shaveregar
dedthest
ateasmer el
yameans.Theymai nt
ainedthatthestat
e
wasmeantf orthepeopl
eandnotthepeopl
eforthestat
e.Theyl
aidstr
essont heli
bertyofthe
i
ndiv
idualandprotest
edagai
nstt
hestate’
sint
erf
erenceint
hepersonalmatter
s.Theyregarded
t
hest
ateasanecessar
yev
il
.

Thepr omotionandpr ot ecti

onofhumanr i
ghtsbyi ndiv
idualstateshasani nternalaswel lasan
externaldi
mensi on.Thi schapt erdi scussest hedomest i
candi nternati
onal acti
onsst atescan
carryouttoenhancehumanr i
ght spr ot
ection.Inter
national
ly,
st atescanr aisetheirvoices
whenev erhumanr ightsar ev i
olated.Statesar eactivel
yinvol
vedi nt hedev elopmentofhuman
ri
ghtsstandar ds,i
nsti
t ut i
onsandsuper v
isorymechani sms.Theyar ethefirsttobri
ngv iol
ations
totheat t
enti
onofi nter nationalforaand, furthermore,havethecapaci tyt
ost i
mulatepositiv
e
development swithregar dtocompl iancewi t
hhumanr ightsstandar ds.

Att henati
onallevel,itisimper ativethatst atescompl ywithinternati
onal standards.These
standards,howev er,of t
enpr ov ideonl yt hemi nimum safeguardsandi ti
st huspr ef
erablethat
statesprovideahi gherl evel ofpr otection,i.
e.bymaki ngav ai
lableresourcesf orahi gher
enjoymentofcer tainsoci o-economi crights.Itisemphasisedt hateffecti
v edomest i
cpr ot
ection
andt hesuccessofi nt ernational standar dsul ti
matelyl
ieinthepowerofst ates.Thehuman
ri
ght ssupervi
sorymechani sms, particular
lytheEur opeanCour t,haveconsi stentl
yemphasi sed
thispointi
nest abli
shi ngthatt hei rsuper vi
sionshoul dbesubsi di
arytot hatoft henat i
onal
cour t
sanddomest icsy stemsf ort hepr otectionofhumanr i
ghts.

Domest
ichumanr
ight
spr
otect
ion

Effect i
veprotect
ionofhumanr i
ghtsdependsont hecompl ianceofeachst atewithi
tshuman
ri
ght sobl i
gati
ons.Establ
ishingaconst it
utionalmodel inwhi challhumanr i
ghtsareeffect
ivel
y
prot ectedisnotaneasyt ask.Itrequireselabor atel
egislat
ion,effecti
v econtrolov
erstate
i
nst itut
ionssuchast helawenf orcementagenci esandcont inuousef fortsonthepartof
numer ousotherstat
eor gans.Thest ruggl eofmanycount riesinEast ernEuropeandAf ri
ca,
whi chchangedf rom absolutistruletodemocr acy,t
ocompl ywi t
ht her equi
rementsof
democr acyandhumanr i
ghts–especi al
lyregardingquestionsofmul tipart
ydemocracyand
effect i
veremediesbef or
enat ionalcour t
s–demonst r
atest heenor mousef f
ort
sandt i
met hat
maybeneededt oensur eeffectivedomest iccompliance.

The1990Copenhagendocumentoft
heCSCEspel
l
souti
ndet
ail
whati
nter
nal
compl
i
ancemay
requi
re,
int
eral
i
a:

Freeel
ecti
onsthatwil
lbeheldatreasonablei
nter
val
sbysecretball
otorbyequi
val
entfr
ee
voti
ngprocedur
e,undercondi
ti
onswhi chensurei
npract
icet
hef r
eeexpressi
onoftheopi
nion
oftheel
ectorsi
nthechoiceofthei
rrepresent
ati
ves;

Afor
m ofgovernmentthati
srepr
esentat
ivei
nchar
act
er,
inwhi
cht
heexecut
ivei
saccount
abl
e
t
otheelect
edlegi
slat
ureortheel
ector
ate;
Thedutyofthegover
nmentandpubl
i
caut
hor
it
iest
ocompl
ywi
tht
heconst
it
uti
onandt
oacti
na
mannerconsist
entwi
thl
aw;

Acl
earsepar
ati
onbet
weenthest
ateandpol
i
tical
par
ti
es;
inpar
ti
cul
ar,
pol
i
tical
par
ti
eswi
l
lnot
bemergedwit
hthest
ate;

Theact i
vi
tyoft
hegovernmentandtheadmini
str
ationaswel
lasthatoft
hejudi
ciar
ywil
lbe
exerci
sedinaccor
dancewit
ht hesy
stem est
abl
ishedbylaw;
respectf
orthatsy
stem mustbe
ensured;

Mil
i
tar
yforcesandt
hepol
i
cewi
l
lbeundert
hecont
rol
of,
andaccount
abl
eto,
theci
vi
l
aut
hor
it
ies;

Humanri
ghtsandfundament al
freedomswi
l
lbeguar
ant
eedbyl
awandi
naccor
dancewi
tht
hei
r
obl
i
gat
ionsunderi
nternat
ionall
aw;

Legi
sl
ati
on,adoptedatt
heendofapubli
cprocedur
e,andregul
ati
onswill
bepubli
shed,
that
bei
ngthecondit
ionfort
hei
rappl
i
cabi
li
ty;
thesetext
sshall
beaccessibl
etoever
yone;

Allpersonsareequalbeforethelawandar eent
it
ledwit
houtanydi
scr
imi
nat
iont
ot heequal
protectionoft
helaw;thelawwi l
lprohi
bitanydi
scri
minat
ionandguar
ant
eet
oallpersonsequal
andef fecti
vepr
otect
ionagainstdiscr
iminati
ononanyground;

Ever
yonewil
lhaveaneffect
ivemeansofredr
essagai
nstadmini
str
ati
vedeci
sions,
soast
o
guar
anteer
espectforf
undamentalr
ight
sandensurel
egalint
egr
it
y;

Administ
rati
vedeci
sionsagai
nstaper
sonmustbef
ull
yjust
if
iabl
eandmustasar
ulei
ndi
cat
e
theusualremedi
esav ai
l
able;
and

Theindependenceofjudgesandthei
mpart
ial
oper
ati
onofthepubli
cjudi
cial
serv
icewi
l
lbe
ensured.Pr
inci
plesoffai
rtr
ial
areguar
ant
eedandaccesst
ojust
ice,t
oeffect
iver
emedi
es,
is
secured.

Furt
hermor
e,t
ocomplywi
thhumanri
ght
sobli
gat
ions,
astat
emustestabl
i
shf
oundat
ionsf
or
therul
eofl
awinwhi
chthefol
l
owingi
nst
it
uti
onsmustbeguarant
eed:

Alegisl
ati
veinstit
ution,
whichrepresentsthewil
lofthepeople,andischosenbyfreeelect
ions
hel
datr easonableinter
val
sundercondi ti
onswhichensureinpracti
cet hefr
eeexpressi
onofthe
opi
nionoft heelectorsi
nthechoiceoftheirrepr
esentat
ives.Thelegi
slati
vebodyshould
l
egisl
ateincompl iancewit
hint
er nati
onalhumanr i
ghtscommi tments.

Ajudi
ciar
ythatprotect
sthehumanr
ightsofi
ndiv
idualsandgr
oupsagai
nstar
bit
rar
ylegi
slat
ive
powerandguaranteeseff
ecti
ver
emediesandfai
rtri
al.

Anexecut
ivebr
ancht
hatdoesnotabusedi
scr
eti
onarypowerandseekst
opr
omot
ethe
enj
oymentofhumanri
ght
sbyallunderi
tsj
uri
sdi
cti
on.
THENATI
ONALI
NSTI
TUTI
ONFORTHEI
MPLEMENTATI
ONOFHUMANRI
GHTS:

Anat ional humanr ightsinst

itution(NHRI )isani ndependenti nstit
utionbest owedwi ththe
responsi bil
it
ytobr oadlyprotect ,monitorandpr omot ehumanr ightsi nagi vencount ry.The
growt hofsuchbodi eshasbeenencour agedbyt heOf fi
ceoft heUni t
edNat ionsHigh
Commi ssionerf orHumanRi ght s(OHCHR) ,whi chhaspr ovidedadv i
soryandsuppor tservi
ces,
andf acili
tatedaccessf orNHRI st otheUNt reatybodiesandot hercommi ttees.[
1]Ther eare
overonehundr edsuchi nsti
tutions,aboutt wo- thir
dsassessedbypeerr eviewascompl i
antwit
h
theUni tedNat i
onsst andardssetouti nt hePar i
sPr i
nciples.Compl iancewi t
ht hePrincipl
esis
thebasi sf oraccredit
ationatt heUN, which, uniquelyforNHRI s,isnotconduct eddir
ect l
ybya
UNbodybutbyasub- commi tteeoft heI nternationalCoor dinatingCommi tteeofNat ional
HumanRi ghtsInstit
uti
ons( I
CC) .Thesecr etariattother eviewpr ocess( foriniti
alaccredit
ati
on,
andr eaccr edi
tationeveryfivey ears)ispr ovidedbyt heNat i
onal I
nstitut
ionsandRegi onal
Mechani smsSect i
onoft heOHCHR.

NHRI scanbegr oupedt ogetherintwobroadcat egori

es: humanr i
ght scommi ssionsand
ombudsmen.Whi lemostombudsmanagenci eshav ethei rpower sv estedinasi ngleperson,
humanr i
ght scommi ssi
onsar emul ti
-membercommi tt
ees, of t
enr epresentati
veofv ari
ous
socialgroupsandpol i
ti
cal t
endencies.Theyar esomet imessetupt odeal wi
thspeci fi
cissues
suchasdi scri
minati
on,al t
houghsomear ebodi eswithv erybr oadr esponsibil
i
ties.Speciali
sed
nationalinsti
tuti
onsexistinmanycount r
iestopr otectther ightsofapar ti
cul
arv ulnerabl
egroup
suchaset hnicandli
ngui sti
cmi nor
iti
es,i
ndigenouspeopl es, chi
ldren,refugeesper sonswi t
h
disabil
it
iesorwomen.

Howev er
,ingeneralter
msnat ional humanrightsinstitut
ionhav eanexpl i
citandspeci
fi
chuman
ri
ghtsmandat eandabr oadermandat e,whi
chcoul di ncl
uder esearch,documentati
onand
trai
ningandeducat ioninhumanr ightsi
ssues, t
hant heclassicalombudsmanmodel whi
ch
tendst oworkonhandl ingcompl aintsaboutadmi nistrat
ivedefici
encies.Whi l
eal
lhumanright
s
viol
ationsaremal administ
rat
ion, onlyasmall proporti
onoft hewor kloadofanombudsman
dealswi t
hv i
olat
ionsofhumanr ightsstandard.

Inmostcount ries,aconst i
tution,ahumanr ightsactorinstit
ution-speci fi
cl egisl
at i
onwi l
l
provi
def ort heest abl
ishmentofanat ionalhumanr ightsinst
ituti
on.Thedegr eeof
i
ndependenceoft hesei nst
itutionsdependsuponnat i
onal l
aw, andbestpr acticer equiresa
consti
tutional orstatutorybasi srat
herthan( f
orexampl e)apr esident ialdecree.TheNat ional
HumanRi ght sCommi ssionwasest abli
shedbyt heNat i
onalHumanRi ghtsAct ,1995i nlinewith
theresolutionoft heGener al Assembl yoftheUni t
edNat i
onswhi chenj oi
nsal lmemberSt at
es
toestablishHumanRi ghtsInst i
tuti
onsforthepr omotionandpr ot ectionofhumanr ights.The
Commi ssionser vesasamechani sm fortheenhancementoft heenj oy mentofhumanr ights.I
ts
establ
ishmenti sai medatcr eat i
nganenabl i
ngenv i
ronmentf orext ra-judici
al recogni t
ion,
promot i
onandpr otectionandenf or
cementofhumanr i
ghts,t
reat
yobligati
onsandprovidi
nga
forum forpubli
cenlightenmentanddi al
ogueonhumanr ight
sissuestherebyl
imit
ing
controversyandconf rontati
on.Dealwit
hallmattersrel
ati
ngtotheprotecti
onofhumanr i
ght
s
asguar anteedbytheConst i
tuti
onoftheFederalRepubli
cofNigeri
a,t
heAf ri
canCharter,t
he
UnitedNat i
onsChar terandt heUniv
ersalDecl
arati
ononHumanRi ght
sandot heri
nternati
onal
treati
esonhumanr ightst owhichNiger
iaisasignatory
;

Monitorandinvest
igat
eallal
legedcasesofhumanright
svi
olati
oni
nNigeri
aandmake
appropri
aterecommendati
onst otheFeder
alGover
nmentforthepr
osecut
ionandsuchot
her
acti
onsasi tmaydeem expedienti
neachcir
cumstance;

Assistvi
cti
msofhumanr
ight
svi
olat
ionsandseekappr
opr
iat
eredr
essandr
emedi
esont
hei
r
behalf;

Under
takestudi
esonallmat
tersr
elat
ingt
ohumanr i
ghtsandassi
sttheFeder
alGov
ernmenti
n
thef
ormulat
ionofappr
opri
atepol
ici
esontheguar
anteeofhumanright
s;

Publ
i
shr
egul
arl
yrepor
tsont
hest
ateofhumanr
ight
spr
otect
ioni
nNi
ger
ia;

Organiselocalandint
ernati
onal
semi
nar
s,wor
kshopsandconf
erencesonhumanr
ight
sissues
forpubli
cenlightenment;

Li
aiseandcooper
atewit
hlocalandi
nter
nat
ional
organi
sati
onsonhumanr
ight
sfort
hepur
pose
ofadvanci
ngthepromot
ionandprot
ecti
onofhumanr i
ght
s;

Par
ti
ci
pat
einal
li
nter
nat
ional
act
ivi
ti
esr
elat
ingt
othepr
omot
ionandpr
otect
ionofhumanr
ight
s;

Maint
ainalibr
ary
,col
l
ectdat
aanddi
ssemi
nat
einf
ormat
ionandmat
eri
alsonhumanr
ight
s
gener
all
y;and

Carryoutal
lsuchot
herf
unct
ionsasar
enecessar
yorexpedi
entf
ort
heper
for
manceoft
hese
functi
onsundert
heAct.

Sinceitsest abl
ishmenttheCommi ssionhasdemonst ratedanexpansi v ecapaci t
ytot ackle
i
ssuesofhumanr ight
sthroughvar i
ousact ivi
ti
es,rangingfrom publ i
cenl i
ghtenmentand
education, i
nv esti
gat i
onofcompl aints,mediati
onandr econcili
ati
on,conf l
ictresoluti
on, peace
buil
ding, researchadv ocacyandt rainingprogrammesoncont empor aryissuesi nthef iel
dof
humanr i
ght s.thesewer egiveneffectt hroughanef fecti
vecompl ainttreatmentmechani sm,
regul
arhost ingofenl i
ghtenmentsemi nars,workshops, r
all
iesandcont i
nuousr eengi neeringof
ourstrategi eswhi chculminatedi
nt heNat i
onal Act
ionPl an(NAP)onHumanRi ghtsasamar k
ofgov ernment ’
scommi t
mentt owar dst hepromot i
onandpr otect
ionofhumanr ights.TheNAP
i
sexpect edt obeabenchmar konwhi chNigeria’
sHumanRi ghtsrecordscanbej udged.

TheCommi
ssi
on’
sStr
ategi
cWorkPlanisbasedonthethemati
car
easoffocusmenti
oned
abov
eandi
ncl
udest
hefoll
owi
ng:publ
iceducat
ionandenli
ght
enment
,tr
aini
ng,medi
ati
on,
on-
the-
spotassessment ,
poli
cy-
ori
ent
edr esearchandsoon.I
tal
soincl
udesstrat
egi
est ar
getedat
promoti
ngdemocr acy,andgoodgovernance, r
ight
soft
hevul
ner
ablegroupsandissuesrelat
ing
toextr
a-j
udici
alki
l
lings/t
ort
ureandotherviolence.

TheCommi ssionworksi
npartner
shi
pwit
hrel
evantgovernmentagenci
es/mini
str
iessuchas
Ministr
iesofEducati
on,Heal
th,WomenandYouthDevelopment,
Int
ernalAf
fair
s,Just
ice,
ForeignAffai
rs,Pol
i
ceAffai
rsetc.

I
NTERNATI
ONALI
NSTI
TUTI
ONSFORI
MPLEMENTI
NGHUMANRI
GHTS

Of
fi
ceoft
heUni
tedNat
ionsHi
ghCommi
ssi
onerf
orHumanRi
ght
s(OHCHR)

Apar toftheUni tedNationsSecr et

ar i
at,theOHCHRi sthehumanr ightsoffici
aloftheUnited
Nations.Itwor kst opromot ehumanr ightsundertheinternati
onall
aw, specifi
edbyt he
UniversalDecl arati
onofHumanRi ghtsi n1948.Foundedi n1993,Genev a,theOHCHRai mst o
promot easoci etythatisawar eofhumanr ight
sandt hev iol
ati
onsthatitfaces.Itworks
towardsspr eadingpeacet hroughdi alogueandpar t
icipati
on.It
smai nprojectsareassociated
withpracticinghumanr ightsincivi
l societi
esandwor kingwiththeInternati
onalCriminalCourt
.
Presently
, theheadoft heOHCHRi sPr i
nceZeidbinRa’ ad,arenowneddi pl
omatwhopl ayeda
bigroleinest ablishi
ngt heInternat
ional Cri
minalCourt.

HumanRi
ght
sInf
ormat
ionandDocument
ati
onSy
stems,
Int
ernat
ional
(HURI
DOCS)

Establi
shedi n1982, HURIDOCSi sagloball
yrenownedor gani
sat i
ont hataimsati mpr ovingt he
i
nf or
mat ionhandl i
ngcapabili
tiesoforganisat
ionsinmost l
ydev elopingcount r
ieswi t
hregar dto
humanr ight
s.Itfuncti
onswi t
hav astdecentr
ali
sedopen-endednet workofor ganisati
onsby
facil
it
atingasuppl ytotoolsandmet hodsformoni t
ori
nghumanr ightswi tharound150nat ions.
Thisincludescr eati
ngformatst hatcanrecordandex changeinfor mationondocument st hat
statehumanr i
ght svi
olat
ionsar oundthewor l
d.Amongi tsmanyser vices,HURI DOCSpr ovides
consultationandsuppor tforthecr eat
ionandmai nt
enanceofi nformat ionsystems; i
talso
provideswor kshopsandt rai
ningcour sesonthesame.

Chi
l
dren’
sRi
ght
sInf
ormat
ionNet
wor
k(CRI
N)

CRINisani nternat
ional networkt hataimsatmoni tor
ingchil
dri
ghtsbycircul
ati
nginformation
ofchil
drightsandi tsviolati
ons.Itwasest abl
ishedin1991byRäddaBar nen,aSwedishv enture
forchi
ldrights,andanon- government alor
ganisat
ion(NGO)calledDefenceforChil
dren
I
nternat
ional.Itworkswi thmor ethan2,000member sin130countr
ies,f
ocussingmai nl
yon
Afri
cannat i
ons.Intheirwebsi te,CRINst at
esthattheyaim atal
lpar
tsofsocietytopromot ethe
causeofchil
dri
ghts.“
Wedoourbestt
oempowerl
ocalpeopl
etocampai
gnforchi
ldr
en’
sri
ght
s
i
nt hei
rcount
ryandpromot
etheuseofl
awasapowerf
uladvocacyt
ool
,
”theyst
ate.

Wor
ldOr
gani
sat
ionAgai
nstTor
tur
e(Or
gani
sat
ionMondi
aleCont
rel
aTor
tur
e;OMCT)

Thewor ld’slargestcoaliti
onofnon- gov ernment al organi sations,OMCTi sauni tf
orhuman
ri
ghtsthatf i
ght sagainstv i
olence.Ittacklesar bitr
ar ydet ention,forceddi sappearances,
summar yexecut i
ons, t
orture,andot herfor msofv i
ol ence.Itai msater adi cati
ngtor t
ureand
vi
olenceagai nsthumanswi thhumanr ights.Theypr ev entandr eporttorturebypr ovidi
ng
personalisedmedi cal
,social,orl
egal aidtov icti
msoft ortureandabuseandensur esthatther
e
i
sintervent i
onint heserespect swher everr equired.Thei rmai nactivi
ti
esi ncludecr eati
ng
compr ehensiver eport
st hatcontributet othef unctioningoft heUni tedNat i
ons,andset ti
ngthe
barforthest rengtheningofi nter
national normsf orthepr otecti
onofhumanr i
ghts.Theyhav e
specif
icpr ogrammesai medatpr ovidingt heirservicest ov ulnerablegr oupssuchashuman
ri
ghtsdef enders, women, andchi l
dren.

Amnest
yInt
ernat
ional

Amnest yInter
nat i
onalisaninternati
onal NGOt hat“t
akesi nj
usti
cepersonal l
y.”Focusedon
champi oni
nghumanr ights,Amnest yInter nati
onal wasf oundedinLondon, 1961.Itsstoryi s
i
nspiredbyf ounder,PeterBenensonwhof oughtagai nsttheunjustdetainingoft woPor tuguese
studentsbywr it
ingTheFor gottenPr i
soner s,whichwentont obepublishedi nTheObser v er.I
t
call
edf or“commonact i
on”andcampai gnedf oran“Appeal forAmnest y,1961”i ncit
ingt he
UniversalDeclarat
ionofHumanRi ght s.Wi thanembol deningstronghold,itaimsatpr otect i
ng
humanr i
ghts,mobili
singpublicopinionanddi al
ogue, andpressuri
singgov ernmentstot ake
acti
onagai nstthese.“Wear ecampai gni ngf orawor ldwher ehumanr ightsar eenjoyedbyal l,
”
theystateintheirwebsite.Theyhav er eceiv edtheNobel PeacePrizei
nt hef ieldofHuman
ri
ghts.

Associ
ati
onf
orWomen’
sRi
ght
sinDev
elopment(
AWI
D)

AWI Dwasf oundedi n1982asanor gani

sat i
oncommi tt
edt oachievinggenderequalityand
women’ sr
ightsar oundthewor l
d.Thisfemi nistorgani
sationisacol l
ecti
veofprofessionals
fr
om around15count r
iesfrom aroundthewor ldfi
ghti
ngt ochampi onwomen’ sri
ght s.Theyai
m
tofacil
i
tat
eamov ementthatisbasedonf emi ni
stperspecti
ve,t
hati s,t
oachieveanequal
stat
usbetweent hegenders.Theyenv i
sion“ awor l
dwher ehumanr i
ghtsandfreedoms,
envir
onment alsustai
nabil
it
yandgenderj usti
cear ealivedreal
it
yf orall
peopleandt heplanet,
”
asstatedi
nt heirwebsite.
 THEUNI
TEDNATI
ONSANDHUMANRI
GHTS:

THEUNCHARTER

TheChar t
eroftheUnitedNat i
onswassi gnedon26June1945, inSanFr ancisco,atthe
concl usionoftheUnitedNat i
onsConf erenceonI nter
nationalOrganizat ion,andcamei ntoforce
on24Oct ober1945.TheSt atuteoft heI nternat
ionalCour tofJusticei sani ntegr
alpartofthe
Char ter.TheChar t
eroftheUni tedNat ions( alsoknownast heUNChar ter)isthefoundati
onal
treatyoft heUnitedNations,ani ntergov ernmentalorganizati
on.Itest ablishesthepurposes,
gov erningstructur
e,andov er
all fr
amewor koftheUNsy stem, i
ncludingi tssixpri
ncipalor
gans:
theSecr etar
iat
,theGeneralAssembl y,theSecur it
yCounci l,t
heEconomi candSoci alCouncil
,
theI nternati
onalCourtofJust i
ce, andt heTr ust
eeshipCounci l.

TheUNChar termandat est hattheUNandi t

smemberst atesmai ntai
nint
ernati
onal peaceand
securi
ty,upholdinter
nat i
onal l
aw, achieve“
higherstandardsoflivi
ng”forthei
rcit
izens, addr
ess
“economic,social,
heal t
h,andr elatedprobl
ems” ,andpromote“ univer
salr
espectfor, and
observanceof ,
humanr ightsandf undamental f
reedomsf orallwithoutdi
sti
ncti
onast orace,
sex,l
anguage, orreli
gion.”Asachar t
erandconstituentt
reaty,
itsrulesandobli
gationsar e
bindi
ngonal lmember sandsuper sedethoseofot hertr
eati
es.

Duringt heSecondWor ldWar ,theAlli

edpower s,knownf ormal l
yast heUni tedNat i
ons,agreed
ont henecessityofestablishinganewpost warinter nati
onal organizat
ion.Pur suanttothi
sgoal ,
theUNChar terwasdiscussed, prepared,
anddr afteddur i
ngt heSanFr anciscoConf er
encet hat
began25Apr il1945,whichi nvolvedmostoft hewor ld’
ssov ereignnations.Foll
owingt wo-t
hirds
appr ovalofeachpart,t
hef inaltextwasunani mousl yadopt edbyt hedelegat esandopenedf or
signatureon26Junebyt heor ganizati
ons.i
twassi gnedatt heSanFr anciscoWarMemor i
al
andPer f
ormingAr t
sCent erinSanFr anci
sco,UnitedSt ates,by50oft he51or i
ginalmember
count r
ies

TheChar t
erenteredint oforceon24Oct ober1945, fol
lowi
ngratifi
cati
onbyt heorigi
nalfi
ve
permanentmember soft heUni t
edNat i
onsSecur i
tyCouncil
—Chi na,t
hesov i
etUnion,t
heUni t
ed
Kingdom, andtheUni t
edSt ates—andamaj orit
yoft heothersi
gnat ori
es.Subsequentl
y,24
Octoberwasl aterdeclaredasUni t
edNat i
onsDaybyt heUnit
edNat i
onsGener al
Assembl y
UnionThef ir
stUNGener alAssembl y,
representingthe51or i
ginalmember s,openedinLondon
thefoll
owingJanuar y.Ont hefourthanniversaryoftheCharter’
sent r
yintoforce,t
he
cornerst
onewasl ai
df orthepresentUnitedNat ionsheadquarter
si nNewYor kCi t
y.With193
parti
es,mostcount ri
esi nthewor l
dhav enowr at i
fi
edtheCharter.

THEI
NTERNATI
ONALBI
LLOFRI
GHTS:

TheI
nter
nat
ional
Bil
lofHumanRi
ght
swast
henamegi
vent
oUNGener
alAssembl
yResol
uti
on
217(II
I)andtwointer
nati
onalt
r eat
iesestabli
shedbytheUnitedNat i
ons.Itconsist
softhe
Uni
versalDeclar
ati
onofHumanRi ghts(adoptedi
n1948),theI nt
ernat
ionalCovenantonCivi
l
andPolit
ical
Rights(I
CCPR,1966)wi thit
stwoOpt i
onalProtocolsandt heInt
ernati
onal
CovenantonEconomi c,
SocialandCul t
uralRi
ghts(I
CESCR, 1966).Thet wocovenantsent
ered
i
ntoforcein1976,aft
erasuffi
cientnumberofcount r
ieshadr ati
fi
edthem.

I
nt hebeginni
ng,dif
fer
entviewswereexpressedaboutt heformthebi l
lofri
ghtsshouldt
ake.In
1948,GeneralAssemblyplannedthebi
llt
oi ncludeUDHR, oneCov enantandmeasuresof
i
mpl ementati
on.TheDraft
ingCommi tt
eedeci dedtopreparetwodocument s:oneinthefor
m of
adeclarati
on,whi
chwouldsetf or
thgeneralprinci
plesorstandar
dsofhumanr i
ghts;
theotheri
n
theform ofaconventi
on,whichwoulddefinespecificr
ight
sandt heirl
imit
ati
ons.

Accordi ngly,
theCommi tteet r
ansmi t
tedt ot heCommi ssiononHumanRi ght sdraftart
icl
esof
aninter nati
onal decl
arati
onandani nter nati
onal convent iononhumanr i
ght s.Atit
ssecond
session, i
nDecember1947, theCommi ssiondeci dedt oappl ytheterm“ Internati
onalBillof
HumanRi ghts”totheseriesofdocument sinpr eparationandest abli
shedt hreewor ki
nggr oups:
oneont hedecl arati
on,oneont heconv ention(whi chitr enamed“ covenant ”)andoneon
i
mpl ement at
ion.TheCommi ssionrevisedt hedr aftdeclar at
ionatitsthir
dsessi on,inMay /June
1948, takingintoconsiderationcomment sreceiv edfrom Gov er
nment s.Itdidnothav et i
me,
howev er ,t
oconsi derthecov enantort hequest ionofi mpl ement ati
on.Thedecl ar
ationwas
ther
ef oresubmi t
tedthrought heUnitedNat ionsEconomi candSoci alCounci ltotheGener al
Assembl y,meet i
nginPar is.

Latert
hedraftcovenantwasdiv
idedint
wo( deci
dedbytheGeneral
Assemblyi
n1952),dif
feri
ng
wit
hbot hcat
alogueofright
sanddegreeofobli
gati
ons–forexample,t
heI
CESCRrefer
st othe
“pr
ogressi
vereali
sati
on”ofther
ight
sitcont
ains.I
n1998,i
twashailedas“
AMagnaCar taforall
humanity”
.

THEI
NTERNATI
ONALCOVENANTONECONOMI
C,SOCI
ALANDCULTURALRI
GHTS:

TheI nternationalCovenantonEconomi c,Soci alandCul t

ur alRi
ghts( I
CESCR)i samul t
ilat
eral
treatyadopt edbyt heUni t
edNat i
onsGener alAssembl yon16December1966t hroughGA.
Resol uti
on2200A( XXI),andcamei nforcef r
om 3Januar y1976. [
1]Itcommi tsitspar tiesto
wor ktowar dt hegranti
ngofeconomi c,soci al,andcul t
uralright
s( ESCR)tot heNon- Self-
Gov erningandTr ustTerr i
tori
esandi ndividuals, i
ncludingl abourrightsandt her ightt ohealth,
ther i
ghtt oeducat i
on,andt her i
ghttoanadequat estandar doflivi
ng.AsofJul y2020, the
Cov enanthas171Pr ot
ocol Af urt
herfourcount r
ies,incl
udi ngtheUni t
edSt ates, hav esignedbut
notr ati
fiedtheCov enantTheI CESCR( andi tsOpt ionalProtocol)ispartoft heI nternationalBil
l
ofHumanRi ghts,alongwi ththeUniversal Decl arati
onofHumanRi ghts(UDHR)andt he
InternationalCovenantonCi v
ilandPol i
tical Ri
ght s( I
CCPR) ,i
ncludingthelatter’sfirstand
secondOpt i
onalProtocols.
TheCov
enanti
smoni
tor
edbyt
heUNCommi
tt
eeonEconomi
c,Soci
alandCul
tur
alRi
ght
s.

UNI
VERSALDECLARATI
ONOFHUMANRI
GHTS:

TheUniv
er salDeclar
ati
onofHumanRi ghts(
UDHR)i sanint
ernati
onaldocumentadoptedbythe
Unit
edNat i
onsGener alAssemblythatenshr
inest heri
ghtsandfreedomsofal l
humanbeings.I
t
wasaccept edbytheGener alAssemblyasResolut i
on217atitsthir
dsessi
onon10December
1948atthePal ai
sdeChai ll
otinPari
s,Fr
anceoft he58member softheUnitedNat
ionsatthe
ti
me,48v otedinfavour
, noneagainst
,ei
ghtabstained,andtwodi dnotvot
e.[

Consideredaf oundationaltextint hehi st

oryofhumanandci vilrights,theDecl arationconsi sts
of30ar ti
cl esdet ail
ingani ndiv
idual ’
s“ basicrightsandf undament alfr
eedoms”andaf f
ir
mi ng
thei
runi versal characterasinher ent,inali
enabl e,andapplicablet oal lhumanbei ngs.Adopt edas
a“commonst andar dofachi evementf orallpeopl esandal lnations” ,
theUDHRcommi tsnations
torecogni zeal lhumansasbei ng“ bor nf r
eeandequal i
ndi gnityandr i
ghts”regar dlessof
“nati
onality,placeofr esidence, gender ,nati
onal orethnicor i
gin, colour,reli
gion,language, or
anyot herst atus”.TheDecl arat
ioni sconsi dereda“ mil
estonedocument ”forits“univ ersal
ist
l
anguage” ,whi chmakesnor eferencet oapar ti
cularcult
ure, politi
calsyst em, orreli
gi on.I
t
dir
ectlyinspi r
edt hedev elopmentofi nternational humanr i
ght slaw, andwast hef i
rstst epint he
formulationoft heInternati
onal Bil
l ofHumanRi ghts,whichwascompl etedin1966andcame
i
ntof orcei n1976.

Althoughnotlegall
ybi nding, thecont entsoftheUDHRhav ebeenel aboratedandincor porated
i
ntosubsequenti nternati
onal treaties,regionalhumanr i
ght sinstruments,andnational
constit
uti
onsandl egal codes. All193memberst atesoft heUni tedNationshav erati
fi
edatl east
oneoft heninebindingt r
eat iesi nfluencedbyt heDecl aration,withthevastmaj ori
tyratif
ying
fourormef f
ectiv
elySomel egal schol arshav earguedt hatbecausecount ri
eshav econsistentl
y
i
nv okedtheDeclarationformor et han50y ears,i
thasbecomebi ndi
ngaspar tofcustomar y
i
nternati
onal l
aw,Historyl
thoughcour t
si nsomenat i
onshav ebeenmor erestr
icti
veoni tslegal
effect
.Neverthel
ess, theUDHRhasi nfluencedlegal,poli
tical,andsocialdevelopment sonbot h
theglobalandnat i
onal l
ev els, withi t
ssi gni
fi
cancepar tl
yev i
dencedbyi ts524t r
anslati
ons, the
mostofanydocumenti nhi st ory.

HUMANRI
GHTSUNDERTHENI
GERI
ANCONSTI
TUTI
ON

ChapterI
Vofthe1999Const
it
uti
onofNi
ger
ia(
asamended)st
atesconcer
ningr
ight
s:
Fundamental
Right
s

33.
(1)Ev
eryper
sonhasar
ightt
oli
fe,
andnooneshal
lbedepr
ivedi
ntent
ional
l
yofhi
sli
fe,
sav
e
i
nexecut
ionoft
hesentenceofacour
tinr
espectofacr
imi
nal
off
enceofwhi
chhehasbeen
f
oundguil
tyi
nNiger
ia.

(2)Apersonshal
lnotber egardedashav i
ngbeendeprivedofhi
sli
fei
ncont
ravent
ionoft
his
secti
on,i
fhediesasar esultoftheuse,tosuchext
entandinsuchcir
cumst
ancesasare
permit
tedbylaw,ofsuchf orceasisreasonabl
ynecessary–

34.
(1)Ev
eryi
ndi
vi
dual
isent
it
ledt
orespectf
ort
hedi
gni
tyofhi
sper
son,
andaccor
dingl
y–

(
a)noper
sonshal
lbesubj
ectt
otor
tur
eort
oinhumanordegr
adi
ngt
reat
ment
;

(
b)noper
sonshal
lhehel
dinsl
aver
yorser
vit
ude;
and

(
c)noper
sonshal
lber
equi
redt
oper
for
mfor
cedofcompul
sor
ylabour
.

35.(
1)Everyper
sonshal
lbeenti
tl
edtohispersonal
liber
tyandnoper
sonshal
lbedepr
ivedof
suchli
bert
ysaveint
hefoll
owingcasesandinaccordancewit
haprocedur
eper
mitt
edbylaw–

(2)Anyper
sonwhoisarrest
edordetainedshal
lhavet
heri
ghttoremainsi
lentoravoi
d
answeri
nganyquest
ionunti
laf
terconsult
ati
onwithal
egalpr
acti
ti
oneroranyotherpersonof
hisownchoice.

(
3)Anypersonwhoisarr
est
edordetainedshal
lbeinf
ormedinwri
ti
ngwit
hint
wenty-
fourhour
s
(
andinalanguaget
hatheunder
stands)ofthef
actsandgroundsf
orhi
sarr
estordet
enti
on.

(4)Anyper
sonwhoi sar
rest
edordetai
nedinaccor
dancewit
hsubsecti
on(1)(c)oft
hissect
ion
shall
bebroughtbef
oreacourtofl
awwithi
nareasonabl
eti
me,andifheisnottri
edwithi
na
peri
odof–

(
5)I
nsubsect
ion(
4)oft
hissect
ion,
theexpr
essi
on“
areasonabl
eti
me”means–

(
a)int
hecaseofanar
restordetent
ioni
nanyplacewher
etherei
sacour
tofcompet
ent
j
uri
sdi
cti
onwi
thi
naradi
usoff or
tykil
ometer
s,aperi
odofoneday
;and

(b)i
nanyot
hercase,aperi
odoft
woday sorsuchl
ongerper
iodasi
ntheci
rcumst
ancesmaybe
consi
der
edbythecourtt
obereasonabl
e.

(6)Anyper
sonwhoisunl
awfull
yarrest
edordetainedshallbeent
itl
edtocompensationand
publi
capol
ogyfr
om t
heappropri
ateauthor
it
yorper son;
andi nt
hissubsect
ion,
“theappropr
iat
e
author
it
yorper
son”meansanauthorit
yorpersonspecifi
edbylaw.

(
7)Not
hingi
nthi
ssect
ionshal
lbeconst
rued–

(a)inrel
ati
ontosubsecti
on(4)ofthi
ssect
ion,
asappl
yi
nginthecaseofapersonar
rest
edor
detaineduponreasonabl
esuspi
cionofhav
ingcommit
tedacapit
alof
fence;
and
(b)asinval
i
dati
nganylawbyr easononl
ythati
tauthor
izest
hedetent
ionf oraper
iodnot
exceedingt
hreemonthsofamemberoft hearmedf or
cesofthef
eder at
ionoramemberoft he
Nigeri
aPoli
ceForceinexecut
ionofasentencei
mposedbyanof f
icerofthearmedf or
cesofthe
Federati
onoroftheNiger
iapoli
cefor
ce,i
nrespectofanoff
encepunishablebysuchdetent
ion
ofwhichhehasbeenf oundguil
ty.

36.(1)I
nt hedet
erminat
ionofhisci
vil
right
sandobli
gati
ons,includi
nganyquestionor
determinati
onbyoragainstanygover
nmentorauthori
ty,apersonshallbeent
it
ledtoafai
r
hearingwithi
nareasonableti
mebyacour torot
hertr
ibunalestabli
shedbylawandconsti
tut
ed
i
nsuchmannerast osecureitsi
ndependenceandimparti
ali
ty

37.
pri
vacyofcit
izens,
thei
rhomes,cor
respondence,t
elephoneconv
ersat
ionsandt
elegr
aphi
c
communicat
ionsisherebyguar
ant
eedandpr otect
ed.

38.(1)Everyper
sonshall
beentit
ledtofreedom oft
hought,consci
enceandrel
i
gion,i
ncludi
ng
fr
eedom t ochangehi
sreli
gionorbeli
ef,
andf r
eedom (ei
theral
oneorincommunitywithothers,
andi npubli
corinpri
vat
e)tomani f
estandpropagatehisrel
igi
onorbeli
efi
nworship,
teaching,
practi
ceandobservance.

39.
(1)Ever
ypersonshal
lbeent
it
ledtofreedom ofexpr
essi
on,i
ncl
udingfreedom t
ohol
d
opi
nionsandt
or ecei
veandi
mpartideasandinformati
onwit
houti
nterf
erence.

40.Ever
ypersonshal
lbeenti
tledt
oassembl
ef r
eelyandassoci
atewi
thot
herpersons,andi
n
parti
cul
arhemayf or
m orbelongt
oanypoli
ti
calpart
y,t
radeuni
onoranyotherassoci
ati
onfor
theprot
ecti
onofhisint
erest
s:

Prov
idedthatthepr
ovisi
onsofthissect
ionshallnotder
ogatef
rom t
hepower sconf
erredbythi
s
Consti
tut
ionontheIndependentNati
onalEl
ectoralCommissi
onwit
hr espectt
opoli
ti
calpar
ti
es
towhichthatCommissiondoesnotaccordrecogniti
on.

41.
(1)Everycit
izenofNiger
iai
sent
it
ledtomovefreel
ythr
oughoutNigeri
aandt or
esi
dei
nany
par
tthereof,
andnoci t
izenofNi
ger
iashal
lbeexpell
edfr
om Niger
iaorrefusedent
ryt
her
ebyor
exi
tther
efrom.

42.
(1)Acit
izenofNi
ger
iaofapar
ti
cul
arcommuni
ty,
ethni
cgr
oup,
placeofor
igi
n,sex,
rel
i
gion
orpol
it
ical
opini
onshal
lnot
,byr
easonbedi
scr
imi
nated

Subjecttothepr
ovi
sionsofthi
sConst
it
uti
on,ever
ycit
izenofNi
ger
iashal
lhav
ether
ightt
o
acquireandownimmov abl
eproper
tyanywher
einNigeri
a.

44.
(1)Nomoveablepropert
yoranyinter
esti
nani mmov abl
epropertyshal
lbet
akenpossessi
on
ofcompul
sori
lyandnorightoverori
nter
estinanysuchpropert
yshallbeacqui
redcompulsor
il
y
i
nanypartofNiger
iaexceptinthemannerandforthepurposesprescr
ibedbyalawthat
,
amongothert
hings–
45.
(1)Nothi
nginsecti
ons37,
38,39,40and41oft
hisConst
it
uti
onshal
li
nval
i
dat
eanyl
awt
hat
i
sreasonabl
yjust
if
iabl
einademocrati
csoci
ety

Thesear
esomeoft
hemanyl
awsont
hef
undament
alr
ight
sofaci
ti
zeni
nthe1999const
it
uti
on

FUNDAMANTALOBJECTI
VESANDDI
RECTI
VEPRI
NCI
PLESOFSTATEPOLI
CY

Fundamentalobj
ect
ivesarei
deal
stowardswhichtheNati
oni
sexpect
edtost
ri
vewhil
st
Dir
ecti
vepri
ncipl
esl
aydownt hepol
ici
eswhichareexpect
edt
obepursuedi
ntheef
fort
soft
he
Nati
ontoreal
iset
heNat i
onsi
deal
s.

Fundament al object i
v esanddi r
ecti
vepr inciplesar ethe,basicidealsandv al
uest hatar e
entr
enchedi ntheconst i
tuti
on.Thesev aluesanddi recti
vest hatgov er
nmentatt hecent ral,
state
andlocal governmentl evelsareexpect edt orespect ,
obeyandf oll
owar ewhatt heyare
expectedt obe, ideal sandv al
uesandsot heyar enotj ustici
able.Thoughgov ernment( s)canbe
assessedandchal lengedmor al
lyiftheyf ailt
oobser vethem butt heycancannotbesuedf or
notobserv i
ngordoi ngt hem.Fori nstance, i
tisstatedint hefundament alobjecti
vesand
dir
ecti
v eprinciplesofst atepol i
cythat“ Gov ernmentshal l di
rectit
’spoli
cytowar dsensur ingthat
ther
ear eequal andadequat eeducat ional opportuniti
esatal ll
evels”.Andthat“Gov er
nment
shall
pr omot esci enceandt echnology“ ,and“ Gov ernmentshal lstr
ivetoeradicateil
li
teracy; and
tothi
sendGov er nmentshal lasandwhenpr acti
cabl eprov i
de:

a)Fr
ee,
compul
sor
yanduni
ver
sal
pri
mar
yeducat
ion.

b)Fr
ee,
secondar
yeducat
ion.

c)Fr
eeuni
ver
sit
yeducat
ion.

d)Fr
eeadul
tli
ter
acypr
ogr
amme”

Statedabov eistheeducat ionalobjecti

veofNi geria.Thi seducationalobj ect i
vehasbeena
feat
ur eofourconst i
tutionsincludingthe1999const i
tuti
ony etmostgov ernment sincludi
ngt he
centralorf ederal gover nmentar eyettoofferfreeeducat i
onatal ll
evelsev ent hought he
constituti
ondi rectst hem todoso.Why ?Thisisbecausei tisani deal,aim orobj ectivewhichi s
tobeachi ev edandatwhenpr act i
cabl
e.It
si mplement ati
oni safunct i
onofav ail
abl eresources,
government ,will
ingness, etcunlikeotherincl
usionsi ntheconst i
tuti
on, fundament alobject
ive
andpr inci
pl esinchapt ertwooft he1999const i
tutionar emor alvalues,ideal s,mor alpr i
nci
ples
orruleswhi chtheci ti
zenscannotchal l
enget hegov ernmentf ornotdoi ng.Gov ernmenti s
mor all
yexpect edt oobser vethem i nt
heinterestoft heci t
izenswhenpr act icable.Oneshoul d
notet heclause“ Gov er nmentshal lasatwhenpr acticableprov i
de’’–so, t heinst r
uct i
ondonot
carr
yt hef orceofl awandconsequent lynotjustici
abl e.

Howev
er,
gov
ernment
sar
eexpect
edt
oobser
vef
undament
alobj
ect
ives.Theseobj
ect
ives
i
ncl
udeeducat
ional
,env
ironment
al,
cul
tur
al,
massmedi
a,nat
ional
ethi
cset
c.

Inthewor dsoftheConst i
tuti
onDr afti
ngCommi tt
ee(CDC)thatdraftedthe1979f ederal
consti
tuti
onoft heFederalrepublicofNigeria,f
undamentalobject
ivesrefer
st othe“ult
imat e
object
ivesofthenationwhi l
stdirecti
veprincipl
esofthestatepoli
cyindicat
et hepathwhi ch
l
eadst othoseobjecti
ves”.The1979, 1989,1999consti
tut
ionsofNigeriatherefor
eattempt edto
settheobjecti
vesandideal srequiredofanygov ernmenti
nNi geri
aandl aydownt hest andards
whichanyGov ernmentinNi geriamustnotgobel ow.

Thispr ovi
sionalsofeaturedinthecur r
entconst ituti
on,t
he1999const i
tuti
onofthefederal
republicofNigeria.Consequentl
y ,
the1999const i
tuti
oninsection13sti
pulat
esthat“itshal
lbe
thedut yandresponsibili
tyofallorgansofgov ernmentandal laut
hori
ti
esandpersons,
exercisingl
egislati
ve,execut
iveorj udi
cialpower s,toconformt o,
observeandappl
ythe
provisionofthischapteroftheconst it
ution.”‘’
Thischapter‘
’aboveref
erstothechapter2on
fundament alobjecti
vesanddi r
ectiveprinciplesofstatepoli
cy.

Thef undament alobj ect

ivesanddi recti
v epri
nci
plesstressthemor al
, pol
it
icalsocialeconomi c
etcv alues,ideal s,ai
msandet hi
csofNi geri
a.Consequently,constit
utionaldeclarati
onr egardi
ng
politi
cal,soci al
,economi c,educationalforei
gnpol i
cy,envi
ronment al,cult
uralobjecti
vesand
national ethicsofNi geri
aar eprovidedi nChapterTwooft he1999const i
tuti
onoft hef ederal
republ i
cofNi ger i
a.Section14oft he1999const it
utionstatest hefoundationuponwhi chthe
Niger i
anst atei sbuilt.Thecount ryshall berul
edbyt heprinciplesofdemocr acyt hatis,
gov ernmentshal lbedemocr ati
c,wher ethepeopleshallbef reetoelecttheirl
eader sundera
freeandf airelection.Inot herwords, Nigeri
ansshallnotber uledbyf orceoranyundemocr ati
c
gov ernment .

Section15st atest hepol i

ticalobject
ivesoft hestate,
Section16decl ar estheeconomi c
objectivesoft hest atewhi leSect i
on17codi fiesthesoci
al objecti
vesoft hest ate.Section18
statestheeducat ional objectivesofNigeri
a.Sect i
ons19and20expl ainst heforeignpol i
cyand
environment al objectivesofNi geriar
espectiv el
y.Whil
eSect i
on21st atest hedir
ect i
veson
Nigeriancul t
ure, Sections22and23i ncorporatetheobli
gat i
onsoft hemassmedi aaswel las
thedi r
ectiveonNat i
onal Ethics.Sect
ion24cont ai
nsorhighlightsthedut iesoftheci ti
zens
whichi ncludesobey ingthel awsoft helandandabi di
ngbyt heconst it
ut i
on,respectsidealsand
i
nst i
tuti
ons, t
henat ionalant hem, nat
ionalpledge, t
henational f
lagandconst it
utedaut horit
ies.
Payt axasat

whendueandpr
oper
ly.
.

REGI
ONALCOVENTI
ONS

Regi
onalconv
ent
ionarebi
ndi
ngagr eementsbet
weenstat
esinagi v
enregi
on.Theyhel
pto
l
ocal
iseandcont
extual
i
seInt
ernat
ionalnor
msandstandards.Theyareof
tennegot
iat
edunder
r
egi
onal
int
ergov
ernmentor
gani
zat
ionssuchast
heEur
opeanUni
onort
heAf
ri
canUni
on.

Eachregionhasitsownsy stemsofhumanr ight

sconv enti
ons.TheAmericas,Eur
ope,Asia,and
Afr
icahav eal
lestabl
i
shedr egi
onalconvent
ions.Theseconv ent
ionsar
ethelocali
sedversions
ofint
ernati
onalhumanrightssothattheycatertowardstheneedsoftheterr
it
oryasrequired.

TheVi ennaConf erenceonHumanRi ghtsi n1993stated“thatregional arr

angement splaya
fundament alr
olei npromot i
ngandpr otect i
nghumanr ight
sandshoul dreinforceuniv
ersal
humanr i
ghtsstandar ds,ascont
ainedi ni nter
nati
onalhumanr ightsinst r
ument s,andthei
r
protecti
on,Recalli
ngt hattheWorldConf erenceonHumanRi ghtsr ei
teratedt heneedto
considerthepossi bil
it
yofestabl
ishingr egionalandsubregional ar
rangement sforthe
promot i
onandpr otecti
onofhumanr ightswher etheydonotal readyexi st.
.

Unfort
unat
ely
,theest abl
ishmentofagenciestoi
mpl ementhumanri
ghtshasbeenv er
yslow.
Onl
yt hr
eemainr egional
agenciesexi
stsfortheprotect
ionofhumanri
ght
sandt heyare,
Eur
opeanConv entiononHumanRi ghts,t
heAmer icanConventi
ononHumanRight sandthe
Afr
icanChart
eronHumanRi ght
sandPeopl e’
sRights.

EUROPEANCONVENTI
ON:

Thestructurethathasbeeni mpl ementedforEur ope’shumanr i

ghtssy stem i
sextremely
comprehensi ve.TheCounci l
ofEur opecreatedtheCongr essofEur opewhi chhadmember s
whower el
ike-mindedandhadacommonher i
tageofpol i
ti
caltr
adition, i
deasandf reedom and
therul
eofl aw.Theyar guedt hattoachieveEuropeanuni t
y,maintenanceandpr omotionwasan
i
mpor tantmeansofdoi ngso.Thi sbeganwiththei ntr
oducti
onoft heEur opeanConv enti
onfor
theProtecti
onofHumanRi ghtsandFundament alFreedoms( ECHR)f ol l
owedbyt heEur opean
Soci
al CharterandtheEur opeanConv enti
onf orthePr ev
enti
onofTor tureandI nhumanor
DegradingTr eatmentorPunishment .

TheECHRcamei ntof orceonSeptember3,1953.Itist

heregi
onalcounterpar
tofthe
Inter
national
CovenantonCi vil
andPoli
ti
calRight
sandi scomparabl
etot heAmer i
can
Conv enti
ononHumanRi ght
sandtheAfri
canCharteronHumanandPeopl esRight
s.TheECHR
consistsof15protocols.Theseprot
ocol
seitherhelptoamendthearti
clesortoexpandoradd
right
st otheConventi
on.Theyar e–

Pr
otocolNo.1added4newar t
icl
est
hatprov
ideri
ghtsandfr
eedomssuchastherighttofr
ee
el
ect
ions,andr
ightt
oeducat
ionandtheri
ghttopeacef
ulenj
oymentofone’
spossessions.

Prot
ocolNo.2providedthattheCourtofHumanRight
smaygi v
etheadv
isoryopi
niononlegal
matter
sattherequestofCouncilofMini
ster
sinquest
ionsr
elat
edtot
heinter
pret
ationoft
he
Conventi
onandthepr ot
ocols.
Pr
otocol
No.3amendedAr
ti
cles29,
30and34andabol
i
shedt
hesy
stem ofSub-
Commi
ssi
on.

Prot
ocol No.4securest
hefreedom f
rom i
mprisonmentofdebt
s,f
rom expul
sionandther
ight
toenterowncountryandtheprohi
bit
ionofcol
l
ectiv
eexpulsi
onofali
ensandthechoiceof
resi
denceandliber
tyofmovement.

Prot
ocolNo.5madcer
tai
nprocedur
alchangesr
egar
dingt
heel
ect
ionofmember
soft
he
Commissionandt
heCour
t.

ProtocolNo.6restri
ctstheusageofdeat
hpenalt
ytoonlyti
mesofwarori
fther
eisan
i
mmi nentt
hreatofwar.AllEur
opeanCounci
lmember shavesi
gnedandr
ati
fi
edthi
s,wi
tht
he
exceptionofRussiathathasonlysi
gnedandnotrat
if
ied.

ProtocolNo.7pr
ovi
desar i
ghttorev
iewconvict
ionsgivenbyhighert
ri
bunal
s.Ger
manyand
Netherl
andshavesi
gnedbutnotrati
fi
edit
.Turkeysignedbutrati
fi
edonlyi
n2016,andt
he
Unit
edKingdom hasnei
thersi
gnednorrat
ifi
edit.

Pr
otocol
No.8st
atest
heCommi
ssi
onmayset
upChamber
sorCommi
tt
ees.

Pr
otocol
No.9al
l
owsi
ndi
vi
dual
appl
i
cat
ionst
oref
ercasest
oCour
tincer
tai
nci
rcumst
ances.

Pr
otocol
No.10r
emov
edt
hewor
d‘t
wo-
thi
rds’
from t
hef
ir
stpar
agr
aphofAr
ti
cle32

Prot
ocolNo.11revampedthecontrolmachi
ner yt
hatwasestabl
ishedbytheConv ent
ionto
maintai
nandimprovet
heeffi
ciencyofitspr
otecti
onofhumanr i
ghts.Itov
errul
es2,3,5,8,9
and10asitabol
ishedtheCommi ssionandgivesaccesst
oindiv
idualstodir
ectl
yapproachthe
court
.

Pr
otocolNo.12all
owstheexer
ciseofanyl
egalr
ightagainstaut
hor
it
iesonthegroundsof
di
scri
minat
ion.I
thasnotbeensi
gnedorrat
if
iedbyseveralmembersoftheEuropeanCounci
l

Prot
ocol
No.13pr
ovi
desforthecompl
eteandent
ir
eabol
it
ionoft
hedeathpenal
ty.OnlyRussi
a
andAzer
bai
j
anhavenotsi
gnedandrat
if
iedi
twhil
eArmeni
ahassignedbutnotr
atif
iedit
.

Prot
ocolNo.14isaconti
nuat
iont
oPr
otocol
11andai
msatf
il
ter
ingoutcasest
hathav
eless
chancesofsucceedi
ng.

Prot
ocolNo.15intr
oducesar efer
encetotheprinci
pleofsubsidi
ari
tyandthedoctri
neofthe
marginofappr
eciat
ion.I
talsoreducesfrom si
xtofourmont hstheti
me-l
imitwit
hinwhichan
appl
icat
ionmaybemadet otheCour tf
oll
owingthedateofaf i
naldomesti
cdecision.

APr otocol16isslatedtobeintr
oducedintheAugustof2018andintr
oducesar ef
erencetothe
pri
ncipleofsubsidiari
tyandthedoctr
ineofthemargi
nofappreci
ati
on.Ital
soreducesfrom si
x
tofourmont hsthet i
me-li
mitwit
hinwhichanappli
cati
onmaybemadet otheCourtfoll
owi
ng
thedat eofafi
nal domest i
cdeci
sion.

SomeRi
ght
sandFr
eedomst
hatar
econt
ainedwi
thi
nSect
ion1oft
heConv
ent
ionar
etheRi
ght
t
oLife,
Rightt
oLiber
ty,
Freedom fr
om tort
ureorinhumanordegradi
ngt
reat
mentorpuni
shment
,
f
reedom f
rom sl
aver
yorservi
tude,
rightt
ofairandpubl
ichear
ingandsoon.

NationalLawshoul dnotviolat
etheright
st hatarepr
otect
edintheConv ent
ionsasitmaylead
tointer
nationall
iabi
li
ty.Hence,manyEur opeancountri
eshaveincor
poratedtheConvent
ionint
o
thei
rnationallaworConst i
tuti
on.Forexampl e,
theUnit
edKingdom hasenactedtheHuman
RightsActof1998.

Prot ocolNo.11“ rest ructuredt hecont rol machiner y”andt herebycr eatedanewEur opeanCour t
.
Ittookaf ull
y earfort hispr otocol t
obei mplement edandi nthatper iodjudgeswer eappoi nted
andmeet ingswer ehel dtot aket henecessar yorgani zat
ional andpr ocedur almeasur esf orthe
establ i
shmentoft hiscour t.Thi snewcour twasknownast heEur opeanCour tofHumanRi ghts
andcamei ntot heest abli
shmentonNov ember1, 1998.TheEur opeanCour tofHumanRi ghts,
whi chislocat edi nSt rasbour g,hasjur isdicti
onov erCounci lofEuropememberSt atest hathave
optedt oacceptt heCour t’
sopt ionaljurisdicti
on.TheCour thadt hejur i
sdicti
ont odeci decases
broughti nbyi ndivi
dual sorhi ghcont ract ingpar t
ies.TheCour tmayal sor eceiveappl icati
ons
from individual sforanyv iolati
onofHumanRi ghts.Itisalsoi nthepoweroft hecour ttoreject
anyappl icationt hatitdeemsi nadmi ssi bleundert heConv enti
on.Itshoul dbenot edt hatt he
j
udgmentoft hecour tisfinal.Onceast atehasdoneso, allCour tdecisionsr egardingi tare
binding.Thej udgment sshoul dcontai nr easonsast owhyi twast hej udgmentpr onouncedi n
thatmanner .Thef inal j
udgmenti sgiv ent otheCommi tt
eeofMi ni
ster swhichsuper v i
sesi t
s
execut i
on.

AMERI
CANCONVENTI
ONONHUMANRI
GHTS

TheOr ganizati
onofAmeri
canStates(OAS)Chart
ergivesabasiclistofri
ghtsanddutiesas
theyapplytoall35membersStates.Thi
sisoneoft hetwosourcesoft heInt
er-
Amer i
can
HumanRi ghtsSyst
em.TheotherisbasedontheAmer i
canConv enti
onofHumanRi ghts.
AlthoughtheOASChar t
ermentionshumanright
s,itdoesnotdefinenorprovideal
istofthose
ri
ghts.

TheNi nthInternati
onalConfer
enceofAmer icanStat
esprocl
aimedtheAmer i
canDecl ar
ationof
theRightsandDut i
esofManonMay2, 1948.ThePreambleassert
st hatt he“i
nternati
onal
prot
ect i
onoft her i
ghtsofmanshoul dbethepr i
nci
palgui
deofanev olvingAmer icanlaw.”Thi
s
Declarati
onpr oclai
msci vi
landpol
iti
calaswel l
aseconomic,soci
alandcul t
uralr
ightsand
containsalistofdut i
es.TheAmericanConvent i
onwasadoptedintheI nter-
Amer ican
Speciali
zedConf er
encewashel di
nCost aRicainNovember1969.

Thi
sConvent
ionhasgivenal i
stofsever
alCivi
laswel
lasPol
i
tical
Right
stoal
lpeopl
eresi
ding
i
ntheSt
ates,subj
ectt
oj ur
isdi
cti
on.Somer i
ghtsar
e–

Ri
ghtt
ofai
rtr
ial
Ri
ghtt
oJudi
cial
per
sonal
i
ty

Ri
ghtt
opr
ivacy

Ri
ghtt
ohumant
reat
ment

Fr
eedom f
rom Sl
aver
yandi
nvol
unt
aryser
vit
ude.

Ri
ghtt
oper
sonal
freedom

Fr
eedom f
rom Expostf
act
olaws

Fr
eedom ofmov
ementandr
esi
dence

TheSt atespar ti
est otheConv enti
onunder taket orespectt heabov eright
sandf reedomsand
ensur et
hatal lpersonssubjectt othei
rjuri
sdictionhav efullaccesstothem wi t
houtany
discrimi
nationont hegroundsofsex, rel
igion, r
ace, ethnicit
yandsoon.Theser ightsmaybe
suspendeddur ingperiodsofwaroratanyt i
mewher ewari simmi nent.Statesmaydev i
atefrom
theirobl
igationst oupholdtheser i
ghts,providedt hatt hemeasur esunder t
akenbyt hem arenot
discrimi
nator yinnature.Despitethis,
therear esev eral r
ightsthatcannotbesuspendedno
mat tert
hesi tuati
onsuchast her i
ghttojudicialpersonal it
y,Freedom from Expostfact
ol aws,
Freedom from Sl averyandinvoluntaryservit
ude.

I
n1988, t
heAmer i
canConvent
ionwasexpandedtoi
ncl
udeSocial
,EconomicandCult
ural
Rights.ThiswasanAddit
ional
Prot
ocolandisal
sopopul
arl
yknownast heProt
ocolofSan
Salvador.Someri
ghtsare–

Ri
ghtt
oFood

Ri
ghtt
oHeal
th

Ri
ghtt
oWor
k

Ri
ghtt
oEducat
ion

Tr
adeUni
onRi
ght
s

Ri
ghtt
oSoci
alSecur
it
y

Int
erAmer i
canCommi ssi
ononHumanRi ghts–Thi sCommi ssi
onwascr eat
edi n1959with
sevenmember swhoar er
equi
redtobemember swithhi
ghmor alcharact
erandpossess
experi
enceinthefiel
dofhumanr i
ghts.Theyareelect
edbythemember softheOASf rom l
istof
candi
datesrecommendedbyt hememberst at
es.Themainai m ofthecommi ssi
onisto
promoterespectforHumanRights.I
ttri
estodev el
opawarenessofhumanr ightsamongt he
peopleofAmer i
caTheCommi ssioni
saut hori
zedtorecei
vepetiti
onsonthev iol
ati
onofhuman
r
ight
sbyanypar
ti
esorSt
ates.

Int
erAmer i
canCour tofHumanRi ghts–ThisCourtconsist
sofsev enjudges.Theyare
nati
onalsofthememberSt atesoft heOAS.Thesejudgesareelectedthroughthei
rindi
vi
dual
capaci
ty,f
orhighestmor alauthori
tyandforexerci
singcompetenceint hehumanr i
ghtsfi
eld.
Judgesareelectedforat er
m per i
odof6y ear
s,andt heymayber eelectedforonemoreterm.
Thejudgementgi v
enbyt hecour tisfi
nalandi
tcannotbeappeal ed.

AFRI
CANCHARTERONHUMANANDPEOPLE’
SRI
GHTS

TheAf ri
canConf erenceont heRul eofLawi n1961spar kedthebasi stoform ar egionalagency
fortheprotecti
onandpr omot ionofHumanRi ghtsinAfr
ica.TheAf ri
canChar t
erort heBanj ul
Charteristhemai nhumanr ightsinstrumentandwasi ntr
oducedi n1981.Itcamei ntoforcein
1986.All53memberst atesoft heOr gani
zati
onOfAf ri
canUnity(OAU)r ati
fi
edt hisCharter.The
Constit
utiveActoft heAf ri
canUni on( AU)r
eplacedtheOAUi nJul y2002.TheAf r
icanChar teris
rat
heruni queincompar i
sont otot heother
sasi tprovi
desfor‘people’
srights’
.Theser eflectthe
Afri
cansoci al
traditi
onsofcol l
ect
iv eandgrouplif
e.Theindivi
dual i
snotconsider edas
i
ndependentt osoci ety,
butsubor dinatetothegroup.Thesegr oupshaver i
ghtsgr oupshav e
ri
ghtsandt heindividual
shav eduties.Somehumanandpeopl er i
ghtsare–

Equal
i
tybef
orel
aw

Ri
ghtt
oli
ber
tyandsecur
it
y

Ri
ghtt
orespectf
orl
i
feandi
ntegr
it
yofper
son

Ri
ghtt
oEqual
i
ty

Ri
ghtt
oExi
stence

Ri
ghtt
oPr
oper
ty

Ri
ghtt
oFr
eeExi
stence

Ri
ghtt
oEducat
ion

Theabov erightssigni
fi
esthattheAfri
canChartergi
vessocial
,economicalandcult
uralr
ights
al
ongwi thcivilandpoli
ti
calr
ights.I
tdoesgivethessoci
al,economicalandcult
uralr
ight
si na
separat
econv enti
onli
ketheEuropeandAmer icancount
erpart
s.Somedut i
esthathavebeen
provi
dedf orindivi
dual
stofoll
owasment ionedintheAfr
icanCharterar
e–
Dut
ytowar
dsf
ami
l
yandsoci
ety

Dut
ytopr
eser
veandpr
otectnat
ional
andsoci
alsecur
it
y

Dut
ytoser
vehi
snat
ional
communi
ty

Dut
ynott
ocompr
omi
set
heSecur
it
yoft
heSt
ate

AFRI
CANCOMMI
SSI
ONONHUMANANDPEOPLESRI
GHTS

TheAf r
icanChar tercr
eatesacommi ssi
ont hatpromotehumanandpeopl e’
srightandensure
theirpr
otectioninAfri
ca.TheCommi ssi
onconsi stsof11member samongstAf r
ican
personali
tiesknownf ortheirhi
ghmoral
it
y,integr
ityandcompetence.Theyshouldhaveal
so
extensi
veexper i
encei nt
hehumanr i
ght
sfield.Thefunct
ionsofthi
sCommi ssionarementioned
underAr t
icle45.Someoft hem ar
e–

TheCommi
ssi
onshal
lensur
ethepr
otect
ionofhumanandpeopl
eri
ght
s.

TheCommi
ssi
onshal
li
nter
pretanyandal
lpr
ovi
sionsoft
heChar
teratt
her
equestofaSt
ate
Par
ty.

Animplement ati
onmachi neryisment ionedunderAr ticl
e67whi chstatest hatifaSt atePart
y
hasreasonst obel i
evethatanot herStatehasv i
olatedanypr ovi
sionoft heChar ter,t
heymay
drawattentiontot hi
smat terbycommuni catedtot heChai r
manofAU.Al l measur estakenby
theCommi ssionshallr
emai nstrict
lyconfident
ialunt iltheti
met heGov ernmentorAssembl yof
Stat
esdeci desso.Ther epor tonactivi
tiesdonebyt heCommi ssionshal lbepubl i
shedbyt he
Chair
manaf terithasbeenconsi deredbyt heGov ernmentorAssembl yofSt ates.The
Commi ssiondr awsinspir
at i
onfrom var i
ousinter
nat ional l
awsonhumanr i
ghtsespeci al
lyf
rom
theAfri
canI nstrumentsonHumanandPeopl esRi ght s,theUDHR, andot herinstrument s
adoptedbyt heUN.

AFRI
CANCOURTOFHUMANANDPEOPLESRI
GHTS

Thepr ocessf orcreati

onofthisCourtwasst art
edwi ththeOAU.TheCour tconsistsof11
j
udgeswhogetasi x-
yearterm.Thesejudgesar eel ectedt hr
ought heirhighmor alcapacityand
theirexperti
seinthef i
eldofhumanr ight s.Theyshoul dal sohav egoodj udicial
andacademi c
experience.Theyar econsideredasrepr esent at
ivesofSt ates.TheCour tpossessest he
j
urisdictiont
oacti nbothadv i
soryandj udicat or
ycapaci t
y .Judicatorycapacityisfundament al
.
TheAf ricanCommi ssi
onforHumanRi ght s,aswel l
asSt atePar t
ies,mayf il
ecaseswi t
ht hi
s
cour t
.Itmayacti nanadv i
sorymannerasperAr ticl
e4i nanyl egal matterthatrequir
est he
i
nter
pretati
onoftheCharteroranyot
herHumanRightsdocument.Thejudgmentgi
venbyt
he
Cour
tisf i
nalandbi
ndi
ngandi snotsubj
ectt
oappeal.TheCourtmay,however,
revi
ewand
i
nter
pretitsowndeci
sions.

HUMANRI
GHTSOFVULNERABLEGROUPS

Theai m ofhumanr ightsinstr

ument sisthepr otectionoft hosevulnerabletov i
olati
onsoft hei
r
fundament alhumanr ights.Thereareparti
culargr oupswho, forv
ar i
ousr easons,areweakand
vulnerableorhavetraditi
onall
ybeenv icti
msofv iolati
onsandconsequent l
yrequirespecial
protecti
onf ort
heequal andeffecti
veenjoymentoft heirhumanr ights.Oftenhumanr ight
s
i
nst r
ument ssetoutaddi ti
onalguaranteesforper sonsbel ongingtot hesegr oups;the
Commi tt
eeonEconomi c,SocialandCulturalRights, f
orexampl e,hasr epeatedlystressedthat
theICESCRi savehicl
ef ortheprotecti
onofv ulnerablegr oupswithinsoci et
y,requiri
ngstatesto
extendspeci al
protectiv
emeasur estothem andensur esomedegr eeofpr i
orit
yconsi der
ati
on,
evenint hefaceofsev ereresourceconstraint
s.

Thispar tfocusesongr oupst hatareespecial

lyvulnerabletoabuseofhumanr i
ght s;groupsthat
arestructurall
ydiscriminat edagainstli
kewomenandgr oupst hathavediffi
cul t
iesdef ending
themselv esandar et hereforeinneedofspeci alprot
ection.Twel v
egr oupsar edi scussed: 1)
womenandgi rl
s;2)chi l
dren; 3)refugees;4)i
nternal
lydispl
acedper sons;5)st atel essper sons;
6)national minori
ties;7)indigenouspeopl es8)mi gr
antwor kers;9)disabledper sons; 10)
elder
lyper sons;11)HI Vposi tiv
eper sonsandAI DSv i
cti
ms; 12)Roma/ Gypsies/Si nt i
;and13)
l
esbian, gayandt ransgenderpeopl e.Clear
lyt
hisisnotanexhaust i
vel i
stofper sonsi nneedof
parti
cularprotecti
on, asmanyot hergroupsnotdiscussedi nthispartsufferfrom di scri
minati
on.

WOMEN

Womenar eent i
tledt oenjoythesamehumanr ightsandfundamentalfr
eedomsasot her
i
ndivi
duals.Internat i
onalhumanr i
ght str
eati
esr equir
eStateparti
estotakeproacti
vest epsto
ensurethatwomen’ shumanr ight
sar erespectedbyl awandtoeliminat
ediscri
minati
on,
i
nequalit
ies,andpr acti
cesthatnegativel
yaffectwomen’ sri
ghts.Underint
ernat
ionalhuman
ri
ghtslaw,womenmayal sobeent it
ledtospeci fi
cadditi
onalr
ightssuchasthoseconcer ning
repr
oduct i
veheal thcare.

Asapar ticularl
yvulnerabl
egroup,womenhav especialstatusandprotecti
onwithi
ntheUnited
Nat i
onsandr egi
onalhumanr ight
ssystems.I nt
ernati
onal humanri
ghtst r
eati
esprohi
bit
discri
minationont hebasisofgenderandal sorequireStatestoensurethepr ot
ect
ionand
reali
zati
onofwomen’ sri
ghtsinal
lareas–f rom propert
yowner shi
pandf reedom f
rom vi
olence,
toequal accesst oeducationandparti
cipat
ioningov er
nment .
Legal
Prot
ect
ions

Thef
oll
owi
ngi
nter
nat
ional
humanr
ight
sinst
rument
sspeci
fi
cal
l
yaddr
esswomen’
sri
ght
s:

Af
ri
canChar
teronDemocr
acy
,El
ect
ionsandGov
ernance(
8(2)
,29,
and43)

Afr
icanChart
eronHumanandPeopl
es’Ri
ght
s(ar
t.18(3))
;al
ongwi
tht
hePr
otocol
tot
heAf
ri
can
Charteront
heRight
sofWomeninAf
rica(
“Maput
oPr otocol
”)

Af
ri
canChar
teront
heRi
ght
sandWel
far
eoft
heChi
l
d(ar
t.14(
e))

Amer
icanConv
ent
iononHumanRi
ght
s(ar
ts.1(
1),
6(1)
,27(
1))

Amer
icanDecl
arat
ionoft
heRi
ght
sandDut
iesofMan(
art
s.2and7)

Ar
abChar
teronHumanRi
ght
s(ar
ts.3,
4,10,
33,
34,
41,
and43)

Conv
ent
ionont
heEl
i
minat
ionofAl
lFor
msofDi
scr
imi
nat
ionAgai
nstWomen(
CEDAW)

Conv
ent
ionont
heNat
ional
i
tyofMar
ri
edWomen

Conv
ent
ionont
hePol
i
tical
Right
sofWomen

Conventi
onf
ortheSuppr
essi
onoft
heTr
aff
ici
nPer
sonsandoft
heExpl
oit
ati
onoft
he
Prost
it
uti
onofOther
s

Counci
lofEur
opeConventi
ononPrev
enti
ngandCombat
ingVi
olenceagai
nstWomenand
Domesti
cViol
ence(
“I
stanbulConv
ent
ion”
)

EuropeanConvent
ionfort
hePr
otect
ionofHumanRi ght
sandFundament
alFr
eedoms
(“
EuropeanConventi
ononHumanRights”
)(ar
t.14)

Eur
opeanSoci
alChar
ter(
art
s.4(
3)and8)&Eur
opeanSoci
alChar
ter(
rev
ised)(
art
s.4(
3),
8and
27)

I
nter
-Amer
icanConv
ent
ionont
heGr
ant
ingofCi
vi
lRi
ght
stoWomen

I
nter
-Amer
icanConv
ent
ionont
heGr
ant
ingofPol
i
tical
Right
sToWomen

I
nter
-Amer
icanConv
ent
ionont
heNat
ional
i
tyofWomen

I
nter
-Ameri
canConvent
ionont
hePrevent
ion,
Puni
shmentandEr
adi
cat
ionofVi
olenceAgai
nst
Women(“Convent
ionofBel
ém doPar
á”)

I
nter
nat
ional
Cov
enantonCi
vi
landPol
i
tical
Right
s(ar
ts.2,
3and26)

I
nter
nat
ional
Cov
enantonEconomi
c,Soci
alandCul
tur
alRi
ght
s(ar
ts.2,
3and7(
i)
)

Uni
tedNat
ionsSt
andar
dMi
nimum Rul
esf
ort
heTr
eat
mentofPr
isoner
s(par
as.6,
8,23and53)
Uni
ver
sal
Decl
arat
ionofHumanRi
ght
s(pr
eambl
e)

Additi
onal tr
eati
es,whichmayaddr essspecif
ichumanr i
ghtsorpr otectt
heright
sofother
vulnerablegroups,
applyequall
ytowomen.Humanr i
ghtstreat
iesalsogenerall
yincl
udeanon-
discri
mi nati
onprovi
sionthatpr
ohibit
sdiscri
minati
onont hebasisofgenderandot hergrounds,
andent itl
eswoment of ul
landequalenjoymentofthosetreati
es’provisi
ons.

Conv
ent
ionont
heEl
i
minat
ionofAl
lFor
msofDi
scr
imi
nat
ionAgai
nstWomen(
CEDAW)

TheUni t
edNations(UN)Conv enti
onont heEl
iminati
onofDi scr
imi
nat i
onagainstWomen
(CEDAW)i sthemostcompr ehensivetr
eatyonther i
ghtsofwomen.I tcondemnsanyf orm of
discr
iminati
onagainstwomenandr eaf
fi
rmsthei mportanceofguaranteei
ngequal poli
tical
,
economi c,
social
,cul
tur
alandci v
ilri
ght
st owomenandmen.SeeConv ent
ionontheEl iminati
on
ofallFormsofDiscri
minati
onagai nstWomen( adopted18December1979, enter
edi ntoforce3
September1981) ,
1249UNTS13.AsofMay2014, 188St at
esarepartytoCEDAW, outof193
UNMemberSt ates.

CEDAW pr ovidesthatt hereshoul dbeequal polit

ical,economi c,soci
al,cul
turalandci vil
rights
forwomenr egardl
essoft heirmar i
talst
atusandr equiresStatestoenactnat ionallegisl
ation
banningdi scriminat i
on(arti
cles1, 2and3) .ItpermitsSt atestotaketempor aryspeci al
measur est oaccel eratetheachi evementofequal ityinpr act
icebetweenmenandwomen
(Arti
cle4),andt ot akeact i
onst omodi fysocialandcul turalpatt
ernsthatperpet uate
discri
minat i
on( Articl
e5) .Statesparti
esagr eethatcont r
actsandot herpri
vatei nst
rument st hat
restr
ictthelegal capaci t
yofwomen“ shallbedeemednul landv oi
d”(Arti
cle15) .TheConv enti
on
alsoaddr essest heneedf orequal accesstoeducat i
on( Arti
cle10).

CEDAW r equir
esStatestot akeappropri
atemeasurestoeliminatediscrimi
nati
oninmatter
s
rel
ati
ngt omar r
iageandf amilyandunderli
nestheequalresponsibi
li
tiesofmenandwomeni n
thecontextoffamilyli
fe(Arti
cle16).TheConventi
onalsoemphasi zest heneedforchi
l
dcare
faci
li
ti
esandot hersocialservicestohel
pwomensat i
sfyfamilyobl
igationsal
ongwithwork
responsi
bili
ti
esandpar ti
cipati
oni npubl
i
clif
e(Arti
cle11).

CEDAW call
sfornon-discr
iminatoryhealt
hservicesforwomen, i
ncludi
ngfamilyplanni
ng
ser
vices(
Arti
cle12).Special
attentioni
sgiventot heproblemsfacedbyrural
women( Art
icl
e
14)
,sexualt
raff
icki
ngofwomen, andothersexualexpl
oitati
onofwomen( Art
icle6).

Stateshav emadenumer ousreservat

ionstoCEDAW, pur
port
ingtol
imitt
hetreat
y’sdomestic
applicati
on.Mostofthereservat
ionsaredesi
gnedt opr
eser
vetheauthor
it
yofnat i
onalor
reli
giouslawthatmaycont r
adictCEDAW, ort
owi t
hdrawtheStat
efr
om thearbit
rati
onprovi
sion
foundi nArti
cle29.Nonet
heless,CEDAW remainsthemostwidel
yappli
cabl
ehumanr i
ghts
treatydedicat
edtowomen’ sri
ghts.

Regi
onal
Treat
ies
Somer egionalhumanr i
ghtstreati
esalsof ocusspecificall
yonwomen’ sr
ights.InAf ri
ca,the
Protocol totheAf r
icanChar t
eront heRi ghtsofWomeni nAfri
ca,knownast he“ Maput o
Protocol,”addressesi ssuesofpar ti
cularimpor tanceinAf r
ica,suchasgenital muti
lati
on.
Protocol totheAf r
icanChar t
eront heRi ghtsofWomeni nAfri
ca( “
MaputoPr otocol
” )(adopted
11Jul y2003, enteredi ntoforce25Nov ember2005) ,CAB/ LEG/ 66.
6(15Sept ember2000) ;
repr
intedi n1Af r.Hum.Rt s.L.J.40,art
.5.Italsospecif i
esthatwomenhav et heri
ghtt odignity
(Art
icl
e3) ,t
herightt oequal i
tyinmar r
iage( Arti
cle6),
andt herighttodeci
dewhet hertohav e
chil
dren( Arti
cle14) .Thepr otocolalsoaddr essesthepr obl
em oft r
aff
icki
ngi nwomen( Art
icl
e4) .

CHI
LDRENANDMI
NORI
TIES

TheConv
ent
ionont
heRi
ght
soft
heChi
l
d

TheCRCwast hev
eryfi
rstti
meaf ormalhumanri
ght
scommi t
mentwascentr
edaround
chi
ldr
en.Onl
yonecount
ry(theUSA)hasnotrat
if
iedi
t,meani
ngiti
scl
osetobeingt
hefi
rst
Convent
iont
oachi
eveuniversal
accept
ance.

TheCRCi ncl
udesal
otoft
her
ight
syouwoul
dexpectt
oseeaswel
lassomei
nter
est
ingr
ight
s
forchi
l
drensuchas:

Ar
ticl
e3–Bestinterestsoft
hechi
l
d.Al
lact
ionsconcer
ningt
hechi
l
dshal
ltakef
ull
accountof
hi
sorherbesti
nterests.

Art
icle19–Pr ot
ecti
onf rom abuseandnegl ect.TheStat
eshal
lprot
ectthechi
ldf
rom allf
orms
ofmal t
reat
mentbypar entsorothersresponsiblefort
hechi
ld’
scareandshall
establ
ish
appropri
atesoci
alprogrammesf ort
hepr ev
ent i
onofabuseandthetreat
mentofvict
ims.

I
tal
soout
li
nesspeci
fi
ccat
egor
iesofv
ulner
abl
echi
l
drensuchasr
efugees:

Arti
cle22–Ref ugeechil
dren.Speci
alprot
ecti
onshal
lbegrantedt
oaref
ugeechil
dortoachil
d
seekingref
ugeestatus.I
tistheStat
e’sobli
gati
ontocooper
atewit
hcompetentor
gani
sat
ions
thatprov
idesuchprotect
ionandassistance.

UNICEFst atesthatt
heCRC‘ r
eflectsanewvisi
onoft
hechi l
d.Chi
ldr
enar
eneit
hert
heproper
ty
oftheirparent
snoraretheyhelplessobj
ect
sofchari
ty.Theyarehumanbei
ngsandar
ethe
subjectoftheirownri
ghts.
’

Howdoest
heConv
ent
ionPr
otectChi
l
dren?

Everycountr
ythathassi
gnedtheCRChast oensur
ethatt
hei
rlegali
sat
ionandpol i
ciesareupto
scratch.Gov
ernmentshavetorepor
tever
yfewyearstoacommitteeofindependentexpert
s,
explaini
nghowtheyareensuri
ngthatt
heymeettheri
ght
soutl
i
ned.

TheCommi
tt
eeont
heRi
ght
soft
heChi
l
dar
eani
nter
nat
ional
l
yel
ect
edbodyofi
ndependent
expert
sthatmoni t
ortheConventi
on’simpl
ementati
on.TheCommi t
teeoftensuggestst
hat
countr
iestakecert
ainstepstoensurebett
erpr
otecti
onforchi
ldrensuchasdev el
opingnat
ional
agendaforchil
drenorinvol
vi
ngchildreni
nthepoli
cydecisi
onsthataffectthem.

TheConv
enti
onhashel
pedyoungpeopl
eal
lovert
hewor
ldviadevel
opi
ngspeci
fi
cjust
ice
syst
emsfory
oungpeopl
eandpushi
ngGover
nmentst
oprior
it
isechi
ldr
en’
sneeds.

I
MPEDI
MENTSTOTHEREALI
ZATI
ON/
VIOLATI
ONOFHUMANRI
GHTS:

Ther eal i
zat ionandenj oy mentofsoci o- economi cr i
ght si scr ucialtoov ercomi ngt hechal l
enges
ofabj ectpov er t
y.Theser ight sof fert hosel i
vingi npov er tyaccesst ot hebasi candessent i
al
thi
ngst hatar enecessar yt ol iveadi gni fiedl i
fe.Howev er,itisgener allyagr eedt hatthe
protect i
onandenj oy mentofsoci o-economi cr ight si saccor dedl essi mpor tanceamongstt he
comi tyofci v i
lizednat ions.Maj orityofgov er nment sgi v epr iorit
yt ot hepr ot ect i
onofci v i
land
political right st othedet rimentofsoci o- economi cr i
ght s.Despi tetheUni tedNat ionsst anceon
non- hier ar chical st
r uctur ewi thinhumanr ight scl assi ficat i
ons, t
herei sgener al ambi val
ence
towar dst hev iolati
onofsoci o-economi cr i
ght sbyt hoseent r
ust edt opr ot ectt hem.Though
manyi nter nat ionalandr egi onal treatiespr otectsoci o-economi cr i
ght s, whi chi nstrument shave
beendomest icatedbycount ri
es; thepi ctur eappear sgl oomyi nt er
msofef fect ivereali
sation
andpr otect ionofsoci o- economi cr i
ght s.Thei renf or cement sst il
lremai nachal l
engef orthis
millenni um.Thei mpedi ment st ot her eal izat i
onoft heser ightsar et hef ocusoft hispaper .
Throughdet ailedanal ysi sofi nternat ional , regional anddomest i
clegi slativef ramewor kwor k
andj urispr udence, thisst udypr ov i
desasy stemat icexposi t
ionoft heobst acl est hatimpacton
theabi li
tyofst atest of ulfilthei rsoci o- economi cr ight sobl igat i
onsundert hev ari
ousand
diver sei nst rument s.Thei mpedi ment st hatar edi scussedi nt hispaperi ncl ude: proli
ferati
onsof
humanr ight s; corr
upt i
onandi neptl eader shi pi nAf r ica; inadequat eenf or cementmechani sm;
poorandi nef fectivest ater epor ts; i
nt ernat ional sanct i
ons; war sandconf licts; globalizati
on;
debtr epay mentbydev el opi ngcount ries; difficultiesofmoni toringcompl iancebySt atePar t
ies
andconf l
ictofl aws.I nconcl usi on, t
hepaperpr of fer sapanaceaandal ternat ivemodel sforthe
realizat i
onandenj oy ment sofsoci o-economi cr i
ght s.

ELEMENTSOFHUMANI
TARI
ANLAW

Whati
sint
ernat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
aw?

Internati
onalhumani t
ari
anlawisasetofruleswhichseek,forhumani t
ari
anreasons, toli
mitthe
effectsofarmedconf li
ct.I
tprot
ect
spersonswhoar enotorar enolongerpar
ti
cipatinginthe
hostili
ti
esandr estr
ict
sthemeansandmet hodsofwarfar
e.Internati
onalhumanitari
anl awis
alsoknownast helawofwarort hel
awofar medconfl
ict
.Internat
ionalhumanit
arianlawi spart
ofinternati
onallaw,whichist
hebodyofrulesgoverni
ngr el
ationsbetweenStates.Internat
ional
l
awiscontainedi
nagreementsbetweenStat
es–t r
eati
esorconventi
ons–,i
ncust
omaryrules,
whi
chconsistofStat
epract
iseconsi
deredbythem asl
egal
lybi
nding,andi
ngener
alpr
inci
ples.

Int
ernat
ionalhumanit
ari
anlawappli
estoar
medconf
li
cts.Itdoesnotregulat
ewhetheraStat
e
mayactuallyusefor
ce;t
hisisgov
ernedbyani
mport
ant,butdist
inct
,partofi
nter
nati
onall
aw
setouti
nt heUnit
edNationsChar
ter.

*
Wher
edi
dint
ernat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
awor
igi
nat
e?

Int
ernati
onalhumanitar
ianlawi sr
oot
edintherulesofancientciv
ili
zati
onsandr el
i
gions–
warfarehasalwaysbeensubj ectt
ocert
ainpri
ncipl
esandcust oms.Uni versalcodifi
cati
onof
i
nternati
onalhumanitar
ianlawbeganintheninet
eenthcentury.Sincethen, St
at eshaveagreed
toaser i
esofpract
icalr
ules,basedonthebit
terexper
ienceofmoder nwar far
e.Theser ules
str
ikeacarefulbal
ancebetweenhumani t
ari
anconcernsandt hemi li
taryrequirement sofStat
es.

Astheint
ernat
ional
communi t
yhasgrown,anincr
easingnumberofSt
ateshav
econtri
butedt
o
thedev
elopmentofthoser
ules.I
nter
nat
ional
humanitari
anlawfor
mstodayauniv
ersalbodyof
l
aw.

Wher
eisi
nter
nat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
awt
obef
ound?

Amaj orpartofint
ernati
onalhumani t
ari
anlawiscontai
nedinthefourGenevaConv enti
onsof
1949.NearlyeveryStatei
nthewor l
dhasagreedtobeboundbyt hem.TheConv entionshave
beendevelopedandsuppl ement edbytwofurt
heragreements:t
heAdditi
onalProtocolsof1977
rel
ati
ngtot heprotect
ionofvictimsofarmedconfl
ict
s.Otheragreementsprohi
bittheuseof
cert
ainweaponsandmi li
tar
yt acti
csandprot
ectcert
aincategor
iesofpeopl
eandgoods.

Theseagr
eement
sincl
ude:

The1954Conventi
onf
ort
hePr
otect
ionofCul
tur
alPr
oper
tyi
ntheEv
entofAr
medConf
li
ct,
plus
i
tstwoprot
ocols;

The1972Bi
ologi
cal
WeaponsConv
ent
ion;

The1980Conv
ent
ional
WeaponsConv
ent
ionandi
tsf
ivepr
otocol
s;

The1993Chemi
cal
WeaponsConv
ent
ion;

The1997Ot
tawaConv
ent
iononant
i-
per
sonnel
mines;

The2000Opti
onal
Prot
ocolt
otheConv
ent
ionont
heRi
ght
soft
heChi
l
dont
hei
nvol
vementof
chi
ldr
eninar
medconfl
i
ct.

Manyprovi
sionsofi
nternat
ionalhumani
tar
ianl
awar
enowaccept
edascust
omar
ylaw–t
hati
s,
asgener
alrulesbywhichal
l St
atesar
ebound.
*
Whendoesi
nter
nat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
awappl
y?

I
nternat
ionalhumani
tari
anlawappli
esonlytoarmedconfl
ict
;itdoesnotcoveri
nter
nal t
ensi
ons
ordist
urbancessuchasisolat
edact
sofv i
olence.Thel
awappliesonlyonceaconfl
icthas
begun,andthenequall
ytoallsi
desr
egardl
essofwhost ar
tedthefighti
ng.

Int
ernat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
awdi
sti
ngui
shesbet
weeni
nter
nat
ional
andnon-
int
ernat
ional
armed
confl
ict
.

Int
ernati
onal
ar medconfl
i
ctsarethoseinwhichatleastt
woStatesar
einvol
ved.Theyar
e
subjectt
oawi derangeofrul
es,i
ncludi
ngthosesetoutinthef
ourGenevaConventi
onsand
Additi
onalPr
otocolI.

Non-i
nternati
onalarmedconfli
ctsar ethoserest r
ictedt otheterri
toryofasi ngleState,i
nvol
v i
ng
eit
herregulararmedforcesfi
ghtinggroupsofar meddi ssi
dents,orar medgr oupsfighti
ngeach
other
.Amor eli
mitedrangeofrulesappl yt
oi nter
nal armedconf l
ictsandar elaiddowni nArti
cle
3commont othefourGenevaConv enti
onsaswel lasinAddi t
ional ProtocolI
I.I
tisimportantto
dif
fer
entiatebetweeninter
nati
onalhumani tarianlawandhumanr ightslaw.Whi l
esomeoft hei
r
rul
esaresimi l
ar,t
hesetwobodi esoflawhav edev elopedsepar atelyandar econtainedin
dif
fer
entt r
eati
es.Inparti
cul
ar,humanr ight
sl aw–unl ikeinter
national humanitari
anlaw–
appli
esinpeacet i
me,andmanyofi t
spr ovi
sionsmaybesuspendeddur inganarmedconf li
ct.

*
Whatdoesi
nter
nat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
awcov
er?

Int
ernat
ionalhumani
tari
anlawcoverstwoar eas:
theprot
ect
ionofthosewhoarenot
,orno
l
onger,t
akingparti
nfighti
ng;r
estr
ict
ionsont hemeansofwarfar
e–i npar
ti
cul
arweapons–
andthemet hodsofwarfar
e,suchasmi l
it
arytact
ics.

*
Whati
s“pr
otect
ion”
?

Internati
onal humanitari
anl awpr otectsthosewhodonott akepartinthef i
ghti
ng,suchas
civil
i
ansandmedi calandr eli
giousmi li
taryper
sonnel.Ital
soprotectsthosewhohav eceasedto
takepar t,suchaswounded, shi pwreckedandsi ckcombat ant
s,andpr i
soner sofwar .These
categoriesofper sonar eent i
tledt orespectforthei
rliv
esandf ortheirphysicalandment al
i
ntegr i
ty.Theyal soenjoylegal guarantees.Theymustbepr ot
ectedandt reatedhumanel yinal
l
cir
cumst ances,withnoadv ersedi sti
nction.Morespecifi
call
y:i
tisforbiddentokillorwoundan
enemywhosur r
endersori sunabl etof i
ght;t
hesickandwoundedmustbecol l
ectedandcar ed
forbyt hepar tyi
nwhosepowert heyfindthemselves.Medicalpersonnel,suppli
es,hospital
s
andambul ancesmustal lbepr otected.
Therearealsodetail
edr
ulesgoverningtheconditi
onsofdetenti
onf orpr
isoner
sofwarandthe
wayinwhi chci
v i
l
iansar
etobet r
eatedwhenundert heauthor
it
yofanenemypower .Thi
s
i
ncludestheprovisi
onoffood,
shelterandmedi calcar
e,andtherighttoexchangemessages
wit
ht hei
rfamil
ies.

Thelawsetsoutanumberofcl earl
yrecognizabl
esymbolswhi
chcanbeusedt oidenti
fy
prot
ectedpeopl
e,placesandobject
s.Themai nemblemsaretheredcross,
theredcrescent
andthesymbolsidenti
fyi
ngcul
turalpr
opertyandciv
ildef
encefaci
li
ti
es.

*
Whatr
est
ri
cti
onsar
ether
eonweaponsandt
act
ics?

I
nter
nat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
awpr
ohi
bit
sal
lmeansandmet
hodsofwar
far
ewhi
ch:

Failt
odiscr
imi
nat
ebetweent
hosetakingparti
nthefi
ghti
ngandthose,
suchasci
vi
li
ans,who
arenot,t
hepur
posebei
ngtoprot
ecttheciv
il
ianpopul
ati
on,i
ndi
vi
dualci
vil
i
ansandci
vil
i
an
propert
y;

Causesuper
fl
uousi
njur
yorunnecessar
ysuf
fer
ing;

Causesev
ereorl
ong-
ter
m damaget
otheenv
ironment
.

Humani
tari
anlawhasther
eforebannedtheuseofmanyweapons, i
ncludi
ngexplodi
ngbul
l
ets,
chemi
calandbiol
ogi
calweapons,bl
indi
nglaserweaponsandant
i-
personnel
mi nes.

I
sint
ernat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
awact
ual
l
ycompl
i
edwi
th?

Sadly
,ther
ear
ecount
lessexampl
esofv
iol
ati
onofi
nter
nat
ional
humani
tar
ianl
aw.I
ncr
easi
ngl
y,
the

vi
cti
msofwarar eciv i
l
ians.However,t
hereareimportantcaseswher eint
ernati
onal
humanit
arianlawhasmadeadi ff
erencei
npr ot
ectingcivi
l
ians,pri
soners,
thesickandthe
wounded,andi nrestri
cti
ngtheuseofbar bar
icweapons.Gi venthatthi
sbodyofl awappl
ies
dur
ingti
mesofext remev iol
ence,i
mplementingthelawwi l
lalwaysbeamat t
erofgreat
di
ffi
cul
ty.Thatsaid, st
ri
vingforef
fecti
vecomplianceremainsasur gentasev er
.

*
Whatshoul
dbedonet
oimpl
ementt
hel
aw?

Measur esmustbetakentoensurerespectforinter
nationalhumani tar
ianlaw.Stateshavean
obli
gationtot
eachit
sr ul
estothei
rarmedf orcesandt hegener alpubli
c.Theymustpr event
vi
olati
onsorpunishthem i
fthesenevert
helessoccur .I
nparticular,t
heymustenactl awst o
punishthemostseri
ousv i
olat
ionsoftheGenev aConv enti
onsandAddi t
ionalPr
otocols,
which
areregardedaswarcrimes.TheStatesmustal sopassl awspr otecti
ngther edcrossandred
crescentemblems.
Measureshav ealsobeent akenatani nter
nationallevel:
tribunal
shavebeencr eatedt opuni sh
actscommi t
tedi ntworecentconf li
cts(theformerYugosl aviaandRwanda).Ani nternati
onal
cri
minalcourt
, wit
ht heresponsibil
it
yofr epressinginterali
awarcr i
mes,wascr eatedbyt he
1998RomeSt atute.Whetherasi ndi
vidualsort hroughgov ernmentsandv ar
iousor ganizations,
wecanal lmakeani mportantcontri
but i
ontocompl iancewi thi
nter
nat
ionalhumani tari
anl aw.

THEROLE,
ORGANI
ZATI
ONANDMETHODOFNGOS

Manyor ganizat
ionsar oundthewor l
ddedicatet hei
reffort
st oprotect i
nghumanr i
ghtsand
endi nghumanr i
ghtsabuses.Maj orhumanr ightsorganizati
onsmai ntainextensivewebsit
es
document ingvi
olati
onsandcal li
ngf orremedi alacti
on,bothatagov ernmental andgrass-
roots
l
ev el.Publ icsupportandcondemnat ionofabusesi si
mpor tanttot heirsuccess,ashumanr ight
organi zationsaremostef f
ecti
vewhent heircallsforrefor
m arebackedbyst rongpubl i
c
adv ocacy .Globally,
thechampi onsofhumanr ightshavemostof tenbeenci tizens,not
gov ernmentof f
icial
s.Inparti
cular,nongovernment alorganizat
ions( NGOs)hav epl ay
eda
pri
mar yr oleinfocusingtheint
er nati
onalcommuni tyonhumanr ightsi ssues.

NGOsmoni t
ort
heact
ionsofgov
ernment
sandpr
essur
ethem t
oactaccor
dingt
ohumanr
ight
s
pr
inci
ples

AMNESTYI
NTERNATI
ONAL:

AmnestyInter
nati
onali
sawor l
dwi demovementofpeoplewhocampai gnfori
nternati
onal
ly
recogni
zedhumanr i
ght
sforall
.Wi thmorethan2.
2mill
ionmember sandsubscr i
bersinmore
than150countri
es,t
heyconductresear
chandgenerat
eact i
ontopreventandendgr aveabuses
ofhumanr i
ghtsandtodemandj usti
cefort
hosewhoser i
ghtshav
ebeenv iol
ated.

CHI
LDREN’
SDEFENSEFUND(
CDF)
:

TheCDFisachil
dadv ocacyorgani
zati
onthatworkst
oensureal
evelpl
ayi
ngfi
eldforal
l
chi
ldr
en.CDFchampionspolici
esandprogramsthatl
if
tchi
ldr
enoutofpov
ert
y,prot
ectthem
fr
om abuseandnegl
ectandensur ethei
rri
ghtt
oequalcar
eandeducati
on.

HUMANRI
GHTSACTI
ONCENTER
TheHumanRi ghtsActi
onCenteri
sanonprofi
torgani zat
ionbasedinWashington,DC,headed
byJackHealey,worl
d-r
enownedhumanright
sactivistandpioneer.TheCenterworksonissues
ofthehumanr i
ghtsandusesthear
tsandtechnologiestoinnovate,cr
eat
eanddev elopnew
st
rategi
estostophumanr i
ght
sabuses.Theyalsosuppor tgrowinghumanrightsgroupsall
overtheworl
d.

HUMANRI
GHTSWATCH

HumanRi ghtsWat chisdedi

catedtoprot
ect
ingt
hehumanr i
ghtsofpeopl
ear oundtheworl
d.
Theyinv
estigateandexposehumanr ight
svi
olat
ions,
holdabusersaccountable,
andchall
enge
gover
nment sandt hosewhohol dpowert
oendabusivepracti
cesandrespectinter
nat
ional
humanrightslaw.www. hr
w.or
g

HUMANRI
GHTSWI
THOUTFRONTI
ERS:
(HRWF)

TheHRWFf ocusesonmonit
oring,r
esear
chandanal
ysi
sinthef
iel
dofhumanr i
ght
s,aswel
las
promot
ionofdemocracyandtherul
eoflawonthenati
onal
andint
ernat
ional
lev
el.

NATI
ONALASSOCI
ATI
ONFORTHEADVANCEMENTOFCOLOREDPEOPLE(
NAACP)
:

Themissi
onoftheNAACPistoensur
ethepol
it
ical
,educati
onal
,soci
alandeconomi
cqual
i
tyof
ri
ght
sofallper
sonsandt
oeli
minater
aci
alhat
redandr aci
aldi
scri
minat
ion.