In June 1946, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – a major newly created United Nations body tasked with promoting human rights – established the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), a permanent body within the United Nations to prepare what was originally conceived as the International Declaration of Rights. [21] It had 18 members from different national, religious and political backgrounds to be representative of humanity. [22] In February 1947, the Commission, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt of the United States, established a special committee for the elaboration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to draft the articles of the Declaration. The Committee met in two meetings in two years. The most innovative feature of the Human Rights Council is the Universal Periodic Review. This unique mechanism includes a review of the human rights record of the 193 UN Member States every four years. The review is a cooperative State-led process under the auspices of the Council, which provides each State with an opportunity to describe the measures and challenges taken to improve the human rights situation in its country and to fulfil its international obligations. The review aims to ensure universality and equal treatment for each country. International human rights law sets out the obligation of Governments to act or refrain from certain actions in order to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups. Those who defend the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the highest or only model of a charter of equality and freedom for all peoples must be reminded that, given the Western origin and orientation of this Declaration, the “universality” of the assumptions on which it is based is at least problematic and questionable. In addition, the alleged incompatibility between the concept of human rights and religion in general or certain religions such as Islam must be examined impartially. [108] Human rights are inherent rights of all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion or other status.
Human rights include the right to life and liberty, the right not to be subjected to slavery and torture, freedom of expression and expression, the right to work and education, and much more. Everyone has the right to these rights, without discrimination. The Declaration served as the basis for two binding United Nations human rights covenants: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The principles of the Declaration are set out in other binding international treaties such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention against Torture and many others. The statement continues to be frequently cited by governments, academics, lawyers and constitutional courts, as well as by people who invoke their principles to protect their recognized human rights. [77] The Un High Commissioner for Human Rights has primary responsibility for the un`s human rights activities. The Mandate of the High Commissioner is to respond to serious human rights violations and to take preventive measures. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights entered into force in 1976. Among the human rights that the Covenant seeks to promote and protect are: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and must approach each other in a spirit of fraternity. In international law, a declaration differs from a treaty in that it generally establishes aspirations or agreements between the parties and non-binding obligations.
[66] The Declaration was explicitly adopted to reflect on and elaborate customary international law, which is reflected in the “fundamental freedoms” and “human rights” mentioned in the Charter of the United Nations, which binds all member states. [66] For this reason, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental constitutive document of the United Nations and thus of the 193 parties to the Charter of the United Nations. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) strives to provide the best expertise and support to the various human rights monitoring mechanisms in the United Nations system: Bodies based on the Charter of the United Nations, including the Human Rights Council, and international human rights treaty bodies composed of independent experts; which are responsible for monitoring compliance with the contractual obligations of States Parties. Most of these bodies are assisted by the Human Rights Council and the Division for Treaty Affairs of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) by the Secretariat. In its preamble, Governments and their people commit themselves to taking progressive measures that guarantee universal and effective recognition of and respect for the human rights enshrined in the Declaration. Eleanor Roosevelt supported the adoption of the text as a declaration rather than as a treaty because she believed it would have the same impact on global society as the Declaration of Independence from the United States to the United States. [64] Although the Declaration is not legally binding, it has been incorporated or influenced in most national constitutions since 1948. It has also served as the basis for an increasing number of national laws, international laws and treaties, as well as a growing number of regional, subnational and national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights. There are nine key international human rights treaties, the most recent – on enforced disappearances – entered into force on 23 December 2010. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, all UN member states have ratified at least one core international human rights treaty, and 80 per cent have ratified four or more. He explains that human rights are universal – can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter who they are or where they live. Everyone has the right to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or any other status.
Furthermore, no distinction may be made on the basis of the political, judicial or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether independent, fiduciary, non-self-governing or subject to any other restriction of sovereignty. Humphrey is credited with writing the “plan” of the declaration, while Cassin wrote the first draft. [27] Both received considerable contributions from other members, each reflecting different professional and ideological backgrounds. The family phrases of the statement are said to have come from Cassin and Malik, who were influenced by the Christian Democratic movement; [28] Malik, a Christian theologian, was known to please across religious boundaries as well as various Christian sects. [29] Chang lobbied to remove all references to religion in order to make the document more universal, and used aspects of Confucianism to resolve deadlocks in the negotiations. [30] Hernán Santa Cruz of Chile, an educator and judge, strongly supported the inclusion of socio-economic rights, which had been rejected by some Western countries. [29] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights sets out fundamental rights and freedoms for all. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on December 10, 1948. The Universal Declaration has been hailed by a number of prominent activists, lawyers and political leaders. .
