Who is responsible for monitoring human rights?

Each and every person possesses certain rights with which he/she is born. We have already taken a closer look at these rights in basic course 3. We have also seen that human rights are not always upheld. They are much more difficult to monitor than national laws. This section addresses the question as to whom is responsible for this difficult task.

Referees have a difficult job: Regardless of what they do, they are invariably unpopular with at least one of the two teams and its supporters. Frequently used as a scapegoat by the weaker team, they are often booed by supporters of both teams during a game.

In an ideal world, all 22 players would not commit any fouls. Experience has shown, however, that appeals for fair play are in themselves not enough.

In an ideal world, all people and all states would keep to the basic rules, human rights. Experience shows, regrettably, that this is not the case. Appeals for countries and states to uphold human rights are, on their own, not enough. It is for this reason that - like football - a referee is needed that is supported by assistants to monitor human rights within politics. Who carries out this function?

As we have already learnt, the rules for peace and human rights were made under the charge of the UN. In 1948, the nations belonging to the organization adopted the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which have been continually built upon ever since. All in all, it is generally agreed that the United Nations makes a good referee. Of course, the UN - just like the football referee - cannot prevent fouls or violations against human rights being committed. It can, however, try in the best way possible to do something about it. Its greatest difficulty is the fact that it is not dealing with footballers but with sovereign states. And it is for this reason that the UN is faced with a very difficult task in enforcing the rules.

In trying to carry out its work, the UN has to deal with the same problems as the football referee. With every decision taken, the UN becomes unpopular with at least one of the parties involved and more often than not ends up being booed by all sides and used as a scapegoat.

Now we know who has the difficult task of refereeing, we now turn our attention to the people and organizations who support the UN. Who are the referee's assistants, who points out violations to the UN by "waving a flag"?

This function is carried out by INGOs (= International Non-Governmental Organizations). These organizations support a network of human rights activists across the world and publish reports on violations. These reports are respected globally and feared by many governments. In order to bring these dark machinations into the light of day, these organizations are increasingly using the Internet, since censorship is not possible on the web. You should consider it an absolute must to take a look at some of the incredibly interesting content on the main INGO sites. We have provided the addresses and a short description of the most interesting sites on a link list covering the subject of human rights.

These INGOs, then, point out human rights violations and this forms their most important task. They are able to put governments under pressure by denouncing their actions in public, yet they cannot impose any sanctions. As in football, this is the referee's or UN's responsibility.

Now that we have learnt who the referee and referee's assistants are, we will now take a brief look at how this works in more detail.

The UN has been split up into differing commissions, sub-commissions and committees for the purpose of monitoring human rights. For instance, one committee is dedicated to the rights of children and another to the prevention of discrimination of women. Here too, a visit to the UN's website at http://www.un.org/rights/dpi1774e.htm is well worthwhile. If these specially formed commissions and committees deal with human rights, so too do all other UN institutions. An example of one of these institutions is UNICEF, whose portfolio includes children's rights, an issue with which we will be dealing in an advanced subject.

It is also possible to be tried for human rights violations. An international war crimes tribunal has been set up for this purpose. Violations carried out by a nation state are dealt with by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Because there are so many different institutions dealing with human rights within the UN, a High Commission for Human Rights was set up in 1993.

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Subjects:  Human Rights  I  Democracy  I  Parties  I  Examples  I  Europe  I  Globalisation  I  United Nations  I  Sustainability

Methods:    Teaching Politics    II    Peace Education    II    Methods