Human Rights...

Hashim A.Pabai

November 9, 2010

National Human Right Institutions

Today, human rights institutions are relevant to almost every sphere of governmental activity and indeed, too many other areas of public and private life. The number and range of institutions concerned with human rights issues reflects this reality.

The activities of churches, trade unions, the mass media and many non-governmental organizations touch directly on human rights issues, as to those of most governmental departments, the courts and the legislature.

The concept of national human rights institutions is, however, for more specific refereeing as it does to a body whose functions are specifically defined in terms of the promotion and protection of human rights.

The national human rights institutions being considered here are all administrative in nature in the sense that they are neither judicial nor law making.

As a rule, these institutions have on going advisory authority in respect to human rights at the national and /or international level.

The majority of existing national human rights institutions can be group together in two categories; Human rights commissions and ombudsman.

Another less common, but no less important variety is the specialized national human rights institutions which function to protect the rights of a particular vulnerable group such as ethnic and linguistic minorities, indigenous, children, refugees, or women. These are the categories of national human rights institutions.  

The question here remains, is these group of human rights institutions are working according to their mandate?

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, resolution adopted unanimously in December 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The objective of the 30-article declaration is to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The declaration proclaims the personal, civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of humans, which are limited only by recognition for the rights and freedoms of others and the requirements of morality, public order, and general welfare. Among the rights cited by the declaration are the rights to life, liberty, and security of person; to freedom from arbitrary arrest; to a fair trial; to be presumed innocent until proved guilty; to freedom from interference with the privacy of one's home and correspondence; to freedom of movement and residence; to asylum, nationality, and ownership of property; to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion, and expression; to association, peaceful assembly, and participation in government; to social security, work, rest, and a standard of living adequate for health and well-being; to education; and to participation in the social life of one's community. The declaration was conceived as the first part of an international bill of rights. The UN Commission on Human Rights directed its efforts to the incorporation of the main principles of the declaration into various international agreements.

The General Assembly in 1955 authorized two human rights covenants, one relating to civil and political rights, and the other to economic, social, and cultural rights. After a long struggle for ratification, both of these covenants became effective in January 1976.

United Nations (UN), international organization of nation-states, based on the sovereign equality of its members. Under its charter, the UN was established “to maintain international peace and security”; “to develop friendly relations among nations”; and “to achieve international cooperation in solving ... economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian [problems]” and in “encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms”. Members are pledged to fulfill the obligations they have assumed, to settle international disputes by peaceful means, to refrain from the threat or use of force, to assist the UN in actions ordered under the charter and to refrain from assisting any country against which such UN action is being taken, and to act according to the charter's principles. The UN won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2001.

Another argument could be, in resent years, the war in Iraq and Libya could not in any way give the insurance to the world that united nation is in control or is working as to the declaration of its organization.

Amnesty International, independent, worldwide pressure group campaigning impartially for the release of all prisoners of conscience, that is, people imprisoned or maltreated because of their political or religious beliefs. The movement was founded in 1961 by the British lawyer Peter Benenson, and maintains its headquarters in London. Amnesty International is based on a network of voluntary local groups and individual members throughout the world, who adopt prisoners of conscience and pursue their cases with the governments concerned or through international bodies. Methods of investigation and campaigning include monitoring, fact-finding missions, media publicity, and individual correspondence. Impartiality is central to its Statute.

The general purposes of the organization are to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; to work for the release of those detained, restricted, or otherwise subjected to physical cruelty by reason of their beliefs, ethnic origin, gender, color, or language, provided they have not used or advocated violence; to oppose detention without trial and to uphold the right to a fair trial; and to oppose the use of the death penalty or torture, whether or not the people concerned have advocated violence. Although not specifically mandated by an International Council Meeting, which is held every two years to discuss changes in the organization, human rights issues relating to sexual orientation have been included as a de facto part of the organization’s mandate in many national sections since 1991.