International Human Rights Case Study

Questions

1. International human rights law (IHL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels . The International human rights law makes it clear that by becoming parties to international treaties, the States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfil human rights. The United Nations aimed at achieving international peace. One of the United Nations role is to achieve international corporation in the process of promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. The United Nations can be said to have favoured the European imperialists more than

The SADC Tribunal was set up to protect the interests and rights of SADC member states and their citizens, and to develop community jurisprudence, also with regard to applicable treaties, general principles, and rules of public international law . A recent judgement by the Tribunal commonly known as the Campbell case, impressively demonstrates that the Tribunal can also be called upon to consider human rights implications of economic policies and programmes . The main question decided by the SADC Tribunal in Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v Zimbabwe (NGO Forum case) was whether an NGO could take the place of aggrieved persons as a party in a human right case before the Tribunal . In the case of Tembani v Zimbabwe the question before the Tribunal was whether sections of Zimbabwean national legislation was in conformity with the principles of human rights, democracy and the rule of law contained in the SADC Treaty . This shows that SADC plays a huge role in the promotion and protection of human

Universalism refers to the notion that human rights are universal and should apply to every human being. The universality of human rights emerged during the 20th century with the UN Declaration of Human rights on the belief that the basic values and principles underlying the concept of human rights are of a universal nature. The origins of the Universal Declaration are rooted in political landmarks in Western history, such as the Magna Carta of the United Kingdom (1215), the French Revolution (1789) and the American Bill of Rights (1791) . It can be said that human rights are individualist and was imposed on non-western states as a condition for independence. It was proclaimed in the Purposes of UN Charter that human rights and fundamental freedoms are “for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." The drafting of the Declaration on Human Rights as it will be universally inapplicable when only western cultures are taken into account at the expense of third world countries. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was criticized by the American Anthropological Association (AAA) on the grounds that, the statement recognized the need for respecting individual personality but failed to take into account the differences existing between different cultural values