Is the Universal Periodic Review and Effective Mechanism in the Implementation of Human Rights? A comparative analysis
INTRODUCTION
TOPIC 1: Historical Context
It can be said the body of Human Rights was first identified in the early eighteenth century, drawn up in response to the experiences of the Second World War. Post war seen the formation of a global organisation known as the United Nations, whose aim was never to let such brutality and conflict happen again. Its members believed that the individual rights of human beings were ‘absolute and inherent’. World leaders came together in a General Assembly in January of 1946 where a drafted declaration of fundamental human rights was received from the Economic and Social Council. This was
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How it Works and its Functions
The UPR, as previously mentioned, was established as a mechanism to improve the human rights situation around the world, working from the ground up to help uphold the protection of human rights for all people in all countries across the globe, addressing violations as they arise. It addresses a broad range of human rights issues such as racial discrimination, rights of the woman, traveller rights, people with disabilities and people facing poverty.
The review is based upon but not exhaustive to the International Bill of Rights and regardless of the Treaties the state under review (SuR) has ratified it incorporates whole spectrum of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 47 members of the Council are part of a group known as the UPR Working Group; it is within this group that the review takes place. The review compromises of three key elements: firstly a report drawn up by the SuR, a collection of information arranged by the OHCHR which details reports on various treaty bodies and other significant UN bodies. Lastly, information is submitted by other stakeholders such as human rights institutions and NGOs and summarised into a report written by the OHCHR. Troikas were set up to assist in the reviews of every state; these were groups that consisted of three of its member states. The General Assembly nominates the troikas for each state after elections for the Council Membership. All UN Member States were reviewed in what has come to be known as the first cycle from 2007-2011. A second cycle started in May 2012; 42 States will be reviewed each year. Each review takes place in Geneva during the meetings of the UPR Working
Eleanor Roosevelt's role in the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights allowed an international body to recognize man's inalienable rights which had never been done before. The UDHR is a culmination of everything that ER stood for in writing. A perfect way to describe the UDHR is “to this day as the most widely recognized statement of the rights to which every person on our planet is entitled (6).” This document, though, was not just magically agreed upon by all of these different countries, it was a massive undertaking. President Truman was a huge advocate for human rights and the UDHR.
It takes a lifetime to build a man’s pride, filled by accomplishments of their life, yet it took only three seconds to be humiliated. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was established in 1948; three years after the end of the Holocaust. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a set of rules that protect the rights of every human, on every continent. The Human Rights determine what is right and what is wrong, and what is humane and what is inhumane.
The UN Charter also begins by affirming “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.” (………). The first major accomplishment of the UN in the case of human rights was the implementation by the General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The Universal Declaration was a milestone achievement in the history of the world. It was the first time that the rights and freedoms of every human being were set out in such detail (……).
The United Nations included an executive committee, named the security council, who would directly control UN peacekeeping
Human rights, something that was written down for the world after the catastrophic second world war. Most know of the genocide of ethnic groups that were deemed inferior to Nazi Germany more specifically Jews, which were senselessly exterminated in camps such as Auschwitz and Birkenau. After the war the newly formed United Nations voted and passed The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, under this declaration lists thirty unalienable rights shared by all human beings. However, these rights can’t be actualized for everyone on the planet, both before and after the UDHR was written. The reasons being is that firstly, when people are pressed into a survival situation they are not thinking about the rights of everyone, but instead
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document made up of 30 articles which deal with a series of basic human rights. It follows the theory that the declaration is
It took place from February 4 to 11 in 1945, towards the end of the Second World War. During this conference, President Franklin Roosevelt, British Minister W. Churchill and Soviet chief Joseph Stalin were representatives of their countries. They spoke for their
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the foundation
The “Four Freedoms” was the main reason why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was developed. “The Declaration was drafted over two years by the Commission on Human Rights, chaired by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.” (“The Four Freedoms” 1). It was adopted on December 10, 1948 and is known to be “one of the most widely translated documents in the world” (“The Four Freedoms” 1). This declaration insists that all rights be upheld by governments and people to secure basic human rights (“The Four Freedoms”
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was drafted by the assembly in the August of 1789, and it was this declaration that France’s first constitution, written in 1781, was based
Before the HRA of 1998, most people who suffered human rights abuses did not know that their rights have been violated, and even if they knew, they did not know where or who to turn to for help. The UK government educated people about their human rights and informed them of the local and international solutions available to them when their rights are violated. Equality and Human Rights Commission inspects human rights, protecting equality across nine grounds: age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, pregnancy and maternity, marriage, sexual orientation*. The EHRC promotes equality and protect human rights in a number of ways. The EHRC can provide information to individuals so that they know what their rights are.
Essentially, the council generates Peacekeeping Operation or applies a sanction to member states. In addition, the P5 of the UNSC have the veto power which allows them to veto against any resolutions within the UN. However, there have been far too many concerns over the skeptical roles of the UNSC in the 21st century. The P5 seem to use their powers mostly for pursuing their own interest. Furthermore, the actions initiated by the council are mostly inefficient in response to international issues.
Waters believed that the production and use of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are a result of the following
After World War II which ended in 1945, many nations realized that they had to prioritise the protection of human rights in order to avoid history from repeating itself (again). More than 50 nations joined forces in forming an organization called the United Nations which drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This Declaration was the point of departure for the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereafter the ECHR) as its drafting was followed soon after by the newly formed Council of Europe in 1950. However, it was only ratified in 1953 under the enforcement of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg. Contents of the ECHR consists of main rights and freedoms in the form of articles, rules of operation
Although the modern foundation of ‘human rights ' arose from magna Carter in 1215, the document did not give rights, but guaranteed certain ‘liberties '. The first concept of the term ‘human rights ' is attributed to John Locke (1632-1704) in his work entitled: ‘ An Essay Concerning Human Understanding '. Although Locke did not use the term ‘human rights’, his efforts laid the foundation that people should be allowed to advance their potentials in the society in so far such acts do not harm other individuals. Human right wore an international mantle after mantle the 2nd World War and has now been documented in international mantle after the Second World War and has now been documented in international, regional and national