The African Union (AU) is a supranational union composed of 55 African countries. [10] Established in 2001, the AU aims to help ensure democracy, human rights and Africa`s sustainable economy, including by ending intra-African conflicts and creating an effective and productive common market. [11] In a broader sense, the UDHR has become an authoritative reference on human rights. It laid the foundation for subsequent international human rights instruments, which are non-binding but ultimately authoritative international human rights standards. Over the years, the obligation has been translated into laws, whether in the form of treaties, customary international law, general principles, regional agreements and national laws, through which human rights are expressed and guaranteed. In fact, the UDHR has inspired more than 80 international human rights treaties and declarations, a large number of regional human rights conventions, national human rights laws and constitutional provisions, which together form a comprehensive legally binding system for the promotion and protection of human rights. The Organization of American States (OAS) is an international organization based in Washington, DC. Its members are the thirty-five independent nation-states of America. Over time, international human rights treaties have become more focused and specialized, both in terms of the issue addressed and the social groups identified as vulnerable. International human rights law continues to develop, evolve and develop the fundamental rights and freedoms set forth in the International Bill of Human Rights, addressing issues such as racial discrimination, torture, enforced disappearances, disability and the rights of women, children, migrants, minorities and indigenous peoples. International humanitarian law is part of international law that governs relations between States. International law is contained in agreements between States – treaties or conventions – in customary rules consisting of State practice that they consider legally binding, and in general principles.
Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe is the oldest organisation working for European integration. It is an international organization with legal personality recognized under international law and observer status with the United Nations. The seat of the Council is in Strasbourg, France. Personal scope IHL aims to protect persons who do not or no longer take a direct part in hostilities. It protects civilians and combatants such as the wounded, sick, shipwrecked or prisoners of war. (See question 7.) Human rights standards, developed primarily for peacetime, apply to all persons within the jurisdiction of a State. Unlike international humanitarian law, it does not distinguish between combatants and civilians and does not provide for categories of “protected persons”. Another key difference between international humanitarian law and human rights is their extraterritorial scope. The extraterritorial application of international humanitarian law to international armed conflicts is not contested, since its purpose is to regulate the conduct of one or more States involved in an armed conflict on the territory of another. The same reasoning applies to non-international armed conflicts with an extraterritorial element: parties to the conflict cannot be exempted from their obligations under international humanitarian law if the conflict extends beyond the territory of a single State. Despite the views of some key dissenters, it is widely accepted that human rights standards apply extraterritorially, including on the basis of decisions of regional and international courts. However, the exact extent of such an application has not yet been determined.
Human rights bodies generally recognize the extraterritorial application of human rights standards when a State exercises control over a territory (e.g. occupation) or a person (e.g. detention). However, human rights jurisprudence on the extraterritorial application of human rights standards governing the use of force remains unclear. There are important conceptual differences between the two legal systems. The first is that international human rights law is linked to the jurisdiction of States, which is normally their physical territory, although in some situations where certain criteria are met, their obligations may extend extraterritorially to the physical territory of another State (ICJ, 2004, para. 109). By ratifying international human rights treaties, Governments undertake to adopt national measures and laws in conformity with their treaty obligations.
Where national judicial procedures do not address human rights violations, mechanisms and procedures are available at the regional and international levels for individual complaints or communications to ensure that international human rights standards are effectively respected, implemented and enforced at the local level. IHL and international human rights law are complementary bodies of international law that share some of the same objectives. Both IHL and human rights law aim to protect the life, health and dignity of people, albeit from different angles – which is why some rules, although formulated very differently, are essentially similar. For example, both IHL and human rights law prohibit torture and cruel treatment, prescribe fundamental rights for those facing criminal proceedings, prohibit discrimination, contain provisions to protect women and children, and regulate aspects of the right to food and health. However, there are important differences between them: their origin, scope, the organisms they implement, etc. The Council of Europe was separate from the European Union, but the European Union should accede to the European Convention on Human Rights. All Member States of the European Union are members of the Council. The EU also has a separate document on human rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. [28] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration of the United Nations General Assembly that, in its form, does not create binding international human rights standards.
Many jurists cite the UDHR as evidence of customary international law. International human rights law sets out the obligations that States are obliged to respect. By becoming parties to international treaties, States assume obligations under international law and obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. The obligation to respect means that States must refrain from interfering with or restricting the enjoyment of human rights. The obligation to protect obliges states to protect individuals and groups from human rights violations. The obligation to respect means that States must take positive measures to facilitate the enjoyment of fundamental human rights. United Nations human rights bodies have quasi-legal enforcement mechanisms. These include the treaty bodies annexed to the seven treaties currently in force and the complaints procedures of the UN Human Rights Council to the Universal Periodic Review and the UN Special Rapporteur (known as mechanisms 1235 and 1503, respectively). [39] The Paris Principles were established at the First International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, held in Paris from 7 to 9 October 1991, and adopted by UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1992/54 of 1992 and General Assembly Resolution 48/134 of 1993. The Paris Principles enumerate a number of responsibilities for national human rights institutions.
[44] The African Charter on Human and Peoples` Rights is the region`s main human rights instrument, established under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) (now replaced by the African Union). The intention to draft the African Charter on Human and Peoples` Rights was announced in 1979. The Charter was unanimously adopted at the OAU Assembly in 1981. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is generally regarded as the basis of international human rights law. The UDHR, adopted in 1948, has inspired a large number of legally binding international human rights treaties.