Fundamentals of Human Rights
I. Formation, Structure and Functions of UNO
II. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
III. International Covenants
IV. Violations of Human Rights in the Contemporary Era
I. Formation, Structure and Functions of UNO
What is United Nations Organization?
The United Nations is an international organization. It is aimed at maintaining international
peace and security. It develops friendly relations among nations and achieves international
cooperation. It was set up in 1945 after the devastation brought on by World War II. It aimed
to promote dialogue and resolve conflicts peacefully.
The United Nations (U.N.), headquartered in New York, is a 193-member
international organization. It was established in 1945 in order toprevent another
world war.
During the Second World War, the leaders of the Allied Governments conducted
several meetings that eventually led to the formation of the United Nations
Organization (UNO).
Participating nations signed the Charter. It was founded on October 24, 1945.
The United Nations has six official languages. Arabic, Chinese, English, French,
Russian, and Spanish are among them.
Formation of United Nations Organisation
o The United Nations is an International Governmental body that was established in
1945 to promote political and economic cooperation among its member
countries.
o Following World War II, the League of Nations evolved into the United Nations, of
which practically every country in the world is now a member.
o It is made up of five major components, including the United Nations Economic
and Social Council, which supervises the activity of 15 specialized organizations.
o The United States is an international organization created in 1945 by 51 countries
dedicated to maintaining international peace and security, creating cordial relations
among nations, and promoting social development, higher living standards, and
human rights.
o The United Nations’ membership has expanded from 51 members in 1945 to 193
members now.
o The General Assembly is composed of all UN Member States. On the proposal of the
Security Council, states are admitted to membership by a decision of the General
Assembly.
Structure of United Nations Organisation
The United Nations has a number of specialized agencies. The agencies of United Nations
operate as autonomous entities inside the United Nations. The General Assembly, Security
Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice,
and Secretariat are the 6 components of the United Nations.
1. United Nations General Assembly
The General Assembly is the only UN body with universal representation, having
representatives from all 193 UN Member States.
Every year, the whole UN membership gathers in New York for the annual General
Assembly session and general discussion, to which many heads of state attend and
speak.
This is the United Nations’ principal deliberative body, and all members have equal
representation.
Its headquarters are in New York City, and its duties include establishing the United
Nations budget, selecting rotating members of the Security Council, and
approving non-binding resolutions that convey the views of the world
community.
6 Main Committees
The General Assembly is the only United Nations body with universal representation,
with delegates from each of the 193 UN Member States.
The annual General Assembly session and general discussion, which several heads of
state attend and take part in, are held in New York each year and are attended by the
entire UN membership.
The UN General Assembly’s main committees are as follows:
First Committee -Disarmament & International Security
Second Committee -Economic & Financial
Third Committee -Social, Humanitarian & Cultural
Fourth Committee -Special Political & Decolonization
Fifth Committee -Administrative & Budgetary
Sixth Committee -Legal
Other Committees
The Credentials Committee is charged with investigating the credentials of
representatives from member countries and reporting to the General Assembly.
The General Committee meets to examine the progress of the General Assembly and
its committees and to offer suggestions for enhancing such progress.
2. United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is in charge of ensuring international peace and
security.
It is made up of 15 people, among which 5 members are permanent while 10 are non-
permanent members.
A danger to peace or an act of aggression must be determined by the Security Council.
It encourages the parties to a disagreement to settle it peacefully and suggests
techniques of adjustment or conditions of the settlement.
The Security Council also makes recommendations to the General Assembly on the
Secretary-nomination Generals and the admission of new members to the United
Nations.
3. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) coordinates economic, social, and
environmental policies for the United Nations.
ECOSOC oversees agencies that work in the economic, social, and environmental
areas. It helps the UN system achieve development goals.
ECOSOC has 54 members that are chosen by the General Assembly for 3-year terms.
ECOSOC is an important platform for discussing sustainable development at the
United Nations.
The ECOSOC Functional Commissions include the following:
Statistical Commission
Commission on Population and Development
Commission for Social Development
Commission on the Status of Women
Commission on Narcotic Drugs
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Commission on Science and Technology for Development
United Nations Forum on Forests
These commissions help ECOSOC perform its functions related to collecting data,
monitoring development issues, and making policy recommendations.
4. Trusteeship Council
The UN Charter, established by the Trusteeship Council in 1945, seeks to ensure that
all necessary efforts have been taken to prepare the Territories for self-
government and independence.
The Trusteeship Council terminated operations on November 1, 1994.
The Council revised its process rules to remove the requirement to convene yearly
and agreed to meet as needed.
5. International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the United Nations’ primary judicial organ.
Its headquarters are in The Hague’s Peace Palace (Netherlands).
It is the only one of the United Nations’ six main institutions that is not based in New
York (United States of America).
The Court’s responsibility is to handle legal issues brought before it by states in
accordance with international law.
It also seeks to give advice on legal issues referred to it by approved United Nations
entities and specialized bodies.
6. UN Secretariat
The Secretariat is made up of the Secretary-General and tens of thousands of
international UN staff members who carry out the day-to-day operations of the UN as
required by the General Assembly and other Organizations.
The senior administrative officer of the Organization, the Secretary-General is chosen
by the General Assembly for a five-year term that is renewable.
Functions of UNO
The United Nations’ work has an influence on people all over the world on matters ranging
from disarmament to efforts to combat terrorism and extremism, from conflict prevention to
peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and so on. The following infographic shows the functions
of the United Nations:
Specialized Agencies of the United Nations
Specialized Agencies of the United Nations
Agency Acronym Headquarters Founding Year
Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Rome, Italy 1945
International Telecommunication Union ITU Geneva, Switzerland 1865 (Joined UN
in 1947)
International Fund for Agricultural IFAD Rome, Italy 1977
Development
International Labour Organization ILO Geneva, Switzerland 1946
International Maritime Organization IMO London, United Kingdom 1948
International Monetary Fund IMF Washington, United States 1945
United Nations Educational, Scientific and UNESCO Paris, France 1946
Cultural Organization
World Health Organization WHO Geneva, Switzerland 1948
United Nations Industrial Development UNIDO Vienna, Austria 1966
Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO Montreal, Canada 1944
World Intellectual Property Organisation WIPO Geneva, Switzerland 1967
International Fund for Agricultural IFAD Rome, Italy 1977
Development
Universal Postal Union UPU Bern, Switzerland 1874
International Telecommunication Union ITU Geneva, Switzerland 1865
United Nations World Tourism UNWTO Madrid, Spain 1974
Organization
World Meteorological Organisation WMO Geneva, Switzerland 1950
World Bank Group WBG Washington, D.C, USA 1944
II. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in
the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural
backgrounds from all regions of the world, it set out, for the first time, fundamental
human rights to be universally protected.
It consists of 30 articles detailing an individual's "basic rights and fundamental
freedoms".The Declaration consists of the following:
The preamble sets out the historical and social causes that led to the necessity of
drafting the Declaration.
Articles 1–2 establish the basic concepts of dignity, liberty, and equality.
Articles 3–5 establish other individual rights, such as the right to life and the
prohibition of slavery and torture.
Articles 6–11 refer to the fundamental legality of human rights with specific remedies
cited for their defence when violated.
Articles 12–17 set forth the rights of the individual towards the community,
including freedomof movement and residence within each state, the right
of property and the right to a nationality.
Articles 18–21 sanction the so-called "constitutional liberties" and spiritual, public,
and political freedoms, such as freedom of thought, opinion,
expression, religion and conscience, word, peaceful association of the individual, and
receiving and imparting information and ideas through any media.
Articles 22–27 sanction an individual's economic, social and cultural rights,
including healthcare. It upholds an expansive right to an adequate standard of living,
and makes special mention of care given to those in motherhood or childhood.
Articles 28–30 establish the general means of exercising these rights, the areas in
which the rights of the individual cannot be applied, the duty of the individual to
society, and the prohibition of the use of rights in contravention of the purposes of the
United Nations Organization.
III. International Covenants
On December 16th 1966, the United Nations General Assembly adopted two covenants:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
The goal was to write a text that was legally restrictive in order to complete and reinforce the
Declaration, which was solely declaratory. This text aimed to gather all of the Humans Rights
(economical, civil, political, social and cultural) and gender equality.
What are the Civil and Political Rights?
The Civil and Political Rights are Human Rights, considered as « liberty rights ».
These rights also imply a State abstention of intervention in the liberty of every
human.
Historically, these rights enabled the recognition of the human being and its liberties,
especially with citizenship rights and protection of physical integrity.
Also, there exists individual liberty: freedom of speech and thought, freedom from
torture and slavery, the right to vote…
It also protects :
The right to life
The freedom from torture or any other cruel treatments, inhuman or degrading
The freedom from slavery
The right of liberty and security of the person, in the form of freedom from arbitrary
arrest and detention
The procedural fairness in law, in the form of rights to due process
The individual liberty, in the form of freedom of movement, thought, conscience and
religion, speech
The right to vote and to be elected by direct universal suffrage
What are the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights?
The Economical, Social and Cultural Rights are human rights considered as « debt
obligation », which means the State has to step up and take appropriate measurements
to guarantee their application (contrary to the Civil and Political Rights).
These rights guarantee every human being an adequate standard of living while
simultaneously promoting the continuous improvement of living conditions.
This document also included the right to health, to education, to work, to social
security…
It also protects :
The labour rights (article 6);
The right of an adequate standard of living (article 11);
The right of a good health (article 12);
The right to education (article 13);
The right of free universal primary education (article 14);
The cultural rights (article 15).
IV. Violations of Human Rights
A human rights violation is the disallowance of the freedom of
thought and movement to which all humans legally have a right.While
individuals can violate these rights, the leadership or government of
civilization most often belittles marginalized persons.This, in turn, places
these people in the cycle of poverty andoppression. Individuals who
approach life with the attitude that not all human lives are of equal value
then perpetuate this cycle.
Examples:
Forcibly evicting people from their homes (the right to adequate housing)
Contaminating water, for example, with waste from State-owned facilities (the
right to health)
Failure to ensure a minimum wage sufficient for a decent living (rights at work)
Failure to prevent starvation in all areas and communities in the country (freedom
from hunger).
Types of Human Rights Violations:
1. Directly or Intentionally:
Violations can either be intentionally performed by the state and or come as a
result of the state failing to prevent the violation.
When a state engages in human rights violations, various actors can be
involved such as police, judges, prosecutors, government officials, and more.
The violation can be physically violent in nature, such as police brutality,
while rights such as the right to a fair trial can also be violated, where no
physical violence is involved.
2. Failure by the state to Protect Rights:
It occurs when there's a conflict between individuals or groups within a
society.
If the state does nothing to intervene and protect vulnerable people and
groups, it's participating in the violations.
In the US the state failed to protect black Americans when lynching's
frequently occurred around the country.
Current Scenario in India:
Caste-based Discrimination and Violence:
According to a report released last year, crimes against Dalits
increased by 6% from 2009 to 2018 with over 3.91 lakh
atrocities being reported.
Communal and Ethnic Violence:
Many people were attacked by vigilante cow protection groups
and many of those affected were minority groups.
People from African countries faced racism and discrimination
in India.
Freedom of Association:
The government cancelled the registration of several civil society
organisations which specifically prevented them from getting
foreign funding, even after the United Nations (UN) claimed it
was not in accordance with international law.
Freedom of Expression:
Several people were arrested under sedition laws for expressing
their dissent with government policy and several Indians were
arrested for even posting comments on Facebook.
Violence against Women:
Recently released report National Family Health Survey
(NFHS) 5, points to rising instances of domestic and sexual
violence against women in the state.It shows that married
women, between the ages of 18-49, who have ever experienced
spousal violence, has more than doubled from 20.6 in 2014-15 to
44.5%.
Children's Rights:
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data reveals a total of
1,28,531 crimes against children were recorded in India last year
(2020), implying that an average of 350 such cases were reported
each day during the pandemic.
How to prevent human rights violations?
The United Nations human rights system – the treaties, bodies and mechanisms that have
been created over the years to promote human rights – aims wherever possible to prevent
human rights violations from occurring in the first place or, when violations do occur, to
address their causes so that they do not reoccur in the future. The system is based on three
interdependent components that form the core of the United Nations’ approach to human
rights:
1. Norms or standards: International human rights standards, in the form of
international treaties and other legal instruments, which set out the minimum
standards that each State should aim for in terms of human rights protection.
2. Monitoring and reporting: the impartial gathering of verifiable information to assess
the situation on the ground, ascertain whether the minimum standards are being met
or measure progress in realizing human rights for all.
3. Technical cooperation: designing solutions to address the issues and concerns
identified through human rights monitoring and put in place measures to ensure that
human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.
All three components help States to ensure that human rights violations do not occur or, when
they do, that they are halted, and future violations cannot reoccur.
