Protection and Promotion of Human Rights and its Procedures

Human rights are fundamental to human existence. It is the standard that recognizes and protects all human beings’ dignity. Individual human rights control how people live in society and interact with one another, as well as their relationship with the state and the responsibility that the state owes individuals. In this article, we will discuss the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights and their Procedures. We will also explore the bodies or authorities responsible for ensuring such protection and promotion of human rights around the world through authorized and recognized means and ways. Let’s get started.

Human rights apply to every aspect of human life. Civil and political rights such as freedom of expression and freedom from torture are among them. Economic and social rights, such as health and education, are also included.

Human rights are universal, interrelated, interdependent, and indivisible and constitute the basis of peace, security, and development concepts. Human rights constitute a set of rights and duties necessary for the protection of human dignity, which is inherent to all human beings, irrespective of nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status.

Since these rights come to people “naturally,” they are not earned and cannot be rejected based on race, creed, nationality, or gender.  These rights are frequently promoted as legal rights and are safeguarded by the law. They can, however, be used as benchmarks for creating or criticizing both domestic and international law because they are separate from and exist before the law. Generally speaking, it is believed that both governments and military forces must act by these norms.

International human rights treaties including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights outline several “fundamental” rights that cannot be violated under any circumstances. These documents establish economic, social, cultural, political, and civil rights in addition to others.

Read more about the nature of Human Rights at What Does Mean By Human Rights?

The widespread ratification of international human rights agreements such as those listed above is taken as evidence that these are widely shared values. Having human rights norms in place imposes certain requirements on governments and legitimizes the complaints of individuals in those cases where fundamental rights and freedoms are not respected. Such norms constitute a standard for the conduct of government and the administration of force.

As conflict intensifies, hatred accumulates and makes the restoration of peace more difficult. To stop this cycle of violence, states must institute policies aimed at human rights protection. Respect for human rights has become integral to international law and foreign policy. Many believe that protecting human rights is essential to the sustainable achievement of peace, development, and democracy. The specific goal of expanding such rights is to increase safeguards for the dignity of the person.

There is little to enforce the commitments states have made to human rights, according to international organizations. The only consequence for states that fail to protect human rights is “naming and shaming.” International organizations have been created or utilized to embody these values. Military intervention is a rare occurrence. Sanctions have a spotty track record of effectiveness but are not insignificant. Although international organizations have been created or utilized to embody these values, there is little to enforce the commitments states have made to human rights.

Protection and Promotion of Human Rights

Assuring that people are treated decently and humanely is a key component of protecting human rights. All countries have an interest in fostering global respect for human rights because political systems that uphold human rights are seen to lessen the possibility of international conflict. The right to life and physical integrity are protected by international human rights law, humanitarian intervention law, and refugee law, all of which make an effort to curb the state’s unchecked power. These laws seek to safeguard people from anything that could jeopardize their health, financial security, social stability, or political tranquility. The idea that rights apply to everyone or the nondiscrimination principle, underlies such laws.

The states alone have primary responsibility for defending human rights or in other words Protection and Promotion of Human Rights. Government officials and public officials, however, frequently enact laws that infringe on fundamental human rights. Genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are only a few of the catastrophic outcomes of such abuses of power by political figures and governmental institutions.

However, Article 1 of the United Nations Charter states that one of the United Nations’ goals is to “promote and encourage respect for human rights and basic freedoms.” In addition to that, the United Nations has a special duty to advance human rights under Article 55 of the Charter, which states that “the United Nations must promote… universal respect for and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.”

Bodies to Implement the Means to Protect and Promote human rights

As we have seen earlier, the very first article of the UN Charter stated the goal of the United Nations for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights. Within the framework of the United Nations, there are two different categories of human rights monitoring bodies: treaty-based bodies and charter-based entities. The primary international human rights treaties are monitored by the ten human rights treaty bodies, which are composed of committees of impartial experts. The Human Rights Council, Special Procedures, Universal Periodic Review, and Independent Investigations are some of the organizations with charters. All of the various mechanisms are supported and given expertise by UN Human Rights.

• Charter Bodies and
• Treaty Bodies.

Charter Bodies

Charter bodies are established under the UN Charter to fulfill the UN’s general purpose of promoting human rights. They have broad mandates that cover promoting human rights in all UN member states. The charter-based bodies include the Human Rights Council, Special Procedures, the Universal Periodic Review, and Independent Investigations. 

The Human Rights Council

The principal UN Charter body responsible for human rights is the Human Rights Council (HRC). The Protection and Promotion of Human Rights around the world are the responsibilities of the Human Rights Council, an intergovernmental organization under the United Nations umbrella made up of 47 states. It can talk about any subject or theme related to human rights that have to be addressed throughout the year. It meets in Geneva at the UN Office.

The General Assembly established the HRC in 2006, in the hope that it would be more efficient and effective than its predecessor, the Human Rights Commission. Forty-seven UN member states sit on the HRC. One of its main purposes is to review the human rights record of every UN member state once every four years and make recommendations for improvement. Australia is not currently a member of the Human Rights Council.

International Commissions of Inquiry, Commissions on Human Rights, Fact-Finding missions, and other Investigations

In order to respond to significant violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, whether ongoing or brought on by abrupt events, and to promote accountability and combat impunity, the United Nations increasingly mandates investigative committees. The Security Council, General Assembly, Secretary-General, High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Council, and its precursor, the Commission on Human Rights, all established these investigative bodies.

Since the Council’s inception in 2006, the Human Rights Council has mandated a variety of investigative organizations, such as fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry. Most have been set up to look into alleged transgressions in certain nations. The Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement, on the other hand, is a theme organization. On the link, you may get a complete list of all previous and current mandates.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights or the President of the Human Rights Council appoints the commissioners and specialists who will serve as the heads of the Council’s investigation bodies. They work on their own and without pay. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights offers knowledge and assistance to the investigative mechanisms, including guidance on the creation of mandates, investigation techniques, and applicable international law, the establishment of secretariats with specialized staff, and administrative, logistical, and security support.

Special Procedures

Independent human rights experts having the mandate to report and offer recommendations on human rights from a thematic or national perspective are known as the special processes of the Human Rights Council. They serve unpaid, three-year terms that can be renewed for an additional three years. There are 14 national mandates and 45 thematic mandates as of October 2022.

The special procedures for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights are:

• Undertake country visits
• Act on individual cases of reported violations and concerns of a broader nature by sending communications to States and others
• Contribute to the development of international human rights standards, and
• Engage in advocacy, raise public awareness, and provide advice for technical cooperation.

Universal Periodic Review

A unique procedure called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) examines each UN Member State’s record on human rights. Under the direction of the Human Rights Council, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) gives each State the chance to disclose the steps they have done to advance the state of human rights in their nations and to uphold their human rights duties.

The UPR, which is one of the Council’s key elements, aims to treat all nations equally when evaluating their human rights situations. The ultimate goal of this mechanism is to address human rights violations wherever they occur and to enhance the state of human rights in all nations. There isn’t a similar universal system in existence right now.

Treaty Bodies

UN Treaty Bodies are committees of experts in the relevant area who serve in their capacity, not as representatives of their countries. Treaty Bodies have the responsibility for monitoring and promoting compliance with a particular human rights treaty.

The primary international human rights treaties are overseen by committees of impartial experts known as human rights treaty bodies. Every State that is a party to a treaty is required to take action to guarantee that all citizens within the State have access to the rights outlined in the treaty.

The convention’s governing bodies meet in Geneva, Switzerland. The Human Rights Treaties Division of OHCHR in Geneva provides assistance to all treaty bodies.

Treaty bodies consider reports from state parties on their compliance with the treaty, and some treaty bodies can receive individual complaints of treaty body violations. In accordance with the terms of the agreements that created them, the treaty organizations carry out a variety of duties. Although they each have a slightly different working style and thematic focus, in general, they:

• consider States parties’ reports;
• consider individual complaints;
• conduct country inquiries;
• adopt general comments and organize thematic discussions to interpret the provisions of their treaty or treaties;
• attend the annual meeting of Chairpersons; and
• contribute to the treaty body strengthening process

Several human rights treaties have established treaty-monitoring bodies to supervise the implementation of treaty obligations by state parties. There are 10 human rights treaty bodies made up of independent experts with proven human rights experts who are nominated and elected by state parties for fixed, renewable terms of four years.

• the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination monitors the State Party’s compliance with ICERD;
• the Human Rights Committee monitors State Party’s compliance with the ICCPR;
• the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights monitors State Party’s compliance with the ICESCR;
• the Committee against Torture monitors State Party’s compliance with CAT;
• the Committee on Migrant Workers monitors State Party’s compliance with the
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families;
• the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women monitors State Party’s compliance with CEDAW; and
• the Committee on the Rights of the Child monitors State Party’s compliance with the CRC.

The United Nations is currently considering proposals to reform the treaty bodies and make reporting obligations easier for states by establishing a single, unified treaty body to monitor the implementation of all the principal human rights treaties.

Means and Ways for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights

Promotion of Human Rights

The promotion of human rights is achieved through developing awareness, standard-setting and interpretation, and the creation of national institutions.

First, awareness of human rights is a precondition to acting on them and is advanced through the dissemination of knowledge, e.g., publications, information campaigns, and human rights education at all levels.

Second, is standard-setting, the drafting of human rights texts, in which the UN Commissioner on Human Rights was established in 1946 and the Human Rights Council was established in 2006, among numerous other bodies.

The third preventive or promotional means of implementation is national institution building, which includes improvements in the judiciary and law enforcement institutions and the creation of specialized bodies such as national commissions for human rights and offices of an ombudsman.

Protection of Human Rights

The protection of human rights involves a complex web of national and international mechanisms to monitor, judge, urge, denounce and coerce states, as well as to provide relief to victims.

First, monitoring compliance with international standards is carried out through the reporting and complaint procedures of the UN treaty bodies and regional human rights commissions and courts. States are required to submit reports, and the monitoring body examines progress and problems to guide the reporting country to do better.

The second means of protection is the adjudication of cases by fully empowered courts, the main international ones being the International Court of Justice, which can only decide cases between states that agree to submit their dispute to the Court, and the International Criminal Court, which can try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, as well as the regional courts, namely, the European Courts of Human Rights, African Courts of Justice and Human Rights.

The third means Political supervision refers to the acts of influential bodies made up of representatives of states, including solutions judging the policies and practices of states. The UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and the Assembly of the Organization of American States, all adopted politically significant resolutions denouncing the government for violations of human rights and demanding that they redress the situation and often that they provide compensation to the victims. Without coercion, this form of sanction may appear toothless.

The fourth means of responding to human rights violations is through humanitarian relief or assistance. The provision of food, blankets, tents, medical services, sanitary assistance, and other forms of aid saves lives and improves the health of persons forcibly displaced, often as a result of large-scale human rights violations. Refugees and internally displaced persons came under the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which deploys massive amounts of aid, along with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Program, the United Nations Development Program, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and other agencies as well as major NGOs.

Finally, the use of coercion is available only to the UN Security Council, which can use its powers under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to impose sanctions, cut off communications, create ad hoc criminal tribunals, and authorize the use of force by member states or deploy UN troops to put an end to a threat to international peace and security, which it has on occasion interpreted to include human rights violations.