The UN has a Commission on Human Rights. Its job is to monitor abuses of the declaration in member countries, hold international meetings on human rights issues and handle complaints about violations to the basic human rights.The 1993 UN Conference on Human Rights, recognized the continued presence of atrocities and violations of fundamental human rights principles. One-hundred seventy-one states in attendance at the Conference adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. This Declaration requested that the UN Secretary-General prepare a report on the implementation of human rights norms on the 50th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Conference also reaffirmed a principle tenet of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stating that "human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birthright of all human beings" and that "the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms must be considered as a priority objective of the United Nations."It was in 1993 that the General Assembly created the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The commissioner's job is to oversee all of the UN’s human rights programs, work to prevent human rights violations, and investigate human rights abuses. It is also in the commissioner’s power to publicize abuses to human rights taking place in any country. However most publicity about abuses to human rights does not come from the UN but from rival countries or non-governmental groups like Amnesty International The UN has also written four international treaties on human rights. These treaties do have the force of law but are very hard to enforce. The treaties deal only with the problems of genocide, racial discrimination, civil and political rights, and economic and social rights. These four treaties have only been signed by about half of the countries of the world. Notably the United States has only signed the treaty concerning genocide. Other countries have also refused to sign the conventions because of concerns about the specific terms of the conventions and the loss of authority that such treaties imply. The Organisation of African Unity, the Council of Europe and the Organisation of American States have all adopted charters or conventions to further human rights in their regions. They impose additional binding obligations on signatory countries. The European Union respects and promotes the universal principles as laid down in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and its complementary International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ,adopting a smiliar treaty ,enforcable by law ,unlike U.N declaration.
The UN’s most well known recent activities dealing with human rights are the two International Criminal Tribunals held to bring to justice those responsible for the horrible acts of violence committed during the recent civil wars in the Balkans and Rwanda.The tribunal for crimes committed in Balkans was set up by the UN’s Security Council in 1993. The following year the council started the Rwanda tribunal in 1994.Presently in Sierra Leone and another propsed for Cambodia in 2004. They are the first international war crimes trials since the Nuremberg Trials for Nazi war criminals. Although the tribunals were established by the Security Council, they operated independently of the UN. Another more serious problem was the inability to arrest suspects in countries that do not recognize the treaties brought in by the UN as valid. The Yugoslav tribunal indicted 75 people for war crimes and genocide, including the top military and political leaders of the Serb forces in Bosnia and a high officer in the Croatian militia in Bosnia but neither Serbia nor the Bosnian Serb forces have turned over suspects. The international military forces in Bosnia have also refused to arrest them. In 1997 the tribunal had only a handful of low-ranking suspects to actually bring to trial. Impact Many critics of the UN claim that the International Declaration Of Human rights has had very little real impact on infringements to any of the rights outlined in it since it does not carry the force of law ,In China there still is limited freedom of speech.Many countries are criticised by the UN Human Rights Commission and non-governmental organisations though for human rights abuses.Two permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia and China - have come under attack in the last year. Russia has been accused of ignoring international law in its war in Chechnya, where civilian casualties have been high.Western democracies do not escape condemnation. Human Rights Watch, for example, has raised concern about the UK's anti-terrorism legislation, and the death penalty ,police abuse in the US and detainees at Gutameno bay.Critics of the thought of the Western definition - individual political freedom - argue that for more than a billion people the right to life is the real issue. Without food, "freedom" means little. But the suffering and death caused by lack of food and water don't appear to be very high up on the West's human rights agenda.Southern countries also allege that the West has emphasized individual civil rights at the expense of the right to development, which formed Article 28. In 1986, the UN General Assembly adopted a declaration on the right "to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development." Five years later, it resolved that "extreme poverty is a violation of human dignity, a threat to the right to life and a condition that prevents the most vulnerable groups from exercising their human rights." Developing countries argue that the inequitable global economic system violates these rights. Their debt burden is more than $1.3 trillion; many Southern countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, pay more on debt servicing than health and education - at a time when African economies are experiencing an alarming decline.
Although Over 50 years on However, in such a relatively short space of time, this little instrument has had an enormous impact on humanity What the Declaration has done is spoken up. Before it was put into writing there was no real outline for how people should be treated or what are the most basic in alienable rights that should be given to any human being. Another thing the declaration has done is cause people to stand up and take notice of human rights issues in the world. Before it was drafted, many cases involving human rights were simply ignored or kept quiet. After the war, almost in response to the declarations, various human rights organizations, such as amnesty international have been created. They almost always use the Declaration as their basic outline for the rights of human beings. These groups bring much attention to the human rights problems of the world. A good example was the later war in Vietnam, protests in the United States over unfair treatment of enemy civilians is one of the main reasons they were forced to pull out. So in conclusion I must say that nobody can argue that forcing people to stand up and take notice is the only way to eliminate a problem and that is what the Declaration has achieved. ,but does it need to be reformed ,It is appalling that - after 11 years' discussion - controversy still exists on guarantees of the right to defend human rights and the full exercise of all the rights and freedoms that this entails. As an absolute minimum, the draft Declaration must include the rights to defend the rights of other people; form, join or affiliate to national or international human rights organizations; advocate human rights ideas freely and openly; choose to defend any or all human rights; communicate with national and international NGOs, and have unrestricted access to intergovernmental organizations; participate in peaceful actions aimed at promoting the observance of human rights; use the law and state institutions in the defence of human rights, and appeal to them when the victims cannot do so for themselves; defend human rights in every dimension, independently of state ideology, on both the national and international level. The text of the draft Declaration on human rights defenders(79) has been under discussion since 1985. Although 14 of the 21 articles in the draft have been agreed, the Working Group, which is responsible for elaborating the text, made no progress at its meeting in 1996 ,There are many other challenges to human rights which could not be addressed, or were not even imagined, in 1948 ,for example genetics ,should it be a constantly evolving thing ?Accountable to the people?Should it be made law and the acts more inforceable?What does the future hold?Are the problems created,compounded by the organisation itself?In order to be able to respond effectively to the challenges of the future and the expectations of the United Nations held by peoples around the world, it is essential that the United Nations itself be reformed and modernized. The work of the General Assembly, the universal organ of the States Members of the United Nations, should be revitalized. The Security Council should, be expanded and its working methods continue to be reviewed in a way that will further strengthen its capacity and effectiveness, enhance its representative character and improve its working efficiency and transparency; as important differences on key issues continue to exist, further in-depth consideration of these issues is required. The role of the Economic and Social Council should be strengthened to enable it to carry out effectively, in the modern age, the tasks it has been assigned with respect to the well-being and standards of life of all people. These and other changes, within the United Nations system, should be made if we are to ensure that the U.N declaration is to be relevent and continue to be so in every sense of the word.I think the declaration was a good well timed,thought out idea ,it established for the first time what are human rights ,although it might not be perfect and not pro active it does maintain and in some cases change improve things for humans.
Sources and reading :
http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/unchr50/d2_hr.htm
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples <http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/2848af408d01ec0ac1256609004e770b/e4fc6deeafb3b06c802566cf003bea67?OpenDocument>
http://allafrica.com/stories/200312050824.html
http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stories/asiapacific_stories_1005222.htm
U.N Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
Fifty Years After the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights:Cause for Celebration or Concern http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/spring98/html/50ann.html
http://www.towardfreedom.com/1998/nov98/thussu.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1678895.stm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/human_rights/doc/50th_decl_98.htm
http://www.quotesandsayings.com/undec50.htm
David Jackson
Interpretation Essay
U.N Declaration on Human Rights
