UNICEF: An Overview of Human Rights

Human rights are an important part of society that help people maintain equality and limit the amount of suffering. Every country in the United Nations has ratified at least one of the treaties listed below. In honor of the 69th anniversary of the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this past December, this article will provide a substantial guide to understanding human rights.

    On December 10, 1948, the international community agreed to uphold the rights of people all across the globe. The atrocities of World War II terrified the world, and the governments all around the world were not keen on allowing it to happen again. These human rights are applicable to every human regardless of race, religion, social standing, political beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, or sex. Here is a brief overview of the nine core treaties of human rights.

    Each country in the United Nations has agreed to at least one of the nine core treaties of human rights, the first of which being the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This treaty, ratified on December 10, 1948, outlines the groundwork of human rights. In its 30 articles, the treaty ensures that each person has a right to life and that the government is barred from the right away from anyone. An important part of this treaty to consider is that the right to life extends to dignity as well. No one may be treated like an animal or a slave and instead must be treated as free human beings.

    The second treaty, The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, ratified on December 16, 1966, expands upon the idea of human dignity, while also extending the burden to uphold human rights to corporations as well as the United Nations itself. Under this covenant, national governments are to ensure that every person has the right to work in suitable conditions, enjoy their culture, and benefit from any scientific, artistic, or social advancement. Corporations are relied upon to provide workers with suitable working conditions, access to services such as workers unions, and the ability to strike, provided it coincides with national law. Under the treaty, the United Nations is expected to keep archives of United Nations texts, and the United Nations must be certain that they alert all members regarding any amendments or changes to any texts.

The third treaty, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified on December 16, 1966, ensures that the civil liberties of all people are upheld. Freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of outside interference of life, and freedom to certain legal rights are provided to all, regardless of any discriminatory factors.    The first articles dictate that no one may be arrested, or deprived of their liberty arbitrarily, and one must know what criminal actions they are charged with upon arrest. In court proceedings, the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. All court records are to be made public, unless the welfare of a minor is threatened by such actions. Other amendments consider arbitrary interference of one’s life by outside entities. No one may be arbitrarily barred from leaving or entering a country, deprived of life, deprived of liberty, deprived to dignity, or deprived of his or her culture. There is a heavy emphasis on the freedom of thought and speech. People are free to have their own political beliefs, and are also free to obtain and communicate information through any form of media. Importantly, this treaty creates a Human Rights Commission in the United Nations made of 18 people of different nationalities who are elected to serve a four-year term.

In the third treaty, in addition to The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, there are two optional protocols. The first optional protocol of the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) lays out guidelines that an individual would follow to report a violation of the rights listed in the ICCPR. The victim of the violation must show that they have exhausted any domestic resources to protect themselves and there is not an ongoing international investigation of the incident or incidents in a written communication to the United Nations. The United Nations will then send this written communication to the nation in which the victim resides. Within six months, the nation will have to respond with a solution to the problem that the nation could have taken. This optional protocol is available to ratification by any state that has ratified the ICCPR.

The second optional protocol to the ICCPR is an agreement made on December 15, 1989 among members of the international community who have pledged to abolish the death penalty. It entails that all countries that have ratified the optional protocol must stop executions in areas under their jurisdiction. Executions are only permissible for those that have committed serious atrocities in wartime.

On December 21, 1965, the international community ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. All countries that have ratified the CERD must do everything in their power to stop racial discrimination anywhere within their federal jurisdiction. The CERD applies only to citizens of the ratifying nations and excludes non-citizens. The CERD specifically warns against segregation and apartheid forms of separation. The CERD also created the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which has 18 members of equitable geographical distribution and different forms of civilization.

On December 18, 1979, the international community ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The CEDAW ensures that all countries that have ratified the treaty must take all action in their power to end discrimination against women. Women must have equal rights in regards to men in all aspects of life, must also have the same rights of marriage as men, must consent to marriage, and retain the same rights as unmarried women. The CEDAW also encourages all countries to produce a minimum age for marriage. The government of a nation must take all legislative actions necessary to avoid and nullify child marriages. The CEDAW also created the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

The optional protocol to the CEDAW grants individuals the right to send a written communication to the United Nations claiming to be a victim to a violation of the rights granted under the CEDAW. These communications have the same restrictions as those allowed by the first optional protocol of the CERD, except that if the remedy to the situation proposed is prolonged or unlikely to bring relief, the communication will be deemed invalid.

The Convention on the Rights of a Child was ratified on September 2, 1990. The CRC recognizes a child as anyone under the age of 18 years. The CRC recognizes that a child has rights to protection, survival, development, and participation. Protection ensures the child’s safety from physical harm, as well as emotional harm. This right could block a child from getting information that may be harmful to them or someone around them. The right to survival asserts that the child must survive at all cost. This means that caregivers must provide, food, shelter, water, and anything else a child might need to survive. The right to development makes sure that any child must have access to sports, education, and tools for learning and growing into a healthy adult. Caregivers and guardians play an essential role in this right. In order for a child to correctly develop into a functional member of society, they must have an optimal input by a guardian. That is why it is important for the parent and child to have a strong relationship, no matter the barriers. The right to participation entails that children would have the right to participate in their culture and other activities regardless of race, sex, nationality, religion, or any other factor. The CRC also creates the Committee on the Rights of a Child to monitor the progress of the CRC.

The CRC has two optional protocols. The first optional protocol of the CRC is aimed at ending child prostitution and child pornography. The optional protocol prohibits the sale of a child for any purposes, but explicitly for sexual purposes, organ harvesting, and labor purposes. The protocol also prohibits child pornography, a piece of media that displays children in real or simulated sexual behavior, or in any sexual manner.

The second optional protocol of the CRC involves the use of children as soldiers in armed combat. This optional protocol encourages nations to raise the minimum age citizens can join the armed forces to 18. Until that age, the military may not interfere with the lives of children with an exception being schools run by the military.

The Convention Against Torture was ratified June 26, 1987. The CAT condemns any form of punishment that involves repeated physical and psychological pain in order to extract information from someone. Under the CAT, no form of torture under any circumstances is permissible, even under conditions of war. If a prisoner is tortured, the prisoner has a right to compensation. If the prisoner dies in result to torture, the victim’s family may take compensation. The CAT also encourages countries to educate law enforcement about the CAT and how they must implement it. If two countries share an extradition treaty, and one party believes that following that treaty could lead to torture, they may break that extradition treaty under the CAT. A committee is also formed under the CAT called the Committee against Torture.

The optional protocol to the CAT creates a subcommittee called, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture. The SPT makes routine checks on nations that have ratified the CAT to ensure that those nations are in no condition to torture prisoners.

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and their Families was ratified on December 18, 1990. This treaty does exactly as its name implies. All workers who travel to other nations than that in which they were born to work and their family will have equal rights in relation to other citizens of each nation. The migrant worker also has the right to access communication with family members in their country of origin. Migrant workers should also never have to change religious or cultural status in order to work in a specific country. The treaty also establishes a committee called, the Committee on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.