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Partners in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2009

Theo C. van Boven
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Extract

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly

“as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction”.

Type
Articles
Information
Netherlands International Law Review , Volume 24 , Issue 1-2 , May 1977 , pp. 55 - 71
Copyright
Copyright © T.M.C. Asser Press 1977

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References

1. Tammes, A.J.P., “The Binding Force of International Obligations of States for Persons under Their Jurisdiction”, (to be published).Google Scholar

2. UNESCO document 18C/36, para. 34.

3. Uppsala to Nairobi, 1968–1975, Report of the Central Committee to the Fifth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, David Enderton Johnson, General Editor (World Council of Churches, New York, London: Friendship Press, 1975), pp. 152–162. The Programme to Combat Racism supports, through a special fund, various groups and organizations of the racially oppressed and also organizations supporting victims of racial injustice through the world. One important function of the programme is to provide opportunities for contact, consultation, and dialogue with leaders of the oppressed.

4. Report of the Fifth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Section V: “Structures of Injustice and Struggles for Liberation”, para. 9.

5. See wide range of UN resolutions adopted over the years. By way of example we only mention a number of resolutions adopted by the General Assembly at its thirtieth session (1975): 3377 (Decade of Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination), 3382 (self-determination and decolonization), 3396 (Southern Rhodesia), 3399 (Nambia), 3411 B and G (apartheid), 3412 (co-operation between the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity), 3412 (implementation of the decolonization declaration by the Specialized Agencies), 3481 (implementation of the decolonization declaration).

6. See various resolutions on the protection of human rights in Chile, e.g. General Assembly resolutions 3218 (XXIX) and 3448 (XXX).

7. Expressions used by Richard Falk and cited by B.V.A. Röling in his note on the Namibia question, 21 Ars Aequi (1972), p. 384.Google Scholar

8. I.C.J. Rep. 1966, p. 47.Google Scholar

9. 4 Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights 1961, p. 140.Google Scholar

10. 1 Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights 1955–1957, pp. 162, 163, 166.Google Scholar

11. See in particular Buergenthal, Thomas, “The American Convention on Human Rights: Illusions and Hopes”, 21 Buffalo Law Review (1971), pp. 121–136.Google Scholar

12. A great deal of useful and practical information on the procedures and possibilities of nongovernmental co-operation and action is collected and described by Fonseca, Glenda da, “How to File Complaints of Human Rights Violations, a Practical Guide to Inter-Governmental Procedures” (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1975).Google Scholar See also the comprehensive UN publication “United Nations Action in the Field of Human Rights” (UN Sales No. E. 74. XIV. 2) and Sohn, Louis B. and Buergenthal, Thomas, International Protection of Human Rights (Indianapolis, Kansas City, New York: The Bobbs-Merill Company Inc., 1973).Google Scholar

13. Cassese, Antonio, “The Admissibility of Communications to the United Nations on Human Rights Violations”, 5 Human Rights Journal (1972), pp. 375–397.Google Scholar

14. This special procedure strenghtened the powers of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding its competence to deal with communications from any person or group of persons or associations concerning serious violations of human rights. The special procedure was not a complete innovation inasmuch as the Commission was already handling communications, though on a less explicit basis, from its inception. See Sohn, and Buergenthal, , op.cit., pp. 1284 ff.Google Scholar

15. See Newman, Frank C., “The New UN Procedures for Human Rights complaints: Reform, Status Quo, or Chambers of Horror?” in: International Protection of Human Rights, The Work of International Organizations and the Role of U.S. Foreign Policy, Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety Third Congress (Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1974), pp. 715–722.Google Scholar See also recommendations for revising the procedure in “Human Rights in the World Community: a Call for U.S. Leadership”, Report of the Sub Committee on International Organizations and Movements of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, March 27, 1974 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974), pp. 27–29Google Scholar.

16. Nota bene it should be kept in mind that the rule of confidentiality (ECOSOC resolution 1503 (XLVIII), para. 8) is directed to the Commission on Human Rights and its Sub-Commission and that any breach of that rule has its origin in those organs themselves.

17. See for this expression of undue criticism vis-à-vis the non-governmental organizations, ECOSOC resolution 1919 (LVIII) of 5 May 1975, adopted under the title “Study of situations that reveal a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights: written and oral statements by non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council concerning human rights”.