Human Rights

New Dimensions and Challenges

Janusz Symonides

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780429676666
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Civil Rights in Politics
• Index: Social Sciences

First published in 1998, this first volume of The Manual on Human Rights Education for Universities has been prepared in the hope that it will serve as a teaching aid for institutions of higher education, as well as for UNESCO Chairs, and focuses on new dimensions and challenges. UNESCO's long experience in this field goes back to 1951, when the first guide for teachers on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was published. This formed part of UNESCO's efforts to create a comprehensive system of human rights education, embracing formal and non-formal education. Issues explored include peace, the environment, education, discrimination and extreme poverty.

1	New Human Rights Dimensions, Obstacles and Challenges: Introductory Remarks JANUSZ SYMONIDES

The United Nations System and the Interdependence and Interrelation between Human Rights, Peace, Democracy and Development

The close relationship between peace and human rights as well as peace and development was already recognized by the Charter of the United Nations which, in its preamble, declares: ‘We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war […] and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights …’. Article 55 adds further that, with a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful relations among Nations, the United Nations shall promote conditions of economic and social progress and development and at the same time universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The analysis of international human rights instruments confirms the conviction of the international community, based on the tragic experiences of the Second World War, that respect for human rights is at the basis of peace. Therefore the phrase, ‘recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’, formulated in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, was repeated by both the preambles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966. A number of instruments emphasize that specific human rights violations, such as racial discrimination or apartheid, may disturb peace and threaten international security.¹

The Proclamation of the Tehran Conference on Human Rights (1968) was the first to point out the other dimension of the relationship between peace and human rights providing that peace and justice are indispensable to the full realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms.² As V. Dimitrijevic states in Chapter 2, the absence of peace, either international or national, endangers the enjoyment of human rights, totally or partially. War is harmful to human rights. However, in his view, in a world of sovereign nation-states, respect for human rights does not unequivocally result in peace.

The gradual acceptance by the United Nations of a positive definition of peace understood, not only as absence of war, but also as the achievement of social justice, brings into the picture this important aspect. The Declaration on the Preparation of Societies for Life in Peace³ uses the term, ‘just and durable peace’, which is described not only as freedom from oppression but also as development and cooperation of all nations. The seminar on the relations between human rights, peace and development, organized by the United Nations in 1981, reflects in the title itself the conviction that all three dimensions should be dealt with simultaneously and comprehensively.⁴

What new elements and changes can be observed in relations between human rights, peace and development at the close of the twentieth century? Can we speak about new human rights dimensions? The answer to these questions cannot but be positive.

One of the profound changes in international relations and within states is the new agenda adopted by the United Nations which finds its expression in the series of world conferences organized in the 1990s and also in new activities and programmes undertaken by the whole United Nations system.

The end of the Cold War and ideological confrontation, the wave of democratization and the fall of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes in many parts of the world have resulted in the addition to the already existing list of a new human rights dimension – democracy. The Vienna World Conference on Human Rights (June 1993) was convened to consider, inter alia, the relationship between development, democracy and the universal enjoyment of all human rights. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by this Conference, in its preamble, speaks about the aspirations of all peoples for an international order founded on promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, as well as for peace, democracy, justice, equality, rule of law, pluralism, development, better standards of living and solidarity. The Declaration further states that democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.

There is no doubt that only democracy can truly guarantee human rights. It is a political system which best allows for the free exercise of individual rights.⁵ However, there is also the other side of the linkage between democracy and human rights: democracy cannot be established without respect for human rights.

In Chapter 3, D. Beetham underlines that human rights constitute an intrinsic part of democracy, because the guarantee of basic freedoms is a necessary condition for the voice of the people to be effective in public affairs and for popular control over government to be secured. Therefore, in his opinion, civil and political rights constitute an integral part of democracy, whereas economic and social rights are in a relation of mutual dependency with democracy. As stated in the Universal Declaration on Democracy, adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in Cairo on 16 December 1997, democracy is a universally recognized ideal as well as a goal. It is thus a basic right of citizenship.⁶

For a long time governments were giving pre-eminence to economic thinking favouring most of all economic development.⁷ The persistence of extreme poverty, social exclusion, vulnerable groups, unequal sharing in the benefits of development and new dramatic inequalities cannot but intervene in the debates concerning development. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) in its Agenda 21 took into account the need to improve the situations of vulnerable groups, and underlined the necessity to satisfy basic human needs/rights: from the right to food to the right to education. The Conference used the term ‘sustainable development’, which covers economic development, social development and environmental protection, which are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components.

A.A. Cançado Trindade, in his chapter on ‘Human rights and the environment’, presents considerations on affinities in the parallel evolution of human rights protection and environmental protection, the wide dimension of the fundamental right to life and the right to health, the question of the implementation of the right to a healthy environment, and the relevance of the right to democratic participation. He concludes that the results of the conferences in Rio and in Vienna will accelerate the creation of a universal culture of the observance of human rights and the environment.

The World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) adopted the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action which underlined the urgent need to address profound social problems, especially poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, which affect every country. The Declaration stresses: ‘people are at the centre of our concern for sustainable development and … they are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with the environment’. Commitment 1 speaks about the promotion of equality and equity between women and men and full respect for all human rights, ‘including those relating to education, food, shelter, employment, health and information, particularly in order to assist people living in poverty’. Participants also undertook a commitment to reinforce peace by promoting tolerance, non-violence and respect for diversity, and by settling disputes by peaceful means.

The interdependence between the observance of human rights, participatory democracy and peace became particularly evident in the 1990s as a result of the proliferation of internal conflicts. The massive and flagrant violations of human rights, discrimination against minorities and other vulnerable groups, racism, xenophobia and ethnonationalism are among the main sources of conflicts which now plague the international community. This aspect has been duly taken into account by the United Nations, which sees in the promotion and respect of human rights one of the main elements of peace keeping and peace building.⁸ Peace keeping and post-conflict peace building, as well as peace agreements signed by parties to internal conflicts, foresee various actions and steps aimed at the protection and reinforcement of human rights, the conducting of free elections and the building of democratic institutions which together are seen, very rightly, as an important guarantee of peace. For this very reason, electoral assistance for new or restored democracies has become an important part of the present activities of the United Nations.

By the end of the twentieth century, the international community not only confirmed the close relations and interdependence existing between human rights, peace, democracy and development, but reinforced them and enriched them with new dimensions. The Declarations, Programmes and Platforms of Action adopted by the world conferences and summits which took place in the 1990s,⁹ together with actions foreseen by international years and decades, create an ambitious agenda which, in fact, can be recognized as an agenda for the twenty-first century. It emphasizes the importance of all human rights and puts human beings and human needs at the centre of all national and international actions and efforts. This new human rights dimension is symbolically reflected in the terms which are now more and more in use, namely ‘human security’ and ‘human development’.¹⁰ Human dimensions of development, democracy and peace are also reflected in the discussions concerning the recognition of new human rights.

Towards Further Consolidation of the Right to Development

The development of the right to development is presented in Chapter 4 by U. Baxi, who observes that, despite the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development, the major task of finding concrete ways and means to develop this right is still on the agenda of states and peoples of the world. The leitmotiv of the Declaration is that the human person is the central subject of development and therefore an active participant and beneficiary of the right to development. In conclusion, he states that the discourse concerning this right has to be initiated at all levels of policy making and actions.

What has been done by the United Nations during the years which have elapsed since the adoption of the Declaration to strengthen and consolidate the right to development? This right was put on the agenda by all the United Nations world conferences organized in the 1990s. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in the Rio de Janeiro Declaration of 14 June 1992, adopted the principle that ‘the right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations’.¹¹

The Vienna Conference reaffirmed the right to development ‘as a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights’.¹² It declared that states and the international community should promote effective international cooperation for the realization of this right and the elimination of obstacles to development. This also requires effective development policies at the national level as well as equitable relations and a favourable economic environment at the international level.

Among the principles and goals of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development (1995), the promotion of universal respect for, and observance and protection of, all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including the right to development, is specifically mentioned. Commitment 1 repeats the Vienna formula qualifying the right to development ‘as a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights’.¹³ The right to development has also been reaffirmed by the Platform for Action of the World Conference on Women.

In 1993, the Commission on Human Rights established a Working Group on the Right to Development with the mandate to identify obstacles to the implementation and realization of the Declaration on the Right to Development, and to recommend ways and means towards the realization of this right. The Working Group identified several obstacles and proposed in general terms different mechanisms to implement and monitor the right to development. However, as it concluded its work in 1995, it did not have time to elaborate the strategy requested. This became a task for the Intergovernmental Group of Experts established in 1996. In its first report, the group underlined that it will take a balanced and comprehensive approach in the elaboration of a strategy to implement and promote the right to development.¹⁴

After years of controversy, the right to development was at last accepted as an integral part of fundamental human rights.¹⁵ The debate focuses increasingly on substantive issues. The functions and importance of the right to development, as well as its impact on other human rights, are today more profoundly recognized and have become less controversial. In 1996, the Commission on Human Rights adopted for the first time by consensus resolution 1996/15 on the right to development. The General Assembly, in its resolution 51/99, called upon all Member States to make further concrete efforts at the national and international levels to remove the obstacles to the realization of the right to development. Indeed, it is of vital importance to move from a theoretical or political discussion to practically oriented measures. In this context, it is worth noting that the Commission on Human Rights asked the Secretary-General to provide the United Nations Centre for Human Rights with a focal unit to follow up the implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development. The High Commissioner for Human Rights also started consultations with the World Bank concerning the right to development.

UNESCO Initiatives Aimed at the Recognition of the Human Right to Peace

In 1989, the UNESCO International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men, held in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, adopted a declaration inviting states, governmental and non-governmental organizations, the scientific, educational and cultural community and all individuals to contribute towards building a new concept of peace by developing a culture of peace based on the universal values of respect for life, freedom, justice, solidari...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• About the Contributors
• 1 New Human Rights Dimensions, Obstacles and Challenges: Introductory Remarks
• PART I NEW DIMENSIONS
• PART II OBSTACLES
• PART III CHALLENGES
• Index