Human rights are inevitable essential rights of the human beings that are applicable in every country and are considered equal for all human beings. Human rights are often described as protections from state action or protection by the state from actions of others within the state (Campbell, Mackinnon, Stevens 89). The international, regional, and local laws contemplate human rights as legal rights. The two noticeable approaches for the origin of Human Rights are the natural law and positivism. Natural law is valid everywhere as it is a part of human nature, and harmony is the critical factor for the formation of the human rights norms in positivism.
United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was the first UN body to safeguard and promote human rights. Many countries have internal organizations to monitor their state is abiding by its international human rights obligations (Campbell et.al, 107). Formed in 1993, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been more dynamic and proactive than the UNCHR to pressurize the unfriendly governments to strictly follow the guidelines laid for Human Rights. One manner in which OHCHR monitors the Human Rights is by convicting these rude governments is by proving them guilty in the media. Technological advances, such as cell phones, digital video cameras, and the Internet have provided human rights defenders with additional tools to monitor abuses (Campbell et.al, 108).
The commission on human rights was replaced with Human Rights Council (HRC) that was responsible to monitor the Human Right strategies in all the countries listed in United Nations. Any Human Rights violation is reported to the HRC in the complaints mechanism and the advantage being that not only the states and organizations can complain, but the complaints from any individual is also considered important. Monitoring the Human Rights in the respective countries is done by the specific organizations such as B’Tselem in Israel, the Palestinian Human Rights Organization in Lebanon. A few Non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International and Rights Watch help in monitoring the Human Rights globally.
The European Convention on Human Rights provides judgment to the cases that originate from Human Rights violation, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) focuses on building the state, and ensures impartiality. The documents of OECD recognizes the interdependence of political, security, economic and social spheres, and that gender equity, social inclusion, and human rights are consistently promoted (Harf, Owen 12). Treaty bodies are also setup to support the United Nations human rights treaties that promote and monitor the efforts of the regional parties’ to adhere to the global laws of Human Rights.
Many human rights treaties require that participating nations prepare periodic reports detailing their compliance with their treaty obligations (Campbell et.al, 108). Enforcing a treaty becomes quite difficult in situations when the nation and states do not interfere in each other’s matters. A few methods to enforce a human rights treaty in such situations are to provide end to end diplomatic pressure, and compel the governments through economic and political influence.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) advises the states to enforce enforcing the economic, social and cultural and human rights with the available resources within the state. Policy makers must continue with policies and show that enforcement and deterrence are the priority, while offering minority support to social programs, and defend limited impact with promises of new crackdowns and initiatives (Harf, Owen 189).
Works Cited
Campbell, Patricia J., Mackinnon, Aran., Stevens, Christy R., An Introduction to Global Studies.
Wiley Blackwell (2010). Print.
Harf, James E., Lombardi, Mark Owen., Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Global Issues, 7th Edition. Illustrated. McGraw-Hill Education (2011). Print.
