StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

United Nations Human Rights Council - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Based in New York the world body has become instrumental in the world as it has been helping the world to take a common approach to most of the problem that have been affecting peace and stability in the world.
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.4% of users find it useful
United Nations Human Rights Council
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "United Nations Human Rights Council"

THREATS OF EVOLVING FUNCTION OF UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Introduction The United Nations was created in 1945 with an aim of bringing harmony to the world through taking a common approach to many of the problems that the world was facing. Based in New York the world body has become instrumental in the world as it has been helping the world to take a common approach to most of the problem that have been affecting peace and stability in the world. 1The United Nation has been one for the most important bodies in the world that have worked to ensure that there is peace and tranquility in the world. It has been looked upon by most poor nation for protection against the oppression. The UN has been intervening in various instances in the world especially where the life of humans is directly touched. It has been intervening in wars to being peace, in hunger to bring food, in disease to bring medicine, and in other instances. In order to function properly, the UN has formed several bodies which have been assisting it to carry out its functions properly. There have been many areas that the body needs to address and therefore it has found it necessary to form other bodies which acts like its agencies. For example, it has formed the Security Council which is the main body that makes the decision for all major intervention that the body has to take. It has formed the UNDP which is concerned with development of the world. The world health organization is the agency of the UN which is mandated with carrying out various activities that promote the health and wellbeing of the people. The United Nation Food Programs is an agency that has been mandated with carrying out various activities that are aimed at ensuring that there is no hunger in the world. UNICIEF is the agency of the UN that has been given the mandate of looking after the affairs of the children. These are some of the bodies that help the UN to carry out its function properly in order to eliminate all forms of suffering in the world. United Nations Human Rights System 2The United Nations has created a global structure which is aimed at protecting human rights. This is based on the UN charter, non abiding declaration, legally biding treating and other activities which are all aimed at ensuring that there is democracy and human rights in the whole world. Human right in the world have been protected through the United National Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human right which have been the two pillars which has continued to guide the world body and upon which other regal bodies base their human right laws. The UN adopted these two guides in 1948 and all members who had ratified to the body were henceforth supposed to abide by the provision of the charter. The provision of the charter is legally beign argent which is protected under the international law. Since then the UN has gradually developed human right laws and has also been creating specific standard which are supposed to ensure that there is equal enjoyment of human right by all the vulnerable groups including women, children and all minorities. 3In order to ensure that there is maximum protection of human rights, the UN came up with several other treaties which form the centerpiece of the human right systems. In 1976 the International Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights came into force and was supposed to be enforced by all UN members. In the same year, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was also entered in to force which two optical protocols. In 1969 the UN human rights system had been given a boost by the enhancement of the International Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. In 1987, the Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment was enacted. In 1982, there was the enactment of the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women which had optical protocols. In 1990, the Convention on the Rights of the child was entered into force with two optical protocols. The most recent enactment that has centered on human rights had been the enhancement of the International Convention on the rights of all migrant workers and member of their family which has been enacted due to the growing problem of immigrants. This is the framework that is used the UN in order to ensure that there is respect of human rights in the world. It is the framework that has become very important in the world as it has worked towards creation of a world that respects human rights. It has provided guidelines that are followed by other bodies and member states in respecting human rights. 4 In its human rights charter, article 1 of the UN affirms that, "all human being a born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood". This has been the guideline that has led the world respecting the rights of each individual irrespective of their gender, race, ethnicity or background. This article postulates that all human are equal in the world and the difference that may appear are just physical and brought by the environment under which these humans are brought up. It affirms that all human have the same dignity and rights and are endowed with reason and concern. The article also shows that human have a role to protect the right of the other which means that they should act in a sprit of brotherhood or be guardian of each others' rights. Article 2 of the UN human rights charter further affirms that "everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms that are set in the declaration without discrimination of any kind such as race, colors, sex, language, religion, political or other option, natural of social origin, property, birth or other status". The article continues to exemplify that there is no discrimination that shall be made based on political, jurisdiction, or internal stature of the country or territory where the person belongs. This charter shows that the UN is committed to ensure that there is observance of basic human rights all over the world. Article 3 of the charter asserts that everyone is entitled to live which means we have the right of life, liberty and security. All the 29 articles to the human rights charter are all guarded on the need to observe human rights to ensure that is not operations of any kind in the world. 5The human rights system of the UN has been playing a private role in the world in protection individual. There have been many instances in the past before the Charter came with force when there was massive violation of human rights. For example, it is recorded that million of Jews were massacred in the second word war by the Nazi regime in Germany. There were other instances when the regime in power did little to observe the rights of humans and therefore there was need to come up with a framework which could act as a guide to the world on what individuals need to be given. Since the charter was enacted it has been used as a benchmark in the world to judge that way a state is observing human rights. It has led to increased awareness in the world on the need to observe human rights. It has also been very crucial since most states have formulated their own human rights charter with reference to what has been provided in the UN charter. 6There are UN committees which help to monitor the implementation of the human rights treaties. These committees are made on of individual experts who serve as individuals and not as representative of any country. This composition ensure that those sitting in the committees will not be acting under the influence of any political authority but they will be acting in the individual capacity with the desire to promoted human rights in the world. They are giving separate work from that of the UN political bodies. The main work of the committees is to monitor bodies and look at the human rights that are submitted by the government. Therefore they help to analyze how a regime is working towards meeting the basic human rights as given in the UN charter. They try to compare that reports that have been submitted by the government and the non governmental organization in order to find the truth about what is given by the two sides. They also review individual reports that highlight the violation of human rights. UN Human Rights Observance council 7In order to ensure that there was strict observance of the human right the UN came up with a proper procedure that was supposed to be followed in order to detect cases of human right. In this regard the UN understood there were massive cases of violation of human rights but how to approach the body had proved to be difficult. Even with the ratification of the UN Human Rights charter, there was understanding that there was still massive violation of human rights in different part of the world which was mainly due to lack of clear reporting procedure. The UN was monitoring the whole world which made it operation difficult. It was hard for the body to monitor what was happening in each and every place and therefore there was need to come up with a clear procedure to report any violation of human rights even by individual person. The earliest resolution that was used by the council in dealing with complains of violation of human rights is resolution 1253 that was adopted by the Economic and Social Council. Under the resolution the commission welcomes the decision that has been given by the Commissions on Human Rights in order to give annual consideration to the item "Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including policies or racial discrimination and segregation and apartheid, in all counties, with particular reference to colonial and other dependent counties and territories". The resolution agrees with the provision for the commission to request fro assistance addressed to the sub-commission of prevention of discrimination and protection of minorities as well as to the secretary General. 8The resolution further authorizes the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commissions on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to examine all the information which is relevant to violation of human right and fundamental freedom. This was in reference to some the then cases of abuse and violation of human right in South Africa and Rhodesia. The resolution also provided the commission on human rights may in some cases which are considered appropriate and with careful consideration of the information that has been presented before the commission make a study of the situation which has been presented and which shows a consistent pattern of violation of human rights. 9The resolution also notes that the Commission on Human Rights having institute an ad hoc study group to carry out a study on all the questions that has been presented for inquiry and there the economic needs to be assisted in order to discharging all its function and at the same time maintain its other functions. The last provision also requests the commission on Human Rights to report to it the results for the study after looking at the conclusion of the provision of the ad hoc committee. However the above resolution appears like it as drafted with a specific target to what was happening in South Africa and in the Southern Rhodesia. The provision of the resolution did not take a generalized approach other issue of dealing with the violation of human rights. It appeared to have been targeted to what was helping in those areas alone. The forming also took the burden on the inquiry on the Commission of human rights. At that second last provision of the resolution it is given that that commission will have to be given necessary assistance in order to deal with some of the problems that have been affecting its operation. This means that the commission will have to take the double burden of taking to the inquiry of the cases that have been presented to it and at the same time perform its other duties. Resolution 1503 which laid down produced which could be used to report causes of violation of human rights was named after a number of resolution were passed by the Economic and Social council of the UN in 1970. The resolution laid a mechanism which could be used to bring complaints to the body. It was a mechanism fro complaints bout "situation which appear to revel a consistent patter of gross and reliable attested violation of human rights" in any country. Resolution 1503 which was adopted in May 1970 gives the ECOSOC outlines the procedure that can be used when dealing with the communication relating to the violation of human right and fundamental freedoms of individual. Resolution 7(XXVI) and 17(XXV) of the commissions on Human right and the and resolution 2(XXI) of the sub commissions on prevention for discriminating and protection of minority gives some procedure which give the two commission to take some steps toward the prevention of human right violation in the world. It gives authority for the sub-commissions on prevention of discrimination and protection of monitory of opposing a working group which consist of not more than five members which must meet geographical distribution to meet once in a year for not more than 10 days in order to consider all communication procedure including the government procedures in order to bring the action for the sub-commission those communications with replies from the government which is consistent with patter of gross and reliable attested violation of human rights and fundamental freedom. The provision also decides that the sub-commission on prevention of discrimination and protection of minority should devise procedure for dealing with the question regarding admissibility of communication received by the secretary Grenaunde in accordance with resolution 1235(XLII). The resolution also requests the secretary general to prepare a document with regard to the question for admissibility of communication for it to be considered by the sub-commission at this twenty-third session. The Secretary General is also required to furnish the members of the sub commissions with monthly lists of communication which he h as prepared with a brief description in reference to the replies that has been received from government. The secretary general is also required to make available to the member of the working group original copies of such communication as listed which the members may request due to the provision of the council resolutions which concern divulging of the identity of the communication authors. The secretary general is also required to circulate to the member of the sub-commission in their working languages originals of such communications. The resolutions also request the sub-commissions on prevention of discrimination and protection of minority to consider in its own private meeting the communication that has been brought before it. This is decision that has to be made by majority of the working group members of the sub-commission. The sub commission is then supposed to look at the provision and at the replies that has been submitted by the government and therefore decide whether it should be forward to the commissions on human rights. In this case the sub-commission is required to decide whether that particular provision has evidence that suggest that there has been violation of human rights. 10After the sub-commissions have looked at the evidence presented and the replies that have been given by the governed, the Commission may then decide to pass that particular case to the Commission on Human Rights. The resolution then require the Commissions on human rights to take any of the following steps after it has examined the situation that has been referred to it by the sub commission. The commission is then supposed to decide whether the situation requires a thorough study by the commission and then make a report to the council. The commission is also requested to determine whether that particular case that has been presented by the sub-commission could a subject of investigation by the ad hoc committee which is to be appointed by the commission where it will have to carry out its own investigating in cooperation with the state that has been presented before the commission under the condition that shall be agreed on by both parties. An investigation by the ad hoc commission shall be undertaken under special condition. First it can be undertaken if all the available means at the national level have been used but have all proved to be futile. The investigation can also be carried out if the situation does not in any way relate to a matter that is being dealt with. Resolution 15203 also decides that if the commission on Human Rights decides to form an ad hoc committed on investigating with the consent of the state that has been accused, the composition of such a committee will have to be determined by the commission rather than the state. The members who shall be appointed to the committee will have to be independent person with competence and impartiality which is beyond the question of both the state and the commission. The appointed of the member will also be subject to the consent of the government and state which is concerned in that particular case. 11This committee will be given the authority to establish its own rules and procedure which will have to be followed in gathering the necessary evidence for the investigation. The committee shall be a subject to the quorum rule. All the procedures of the committed shall be subject to quorum and shall be confidential with all the proceeding conducted in a private meeting and the communication will not be publicized under any circumstance. The committee is supposed to report to the Commission on Human Rights and make any appropriate suggestion on its finding. Under the resolution the commission shall all the action that will be to be implement in the present resolution as by the sub-commission on prevention of discrimination and protection of minorities or the commission of human rights which shall remain confidential until the time the commission shall decide to the make the recommendations to the Economic and Social council. The resolution also decide to authorize the secretary general to provide all the facility that will be required to carry out the resolution which means there will be the mobilization of the present staffs. The last provision the resolution is for the reviewing of the procedure as it is in the presenting resolution for dealing with community in respect to violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The procedure can be reviewed in any organ will need to be established in order to make the procedure more effective. 12This is the provision of the resolution 1503 that gave a procedure that was to be followed in event of making sure that there is proper approach to the issue of human rights violation. The resolution lays out the necessary steps that need to be taken in order to deal with any complain that that is presented to the UN on violation for human rights. It gives out a systematic procedure that is to be followed by the UN Economic and Social Council in order to collaborate with the Commission on Human right to carry out an investigation in case it its presumed that there has been serious violation of human right that indeed needs to be deal with. The resolution lays the basic that will have to be observed to ensure that the process is fair and exhaustive. It is well formation in order to make the procedure more valid and accepted by both the state and the commission in that it seeks to work with the concerned state to avoid a probable political sabotage of the process. There appear to be a great difference between the producers that had been presented in the resolution 1235 and the new resolution. First the last resolution was more leaned toward addressing the cases of human right abuse and discrimination that was happening in South Africa and in Southern Rhodesia. However resolution 1503 takes a more broad approach to the procedure reporting of case of human right abuse. It is not specific to which region that has to be addressed by the resolution but it takes a general approach to all the states. Unlike the earlier resolution the new resolution also does not heave the entire burden on the Commission on Human Rights. Instead it give the sub-commission on prevention of discrimination and protection of minority has been given more power to deal with such inquiry and therefore the Commission human rights has been given time to connect on other works. Under the new resolution, the commissions on human rights comes only in the formation of the committee but at the same time it is given power over the process and how it is to be carried out. The new procedure also gives the state the power to have a say in the process. In this case there is a call for cooperation between the state and the ad hoc committee that has been formed by the commission in order to ensure that there is collaboration in the process of investigation. This can be justice in many fronts. First the decision by the commission to carry out the inquiry on the state is based on the reports that have been given by the same states. Therefore the subject of the inquiry or the subject of study will be based on what the state has provided. This means that there wills less likelihood for political sabotage of the process of inquiry. This means that there will be total cooperation of the state and the commission. Second it is based on the fact the state is a member of the UN and therefore has the duty of abiding to the rules and the provision of the commission. This means that the state will be acting in capacity of its legal personality of the united national body as provided by the international laws. In ratification of the UN membership it means that the state has fulfilled the requirement of the legal personality as provided by the body. This means that it has the capacity to carry out duties and has the legal capacity to enforce the provisions for the international law. 13In the new resolution the secretary general is also given the mandate to intervene in some of the case that are of human rights abuse nature. In this regard the office of the secretary general has been given a hand in the inquiry of the case. This means that there is more integration of the center of power in the process. The new resolution also gives the secretary general a procedure through which the office can filter through the cases and make recommendation as well. Therefore unlike in the earlier resolutions that did not recover the input of the office of the secretary general the new resolution integrates the office very well in the process of ensuing that there is respect of human rights. However, the whole process of reporting cases of abuse of human rights is more complicated and more time consuming than the former process. This is because it has to go through many steps before it is finally approved by the Economic and social council. The process is likely to take a lot of time. Therefore it was difficult to fully inquire on the case of human rights abuse following what has been laid d own in the earlier procedures. The process did not provide a good framework that could be use to filter all the cases that has been pressed to the commission. There was a probability of the commission dealing with a wider range of case which was not specifically of human abuse nature. Therefore the new resolution provide a filter procedure that can be used to look at the cases as they reported and at that same time carry out a systematic procedure that will decide whether which case will have to be inquired according to the report that will have to be presented by the government. Therefore the main problems that could have been diagnosed in the earlier resolution was lack of a standardized procedure that could be used to deal with all the case of human rights abuse as reported to the council. The resolution did not proved for an appropriate way that could be used to address the problems of human right abuse in a conclusive manner. The Commission on Human Rights was given the burden of dealing with all the cases that have been presented to the council and therefore the new resolution gives a more radical approach to the process. New human rights council 14In 2006 the UN overwhelmingly voted to replace the Geneva based Common on Human right with the United Nations Human Rights Council. This was based on the fact that the former body has been reduced to a shell of itself and has been ineffective in protecting the rights of the individual. 15The new human rights council has been seen as new baby that will help the UN to deal with massive cases of human right abuse and other violation of human rights fundamental freedom. The former body has been accused of being too much politicized and therefore has not been able to address the needs of the poor. This has been seen as a new dawn that will help the body to deal with most of the campaign that is coming on abuse of human rights. 16Apparently it has become evident most the state that have been accused of massive violation of human rights in the world like USA and Israel were the only countries that opposed to the creation of the new council. 17The new 47-seat council has replaced the former 53-member common on human rights. The new body has been granted independent but it appears to have been elevated to the status of a subsidiary body of the General Assemble. The47 seats were distributed according to the geographical representation in the world. Under the new council all the member will be expected to uphold high integrity in the respect of human rights in the world. Unlike the former body which was citizen of having elevated some of the worst human rights abusers like Libya to its chairmanship, the new councils will require its member's nations to uphold highest standard of human rights. Unlike in the former body where the members was approved by voting within the ECOSOC, in the new council, member will have to be approved individual and voted by majority of 96 out 191 members. The memberships to the council has been limited to the two consecutive terms and the suspension of a member must be supported by two-thirds votes in the assembly. In order to ensure that there was smooth flow of the functions of the previous body, the new council has given the Sub-commission on the promotion and protection of human right which was the subsidiary body to the former UNCHR a mandate to act till June 2007. The body was however given a new face by election of 26 human right experts who were mandated with duty of carrying out studies on discriminatory practices and make recommendation to ensure that there is racial, national, and religious and other minorities are protected by the law. 18The commission has also advanced for the creation of the human rights consultative committee which has been mandated with the role of assigning the Human Rights Council in its work. The sub commission on protection of human right has been divided into eight working groups which are concerned with addressing the following issues: administration of justice, communication, contemporaty from of slavery, indigenous populations, minorities, social forums, transnational corporations, and a group working on terrorism. There has also been the creation of the new advisory coming which is expected to give expert advice to the council. There has been seen as the new faces that need to work in order to restore the dignitary of UN in the world. It has given a new face to the council that is expected to look at specific problems that that have been encountered by the previous body as it failed to meet the mandate of protecting the world. There have been outcries from all over the world that there have been various cases of massive abuse of human rights despite the existence for the former body. In 2003, there was massive abuse of human rights in Darfur at the watchful eyes of the former body. In 1994, there was mass massacre of human in Rwanda genocide while the UN human right body just observed. This ere has been other cases of abuse of human rights in China and other areas while the body has just been watching. Apparel the new war on terrorism and the opening of the Guantanamo bay has been another thorny issue that has continued to discredit the operation of the body. Procedure of the new human rights council 19Unlike in the previous council the new council has take to the special procedures as they are referred to. This has been the name that has been given to the new mechanist that has been established by the New Communion on Human Rights and which has been contained by the Human Right Council in order to monitor violation of human rights in specific counties and in the whole globe. These have been the new procedures that have been aimed at addressing the need for monitoring human right in the world. 20The special procedures have been formulated in term of either individuals who are called special reporters or special representatives or independent experts. This area is composed of experts in the field of human rights. These also refer to the working groups which are usually composed of about five members. For the need to preserve independence and integrity of the individual and the working group, they are not paid for the work that they do. This is in order to reduce the level of politicization of their work and to ensure that there is a high level of integrity in their work. 21Therefore under the special procedure there is close working of these special individuals who are required to keep to their mandate. They are supposed to work as watch dog for the company in all its function. They are supposed to ensure that there is expert analysis of all the case that have been presented to the council and that they are all deal with in the appropriate manner. There are a number of activities that can be undertaken by the special procedures. These activities include responding to individual complaints, conducting studies, providing advice on technical cooperation, engaging in promotional activities, and other activities. All these activities are formulated in order to ensure that there is good coordination of the activities of the work of the council. 22These special mechanisms have been categorized according the thematic mandates and country mandates. There are 29 thematic mandate and 13 country mandates which are under special procedures. There is a lot of systematic support that is provided by the Office o the United National Higher Commissioner for Human Rights. This office takes the responsibility of the all the work that is carried out by the special procedures. In its first meeting in 2006, the common extended the mandate of the special procedures by one year which would then be subject to review from the council. There has been the establishment of an intergovernmental working groups which are give the mandate to assess the working of the special procedures and make recordation on how their function can be improved. The special procedures also work in groups which are made up of legal experts. The legal experts monitor and investigate specific human right concerns which are reported to the council. Currently the group is made up of the following working groups: 1. Work group on people of African descent which is looking at various issues that result to the Africa and issue of discrimination. 2. Working group on arbitrary detention which is looking at various issues regard the criminal justice system in the world and the way in which criminals are being held. It is working on issuer of arbitrary arrests. 3. Working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances 4. Working group on the use of mercenaries which impede the right of people as regards self-determination. 23The mandate holders are also given the mandate to carry out visits to various countries in order to investigate the human rights situations at the national level. They typically sends letters to the government with a request to visits the country and incase the government agrees there is an invasions to visit the country. There are some countries which have issued standing initiation which means that they are prepared to receive a visit from any special procedure mandate holders. After the visit, the special procedure usually gives a report which shows the state of human rights in the nation and therefore makes the necessary recommendations. Universal periodic review mechanism The creation of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has been one of the most important innovations in the new council. Under the system it will the fist time when the human rights records of all the members of the UN members states with no concern to their size, wealth or military and political import will be reexamined using a common mechanism. This is universal mechanism that will be used to rate and review how different states have been fairing in the respect of human rights in the world. The general assemble has acknowledged that every state in the world have human rights problem that need to be addressed and there is allows a room for improving the human right record that is held by any nation. This has been shown as one for the most important resolution that will help the world to have the same mechanism which will be used to review the state of human right in the world and specifically to each individual nation. Therefore under the new resolution all the 192 members of the United Nations will be subjected to periodic review. This will be mandated to review all the members of the untied nations and make recommendations on what they can do in order to ensure that they keep to the human rights standards. 24 Under the new mechanism there will be review of various reports which will be obtained from different source. In this case the non government organizations have been given the rights to present their own reports to the council. This means that there will be a review of the reports that will be presented by the NGOs, the special procedures and the individual government in order to come up with a report on the states of observation of human rights in the specific country. In three hour debate, each country will be examined in light of the reports that have been presented to the council. 25In the first session the following countries were observed: Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa, Bahrain, Indonesia, India, Philippine, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Finland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic. This session was held on 7th to 18th April 2008. In the second session the following countries are expected to be observed: Gabon, Ghana, Peru, Guatemala, Benin, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Pakistan, Zambia, Japan, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, France, Tonga, Romania, and Mali. This session is expected to be held from 5th to 16th May 2008. In the third session that is expected to be held from 1st to 12th December 2008, the following countries will be reviewed: Botswana, Bahamas, Burundi, Luxembourg, Barbados, Montenegro, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Liechtenstein, Serbia, Turkmenistan, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Colombia, Uzbekistan, and Tuvalu. The remaining countries of the 192 countries which have not been shown in this list are expected to be reviewed from 2011. Under this new council there has been more flexibility in on the issue of respect of human right with the inclusion of the non governmental organizations. This is because there will be a review of two reports that will have been given by the government and the non governmental organization. In this case the council will have more information to look at. Under the new council the participation of the NGO has been maintained and there has been consolidation of the participation. Under the new council the 1503 procedure that we explained above has been retained as the new complaint procedure but has been given some limited improvements. The sub-commission has been replaced with a new Human Rights council advisory committee which is expected to be more competitive in advising the new body. But the setting up of the UPR h as been viewed by many as one of the loophole that is likely to limit the operation of the council. This is because it has been formulated as the new body that all eh case will be reported to and therefore there is the issue that it has been given too much power. Why the UPR should be reviewed The UPR is expected to be conducted by the entire council but sitting as a group and each country will be grilled in a three hour session. It is expected to be a long interactive dialogue with the members of the concerned state. 26The review is expected to be based on the reports that will have been presented to the council and other document that the special procedures will have been collected. There will also be a review of document from other bodies like the NGOs. The state in question has been allowed to participate and ask questions about the report as presented. However there is no provision for the formal involvement of the experts in the process but states are allowed to chose and include them in their own delegation. The NGOs can attend the review but are not allowed to participate in the discussions. The outcome of the procedure is quite weak but the adoption has not been subjected to the consent of the states that are concerned. 27Therefore the UPR is not the strongest mechanism that could have been set up in order to rate the performance of a state on the issue of human rights. It is neither the weakest system that has been put in place since it is playing the role that has not been played by any other body before. But there is need to change the system in order to come up with an effective mechanism that can be used to deal with problems of human rights abuse in different nations. It is still too early to predict whether the system will meet the intended purpose or not. 28Though it is still too early to predict how the system building procedure has helped the system to work, it is still not known whether it will meet its mandate. This will be the key determinants whether the Human right council represents an improvement of the commission is the UPR. If the UPR will end up function well, then the commission will have met its mandate of reforming the human right system of the UN. But if it fails, then the whole system will not have met its mandate. 29Although the UPR has been much criticized there is need to give it time to see if it will meet its mandate. We should understand that the body has been working to ensure that it has met the mandate of creating a good human right word. Though it may be infringing on the roles of the treaty that is supposed to be played by other bodies, we should understand that it is in the process of building a strong human right system process in the world and therefore it will be better if we gave it time work. But in the mean time there should be a good monitoring system that will help to monitor the functioning of the system in order to ensure that it plays the expected role. Reference Abraham, M. (2007). Building the New Human Rights council, Reform or Regression Retrieved from http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0002807/index.php on 16th May 2008 All, FRIDE Comment, Madrid: FRIDE Almqvist J. (2006) The human Rights Council: A Bold Step towards Effective Rights for Amnesty International, (2006). First Session of the human Rights Council: A step in the right Direction, Amnesty Report on Human Rights, April 2006. Campaign for UN Democracy, (2006). UN Human Rights Council: Time for action. International Law Review, May 2006. Carter J. (2006) Human Rights Commission Must Change. San Francisco Chronicle, January, 2006. Donnelly, L. (2005). Human Rights at the United Nations 1955-85: the Question of Bias. International Studies Quarterly 275 Gershowitz, S. (2006). Meet the New Human Rights Council. Retrieved from http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/253koxoc.asp on 16th May 2008 Goldberg, M. (2006). The Arsonist. American Prospect, January 2006. Human Right News, (2008). UN: Mixed result for the review process. Geneva, April 2008 Human Rights Watch, (2006. Human Rights Council Must Expand Reach, Human Right Watch Report, September 2006. Lagon, P. (2006). UN Human Right council: Reform or Regression. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/p/io/rls/rm/71839.htm on 16th May 2008 Lempinen, M. (2005). The United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the Different Treatment of Governments. Institute for Human Rights, bo Academy University Office of the United Nations Higher commissioner for Human Rights, (2007). Special Procedures for Human Rights Council. . Retrieved from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/special/ on 16th May 2008 Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (E/CN.4/2005/WG.22/WP.1/REV.4). New York, September 2005. Ravlich, A. (2008). Complaints Procedure at the UN overlooks poorest. Human Rights Council Release, March 2008 Robinson, M. (2007). Human Rights: A Needed UN Reform. International Herald Tribune, March 2007. Roth, K. (2005). Three Challenges for Human Rights Movement: Darfur, Abu Ghraib, and the Role of the United Nations. Carnegie Council, February 3, 2005. Schaefer, B.(2006). The UN Human Rights Council is not enough: Time for a New Approach to Human Rights, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder Paper. New York: Heritage Foundation, February 2006. Schaffer, D. (2008). The US is right to shun the UN Human Right Council. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/internationalorganizations/wm1910.cfm on 16th May 2008 Schorr, D. (2005). United Nations Reform in Context, Muscatine: Stanley Foundation Terligen, Y. (2007). The Human Rights Council: A new turn in Human Rights world Ethics and International Affairs, Vol. 21(2): 7-23 Tolley, H. (2004). The Concealed Crack in the Citadel: the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Response to Confidential Communications. Human Rights Quarterly 420, pp. 442-454. Tomasevski, K. (200). Responding to Human Rights Violations 1946-1999. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers United Nations Economic and Social Council, (2005). International Convention for the United Nations Economic and Social Council, (2006). Promotion and Protection of Human rights. Report submitted by the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human rights defenders (E/CN.4/2006/95). New York, March 2006. United Nations Economic and Social Council, (2006). UN Declaration on the Rights of indigenous peoples. New York, March 2006. United Nations General Assembly, (2006). Resolution Establishing the United Nations Human Rights Council (A/60/251). New York, April 2006. United Nations, (2006). General Assembly: GA/10449. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/ga10449.doc.htm on 16th May 2008 United Nations, (2008). Human Rights council. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/doc/t=united_nations_hrc&document_limit=100,20 on 16th May 2008 University of Minnesota, (2008). Resolution 1235. Human Right Library. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“United Nations Human Rights Council Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/law/1515740-united-nations-human-rights-council
(United Nations Human Rights Council Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/law/1515740-united-nations-human-rights-council.
“United Nations Human Rights Council Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/law/1515740-united-nations-human-rights-council.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF United Nations Human Rights Council

United Nations and International Human Rights

In 2006, the human rights council replaced the Commission of Human Rights4.... United Nations and International human rights The United Nations is the governing authority for international affairs.... One of these concerns is international human rights.... Securing international human rights is an essential responsibility of the United Nations, one which requires their legislative authority as well as their executive and adjudicatory powers....
15 Pages (3750 words) Essay

The United Nations and Human Rights

United Nations Human Rights Council and United Nations Human Rights commission are few of the entities and sources in place that provide firm grounding to the United Nations cause of protection of human rights.... What are the sources of the UN mandate on human rights?... What UN organs and machinery exist to protect and promote human rights?... How important of a role has the UN played in the evolution of human rights?... Despite the utmost efforts, human rights violations are on display....
6 Pages (1500 words) Assignment

Human Rights Enter the International Politics

How and why did human rights enter the international political process since WWII?... What kind of actor is best suited to pursue international human rights: individuals, NGOs, states or intergovernmental organizations?... For this purpose, a realisation developed to create an entity that would protect the rights of people and provide them with shelter in form of human rights protection acts and resolutions.... Regardless of the size of war, be it a local war, local dispute between tribes, a bilateral war or a war that spreads across the continent and across the ocean, all eye human life and human rights....
6 Pages (1500 words) Assignment

Piece ship to Gaza

Israel to look into the matter and its report stated that the Israel Military used force that was within its legal limit but another investigation that was later carried out by the United Nations Human Rights Council cited that there was excessive use of force.... The Israel government said that the military men acted in self defense and therefore the report by the United Nations Human Rights Council was biased....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Human Rights Issues

The joining of America to the United Nations Human Rights Council has also turned out to be a controversial issue....       The current United States government led by President Barrack Obama is facing criticism for not applying rightly the conscience of human rights to its activities relating to international policy....       The role of human rights in the Foreign Policy of United States has become an issue of serious controversy owing to certain fallouts of the United States government under the leadership of President Barrack Obama....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

To Be or Not To Be Free

hellip; The Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression has been recognized universally by the United Nations Human Rights Council.... This addresses instances where states seek to restrict a human right in the name of another human right, or where individuals rely on a human right to undermine other human rights (for example, where an individual issues a death threat).... According to Article 17 of the EU, “No one may use the rights guaranteed by the Convention to seek the abolition or limitation of rights guaranteed in the Convention....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Candidate Vetting for the United Nations Human Rights Council

As was done in this paper, future candidates to the United Nations Human Rights Council should undergo a vigorous vetting, wherein each category of human rights is investigated for infractions, recommendations, openness to and successful implementation of recommendations.... hellip; The author of the paper tells that as the newly appointed ambassador of the United States of America to the United Nations, the country he would choose to fill a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, between the Netherlands and France in the Western Europe region, is the Netherlands....
9 Pages (2250 words) Research Paper

Public Law and Human Rights

It analyses special procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council and effectiveness of the Human Rights Act 1998 within the United Kingdom.... These tribunals had the mandate to prosecute individuals responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and other breaches of international humanitarian laws (The united nations human rights System: How to Make it work for you).... The independent status of the mandate-holder is crucial in order to be able to fulfill their functions in all impartiality” (UN human rights council, 2009)....
13 Pages (3250 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us