Importance of International Law on Human Rights - Case Study Example

Running header: Importance of International Law on Human Rights Your Introduction Human Rights have described as the inalienable moral entitlement to all persons equally, by virtue of their humanity, irrespective of race, nationality, or membership of any particular social group. They specify the minimum conditions for human dignity and a tolerable life. Human rights are often violated on the pretext of state or public emergency however a country’s sovereignty and legitimacy are increasingly coming under challenge from the international community whereby it might ultimately result in isolation, extreme economic sanctions and eventually invasion by other countries who justify their actions on moral and humanitarian grounds. At a global level, the international human rights law is the body entrusted in keeping and promoting these statutes internationally, regionally and even nationally. The United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council is the only universally recognized entity that exerts jurisdiction on human rights issues. Countries adhere to international law by consenting to at least partially acquiescent to international law or jurisdiction according to the 1920 Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice. This and subsequent statutes comprise the various international treaties, declarations, and guidelines that constitute the international human rights instruments. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948 form the basis of most of these human rights instruments, which have generated various international and regional instruments that guide the international laws on human rights (UNHCHR, 2009) [see Table 1]. Although there is no principal body entrusted with enforcing international human rights, several judicial entities exist including the International Criminal Court (ICC), which presides over war crimes and genocide, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that normally work under the guidance of the UN Human Rights Council (OHCHR, 2009). At state level, 110 countries have set up National Human Rights Commissions to monitor and promote human rights. Table 1 In many developed western countries particularly the United States, the notion of human rights has developed over time but can be traced to the influence of British political theorist John Locke who ascribed to the view of natural rights of an individual. The US Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights have thus emphasised the importance of individual and collective rights. Western democracies have strived to have these individual human rights viewed as universal international rights applicable in any part of the world irrespective of culture or social-political traditions practised there. The challenge has therefore been to formulate an international law that is acceptable universally and globally by all people and nations especially those trampling over individual rights on the basis of protecting culture, national or collective rights of the society (Wright, 2001). The United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 is a landmark proclamation that has set the pace for modern concept of human rights asserting that: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ The Parliament of the Worlds Religions in 1993 adopted the Golden Rule, or the ethic of reciprocity that states that one must do unto others as one would like thus be treated (Gready and Ball, 2007). Several nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) have been set up to serve as the watchdogs’ institutions over governments, private and public organisations as well as individual in positions of authority who tend to abuse the rights of others especially during moments of conflicts or crisis. Some these organisations include, Human Rights Watch, and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights formed in 1978, and Physicians for Human Rights formed in 1986. Other prominent international human rights organisations include Amnesty International, International Federation of Human Rights, World Organisation Against Torture, Freedom House, International Freedom of Expression Exchange and Anti-Slavery International among others (Claude et al, 1992). At the break of the new millennium in 2000, the US government enacted the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, which sought to alleviate or eventually eradicate human trafficking particularly prevalent among women and children across international borders (Tomasevski, 2005). The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights bound nations to respect civil liberties of their citizens thus were obligated to make periodic reports on these undertakings in their jurisdictions. This unlike the UDHR, were legally binding agreements internationally. (Andreopoulos et al, 1997). One of the landmarks of the last century was the linkage of women rights with human rights in the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing led by then First Lady Hillary Clinton. Women rights have since gained much prominence especially in countries that actively discriminate against women on cultural grounds. National governments have been pressurised to enacted laws that prohibit overt acts against women, outlawing conventional practices like female genital mutilation (FGM), education for girls, employment and other discriminatory practices (Maiese, 2004); (Demetriades et al, 2007). In the aftermath of extensive human rights abuses in Europe and Africa during the Bosnia war and Rwandan genocide, respectively when these communities practised ethnic cleansing prompted the creation of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 1993 later replaced in 2006 by the UN Human Rights Council. Consequently, the international community sought to have the leaders of such heinous acts held accountable and brought to justice through an international court (OHCHR, 2009). This led to the formation of the tribunals held under the espouses of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as having truth and reconciliation commissions that helped to try and bring rapport between the warring communities within the same boundaries (Human Rights Watch, 2009). After the decline in the power of trade unions and industrial relations over corporate power due to declining labour movement and globalisation, during the 1990s there emerged a new concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as corporations were derided in their overriding drive for profits. Workplace injustices and sweatshop labour practices opposed to the tenets of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on worker rights were prevalent while large corporations trampled not only on their workforce, but also greatly exploited the consumers through elaborate marketing strategies which enhanced consumerism t the detriment of the larger public. These decadent practices were generally mostly practiced in the developing countries where large monolithic transnational corporations exploited not only the resources of the host countries adversely, but also the human capital. The resistance towards the drive directed at formulating a truly universal human rights has revolved cultural relativity around the concept of the rights of women, minorities, and freedom of worship. The Middle Eastern countries have resisted ‘Western’ concept of human rights and asserting the observation of unique traditional cultural norms that cannot be overridden by international human rights. The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) through the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam sought to ascribe their own form of human rights that deviated from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights charter. To emphasise this, the OIC members declared through a 2003 resolution that: ‘the obligations and endeavours of the member states to promote and protect the internationally recognized human rights while taking into account the significance of their religious, national, and regional specificities and various historical and cultural backgrounds, and with due regard to the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam’ (pg.43). The Islamic states decry the latent hypocrisy of the criticism of their human rights transgression as opposed to the apparent condoning of worse violations of the rights of the Palestinian people by the state of Israel supported by Western democracies (An-Naim, 2001); (Cotran & Yamani, 2000). Another opponent of the hegemony of international law and particularly the ascendancy of the ICC over local parochial interest has been former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. Kissinger (2001) argues that, ‘widespread agreement that human rights violations and crimes against humanity must be prosecuted has hindered active consideration of the proper role of international courts. Universal jurisdiction risks creating universal tyranny – that of judges’ (Pg. 12). Wright (2001) argues that international human rights ‘have developed into a powerful ideological device both for and against the peaceful resolution of disputes and the equitable division of political and economic power’ (Pg.12). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights alongside the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(OPCCPR) of 1976 constituted the UN International Bill of Human Rights which highlight the rights of individuals in regards to race, colour, gender, language, faith, political or other views, nationality or communal basis, chattels, origin, or other standing (Nickel, 2009) The Geneva Conventions, which were built on the 1899, and the 1907 Hague Conventions, are credited to have been some of the first attempts at instituting international rules governing all nations especially in times of conflict to avert extreme atrocities. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and its predecessor, the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), have affirmed the untenable rights of individuals against racism and slavery (Lepard, 2010). A United Nations expert group meeting on international norms and standards relating to disability recommended that to have a universal bill of rights for the disabled people, the times of constitution making is the ideal time to present their agenda. This was aimed at safeguarding of the human rights of those with disabilities at the uppermost level of the state legal structure (United Nations, 2004). Torres (2000) has argued that international law should be used to enforce certain mandatory rules regarding the treatment, spread and control of HIV AIDS by national governments who will be held accountable. This is in recognition of the human rights of the victims and other members of the public to fight against stigmatisation and violations of the human rights of the HIV positive people. The importance of international law in enforcing human rights entitlements has been exemplified by the actions of the United Nations Special Representative on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights, John Ruggie. Ruggie has called for enactment of an international legal framework that can compel global and regional or national conglomerates to put in place appropriate corporate governance that guarantee the rights of workers, clients, and communities to socially responsible for their actions (McCorquodale, 2009). In view of the often-adverse effects of globalisation that has seen the easing of national borders and natural barriers across the world, Cassidy et al, (2003, Pg.vi) have noted that the issue of human rights as concerns business enterprises need a universal regulatory mechanism. They have therefore proposed the setting up of a Human Rights and Business Commission (HRBC) to breach the gap in prevalent in conventional structures revolving around human rights and business disputes in an prompt and efficient approach. International law in regards to violation of human rights has received much prominence in recent years as more prominent global personalities have become aligned in the international courts. The most active ha been the ICC where the zealous chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo has brought to justice former leaders of genocide killings in Africa including those from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo and the issuing of an arrest warrant on a sitting president, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan. This was possible despite the country not being a signatory of the Rome statute. The case was thus referred to the ICC by the UN Security Council through Resolution 1593 due to atrocities committed in Darfur (United Nations Department of Public Information, 2006). The UN has similarly erected several international tribunals that try war criminals who indiscriminately practice heinous acts against opponents during times of conflict. This international tribunals are set up in neutral countries where the identified perpetrators are brought to justice. Some of them include the Baltic wars where Bosnian and Serbian war criminals have been tried extensively. Others are the Arusha trials for Rwandan leaders of ethnic cleansing tried before international judges and prosecutors. The UN now retains experts or rapporteurs who are tasked with monitoring and investigating issues of genocide and human rights abuses globally. However, contemporary human rights issues have brought some intense arguments. These include human rights violations in regards to environment; future generations; lesbian gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights; trade; water; crime and punishment or capital punishment; foetal rights or reproductive rights; and issues of medicinal drugs like marijuana (Amnesty International, 2007). Conclusion The importance of international law in the enforcing and setting up of rules and guidelines across international borders is of utmost significance. Without an international mechanism to regulate errant despotic and ambivalent actions of leaders, corporations and cultural practices, the world will be the loser. International law on human rights cuts across the fabric of human existence since without holding individuals to account, the atrocities witnessed in the second world war, Yugoslavia Baltic Rwandan and Darfur ethnic cleansing will keep recurring. The international community has an obligation to uphold the rule of law concerning human rights violations to ensure a better world free from discrimination of any kink. That this dogma is increasingly gaining prominence only emphasise the legitimacy of the course. References Amnesty International 2007 Stop Violence Against Women: Reproductive rights. Retrieved January 8, 2010, from SVAW. Amnesty International USA.: Andreopoulos, G J (1997) Human Rights Education for the Twenty-First Century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. An-Naim, A (2001) Human Rights in the Arab World: A Regional Perspective. Human Rights Quarterly , Vol. 23 Pg. 700-732. Cassidy, Joseph, Glenn Gutterman and Minh-Thu Pham (2003) The Promise of a Human Rights and Business Commission. Human Rights Policy Graduate Workshop: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Princeton University , Pg. VI-IX. Claude, R P (1992) Human Rights in the World Community: Issues and Action. 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