Youth Challenge
Teaching human rights & responsibilities.

Unit 1: Resources and Worksheets

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Resource sheet: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights instruments

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. It is the basis for human rights protection and promotion around the world and has been endorsed by all countries. Many countries have included its provisions in their basic laws or constitutions.

Those who drafted the Declaration had very much in mind the extreme human rights violations that had been perpetrated during World War II and the preceding years. The United Nations was all about promoting a better world through international co-operation, including in the field of human rights. In adopting the Declaration, the United Nations emphasised the inherent dignity of every person and that recognition of human rights was the basis for freedom, justice and peace. It called on governments and individuals to promote respect for human rights through education and government policies.

The Universal Declaration is a powerful and eloquent statement, setting standards that provide a framework for human rights supporters to call human rights violators to account. In its own words, it is

'… a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations …'

The rights set out in the Universal Declaration cover not only civil and political rights, which protect individuals from government abuse of power, but also economic, social and cultural rights, which are the basis for adequate standards of living that will ensure human dignity. The rights in the Declaration include:

• the right to life, liberty and personal security
• freedom from torture and degrading treatment
• the right to equality before the law
• the right to a fair trial
• the right to privacy
• freedom of belief and religion
• freedom of opinion
• freedom of peaceful assembly and association
• the right to participate in government
• the right to social security
• the right to work
• the right to adequate standards of living
• the right to education

The existence of the Universal Declaration by itself does not mean that human rights violations do not continue to occur. Some countries are ruled by dictatorships, people are tortured and killed and there is discrimination and vilification. Some individuals are victims of poverty, unemployment, ill health and lack of educational opportunity. Nevertheless there has been much progress since 1948. There is widespread recognition of what human rights are, due largely to the existence of the Universal Declaration and other United Nations human rights standards.

The Universal Declaration has great moral force and standing and the standards it sets out have come to be the basis for much of the development of human rights law that has followed. Over the past 50 years, many other more detailed human rights standards have been developed by governments within the United Nations framework. Some of these standards are legally binding on the governments that agree to them.

International human rights standards that are legally binding are in the form of agreements between different countries of the world. These agreements, or 'treaties', are worked out by representatives of governments sitting down together at the United Nations to discuss ideas and wording that all can agree on. Human rights treaties are usually called 'conventions' or 'covenants'. The 'legally binding' nature of them does not mean they cannot be contravened, (all laws can be broken), but it means that an undertaking has been entered into that acknowledges the treaties at a level that will allow independent examination and potential intervention (by the UN) should the treaty be broken by one country or another.

So, what does it mean to say a treaty is 'legally binding'? International law does not have the same power of compulsion as does the domestic law within a country: there are no police forces and no courts with a general jurisdiction over human rights. It is very much up to the country concerned as to whether or not it will stay within international law and, inevitably, there are many cases where countries choose to step outside the law.

But the system of international law is not as weak as this may sound. When countries ratify a treaty, they take on a solemn obligation to observe the provisions of that treaty. In the case of major human rights treaties, the obligations include regular reporting to and scrutiny by, UN human rights bodies. Each country has an interest in maintaining a rule-based international system because they don't want others to break the rules. While there are no penal sanctions, most governments do not like to be exposed to international criticism for failing to observe human rights standards.

In Australia's case, there is usually a substantive review of legislation and practice before ratifying a human rights treaty, to ensure that Australian law complies with the treaty concerned (though these laws can always be changed).

In some cases, the ratification of a human rights treaty has been accompanied by the passage of specific legislation to give effect to the treaty. The Race Discrimination and Sex Discrimination Acts are examples. And there are at least two cases where Australian legislation has been altered to comply with international law.

After adopting the Universal Declaration, the United Nations went on to draft two major treaties which elaborated on the provisions of the Universal Declaration in a way that made them legally binding on countries that agreed to become parties to them. The two treaties were the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (known by the acronym 'ICCPR') and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). They were adopted by the General Assembly in 1966.

Other major human rights instruments include:

• the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (adopted in 1948)
• the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and its Protocol of 1967
• the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (known by the acronym CERD, adopted 1965)
• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979)
• the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT, 1984)
• the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC, 1989)
• Convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (1989)
• the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons (1975)
• the Declaration on the Right to Development (1986)
• the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (1992)
• the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (1981)

In accepting international human rights standards, governments agree to ensure that the people living within their boundaries are able to access and enforce the rights set out in the instrument concerned. International human rights instruments provide the Australian community with standards by which it can measure equality and fairness.

If a country chooses to sign and 'become party' to a human rights treaty, that country must ensure that its domestic legislation complies with the treaty's provisions. If it fails to comply with the terms of the treaty, that country will be in breach of international law. In Australia, signing a treaty does not automatically make the human rights it contains part of our domestic law. Further steps must be taken to give the treaty legal force in Australia. This involves passing appropriate domestic legislation through the Australian Parliament.

A large number of nations of the world have accepted the major human rights treaties and committed themselves to the provisions they set out. This underscores the universality of human rights principles. Taken together, this great body of standards represents the aspirations of the people of the world for justice, higher standards of moral behaviour and the elimination of suffering. It has achieved this through a process of consultation and negotiation, which has synthesised ideas coming from all of the world's cultures, religions and political and legal systems.

The implementation of international human rights law is for the long term. Much remains to be done to achieve the UN Charter's goal of 'better standards of life in larger freedom'. Documents and laws on their own cannot ensure the achievement of human rights objectives. They must be supported by education, vigorous debate and active effort on the part of individuals, communities, organisations and governments.

This document is also available for download in Word and PDF formats.