HUMAN RIGHTSMedical humanities II

2012-2013 Prof. Marija Definis-Gojanović, MD, Ph.D.

Human rights

Human rights are commonly understood as "fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." universal (applicable everywhere) and egalitarian (the same for everyone).

Human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the atrocities of The Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The modern concept of human rights developed during the early Modern period.alongside the

The modern sense ofhuman rights can be traced toRenaissance Europe and theProtestant Reformation.

Magna Carta (1215)required King John of England to proclaim

certain liberties and accept that his will was not arbitrary

Statute of Kalisz (1264)gave privileges to the Jewish minority in the

Kingdom of Poland such as protection from discrimination and hate speech

History of concept

The basis of most modern legal interpretations of human rights: recent European history

The Twelve Articles (1525)considered to be the first record of human

rights in Europe

Two revolutions during the 18th century, in the United States (1776) and in France (1789)

adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence and the French

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen respectively, both of which established certain legal rights

History of concept

In the 19th century, human rights became a central concern over the issue of slavery

The abolition of slavery was achieved in the

British Empire by the Slave Trade Act 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833

In the United States, all the northern states had abolished the institution of slavery between 1777 and 1804

History of concept

20th century:

labor unions

women’s right movement

national liberation movementsmovement

History of concept

The establishment of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the 1864 Lieber Code and the first of the Geneva Conventions in 1864 laid the foundations of International humanitarian law, to be further developed following the two World wars

The League of Nations, 1919, - negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles following the end of World War I.

At the 1945 Yalta Conference, the Allied Powers agreed to create a new body to supplant the League's role; this was to be the United Nations.

History of concept

1. Civil and political rights – Universal Declaration of Human rights

(UDHR, art. 3-21)International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights (ICCPR) /1st generation/

2. Economic, social and cultural rightsUniversal Declaration of Human rights

(UDHR, art. 22-28)International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR)/2nd generation/

3. Right to piece, clean environment.../3rd generation/

Classification

Economic, social and cultural rights are argued to be:

• positive, meaning that they require active provision• resource-intensive, meaning that they are expensive and difficult to provide• progressive, meaning that they will take significant time to implement• vague, meaning they cannot be quantitatively measured• ideologically divisive/political, meaning that there is no consensus on what should and shouldn't be provided as a right• socialist• non-justifiable, meaning that their provision, or the breach of them, cannot be judged in a court of law• aspirations or goals, as opposed to real 'legal' rights

United Nations Charter

Article 1(3) states that one of the purposes of the UN is:

"to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion".

International protection

The rights espoused in the UN charter

International Bill of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

- was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948

- was a non-binding resolution; now considered by some to have acquired the force of international customary law which may be invoked in appropriate circumstances by national and other judiciaries

"It is not a treaty...[In the future, it] may well become the international Magna Carta.“

Eleanor Roosevelt with the Spanish text of the UDHR in 1949.

International protection

Articles 1 and 2 are the foundation blocks: their principles of dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood. Articles 3–11: rights of the individual, such as the right to life and the prohibition of slavery. Articles 12–17: rights of the individual in civil and political society. Articles 18–21: spiritual, public and political freedoms such as freedom of religion and freedom of association. Articles 22–27: social, economic and cultural rights.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Guinness Book of Records describes the UDHR as the "Most Translated Document" in the world

It is a fundamental constitutive document of the United Nations

Commemoration: International Human Rights Day

Significance and legal effect

10 December

International treaties

- generally known as human rights instruments- some of the most significant (with ICCPR and ICESCR) are:

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial DiscriminationConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against WomenUnited Nations Convention Against TortureConvention on the Rights of the ChildConvention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesInternational Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families

may protect some human rights, such as the prohibition of torture, genocide and slavery and the principle of non-discrimination

Customary international law

The Geneva Conventions came into being between 1864 and 1949 as a result of efforts by Henry Dunant, the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

International humanitarian law

The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war. The articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) extensively defined the basic, wartime rights of prisoners (civil and military); established protections for the wounded; and established protections for the civilians in and around a war zone.

International humanitarian law

Two Protocols were adopted in 1977 that extended the terms of the 1949 Conventions with additional protections.

In 2005, a third brief Protocol was added establishing an additional protective sign for medical services, the Red Crystal, as an alternative to the ubiquitous Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems, for those countries that find them objectionable.

International humanitarian law

Nations who are party to these treaties must enact and enforce legislation penalizing any of these crimes, are obligated to search for persons alleged to commit these crimes, or ordered them to be committed, and to bring them to trial.

The principle of universal jurisdiction also applies to the enforcement of grave breaches when the UN Security Council asserts its authority and jurisdiction from the UN Charter to apply universal jurisdiction. The UNSC did this via the International Criminal Court.

International humanitarian law

Summary of main points about Geneva Conventions

The First Protocol The Second Protocol

extends the Conventions, taking into consideration modern means of warfare and transport and aiming to give further protection to civilians

The Forth Protocol

provides a code of minimum protection for the combatants and the civilian population during civil wars. They embody the main idea which led to the founding of the Red Cross

covers members of the armed forces who fall into enemy hands. They are in the power of the enemy State, not of the individuals or troops who have captured them

covers all individuals "who do not belong to the armed forces, take no part in the hostilities and find themselves in the hands of the Enemy or an Occupying Power"

The Third Protocol

Under the mandate of the UN charter, the United Nations (UN) as an intergovernmental body seeks to apply international jurisdiction for universal human-rights legislation.

Within the UN machinery, human-rights issues are primarily the concern of the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council, and there are numerous committees within the UN with responsibilities for safeguarding different human-rights treaties. The most senior body of the UN in the sphere of human rights is the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

United Nations system

Regional and national human rights regimes

Regional human rights regimesNon-governmental OrganizationsHuman rights defendersNational preventive mechanism