2024
Essay: HR Protection – United
NAME: ZEESHAN
ID: 00-00-000
Essay: HR Protection – United Nations (UN)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction.............................................................................................1
PROTECTING HR THROUGH CHARTER-BASED PROCEDURES...................2
APPROACHES TO MAINTAINING AND PROTECTING FUNDAMENTAL HR. 3
HUMAN RIGHTS RESTORATION DURING THE PEACEBUILDING PERIOD. .5
RESTORATIVE MEASURES INCLUDING PEACE ENFORCEMENT ALONG
WITH THE LIABILITY TO PRESERVE...........................................................5
CONCLUSION............................................................................................6
Essay: HR Protection – United Nations (UN)
Introduction
Human rights maintain the intrinsic value and pride of every individual, regardless of their
chronological age, gender, race, faith, or nationality. The horrors endured by humanity while on
WWII prompted the United Nations to establish human fundamental rights. It was on December
10, 1948, that the UDHR was accepted by the United Nations General Assembly. After it was
adopted, human rights were acknowledged as the cornerstone of liberty, equity, and security for
all people. The majority of countries have included these human rights in their constitutions and
local legal systems, even if it isn't binding law. We have been safeguarded from discrimination
along with our most fundamental needs are guaranteed by human rights.
The demand for protecting human rights is a significant sign of social institutions improvements.
Indian legislation established in the sixteenth century is an excellent example of the early
attempts to protect human rights. The laws of the modern society include similar statements, yet
have differences appeared due to the historical experiences of humanity, such as World Wars.
This paper aims to compare the Indian legislation of the sixteenth century to the modern United
Nations’ Human Rights Declaration. This essay will go over some of the recent and ongoing
changes to the United Nations system that ensures human rights are being respected and
protected. It will go deeper into finding out if human rights can be adequately protected by the
system, given its flaws.
The UN is intended to promote international collaboration and the development and maintenance
of world peace as well as global security, the United Nations was conventional, mostly as a reply
to the atrocities committed during World War II. It is possible that the UN system is unable to
embrace in all its aspects the human rights issue affecting the globe today due to the significant
impact of its treaties and announcements on them. As a result, change is necessary in some areas.
Because it is the unifying principle for so many member nations, the United Nations is very
careful to define rights diplomatically. United Nations pronouncements are often too general and
fail to provide member nations with the specific assistance they need because of the wide range
of economic, social, political, and cultural factors that have historically been considered.
Regardless, it remains undeniable that the United Nations has a greater impact on more
individuals and countries than any regional organization.
Essay: HR Protection – United Nations (UN)
PROTECTING HRTHROUGH CHARTER-BASED
PROCEDURES
We have focused on the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and its subsidiary body, the
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), as well as the Economic Community Security
Council (ECOSOC) and the Secretariat (OHCHR) in our analysis of the processes based on the
UN Charter. Nonetheless, other UN secretariat units—including OCHA, DPA, and DPKO—are
heavily involved in human rights matters. Also, the Security Council as well as the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) (described below in regard to the use of coercive force for human rights
reasons) are two additional primary UN entities that sometimes consider human rights. On top of
that, there are ECOSOC and UNGA agencies and initiatives that deal with human rights issues;
these include UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR, and UN-Women.
One last point about the human rights components of the United Nations' mission for global
security and peacemaking is the implementation of enforcement authorities to bring those guilty
to justice for atrocities such as ethnic cleansing, crimes towards humanity, and committing war
crimes. In the 1990s, the Security Council took a bold step forward by utilizing the power
granted by Chapter VII. It established 2 Ad-Hoc UN criminal judicial bodies, the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ("ICTY") in 1991 and the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda ("ICTR") in 1994, to try individuals claimed of genocide, war crimes, as
well as offenses regarding the human race. The International Criminal Court ("ICC") was
established in 2002 by the Rome Statute, which was adopted by governments in 1998. It is a
permanent tribunal that is independent of the United Nations and has the authority to investigate
and impeach those responsible for the gravest international crimes, including but not limited to
ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and offenses regarding humanity.
In the Middle East, the shift to democratization in countries that had communist parties or had
dictatorships has opened the door for civil society to have a role in governing reforms.
Strengthening human rights institutions has received technical aid and support as of the United
Nations' human rights administrations, notably the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR). Internal armed conflicts, however, sometimes include huge abuses,
particularly when religious fanaticism and xenophobic nationalism fuel the violence. The United
Essay: HR Protection – United Nations (UN)
Nations backs several prosecutorial bodies, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), in
its efforts to bring criminal charges against those responsible for atrocities and their leaders.
With the backing of the OHCHR, peacemaking, security operations, and preventive diplomacy
operations have shown the merit of include the human rights component into all-encompassing
peace accords.
APPROACHES TO MAINTAINING AND PROTECTING
FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS.
Human rights are protected and enforced by the United Nations corporation via three separate
mechanisms. To begin with, it utilizes its treaties and other legally binding agreements and
instruments to set and uphold international norms. Secondly, it stresses the need of hiring human
rights experts from various fields, such as Special Rapporteurs, to aid in advancement of human
rights and enforcement. Finally, a voluntary budget for human rights counseling and technical
help is provided by the UN system. The UNHRC will continue to be the principal subject of this
article, as indicated before. An arm of the UN system, the affiliate body of the General Assembly
works to ensure human rights via intergovernmental cooperation. In its work, the UNHRC relies
on the UN's Extraordinary Procedures and maintains tight cooperation with the OHCHR.
In a resounding resolution (A/RES/60/251) passed by the General Assembly on March 15, 2006,
the UNHRC was founded, succeeding the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
Previously, a part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the Committee on Human
Rights (CHR) had the integrity of portion as the principal and preeminent global platform for the
protection and development of human rights for all peoples, a role that the current UN Human
Rights Council more effectively fulfills. As an additional resource, the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights' office helped the CHR with its primary responsibilities. Both national
mechanisms, which focus on human rights in particular nations or territories, and thematic
mechanisms, which address human rights breaches on a global scale, were originally means to be
inspected, observed, and reported openly by the CHR. The politicized CHR was mostly
superseded by the UNHRC considering to the latter's heavy criticism for admitting member
states with weak regards to human rights backgrounds.
Essay: HR Protection – United Nations (UN)
The expansion of Spanish colonies demanded regulative laws to establish proper relations
between the Spaniards and the conquered nations. The formation of Indian legislation began
from the Laws of Burgos that considered the welfare of conquered Indians who were often
threatened by the Spanish occupants. Then, in 1542, the New Laws of The Indies were formatted
by King Charles and included more detailed and justified regulations. The establishment of such
rules was the attempt to the sins against the Indians, such as cruelty and disrespect towards them
(Casas 23). The regulations were based on the most recent theories about freedom and human
rights. Indeed, the conquered people were considered free individuals with the right to choose a
job and be paid for their work.
Human rights are mainly protected by the United Nations established after World War II to
prevent the war’s horrors from repeating and for people involved in the crimes against humanity
to answer for their deeds. United Nations claim that “all human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights” (“Universal Declaration of Human Rights” 1). This statement reveals the
central thesis of human rights protection and results from historical events and society’s
improvements. The most significant resemblance of the New Laws of The Indies and Human
Rights Law of the United Nations is the responsibility to consider human rights as the primary
basis for establishing the local regulations. Modern laws address the intolerance to crimes against
these rights, such as genocide, offenses against humankind, and combat misconducts (“Human
Rights Law”).
The regulations of the sixteenth century were established to protect Indians from similar crimes
of Spaniards. Casas in the “Destruction of the Indies” calls to prevent “injustice done to innocent
people, destroying and tearing them apart without having a just cause or reason for it” (15).
Casas also describes people’s life in different Spanish colonies, and provides evidence of
fundamental human rights violations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights has a strong power
of human rights protection unrelatedly of nation, identity, or position of a population. The Indian
legislation’s statements did not include the established laws to define nations’ rights different
from Indian. This contrast shows how different the understanding of humanity was at the times
of the New Laws of The Indies from the modern one.
Essay: HR Protection – United Nations (UN)
HUMAN RIGHTS RESTORATION DURING THE
PEACEBUILDING PERIOD
Persistent distrust and violence are common outcomes of war. Conflicts often undermine or
involve the court and other government institutions, which are primarily responsible for
upholding human rights. The only way for war-torn civilizations to recover is for human rights to
be generally improved. Human rights must be safeguarded and the truth concerning past crimes
must be exposed, according to many, if community-level atonement and the healing of
psychological wounds left by atrocities are to take place. Human rights implementation needs
good management if political stability is to be maintained. Restoring the authority of law and
resolving issues of betrayal and distrust are paramount. Under these conditions, the international
community may often play a crucial supporting role by offering, if only tacitly, assurances that
erstwhile adversaries would not desert the peace process. Helping post-conflict communities
reestablish human rights requires careful attention to local terminology, since all international
principles are open to cultural interpretation. Human rights are universal in principle, but in
practice, opinions on which necessities should be protected differ based on factors such as
religion, politics, economics, and culture. As a result, cultural adaptation is necessary for human
rights policy in order to prevent mistrust and the impression of interference in personal matters.
RESTORATIVE MEASURES INCLUDING PEACE
ENFORCEMENT ALONG WITH THE LIABILITY TO
PRESERVE
The imposition of financial penalties or the authorization of military force to restore peace may
only be adopted by the Security Council if it finds, by nine votes among the fifteen, which
includes a repetitive vote of each of the 5 attendees (art. 27), that the matter in question is a
"threat to the peace, infringement of the truce, or display of aggression" (art. 39), in accordance
with Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Concerning the use of this authority to protect human rights,
UNSC practice has been hazy at best. As an example, Resolution 688 (1991) called for an end to
persecution and respect for the fundamental freedoms of the Kurds in Northern Iraq. The UK and
the USA put no-fly zones up to safeguard humanitarian operations, even though the resolution
didn't explicitly sanction it. When Aristide was deposed, the United Nations Security Council
proclaimed that "the circumstances of Haiti persists to reflect an existential danger to the stability
Essay: HR Protection – United Nations (UN)
and security in the geographic region" and permitted the operation of armed force to reinstate
Haiti's duly elected president and government, as stated in Chapter VII of Resolution 940 (1994).
Addressing several psychological difficulties is crucial for promoting human rights norms in
cultures that have experienced war. A society's moral compass must be set straight, or new social
norms must be instituted. Human rights breaches have occurred in the past, and they must devise
plans to remedy this as well as prevent it from happening again. It is imperative that human
rights be included into all peacebuilding and rebuilding efforts, rather than being treated as an
isolated component of the recovery process. When a country becomes more democratic, people's
freedoms in politics and society are restored. Training for government officials, security
personnel, and police officers must include instruction on the importance of respecting
fundamental rights while on the job. Finally, the key to society's reconciliation is the ability to
forgive past transgressions.
CONCLUSION
The intricate network of United Nations agencies and commissions, and the enormous power
they possess to advance human rights via international negotiation and conduct, are beyond the
scope of this article. Clearly, the idea that state sovereignty poses an insurmountable barrier to
the United Nations' efforts to fulfill the Charter's goal of human rights for everyone is becoming
less and less of an issue. Article 2(7)'s conventional constraints are fading away. Because of this,
the United Nations now has more room to maneuver. By increasing its authority to react to
individual accusations and bringing governments' scrutiny to human rights violations, treaty
organizations have shown tremendous tenacity. Those in charge of specific processes have
become more self-reliant and knowledgeable. Their detailed documentation of national and
topical issues has addressed certain recommendations made to political and government entities
(most notably the General Assembly).
There are significant disparities in the monetary worth of work when comparing these two
human rights safeguarding statutes. Rest and reasonable work hours are guaranteed to all people
under Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On the other hand, the
limitations of work were not regulated by Indian law. The women worked the ranches, dug the
crops, and were subjected to "tough" labor since "they sent men to extract precious metals, which
Essay: HR Protection – United Nations (UN)
is intolerable work" (45). It is increasingly essential to regard work as a defining factor of social
classes while debating individual rights, because this is the case in many nations.
The laws and charts that govern human rights are crucial acts of improving most of the
population’s quality of life. Although the sixteenth-century laws did not perceive Indians,
Spanish, and Portuguese separately, these regulations were the basis to consider in many
decision-making processes similar to the modern United Nation’s Declarations. The optimal way
of applying human rights is to set the same courts’ standards throughout the world (Zakariah
196). The attempts of giving freedom and rights for a better life are the critical milestones to the
human rights empowerment.
