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| Sunday, 12 June 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Commission on Human Rights : How significant is it?
Some of you may have heard about the Commission on Human Rights. There is such an organisation operating in our country too. But today, we are going to talk about the international organisation that monitors all Human Rights Commissions established in countries throughout the world. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights is composed of 53 States. The Commission meets each year in regular sessions in March/April for six weeks, in Geneva. Over 3,000 delegates from member and observer States and from non-governmental organisations participate in this important event. The Commission on Human Rights, procedures and mechanisms are mandated to examine, monitor and report either on human rights situations in specific countries or about human rights violations worldwide. The main themes addressed by the Commission are: the right to self-determination, racism, the right to development, the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, the question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world, civil and political rights, including the questions of torture and detention, disappearances and summary executions, freedom of expression, the independence of the judiciary, impunity and religious intolerance, the human rights of women, children, migrant workers, minorities and displaced persons; indigenous issues; the promotion and protection of human rights, including the work of the Sub-Commission, treaty bodies and national institutions; and advisory services and technical co-operation in the field of human rights. From time to time, the Commission identifies areas in which existing standards need to be further developed to challange new and growing concerns. At present, it is working to strenghthen the safeguards against torture and other forms of cruel or inhuman treatment in custody, through preventive visits to places of detention, and to promote the rights of indigenous populations. Other subjects that are currently under consideration by working groups of the Commission are, the right to development, and structural adjustment programmes and human rights. If complaints from individuals or organisations received by the Sub-Commission's Working Group on Communications reveal a pattern of serious human rights violations in a country, the matter can be brought to the attention of the Commission's Working Group on Situations and of the Commission itself. One of the most important tasks entrusted to the Commission has been the elaboration of human rights standards. In 1948 it concluded work on the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then it has developed standards relating, to the right to development, civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, the elimination of racial discrimination, torture, the rights of the child and the rights of human rights defenders, among other things. All States that accept these standards are obliged to implement the rights they entail and to report regularly to international bodies set up to monitor their compliance. Human rights standards have little value if they are not implemented. Consequently, the Commission devotes much of its time to examining issues of implementation. Some of its work is particularly sensitive, generating extensive debate and often disagreement. Its network of mechanisms - experts, representatives and rapporteurs - plays an important role in reporting to the Commission annually. Information received from Governments, non-governmental organisations and individuals is used in the preparation of these reports. The Commission's success is measured by its ability to make a difference to the lives of individuals. Where problems are identified, the Commission can take action to address them. It regularly requests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide assistance to Governments through its programme of advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of human rights. This assistance takes the form of expert advice, human rights seminars, national and regional training courses and workshops, fellowships and scholarships, and other activities aimed at strengthening national capacities for the protection and promotion of human rights. During its regular annual session, the Commission adopts about a hundred resolutions, decisions and Chairperson's statements on matters of relevance to individuals in all regions and circumstances. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a part of the United Nations Secretariat, provides secretariat services to the Commission on Human Rights and to other human rights meetings. The office is located in Geneva, Switzerland. *** Rights of the child The Convention on the Rights of the Child safegurads the human rights of children throughout the world. The Convention is the most universally accepted human rights instrument in history - it has been accepted by every country in the world. Therefore, it uniquely places children centre-stage in the quest for the universal application of human rights. By supporting this instrument, national governments have committed themselves to protecting and ensuring children's rights and they have agreed to hold themselves accountable for this commitment before the international community. The Convention protects children's rights by setting standards in health care, education and legal, civil and social services. These standards are benchmarks against which progress can be assessed. States that are party to the Convention are obliged to develop and undertake all actions and policies in the light of the best interests of the child. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights - civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights. Two Optional Protocols, on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, were adopted to strengthen the provisions of the Convention in these areas. They entered into force, respectively on January 18 and February 12, 2002. |
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| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
We live in a complex world. Even though there are laws to protect the
rights of the people, they are being violated. So, there has to be a
special body to monitor such violations because the rights of all human
beings, no matter what position in society he or she holds, needs to be
protected. Even children have rights. 
