UN Human Rights

Human rights as we understand them today have their origins in Enlightenment thought and stem from notions of natural rights which are rights that are granted to each individual by virtue of being born. You have probably heard them before: life, liberty, and property. They are most prominent in the work of English philosopher John Locke, who is also considered to be the father of liberalism.

As the world progressed into the 20th-century liberalism was one of the primary political ideologies on the world stage along with communism and fascism. In some aspects, World War 2 was a clash of these ideologies and at the end of the war it was Western liberalism that would guide the creation of the United Nations, this liberal influence on the global community can be clearly seen in the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

The UN Charter of Human Rights

The United Nations has its roots in the failed "League of Nations" which was established at the end of the First World War and had the primary goal of maintaining peace in an effort to avoid repeating the horror that was World War 1. At the end of World War 2, it was clear that the League of Nations was a largely ineffective body and the decision was made to create a new intergovernmental body with the aim of preventing wars and protecting human beings from the horrors of genocide such as what was perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

In 1945 representatives from 50 nations met in San Francisco for the United Nations Conference on International Organization (also known as the San Francisco Conference) to discuss the creation of such a body. They signed the Charter of the United Nations on June 26, 1945, to provide the framework for how the UN as an institution would work and establish global human rights.

The UN Charter affirmed the organization's goals of avoiding future wars and reaffirmed "faith in fundamental human rights." It set out the United Nations's purpose of maintaining peace and security and promoting cooperation among all countries. As with liberalism's impact on the creation of a declaration of human rights, the United States' influence as the organizing state for the United Nations can be seen in the UN Charter's structure which resembles the United States Constitution. The charter contains a preamble, 19 chapters, and 111 articles; all of which describe how the UN will operate, its goals, and its purpose.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights logo, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, PD-US-no notice-UN Via Wikimedia Commons

The UN Declaration of Human Rights

After the creation of the UN Charter in 1945, the UN members states thought that the Charter did not adequately define the idea of "rights" that it referred to and it was decided to create a commission called the Commission on Human Rights in 1946 to prepare an International Bill of Rights. Out of that commission came the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Drafting Committee, chaired by former First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt, charged with drafting up the articles.

Eleanor Roosevelt holding a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1949. Source: FDR Presidential Library & Museum, CC-BY-2.0

While ideas about individual rights can be traced back to the Enlightenment period, up to this point in history, there was no standard understanding or assumptions internationally about what human rights meant. The commission working on the draft thus launched into debates about what should be included.

Some of the major debates were about religion and socioeconomic rights. Some of the drafters with Christian backgrounds included references to religion, while others (in particular, P.C. Chang, the representative from China, who practiced Confucianism) argued that the Declaration should not reference religion. This way, it could be universal and apply to all people. Ultimately, the commission opted to remove religious language. Additionally, while some western countries initially opposed the idea of including socio-economic rights, they ultimately decided to include them.

The Declaration was officially adopted by the UN General Assembly on the 10th of December 1948. Out of the 58 member countries, 48 voted in favor. Two failed to vote or abstain, and the other 8 abstained (Czechoslovakia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Union, Byelorussian SSR, Ukrainian SSR, South Africa, and Yugoslavia). Some of them thought it didn't go far enough in condemning Nazism and Fascism, while others likely disagreed with the idea of the right to leave your country. Saudi Arabia objected to the idea of the right to change your religion.

A map of the country votes on the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Source: Rodentologist, CC-BY-SA-4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The British delegation expressed frustration that the Declaration set lofty goals with no way of enforcing them but ultimately voted to adopt the Declaration. Today, it has been signed by 192 countries.

Legal Effect

Unlike a treaty or official agreement, the Declaration does not require anyone to follow it, nor does it have any power to punish members that violate it. However, it does has the power of influence, and has been used as the basis for many of the constitutions written after its adoption.

The UN Human Rights Council

In 2006, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) replaced the Human Rights Commission. The update reflected an important shift from focusing on developing ideas on human rights to finding ways to enforce them.

In the beginning, the UN practised strict observance of each country's sovereignty. However, in 1967, due in large part to issues with decolonization and apartheid, the UN voted to adopt an interventionist policy. While the Human Rights Commission attempted to implement stricter oversight of violators, they were often criticized for being ineffective. Plus, several of its members were well-known to be in violation of human rights principles.

UN Human Rights Council Members

According to the 7th paragraph of the General Assembly resolution, there must be forty-seven member states on the council. These member states will have their own representative, who will then sit on the council, but the elections must be run directly and individually by secret ballots. The members then sit on the council for three years and can serve for up to two consecutive terms.

Membership is based on geographical distribution, and each region has a certain number of members based on its size and population. For example, Africa has 13 members whereas only 6 members can come from the Eastern European states. The table below shows the current member states and which geographical area they are from.

A portrait of Michelle Bachelet, the current High Commissioner for Human Rights. Source: Gobierno de Chile, CC-BY-3.0-CL, Wikimedia Commons

UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights is an example of one of these resolutions. Passed in 2011, this resolution sets out a total of 31 principles to implement the UN's 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' in business matters for all UN members. The three main guiding principles (known as the 'three pillars') are: the state duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and access to remedy for victims of business-related abuse.