International Human Rights Law Lecture 2

Who monitors HR agreements?

Key role of NGOs

o e.g. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch

Other states

UN agencies + other IOs, incl. regional orgs

How are HR agreements enforced?

Non-reciprocal rules: "tit for tat" not allowed in IHRL

o not logical for enforcement (not self-enforcing)

No global "Human Rights Court"

o Instead, a variety of institutions

HR protections/enforcement institutions

Domestic courts (strong- depending on state)

Regional bodies (strong- where they exist)

Global mechanisms (mostly weak)

Global mechanisms

ICJ (rare): application of HR treaties

o E.g. Diallo (Guinea v. DRC, 2010)- ICCPR

UN procedures* (nonbinding)

o Special treaty bodies

o UN Charter-based (HRC)

Extreme cases: ICC, UNSC, states

Treaty-based Mechanisms

9 special treaty bodies (independent experts)

o Monitor implementation of core HR treaties

o General comments and recommendations

o Complaints procedures

UN Charter-Based Mechanisms

UN Human Rights Council (political body)

o Universal Periodic Review

o Special Procedures

Special treaty bodies: state reviews

9 special treaty bodies

o Committees of 18 independent experts (not state representatives)

Monitor compliance of 9 core HR treaties (all except Genocide Convention)

o Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination--- CERD

o Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women--- CEDAW

o Committee against Torture---- CAT

o etc.

State parties required to report (only)--- reviewed by body

o Non-binding decisions ("recommendations")

o But public nature of reports can influence states ("naming and shaming")

Also provide authoritative interpretation of rights ("General Comments")

Complaints procedures (individual petition)

Quasi-judicial

For 4 treaties only: CERD, CEDAW, CAT, ICCPR

Only against states:

o parties to relevant treaty

o that accepted individual complaints in optional protocol

e.g. CERD: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, S. Africa, UK...(not US)

Like a "HR court" but non-binding decisions (hence "quasi"- judicial)

UN Human Rights Council (HRC)

UN Charter-based

o Replaced discredited UN Commission on HRs (2006)

47 members (states)- political body

o UN "withdrew" in 2025 (?!)

o Russia voted out (2022)

HRC monitoring procedures

Universal Periodic Reviews

Special Procedures

Again: non-binding reports and recommendations only

+Complaint Procedures (quasi-judicial)

o To either the HRC (confidential) or Special Procedures

o Available to any victims (individuals, groups, NGOs) against ant state

Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

a unique process that involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN member-states once every 4 years

Reviews HR performance of all UN members

o Peer review every 4 years

o Regardless of which treaties they've joined

o reinforces UDHR as CIL

Reviewers: states

o Political--- not independent experts

o Diverse memberships

Nonbinding reports ("recommendations")

o But public: "naming and shaming"

US in 2025 (and 2026?)

o Unprecedented nonparticipation

HRC: Special Procedures

Established by HRC (must agree- no veto)

Independent experts ("Special Rapporteurs") on specific countries/themes

o Country mandates (12)

o e.g. Russia, Myanmar, Iran, N. Korea

o Thematic mandates (44)

o e.g. torture, cultural rights; freedom of relgion; HRs of migrants

Produces non-binding public reports and reccommendations

Names: Francesca Albanese (Italy) and Graeme Reid (South Africa)

Regional bodies and Regional HR conventions and courts

Regional HR conventions and courts

o Strong (vs. weak enforcement at global (UN) level)

o Binding on all parties

o Individual petition

o Exhaustion of domestic remedies principle

o But only Europe (CoE), Americas (OAS) Africa (AU)

European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)

Responsible for ensuring the enforcement and implementation of the ECHR.

Pan-European (not EU) (46 states)

Most used int'l court (by far)

Inter-American Court of Human Rights (1979)

20 states (not the US)

Contentious juridiction but no individual access

African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights

34 states (8 accept individuals access)

Arab League

Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004/2008)

No Court

Critics: incompatible w/global standards

Extreme Cases

Def: Grave and widespread violations of HRs

(e.g. genocide, war crimes, mass atrocities)

Possibly governed by

o IHL (war crimes) (during armed conflict only)

o International criminal law (Individual accountability for "international crimes"

Possibly enforced by

ICC

ICJ- genocide cases

UNSC- use of force, sanctions

States (self-help)- likely unauthorized

o Humanitarian intervention

o Sanctions