International human rights law

Definition published in the category Legal and Normative Frameworks

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International human rights law refers to the body of norms designed to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all human beings, regardless of their sex, gender, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion or other characteristics. These rights are "universal, indivisible[,] interdependent and interrelated" [1].

This framework is grounded in a set of binding international treaties adopted under the auspices of the United Nations. Key instruments include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD, 1965), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT, 1984), the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED, 2006), as well as the main thematic conventions on combating discrimination and protecting specific groups, notably women (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women – CEDAW, 1979), children (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989), migrant workers (International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers, 1990), and persons with disabilities (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006).

These instruments are accompanied by monitoring mechanisms responsible for overseeing their implementation by states parties [2]. They regularly examine reports submitted by states, issue recommendations and, in certain cases, consider individual complaints from victims alleging violations of their rights under the relevant treaty, as is the case with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) [3]. Where violations are found, these bodies may determine state responsibility and issue recommendations to remedy the violations, including the adoption of legislative measures, the conduct of investigations, the prosecution of those responsible, or the provision of reparations to victims. Although these conclusions are not legally binding, they carry significant political weight and contribute substantially to the development of international human rights law.

International treaties are supplemented by other instruments, such as optional protocols, which strengthen protection mechanisms [4], including by addressing specific situations. This is the case with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, for example, whose optional protocols cover the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000) and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (2000).

The international body of human rights law also comprises non-binding instruments, such as general recommendations, general comments, guidelines and resolutions, which play an essential role in interpreting states’ obligations and in deepening the understanding of certain violations, particularly in relation to Sexual violence (including conflict-related sexual violence) and Gender-based violence (SGBV). In the case of CEDAW, for example, the CEDAW Committee has, to date, adopted 40 key general recommendations. These provide progressive and necessary interpretations of the scope of situations covered by the prohibition of "discrimination against women", including: trafficking (General Recommendation No. 38, 2020); SGBV (General Recommendation No. 35, 2017 and General Recommendation No. 19, 1992); conflict and post-conflict situations (General Recommendation No. 30, 2013); and, more generally, the principal obligations of states under the Convention (General Recommendation No. 28, 2010).

In addition, human rights treaties have been developed at the regional level, notably the European Convention on Human Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. These regional systems are underpinned by judicial mechanisms for establishing violations and holding states accountable, namely the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (supplemented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (supplemented by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights – ACHPR).

This entire body of law requires states to respect and protect human rights, which entails preventing, investigating and punishing violations and providing reparations to victims [5]. While there may be variations in the implementation of these rights based on "national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds…it is the duty of states, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms" [6].

Among the key instruments mentioned above, several provide specific protection against sexual and/or gender-based violence. These include the CEDAW Convention; the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence; the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. In addition to these binding instruments, states sometimes make commitments through non-binding declaratory instruments, such as the Guidelines on Combating Sexual Violence and its Consequences in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in 2017 to assist states in fulfilling their international obligations regarding prevention, protection and response to sexual violence.

In the context of SGBV, all these instruments are of particular importance, as such violence entails multiple and serious violations of fundamental rights. It notably undermines the personal autonomy and integrity of survivors/victims, depriving them of their capacity "to hold views, to make choices, and to take actions based on personal values and beliefs" [7], including their right to decide on private and intimate aspects of their lives, such as whether or not to engage in a sexual act or any matter relating to their reproductive health [8].

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Footnotes

[1] World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, 25 June 1993, para. 5; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976; Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 10 December 1948, Article 1.

[2] See also, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), "Treaty Bodies", n.d.

[3] For further information on the operation of the CEDAW Committee, including reporting, investigation and individual communications procedures, see OHCHR, "Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women", n.d.

[5] See the provisions of all the above-mentioned human rights instruments.

[6] Article 4 of the ICCPR sets out the following rights, from which states may never derogate, even in times of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation: the right to life (Article 6); the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (Article 7); the prohibition on subjecting a person to medical or scientific experimentation without consent (Article 7); the prohibition on slavery, the slave trade and servitude (Article 8); the prohibition on imprisonment merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation (Article 11); the principle of legality in criminal law, namely the requirement that criminal liability and punishment be limited to clear and precise provisions of the law in force at the time the act or omission took place, except where a subsequent law imposes a lighter penalty (Article 15); the recognition everywhere as a person before the law (Article 16); freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 18). ICCPR, op. cit.; OHCHR, Core human rights in the two covenants, 2013.

[7] T.L Beauchamp et J.F Childress, Principles of biomedical ethics, 5th edition, New York : Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 63; Henk A.M.J. ten Have and M.S. Jean (UNESCO) (eds), The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights: Background, principles and application ("Commentary on UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights"), 2009, pp. 156-157).

[8] Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ), Civil Society Declaration on Sexual Violence, 2019, Part 4(2)(b). The Declaration states that "[a]cts of a sexual nature that may be regarded as inherently violent include…depriving someone of reproductive autonomy, such as by subjecting them to forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, reproductive sabotage, forced parenthood; or preventing them from making choices as to whether or not to use contraception, undergo sterilization, impregnate another person, or carry a pregnancy in their own body to term", Part 4(3)(c).