Promotion And Protection Of Human Rights

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Communications - Mass Media, , language: English, abstract: There is no generally acceptable definition of Human Rights. This is perhaps because Human Rights scholars have different opinions about the concept. Human Rights are “generally moral rights claimed by everyone and held against everyone, especially against those who run social institutions’’, (Orend 2002 ). At the global stage, the United Nations (UN) has for years played a leading role in promoting and protecting human rights with support from International Non-governmental Organisations. In addition to the effort of the United Nations (UN), the state has basically been seen as the main actor in the promotion and protection of Human Rights. Unfortunately, states according to Hakemulder et al (1998), are often the very abuser of the rights of the citizens they are required to protect. It is noteworthy however that though the state bears the primary responsibility in issues of human rights, other organs of the society are included in the protection and promotion of Human Rights, (Addo, 1999). These organs, institutions and mechanisms include constitutions, law and legality, the courts among others. This write-up is about to discuss one of such mechanisms, the mass media in relation to how it carries out it promotion and protection role of Human Rights. Although there are International Human Rights Instruments which the United Nations (UN) has produced to serve as common standard of achievement of all people, countless Human Rights Violations occur locally and across the globe. These violations could be committed by the state as well as non-state actors. Non-state actors violate people’s Human Rights through direct involvement or indirectly when they consent to such violations. Non-state actors such as individuals, groups, informal or organized, ad hoc or continuous, may pose as violators, protectors or intermediaries.

The international human rights system remains as dynamic as ever. If at the end of the last century there was a sense that the normative and institutional development of the system had been completed and that the emphasis should shift to issues of implementation, nothing of the sort occurred. Even over the last few years significant changes happened, as this book amply demonstrates. We hope that this Manual makes a contribution to the development of International Human Rights Law and is of interest for those working in the field of promotion and protection of human rights. The book is the result of a joint project under the auspices of HumanitarianNet, a Thematic Network led by the University of Deusto, and the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC, Venice).

The Global Citizenship Commission was convened, under the leadership of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the auspices of NYU’s Global Institute for Advanced Study, to re-examine the spirit and stirring words of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The result – this volume – offers a 21st-century commentary on the original document, furthering the work of human rights and illuminating the ideal of global citizenship. What does it mean for each of us to be members of a global community? Since 1948, the Declaration has stood as a beacon and a standard for a better world. Yet the work of making its ideals real is far from over. Hideous and systemic human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate around the world. Too many people, particularly those in power, are hostile to human rights or indifferent to their claims. Meanwhile, our global interdependence deepens. Bringing together world leaders and thinkers in the fields of politics, ethics, and philosophy, the Commission set out to develop a common understanding of the meaning of global citizenship – one that arises from basic human rights and empowers every individual in the world. This landmark report affirms the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and seeks to renew the 1948 enterprise, and the very ideal of the human family, for our day and generation.

The Topic Of Human Rights Has Become So Important In The Contemporary World That Almost Every Government, Irrespective Of Its Political And Ideological Philosophies, Places Topmost Priority To The Protection And Promotion Of Human Rights In Its Agenda Of Action Plans.The Present Study Analyses The Concept Of Human Rights, Traces Its Genesis, Discusses Its Evolutionary Process In The Global Perspective And The Indian Context, Permeation Of The Human Rights Philosophy In The Indian Legal System. Provisions Of The Indian Constitution Which Deal With Different Aspects Of Human Rights Philosophy Have Been Highlighted. Mention Has Also Been Made Of Some Of The Important Legislations Enacted By The Indian Parliament Which Seek To Protect And Promote, Human Rights. The Role Of The Indian Judiciary In Developing Human Rights Jurisprudence Has Been Examined. A Critical Study Of The Protection Of Human Rights Act, 1993 Has Been Made With A View To Point Out The Defects And Drawbacks In Its.

The UN human rights agenda has reached the mature age of 70 years and many UN mechanisms created to implement this agenda are themselves in their middle-age, yet human rights violations are still a daily occurrence around the globe. The scorecard of the UN human rights mechanisms appears impressive in terms of the promotion, spreading of education and engaging States in a dialogue to promote human rights, but when it comes to holding governments to account for violations of these rights, the picture is much more dismal. This book examines the effectiveness of UN mechanisms and suggests measures to reform them in order to create a system that is robust and fit to serve the 21st century. This book casts a critical eye on the rationale and effectiveness of each of the major UN human rights mechanisms, including the Human Rights Council, the human rights treaty bodies, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteurs and other Charter-based bodies. Surya P. Subedi argues most of the UN human rights mechanisms have remained toothless entities and proposes measures to reform and strengthen it by depoliticising the workings of UN human rights mechanisms and judicialising human rights at the international level.

This book is a product of my long-standing interest in international action on human rights, an interest which I developed as a graduate student and which I have maintained as a teacher and researcher. I am indebted to Professor Vernon Van Dyke of the University of Iowa for stimulating my interest in the subject and for guiding the preparation of my Ph. D. thesis, of which this book is a greatly revised and expanded version. I should also like to express my ap preciation to Professor A. Glenn Mower, Jr. , of Hanover College, and to my colleague Glenn N. Schram, both of whom read the thesis and made many helpful suggestions when I began to revise it for publication. The book is im proved as a result of their efforts, though I alone remain responsible for any errors of fact or interpretation. Most of the research on the book was done at the Columbus Memorial Library of the OAS in Washington, D. C. , and I am grateful to the librarians there for kind and efficient assistance. The Marquette University Committee on Research provided me with a research grant for the summer of 1974 and supplementary grants in 1975 and 1976 which facilitated the completion of the manuscript: I am grateful for this assistance. I have endeavored to include all material available to me as of the end of March, 1976.