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General human rights
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International institutions for the protection of human rights
Various organs of the United Nations are responsible for the protection and realisation of human rights. Eight committees of experts monitor compliance with the most important human rights agreements, for example. The International Criminal Court prosecutes serious human rights violations as war crimes or crimes against humanity; regional communities of states have likewise founded institutions for the protection of human rights.
Organs of United Nations human rights work
In 1946 the United Nations established a Commission on Human Rights. A subsidiary body of the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and a political body of the United Nations, it was responsible for all human rights issues. Under its chairwoman, the American Eleanor Roosevelt, the Commission was responsible for drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On 15 March 2006 the UN General Assembly voted by a large majority to replace the United Nations Human Rights Commission with a new United Nations Human Rights Council. It comprises 47 member states and reports directly and is directly accountable to the General Assembly. Germany held a seat on the Council from May 2006 until June 2009, and is currently standing for re-election in the years 2012 to 2015. During the interim period, Germany holds observer status.
An advantage of the new United Nations body is that the length and frequency of its sitting times have been increased, allowing it to react quickly to current human rights issues around the world. Furthermore, under the mechanism known as the Universal Periodic Review, the human rights situation in member states of the Human Rights Council is examined regularly. Germany underwent this process in the first half of 2009.
To examine global human rights issues or situations in particular countries, the United Nations Human Rights Council can designate Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts, or working groups made up of its members. Under country mandates, for example, they visit prisons, question victims of human rights violations and subsequently deliver recommendations for better protection of human rights. Under thematic mandates they are currently dealing with such issues as freedom of opinion, the right to food, torture, freedom of religion, extreme poverty and child trafficking.
Since 1994 a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has been responsible for coordinating the human rights programmes of the United Nations Organisation. The Office of the High Commissioner receives some 400,000 complaints of human rights violations each year. The main task of the Office of the High Commissioner is, however, providing technical support to United Nations Member States in improving their human rights policy.
In 1993 the United Nations adopted the Paris Principles which recommend that member states of the United Nations establish a national institution for human rights. Since 2000 it has been the role of the International Coordination Committee, a panel of representatives of national human rights institutions, to decide on official recognition of these institutions. The German Institute for Human Rights which is supported in part by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has been recognised since 2001 as Germany's national human rights institution.
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, took up its work in 2003. The Court is responsible for prosecuting especially serious criminal offences such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The International Criminal Court only takes action in a matter when national criminal prosecution authorities are not willing or not in a position to prosecute such crimes. However, some governments reject the International Criminal Court because they fear it will interfere with their own state sovereignty. The United States, Russia and China, for instance, do not recognise the legitimacy of the Court. Germany wants the International Criminal Court to be universally recognised.
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg took up its work in 1959. It deals with violations of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It handles complaints lodged by individuals directed against a Member State of the Council of Europe as well as complaints lodged by one Member State against another. The European Court of Human Rights can also submit expert reports regarding the interpretation of the Convention.
African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights is the youngest of the regional courts responsible for monitoring the observance of human rights. The body took up its work in 2006 and is headquartered in Arusha in north-eastern Tanzania.
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights monitors compliance with fundamental rights as set out in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other regional human rights instruments. It is led by the African Union (AU). The Court cooperates closely with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which is also a body of the AU and has been monitoring observance of human rights on the African continent since 1987. Unlike the Court's decisions, the Commission's decisions do not, however, have binding force; it can only make recommendations.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1969 adopted an American Convention on Human Rights that is based on the European human rights protection system. The Convention entered into force in 1978. One year later, the Inter-American Commission and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights took up its work. Unfortunately, the American Convention on Human Rights has so far only been ratified by states in Latin America, which have also recognised the Court's jurisdiction over complaints filed by individuals.
International organisations of civil society
Civil society is an important actor in the monitoring of human rights at international level. Large human rights organisations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch or Physicians for Human Rights regularly publish reports and address human rights policy bodies such as the Human Rights Council.
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