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International human rights instruments

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Animal & Human Rights

   International human rights instruments can be classified into two
   categories: declarations, adopted by bodies such as the United Nations
   General Assembly, which are not legally binding although they may be
   politically so; and conventions, which are legally binding instruments
   concluded under international law. It should be noted that
   international treaties can, over time, obtain the status of customary
   international law.

   International human rights instruments can be divided further into
   global instruments, to which any state in the world can be a party, and
   regional instruments, which are restricted to states in a particular
   region of the world.

   Most conventions establish mechanisms to oversee their implementation.
   In some cases these mechanisms have relatively little power, and are
   often ignored by member states; in other cases these mechanisms have
   great political and legal authority, and their decisions are almost
   always implemented. Examples of the first case include the UN treaty
   committees, while the best exemplar of the second case is the European
   Court of Human Rights.

   Mechanisms also vary as to the degree of individual access to them.
   Under some conventions – e.g. the European Convention on Human Rights
   (as it currently exists) – individuals are permitted automatically to
   take individual cases to the enforcement mechanisms; under most,
   however, (e.g. the UN conventions) individual access is contingent on
   the acceptance of that right by each state party, either by a
   declaration at the time of ratification or accession, or through
   ratification of or accession to a protocol to the convention. This is
   part of the evolution of international law over the last several
   decades. It has moved from a body of laws governing states to
   recognizing the importance of individuals and their rights within the
   international legal framework.

   The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant
   on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on
   Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are sometimes referred to as the
   international bill of rights.

Declarations

     * Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948)
     * American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man ( OAS, 1948)
     * Cairo Declaration of Human Rights ( OIC, 1990)

Conventions

Global

     * International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
     * International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the
       Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA)
     * International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
       (ICESCR)
     * Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Protocol Relating
       to the Status of Refugees
     * Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
     * Convention Against Torture (CAT)
     * Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
       (ICERD)
     * Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
       Against Women (CEDAW)
     * International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
       Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (MWC)
     * Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
       Genocide
     * Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities
     * International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
       Enforced Disappearance

Regional: Africa

     * African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

Regional: America

     * American Convention on Human Rights
     * Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture
     * Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons
     * Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and
       Eradication of Violence against Women
     * Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
       Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities

Regional: Europe

     * European Convention on Human Rights
     * European Convention on Torture
     * European Social Charter

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