What are human rights?
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings as defined in international human rights treaties. All human rights apply to both adults and children, however there are also specific rights pertaining to children which are outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Human rights treaties and the role of the State
When a State ratifies – i.e. writes into law – a human rights treaty, it undertakes to comply with the provisions therein. The State must both actively promote the realisation of human rights and protect people from violations thereof.
International human rights treaties define the international minimum standard for fundamental rights. National legislation may, however, provide more comprehensive and far-reaching protections of rights than those afforded by human rights treaties.
Human rights belong to everyone
Human rights are rights that belong to everyone equally. They are fundamental in nature, inalienable, indivisible and universal.
- Fundamentality means that only truly essential rights are human rights.
- Inalienability means that human rights belong to everyone by virtue of human dignity and cannot be taken or given away.
- Indivisibility means that human rights comprise a system in which each is, as a rule, equally important. Therefore, violation of any human right cannot be justified in reference to another, even if it may sometimes be necessary to weigh rights against each other.
- Universality means that although cultural characteristics, for example, may be taken into account when implementing human rights, human rights violations cannot be justified on the basis of culture.
How is the realisation of human rights monitored?
Monitoring mechanisms for the implementation of human rights treaties are usually set out in human rights treaties themselves. In most cases, a specific monitoring body is established to oversee the implementation of a particular treaty. For example, implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is monitored by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Monitoring of the implementation of human rights treaties takes place primarily through the processing of periodic reports submitted by States. In these periodic reports, States describe the implementation of treaties at the national level. Some treaties (such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child) also include an individual complaints mechanism.
