OHCHR Human rights in action Promoting and Protecting …

1 OHCHRThe Office of the UnitedNations HighCommissioner for Human RightsPromotingand Protecting RightsAround the WorldHuman rights in actionOHCHR terrain20x20 V10 16/07/03 14:48 Page 1 OHCHR terrain20x20 V10 16/07/03 14:48 Page 2 Humanrights in action3 This pamphlet is intended to introduce you to the work of my office in meeting the greatestchallenge facing Human rights today: translating international Human rights standards intonational laws and practices. The protection and promotion of Human rights have only a limit-ed life in the legal phrasings of treaties; they must be given meaning in individual lives. WhenI accepted this position, I tried to put the challenge as starkly as I could: Ensuring that humanrights are attainable by those who need them most the victims of Human rights violations is what gives the United Nations meaning.

2 After the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human rights in 1948, the United Nationsset about drafting international Human rights instruments. As the six core treaties began to bewidely ratified and entered into force, treaty bodies were created to review how states weredoing at meeting their commitments. The treaty bodies, staffed by independent experts,worked to engage Governments in constructive dialogue on Human rights and to enable theprogressive application of international norms. The UN Commission on Human rights alsoestablished rapid response mechanisms the Special Rapporteurs and other special proce-dures to investigate major Human rights violations and recommend what to do about office was created after the World Conference on Human rights held in Vienna in represented a further step in recognizing the centrality of Human rights to securing a bet-ter global future.

3 It was meant to be a proactive, practically oriented office; I intend to make itmore so. The highest priority of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights is therealisation, in practical terms, of Human rights at the country level. This is accomplishedthrough technical co-operation projects, field presences and other activities aimed at creatingor strengthening national systems for the protection and promotion of Human rights in coop-eration with Governments, national and regional partners and with UN country office cannot do much on its own. Most of our efforts, as will be seen in the followingpages, seek to inspire, organize, inform and extend the work of governments, above all aswell as regional and non-governmental organisations and UN country teams as we strivetoward the common goal of Protecting the Human rights of individuals across the globe.

4 Thework is incomplete, of course, but I hope you will agree that we have made a good Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsOHCHRP refaceSergio Vieira de Mello, High Commissioner for Human RightsOHCHR terrain20x20 V10 16/07/03 14:48 Page 3 Humanrights in action4 Human rights have littlevalue if they are notimplemented. States reco-vering from conflict or lack-ing Human rights expertise often need help inimplementing their Human rights obligations bytranslating them into laws and practices. The Officeof the High Commissioner for Human Rightsdevotes much of its resources through its Techni-cal Cooperation Programme to supporting States efforts in this regard. The Programme helps coun-tries to apply international Human rights norms atthe national level. It provides practical assistancefor the building and strengthening of institutionswhich have a direct impact on the promotion andprotection of Human rights and the rule of areas for action are recommended by thebodies charged with monitoring States compliancewith international treaties (the treaty bodies ) andthe mechanisms of the United Nations CommissionPromotion: the Role ofTechnicalCooperationWhat is technicalcooperation?

5 Thousands of internally displaced personslive in the Nelson Mandela neighbourhood inCartagena, Colombia. OHCHR , along with UNHCR,work on protection issues here, The area has alsobeen visited by several Special Rapporteurs onmandates as varied as violence against women andchildren in armed ActionOHCHR terrain20x20 V10 16/07/03 14:48 Page 4 Humanrights in action5on Human rights (particularly the special procedures described below). OHCHR works closely with partners, especially UN Country Teams, state andnational institutions and civil society Technical Cooperation Programme is fundedprimarily through the UN Voluntary Fund forTechnical Cooperation in the Field of Human 2002, a total of US$11 million was spent on tech-nicalcooperation activities, of which US$10 million came from what are called voluntary contributions. These funds exist outside the regular UN order to benefit from the Programme, a Government must submit a requestfor support to OHCHR , which then carries out an assessment of the country'shuman rights needs.

6 This needs assessment is normally conducted through amission to the State; it involves consultations with the Government and otherpartners, including Parliament, the courts, civil society and UN Country Teams(UNCTs). Once the assessment has been completed, a project is formulatedthat identifies areas in need of improvement and outlines a comprehensivestrategy for action . The project is reviewed closely during implementation and,once completed, there is an independent evaluation to measure the successof the programme and, where necessary, develop a plan for further will increasingly rely on external partners to implement these activi-ties, especially UNCTs. OHCHR will ensure direct implementation of theseactivities only when other partners are unable to do project is requested by and tailored to theneeds of the beneficiary country.

7 Assistancemay be provided in the following Parliaments: OHCHR supportsParliaments in discharging their Human rightsfunctions, addressing a variety of issues, including the development ofnational Human rights action plans, the role of parliamentary Human rightscommittees and the technical processes of signing up to internationalhuman rights does technical cooperation work in practice?What kind of technicalcooperation activities areundertaken by OHCHR ? OHCHR terrain20x20 V10 16/07/03 14:48 Page 5 ColombiaOHCHR s office in Bogot was established in 1996 toobserve and monitor the Colombian situation and toadvise the Colombian authorities on how to promote andprotect Human rights in the context of internal armedconflict. OHCHR activities have included: observing,monitoring and providing analytical reports to the HighCommissioner with a view to ensuring that the internationalcommunity is aware of the Human rights situation inColombia; advising the Colombian authorities on theformulation and implementation of policies to promote andprotect Human rights ; providing technical assistance toselected State and non-governmental institutions tostrengthen national capacity in Human rights protection; andpromoting Human rights through publications andawareness-raising campaigns.

8 This strategy allows the officeto highlight Human rights topics and raise the level ofdiscussion within Colombian society, especially PRESENCE6 Humanrights in actionIn Choco, a departmentbordering Panama, OHCHR was asked togive conclusions andrecommendationsconcerning the killing of120 black civilians whotook refuge in a plight of the blackIDPs of Chocos touchesupon many of the issuesaddressed by OHCHR ,such as racism, extremepoverty, the right todevelopment and theprotection of civilians inarmed destroyed classroom after a guerrilla fight in Selvas del displaced personsin V10 16/07/03 14:49 Page 6 Humanrights in action7 Legislation: OHCHR assists Governments in thereform of legislation that has a clear impact onthe situation of Human rights , thereby ensuringthat laws are brought into conformity with inter-national Human rights standards.

9 Drafts providedby a Government are reviewed and recommenda-tions : OHCHR provides assistance forthe incorporation of international Human rightsnorms in national constitutions. It can facilitate anational consensus on the elements to be incorporated in those constitu-tions. It may assist with advisory services, the organization of workshops,the provision of Human rights information and documentation, or publicinformation campaigns to ensure the involvement of all sectors of addressed in OHCHR 's constitutional activities include legislativedrafting and constitutional law; the drafting of bills of rights ; the provisionof justiciable remedies under the law; options for the allocation and sep-aration of governmental powers; the independence of the judiciary; andthe role of the judiciary in overseeing the police and prison institutions: OHCHR assists in thecreation of independent national Human rightsinstitutions, which play an important role in thepromotion and protection of Human rights at thenational level.

10 OHCHR s work in this area is guid-ed by the Paris Principles, adopted by the GeneralAssembly in 1993, which represent the bench-mark against which national institutions aremeasured. The Paris Principles provide importantguidance on such issues as legislation; composi-tion and independence; competencies and res-ponsibilities; handling of complaints; and meth-ods of operation, including how national humanStaff from a SierraLeone regional humanrights office assisting ateam of forensic expertsto map mass graves inthe village of MendeKelema. Villagers gavetestimonies to theexperts, the first team tovisit the country,who then traced thegravesites using GPS(global positioningsystem).Field ActionStaff of the OHCHRM ission in Serbia andMontenegro meetingvictims of police ill-treatment in Ugao village,Sandzak region, Serbia,April 2002.