The United Nations in the 21st Century by Douglas Roche

Author:Douglas Roche
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lorimer
Published: 2015-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

What the Universal Declaration Set in Motion

Given the continued ideological divisions in the world that were by no means buried with the end of the Cold War, it is remarkable that the UN has achieved so much progress in advancing human rights. Much of this work has devolved from the expansion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into two covenants, one on civil and political rights, the other on economic, social, and cultural rights. Both set universal standards. Dozens of legally binding agreements on political, civil, economic, social, and cultural rights have followed through the years, building on the various parts of the original Universal Declaration. For example, the right not to be subject to arbitrary arrest, torture, and death is now codified. Freedom of religion is guaranteed. People can now claim a right to development.

By prosecuting and convicting war criminals, the UN tribunals, established after conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, helped to expand international humanitarian and international criminal law dealing with genocide and other violations of international law. Both tribunals have contributed to restoring peace and justice in the affected countries and in the region. Some 560 multilateral treaties — on human rights, terrorism, global crime, refugees, disarmament, trade, commodities, the oceans, and other matters — have been negotiated and concluded through UN work. Though the International Criminal Court, set up in 1998 to end impunity for perpetrators of war crimes, is an independent body, its origins lie in UN work. However, its effectiveness is weakened by the P5 and other powerful governments, who work behind the scenes to shield themselves and other nations they favour from the court’s attention.

The fifteen-judge International Court of Justice, established by the Charter, operates in The Hague. The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs. Unfortunately, the court does not have mandatory jurisdiction. Disputant states must agree beforehand to be bound to its decisions. Its most famous advisory opinion was the 1996 finding that the use of nuclear weapons would generally contravene humanitarian law and that states have an obligation to conclude negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons. This gave a shot in the arm to the nuclear disarmament movement, but the big powers were unmoved.

Even though the enforcement powers of international law are woefully weak, especially when compared with the stringencies of domestic laws, there is more protection for the life of every individual than in any previous period in history. Because the wide panoply of human rights has become etched in public discourse, it is extremely difficult today for governments to transgress international human rights law in secret. Social communications are a new weapon against tyrants.

The benefits of the expanding human rights agenda are not found everywhere, to be sure. There is still an immense amount of violence, deprivation, and suffering in the world, but the UN has raised global norms

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