Investigate the role of the United Nations, intergovernmental organisations, courts and tribunals, NGOs and the media in promoting and enforcing human rights

What this dot point is asking

NESA wants you to know what bodies enforce human rights internationally, how they work, what they have achieved recently, and where they fall short. Expect this in Section III as a 5-8 mark short or extended response.

The answer

The United Nations system

The Charter of the United Nations 1945 is the founding document of the UN. The six principal organs are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council (now dormant), the Secretariat and the International Court of Justice (article 7).

General Assembly

Resolutions are not binding but carry political weight. Adopted the UDHR 1948 and many key declarations.

Security Council

Has primary responsibility for international peace and security under Chapter VII of the Charter. Can authorise sanctions and military action. Permanent members (US, UK, France, Russia, China) hold the veto.

Human Rights Council

Established by UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251 in 2006. Conducts the Universal Periodic Review (every UN member reviewed every 4-5 years), appoints Special Rapporteurs on thematic and country mandates, and runs Special Sessions on emerging crises.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

UN agency that supports the human rights treaty bodies and the Council.

Treaty bodies

Each major human rights treaty has a monitoring body:

• Human Rights Committee (ICCPR);
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);
• Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD);
• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW);
• Committee Against Torture (CAT);
• Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC);
• Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

These bodies receive state reports, issue concluding observations, and (where the state has accepted the relevant optional protocol) hear individual communications. The leading case for Australia is Toonen v Australia (1994) UN Human Rights Committee Communication No. 488/1992, in which the Committee found Tasmania's anti-homosexuality laws breached articles 17 and 26 of the ICCPR. Australia responded by passing the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994 (Cth).

International courts and tribunals

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Hears disputes between states. Currently hearing The Gambia v Myanmar (Genocide Convention, filed 2019) and South Africa v Israel (provisional measures issued 26 January 2024). Compliance depends on state acceptance.

International Criminal Court (ICC)

Established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998 (in force 2002). Prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. 124 states parties. Notable: the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin in March 2023 over the alleged deportation of Ukrainian children, and applications for arrest warrants in relation to the Gaza conflict in 2024.

Ad hoc tribunals

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, 1993-2017) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR, 1994-2015) were established by Security Council resolutions.

Regional human rights mechanisms

• European Court of Human Rights (under the European Convention on Human Rights 1950).
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights (under the American Convention on Human Rights 1969).
• African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights 1981).

The Asia-Pacific has no regional human rights court. Australia and New Zealand engage instead through the UN system.

NGOs and the media

Amnesty International (founded 1961) documents and lobbies; awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1977. Human Rights Watch publishes country reports and lobbies governments. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) monitors compliance with the Geneva Conventions and visits detainees. Investigative journalism (the 2020 Brereton Report into alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan, the Pulitzer-winning reporting on the Rohingya crisis) frames issues for political response.

Limits

The system has structural weaknesses:

• State sovereignty (article 2(7) of the Charter) limits intervention in domestic affairs.
• Security Council veto under article 27 paralyses response when the permanent five disagree.
• Limited enforcement. Treaty bodies issue findings, not orders. The ICC has no police force and depends on state cooperation to execute warrants.
• Geopolitics. Permanent members rarely accept jurisdiction (the US is not a party to the Rome Statute; Russia withdrew its signature in 2016).