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UN Chronicle - Volume 53, Issue 4, 2017
Volume 53, Issue 4, 2017
A must-read for every concerned world citizen, the United Nations Chronicle is a quarterly, easy-to-read report on the work of the United Nations and its agencies. Produced by the United Nations Department of Public Information, every issue covers a wide range of United Nations related activities: from fighting the drug war to fighting racial discrimination, from relief and development to nuclear disarmament, terrorism, and the worldwide environmental crisis.
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The evolving role of the United Nations in securing human rights
Author: Zeid Ra'ad Al HusseinFrom the vantage point of the twenty-first century, it is sometimes easy to forget just how revolutionary the concept of human rights is. Few who witnessed the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 could have imagined its impact over the last seven decades. International law no longer governs only relations among States. Rather, the treatment of individuals by States is a matter of international law and concern. Today, people who have been abused or silenced at the national level regularly speak at the United Nations Human Rights Council, or bring complaints about violations of human rights treaties to Committees of experts. The voices of the voiceless are now amplified at the international level.
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Protecting vulnerable populations from genocide
Author: Adama DiengWhen the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany became apparent after the Second World War, the consensus within the world community was that the United Nations Charter did not go far enough in defining the rights to which it referred, and that those rights should be defined and enshrined in a new body of international law. The United Nations was determined to ensure that the terrible crimes of the Second World War would never be repeated. It was in fulfilment of this commitment that, one day before the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 9 December 1948, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The adoption of the Convention was full of symbolism and reaffirmed the gravity of the crime it addressed. But it went beyond that. It demonstrated the commitment of the international community to ensure both the prevention of genocide and the punishment of its perpetrators when the crime could not be prevented. The Convention defined genocide as any particular offense committed with “intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
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Half a century of a right to health?
Author: Jacqueline BhabhaAnniversaries are useful occasions for taking stock. The fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the two implementing covenants of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966—is one such occasion. Whereas the Universal Declaration was aspirational, a statement of collective intent to build a better world after the devastation wreaked by “barbarous acts [that] … outraged the conscience of mankind”, the Covenants were intended to serve as tools to promote the implementation of the rights they articulated.
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The responsibility to protect
Author: Ivan ŠimonovićAt the 2005 World Summit, all Heads of State and Government affirmed the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The responsibility to protect (commonly referred to as ‘RtoP’) rests upon three pillars of equal standing: the responsibility of each State to protect its populations (pillar I); the responsibility of the international community to assist States in protecting their populations (pillar II); and the responsibility of the international community to protect when a State is manifestly failing to protect its populations (pillar III). The adoption of the principle in 2005 constituted a solemn commitment, which included much expectation of a future free of these crimes.
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Women and the arab spring
Author: Tawakkol KarmanNo one will forget the scenes of women rallying in the streets and public squares of the Arab world, demanding the overthrow of repressive regimes that had been in power for decades. Those scenes were an important signal that Arab society was changing for the better.
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Protection of human rights under universal international law
Author: Christian TomuschatThe United Nations was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War primarily as a guardian of peace and security in the world. From the very outset, the founders were aware of the close connection between peace and human rights: only under conditions of peace can human beings achieve full enjoyment of their rights. Never again should people be haunted by atrocities; never again should they become the victims of such genocidal policies as had devastated societies throughout Europe.
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The international human rights covenants
Author: United NationsThe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966, list the human rights to which everyone is entitled. They build on the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Together, the Universal Declaration and the two Covenants form the International Bill of Human Rights.
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Human rights, mass atrocity prevention and the United Nations security council: The long road ahead
Author: Hardeep S. PuriThe fiftieth anniversary of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both adopted in 1966, provides an opportune moment in history to review the progress on the issue of human rights promotion and examine the Security Council’s overall effectiveness in protecting human rights.
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I’m not broken, just bent
Author: Bahati Ernestine HategekimanaThe German writer, Thomas Mann, having escaped fascism in 1933, wrote that he was “too much of a good German and too much linked to the cultural traditions and to the language of [his] country,” to be able to accept the idea of his exile without feeling extremely apprehensive.
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From international law to local communities: The role of the United Nations in the realization of human rights
Author: Morten Kjaerum“Fifty Years of Success” could be the headline for the anniversary of the adoption in 1966 by the United Nations General Assembly of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Human rights have been the most dominant driver of change in the post-Second World War period and particularly since the end of the cold war in 1989. In this article I will outline the impact the Covenants have had on the pursuit of human rights worldwide and the path forward at a time when the human rights regime is being challenged.
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A midlife crisis for the treaty-based human rights system?
Author: Akshaya KumarA single short document of 30 articles”—the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights—“has probably had more impact on mankind than any other document in modern history,” said Navi Pillay, then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in 2008. Half a century ago, in December 1966, the United Nations formally translated the rhetorical promises from that declaration into legally binding obligations with the adoption of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Since then, global efforts to monitor and track human rights violations have grown exponentially.
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Cyberbullying and its implications for human rights
Author: Liam HackettMost health professionals would agree that stress is the biggest factor affecting the mortality rate in modern society. If left untreated, stress can have detrimental impacts on both physical and mental health, and can lead to conditions such as heart disease, insomnia and depression. It is no wonder that stress has reached epidemic levels when one considers the sheer volume of stimuli reaching our consciousness on a daily basis, not to mention the increasing demands on our time and volatile changes across political and economic systems.
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