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| The Grandma visits the UNO in Geneva, Switzerland |
Today, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma have travelled to Geneva in Switzerland to participate in the events of the anniversary of The Human Rights Convention that was signed by the United Nations on a day like today in 1948.
Human rights are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected as natural and legal rights in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as inalienable, fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being and which are inherent in all human beings, regardless of their age, nation of origin, location, language, religion, ethnicity, or any other status. They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone. They are regarded as requiring empathy and the rule of law and imposing an obligation on persons to respect the human rights of others, and it is generally considered that they should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on specific circumstances; for example, human rights may include freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution.
More information: United Nations
Sadly, as Ban Ki-moon -who served as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations-said All countries have committed to protecting individual freedoms on paper -but in practice, too many break their pledge.
The Grandma agree Ban Ki-moon because she can explain lots of violations of Human Rights that she suffers day-by-day only for being a member of a minority inside a state that has never respected its minorities and has never treated them with equality, respect and comprehension.
Claire Fontaine & The Grandma trust in the UN and they know their rights will be recognized and respected earlier than later. It is a question of perseverance, patience and perspective.
During the flight from Barcelona to Geneva, The Grandma has read a new chapter of Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006.
It was a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and was also assisted in its work by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR). It was the UN's principal mechanism and international forum concerned with the promotion and protection of human rights.
On 15 March 2006, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to replace UNCHR with the UN Human Rights Council.
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| The Grandma & Claire arrive to the UNO, Geneva |
The UNCHR was established in 1946 by ECOSOC, and was one of the first two Functional Commissions set up within the early UN structure, the other being the Commission on the Status of Women. It was a body created under the terms of the United Nations Charter -specifically, under Article 68- to which all UN member states are signatories.
It met for the first time in January 1947 and established a drafting committee for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948.
The body went through two distinct phases. From 1947 to 1967, it concentrated on promoting human rights and helping states elaborate treaties, but not on investigating or condemning violators. It was a period of strict observance of the sovereignty principle.
In 1967, the Commission adopted interventionism as its policy. The context of the decade was of Decolonization of Africa and Asia, and many countries of the continent pressed for a more active UN policy on human rights issues, especially in light of massive violations in apartheid South Africa. The new policy meant that the Commission would also investigate and produce reports on violations.
More information: United Nations
To allow better fulfillment of this new policy, other changes took place. In the 1970s, the possibility of geographically-oriented workgroups was created. These groups would specialize their activities on the investigation of violations on a given region or even a single country, as was the case with Chile. With the 1980s came the creation of theme-oriented workgroups, which would specialize in specific types of abuses.
None of these measures, however, were able to make the Commission as effective as desired, mainly because of the presence of human rights violators and the politicization of the body. During the following years until its extinction, the UNCHR became increasingly discredited among activists and governments alike.
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| The Grandma visits the Human Rights Room, Geneva |
The Commission held its final meeting in Geneva on March 27, 2006 and was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in the same year.
The Commission on Human Rights was intended to examine, monitor and publicly report on human rights situations in specific countries or territories, known as country mechanisms or mandates, as well as on major phenomena of human rights violations worldwide (known as thematic mechanisms or mandates).
The Human Rights division of the U.N. is also expected to uphold and protect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 1999 the Economic and Social Council changed its title from the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was the main subsidiary body of the Commission on Human Rights.
It was composed of twenty-six experts whose responsibility was to undertake studies, particularly in light of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and make recommendations to the Commission concerning the prevention of discrimination of any kind relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms and the protection of racial, national, religious and linguistic minorities. Membership was selected with regard to equitable geographical distribution.
More information: United Nations
The Sub-Commission established seven Working Groups that investigate specific human rights concerns, including:
-Minorities
-Transnational corporations
-Administration of justice
-Anti-terrorism
-Contemporary Forms of Slavery
-Indigenous Populations
-Communication
-Social Forum
The United Nations Human Rights Council assumed responsibility for the Sub-Commission when it replaced the Commission on Human Rights in 2006.
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| #StandUp4HumanRights |
The Commission on Human Rights established 30 special procedures, or mechanisms, to address specific country situations or thematic issues such as freedom of expression and opinion, torture, the right to food, and the right to education.
Individuals with expertise in particular areas of human rights were appointed by the chair of the Commission to serve as Special Rapporteurs for a maximum of six years. They are unpaid, independent experts who receive personnel and logistical support from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for their work. Their main activities are to examine, monitor, advise and publicly report on human rights situations in specific countries or territories. They are able to write to governments about reported violations and conduct fact-finding visits to countries that invite them.
The special mechanisms are categorised according to:
-Thematic Mandates
-Country Mandates
Special procedures also include working groups made up of up to five experts who monitor and investigate specific human rights concerns. Three groups were established by the Commission:
-Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
-Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
-Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination
The special procedures are now under the direction of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In 1977, the commission formed a Sub-Commission to study, with a view to formulating guidelines, if possible, the question of the protection of those detained on the grounds of mental ill-health against treatment that might adversely affect the human personality and its physical and intellectual integrity. The sub-commission was charged with determin[ing] whether adequate grounds existed for detaining persons on the grounds of mental ill-health.
More information: United Nations Human Rights Council
Freedom is a timeless value.
The United Nations Charter calls for encouraging
respect for fundamental freedoms.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
mentions freedom more than twenty times.
All countries have committed to protecting individual freedoms
on paper -but in practice, too many break their pledge.
Ban Ki-moon
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