International mechanisms of human rights protection

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International mechanisms of human rights protection

M.Buchyn,N. Oliinyk

The problem of ensuring and protecting human rights is analyzed in the article. The authors reasonably prove that important place in minimizing violations of human rights belongs to international mechanisms, which are divided into 2 large groups: normative and institutional. The authors analyze the essence and peculiarities of the functioning of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights. protection international mechanism law

Key words: human rights, protection of human rights, mechanisms, international law, international organizations, democracy.

М. Бучин, Н. Олійник

МІЖНАРОДНІ МЕХАНІЗМИ ЗАХИСТУ ПРАВ ЛЮДИНИ

У статті аналізується проблема забезпечення та захисту прав людини. Автори аргументовано доводять, що незважаючи на пильну увагу більшості країн світу до досліджуваної проблематики, практика більшості держав (навіть країн стабільної демократії) показує наявність значних проблем із дотриманням прав людини. Тому важливе місце у мінімізації порушень проти прав людини належить міжнародним механізмам, які поділяються на 2 великі групи: нормативні та інституційні.

До нормативних міжнародних механізмів захисту прав людини належать розроблені міжнародних співтовариством нормативно-правові документи як світового, так і регіонального рівня, які на законодавчому рівні актуалізують проблематику прав людини. До таких документів належать, зокрема, Загальна декларація прав людини, Конвенція про захист прав людини і основоположних свобод, Конвенція ООН про права дитини, Європейська соціальна хартія та ін. Інституційні міжнародні механізми захисту прав людини реалізуються завдяки функціонуванню міжнародних урядових та неурядових організацій, які мають на меті відстоювання та захист прав людини. До таких організацій відносять, зокрема, ООН та її структурні підрозділи, Європейський суд з прав людини, Міжнародну Амністію, Світову організацію проти катувань, Фрідом Хаус та ін.

Ключові слова: права людини, захист прав особи, механізми, міжнародне законодавство, міжнародні організації, демократія.

The provision of personal rights and freedoms has always been a priority issue for every person, regardless of age, gender, origin, or religion. Unfortunately, nowadays no one can achieve the full realization of their own rights themselves, because to a large extent it depends on the people who surround us, our national state and, ultimately, the general world order in which we live. The variability and instability of the modern world prove that not only one individual, but sometimes also the whole state, can't fully ensure the implementation of human rights, as well as protect every person from their violations. Consequently, international mechanisms of human rights protection, which act both at the regulatory and institutional levels, play an important role. Thus, it is especially relevant to analyze their functioning in contemporary international realities, as well as to learn their direct effectiveness in ensuring the rights of each person.

It should also be noted that the problem of observance and protection of human rights is particularly acute for Ukraine, given the transitional nature of the political regime, the low level of political and legal consciousness and culture, and the lack of constitutional state development and civil society. In recent years, given the state of undeclared war with Russia, the occupation of the Crimea, parts of the Donbas and the existence of hostilities, the human rights problem has been further challenged and requires more comprehensive research.

The purpose of the article is - to carry out a comprehensive political analysis of international mechanisms of human rights protection.

It is worth noting that the issues of human rights protection and mechanisms for their provision are a central theme for the research of both foreign and domestic scientists. In particular, the Ukrainian researcher Kovin'ko D.V., who analyzed the historical stages of the development of human thought in the field of human rights, focused on this problem. Also, the domestic lawyer Shatars'ka T.N., who analyzed the international mechanisms of human rights protection through the prism of their correlation with the national legislation, made a contribution to the solution of this problem. In addition, such Ukrainian and foreign researchers as Bekeshkina I., Christopher J., Makintayr A. and others joined the development and expansion of the theoretical basis related to the analysis of human rights ensuring instruments. Many international treaties and conventions (the European Social Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, etc.) as well as the results of studies by international organizations such as Freedom House, Amnesty International, etc. have become an important source base of our work. At the same time, in view of the present and the variability of the issues that underlie our study, the presence of numerous new threats, the problem of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights requires a more comprehensive political analysis.

In the modern world, regardless of the value of rights for every person, they are often and substantially violated regardless of whether the state is developed or not. In the modern world there is a paradox when, on the one hand, the priority of human rights is universally recognized and well-known, and, on the other hand, the number of cases of violation of the fundamental rights of the individual increases every year. It should be noted that the tendency to increase the violation of human rights is a natural consequence of the processes of globalization: openness of the borders of the states, increasing of opportunities for the movement of goods, services, capital and people, increasing xenophobia and discrimination as a result of the existence of representatives of different nations, ethnic groups and cultures within a single state etc.

The mechanism for the protection of human rights and freedoms is an organized and legally guaranteed system for ensuring the realization of human rights, which includes legally defined activities of state authorities, international and state human rights organizations and other subjects of international relations aimed at preventing and restoring violated rights and freedoms while respecting the proper balance of public and private interests [9].

Mechanisms for the protection of human rights can be classified into national and supranational (international). Given the fact that today there are a large number of undemocratic states in the world in which personal human rights are not adequately protected, and recognizing that often only the state's methods of combating human rights violations are insufficient, the international community has established numerous common safeguards human rights, which can be divided into normative and institutional ones. It can be argued that international mechanisms serve as an additional means of protection when national regulators lose their effectiveness.

Among the first, it is necessary to identify the most well-known and effective documents ratified by the majority of modern states. These include, first of all, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a document adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948. The Preamble of the document states that the UN member states jointly agreed to cooperate with the organization in order to respect of each person rights, taking into account their own belief in "... the dignity and worth of the human person, the equality of men and women" [5]. Consequently, the international community decided to promote social progress and improve the living conditions of all mankind in order to ensure peace and stability in the world. The declaration consists of 30 articles, which serve as the main reference point for the states that have ratified it, when establishing a national legal framework on human rights protection, as well as it is considered to be a core of other international and regional treaties on the common safeguarding of human rights.

The following important documents are the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which is the basis for the European law-enforcement system, as well as the European Social Charter, which aims in deepening the integrity of the actions of the Council of Europe's states in order to realize the goals and principles in the field of human rights. The Convention was signed in 1950 by the governments of the member states of the Council of Europe on the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The purpose of the Convention is to improve the common mechanisms for achieving the objectives set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the member states of the Council of Europe. The Convention states that the signatories guarantee the observance of such human rights and freedoms as: the right to life; prohibition of torture and slavery; the right to liberty and personal integrity; the right to a fair trial; respect for private and family life; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the right to marriage and the prohibition of discrimination, etc. [7]. Consequently, it can be argued that the Convention serves as a guarantor and a mechanism for the protection of the interests of every person in the territory of the States parties to this treaty. Instead, the European Social Charter, signed in 1961, is a document that details the ways and means of ensuring human rights, first and foremost, for the most vulnerable: people with special needs, children, migrants, people with disabilities, etc. [2].

It is clear that among the normative mechanisms for ensuring the rights of a person it is necessary to separately distinguish the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, which is the first and main document, which details the wide range of child rights. It is important that the party to the Convention, besides most of the UN member states, also is the Holy See[6]. The Convention was created in view of the fact that children can be fairly called a group of people who need more protection and care than any other category of society. The Convention provides one of the most indicative principles in the field of the protection of children's rights, namely: "In all actions on children, whether they are carried out by public or private institutions dealing with social welfare, courts, administrative or legislative bodies, the primary attention is paid to the best interests of the child" [6]. This refers to an entirely complete range of issues relating to children.

Analyzed international regulatory mechanisms show that they pay proper attention to protecting the rights of each person. Each State which has ratified these agreements undertakes to adhere strictly to them for the purpose of joint realization of the values proclaimed in these acts.

In addition to legally established mechanisms for the protection of human rights, it is necessary to distinguish international institutions whose activities are aimed at realizing human rights protection goals. The first such institution should be called the international organization of the United Nations, which was established in 1945 after the end of the Second World War. Although the competence of this organization is wide enough and diverse, its activities are largely oriented towards the achievement of peace, security, stability and the realization of human rights in the whole world. As a confirmation of the foregoing, one can bring a text from the UN Charter - the basic document of the organization, namely, that the main duty of the signatory states of the treaty is that "... to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equality of men and women and in the equality of the rights of large and small nations ... " [11].

In March 2018, the UN issued a report on the issue of human rights abuses in the world. In particular, there were singled out 8 major examples of violations, among which: the alleged Rohingya genocide in Myanmar; the murder of the civilian population in East Guta; Probable crimes against humanity in Venezuela; The war in Yemen; Russia's war against Ukraine;

Violations in Turkey (torture of detainees who were suspected on of having ties to terrorists); attitudes towards migrants in the United States; migration policy in the EU (radicalism, xenophobia, incitement to hatred)[1].

It is worth noting that today almost all divisions of UN are dealing with human rights issues, but the UN General Assembly, UN Committees and ECOSOC pay the greatest attention to this segment.

The human rights work of the UN General Assembly is largely confined to the functions of monitoring and advising the member states of the organization. Due to its high powers, the General Assembly can consider any issue of human rights violations by dividing it into separate categories, such as: children's rights, women's rights, indigenous issues, elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, etc. [8]. Moreover, in 2006, under the auspices of the General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council was established. The purpose of the Council was to consider cases of human rights violations and to make recommendations on them. Today, the Council consists of 47 states that cooperate on the basis of dialogue in order to jointly improve human rights standards. The Council can rightly be called a forum for discussing a wide range of issues related to the human rights situation, not only within UN member states but also globally. On the basis of observations, the Council makes recommendations to the General Assembly on the improvement of the human rights situation [10].

Another human rights structure within the UN is the Human Rights Committee, established in 1977 in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The purpose of the Committee is to ensure the integrity of the three interrelated fundamental UN goals - the achievement of peace and security, the realization of human rights and the promotion of development. The Committee is represented by a body of 48 independent experts who monitor the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by the participating States. States that have ratified the Pact are regularly reporting on the observance of human rights and freedoms in their own territory. Based on the analysis of these reports, the UN Committee issues its findings and recommendations to each state in order to improve the legal situation in each individual situation [15].

The European Court of Human Rights, established in 1959 as one of the institutions of the Council of Europe, acts as the most important institution for every person whose rights have been violated. The judges who are members of the European Court are independent and free in the exercise of their powers, they do not represent the interests of any of the participating countries, and also meet the level of maximum objectivity. Anyone who believes that his rights have been violated by one of the States that have ratified the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has the right to apply to the European Court of Justice. However, the violation should apply only to the rights set forth in the Convention and the Protocols thereto, such as: the right to life, the right to a fair trial, the right to respect and freedom, etc. Another condition for appeal to this international authority - before the procedure for making an application, a person must use all remedies in the country to which this statement relates. [3].

It should be noted that, in addition to international governmental organizations, the functioning of international non-governmental organizations is also an important part of the international mechanism for the protection of human rights. Perhaps the most famous international non-governmental organization dealing with the dissemination of information on the state of human rights in the world is the Amnesty International. This association, through various campaigns, manages the human rights movement around the world in order to achieve the implementation of the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as other international standards. In particular, Amnesty International, apart from the direct ensuring of human freedoms, seeks to release illegally sentenced prisoners; achievement of a fair trial and investigation of political prisoners; the abolition of the death penalty in the states where it is still legalized; abolishing the practice of torture and any other acts of violence against prisoners; stopping numerous murders and so-called "disappearances" for political reasons, etc. [13].

Another interesting and unique institution of its kind is the non-governmental organization Front Line Defenders, which was founded relatively recently in 2001 to protect human rights defenders who are in danger due to their activities. The organization provides quick and effective assistance to human rights defenders who are at risk through support of those who are in immediate danger; trainings and resource materials on safety and security, including digital security; A 24-hour phone line for human rights defenders that operates in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish, etc. [17]. In our opinion, the role of this organization can't be overemphasized, because in the majority of cases, people who protect the rights of others quite often fall into a group of risks and dangers.

The next institutional mechanism for the protection of human rights is the World Organization Against Torture, which has been in operation since 1985 and today serves as the main unifying center for non-governmental organizations fighting against forced kidnapping, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Organization leaders rightly believe that torture can affect anyone: both children and women and men. The governments of most countries of the world have sufficient means to discourage actions that degrade their citizens' dignity, but not every country fully implements the means available to it. Therefore, one of the priority objectives of the Organization is the impact on the states leaders in order to avoid and reduce the number of cases of inhuman attitude towards anyone [18].

Another well-known organization whose scope of work covers human rights is Freedom House, an international human rights non-governmental organization. Annually, this association studies the level of freedom around the world. Freedom in this case means the state of political rights and civil liberties of every person in a particular state. The study involves 195 countries and 14 territories, each of which is evaluated according to a number of established criteria such as: electoral process, political pluralism, government activity, freedom of expression and belief, rule of law, personal autonomy and individual rights.

For the first time, this analysis was conducted back in 1973, which allows the organization to track the tendency to improve or worsen the status of human rights in the world. The results of the study are estimated from 1 to 100 points (100 - maximum), and the states themselves are divided into free, partially free and non-free. The findings of the 2018 analysis showed that most states can be characterized as free or partially free, but the percentage of non-free countries remains high - 25% [14].

To sum up, it should be noted that the provision of human rights is a priority issue for the international community, which has developed and is trying to effectively apply international human rights regulatory and institutional mechanisms. At the same time, the existence of numerous offenses is evidence that these mechanisms need to be improved. The problem of the effective use of international mechanisms of human rights protection in Ukraine is even more urgent, which may become a promising direction for our further research.

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