4.Core universal human rights treaties

There are nine core international human rights treaties. The United Nations human rights treaties are at the core of the international system for the promotion and protection of human rights. Each of these treaties has established a committee of experts (the treaty bodies) to monitor implementation of the treaty provisions by its States parties. Some of the treaties are supplemented by optional protocols dealing with specific concerns. An Optional Protocol to a treaty is an instrument that establishes additional rights and obligations to a treaty.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United Nations convention adopted and opened for signature and ratification by United Nations General Assembly resolution 2106 (XX) December 21, 1965, and which entered into force January 4, 1969.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a United Nations treaty based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created in 1966 and entered into force on 23 March 1976. The Covenant contains two Optional Protocols. The first optional protocol creates an individual complaints mechanism whereby individuals in member States can submit complaints, known as communications, to be reviewed by the Human Rights Committee. Its rulings under the first optional protocol have created the most complex jurisprudence in the UN international human rights law system. The second optional protocol abolishes the death penalty.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from January 3, 1976. It commits the states parties to work toward the granting of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) to individuals.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an international convention adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it came into force on 3 September 1981. The Convention defines discrimination against women in the following terms: 'Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.' It also establishes an agenda of action for putting an end to sex-based discrimination: States ratifying the Convention are required to enshrine male/female equality into their domestic legislation, repeal all discriminatory provisions in their laws, and enact new provisions to guard against discrimination against women. They must also establish tribunals and public institutions to guarantee women effective protection against discrimination, and take steps to eliminate all forms of discrimination practised against women by individuals, organizations, and enterprises. In 1999, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Optional Protocol of CEDAW. The Protocol includes a procedure through which individual women or groups can denounce national violations of CEDAW directly to CEDAW's committee of experts.

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) is an international human rights instrument, under the purview of the United Nations, that aims to prevent torture around the world. The Convention requires states to take effective measures to prevent torture within their borders, and forbids states to return people to their home country if there is reason to believe they will be tortured. The text of the Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1984 and, following ratification by the 20th state party, it came into force on 26 June 1987. The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2002 and in force since 22 June 2006, provides for the establishment of a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, often referred to as "CRC", is an international convention setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. The United Nations General Assembly agreed to adopt the Convention into international law on November 20, 1989; it came into force on September 2, 1990, after it was ratified by the required number of nations. The Convention generally defines a child as any person under the age of 18, unless an earlier age of majority is recognized by a country's law. The Convention has two Optional Protocols, adopted by the General Assembly in May 2000 and applicable to those states that have signed and ratified them.

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families entered into force on July 1, 2003. The Convention constitutes a comprehensive international treaty regarding the protection of migrant workers' rights. It emphasizes the connection between migration and human rights. Its existence sets a moral standard, and serves as a guide and stimulus for the promotion of migrant rights in each country.(not yet into force)

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations and intended to prevent forced disappearance. The text was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2006 and opened for signature on 6 February 2007. It will come into force when ratified by 20 states-parties.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and was opened for signature on 30 March 2007. It entered into force on 3 May 2008. The Convention is intended as a human rights instrument with an explicit, social development dimension. It adopts a broad categorisation of persons with disabilities and reaffirms that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It clarifies and qualifies how all categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities and identifies areas where adaptations have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively exercise their rights and areas where their rights have been violated, and where protection of rights must be reinforced. The Optional Protocol allows the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals subject to its jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a violation by that State Party of the provisions of the Convention.

5.Major universal human rights treaties and monitoring mechanisms (+ 4)

There are seven core international human rights treaties. Each of these treaties has established a committee of experts to monitor implementation of the treaty provisions by its States parties. Some of the treaties are supplemented by optional protocols dealing with specific concerns.

• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) 1965

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966

• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1966

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 1979

• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) 1984

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989

• International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICMRW) 1990

There are seven human rights treaty bodies that monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties :

Human Rights Committee (HRC)

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

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 Migrant Workers (CMW)