scholarly journals The Functions of Selected Human Rights Institutions and Related Role-Players in the Protection of Human Rights in Zimbabwe

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Chitimira ◽  
Pontsho Mokone
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
National Human ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Role Players ◽  
The Government ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions

Various human rights violations on the part of the ordinary people and human rights defenders have been reported in Zimbabwe since the late 1980s to date. It is widely acknowledged that such violations were mostly perpetrated by the government through its different organs for political and other related reasons.  Human rights violations were also easily committed against ordinary people and human rights defenders because there was no Constitution that adequately protected such people's fundamental human rights (including their civil and political rights and their socio-economic rights) in Zimbabwe.  Given this background, the article discusses the protection of human rights in Zimbabwe, in light of the Zimbabwe Constitution Amendment 20 of 2013 (Zimbabwe Constitution 2013). This is done in order to investigate whether the promotion, protection, enforcement and the respect for human rights in Zimbabwe has now improved. To this end, the functions of selected national human rights institutions and other related role-players, namely, the civil society, the judiciary, the law enforcement organs and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission are briefly discussed first.  Secondly, the functions of selected regional and international institutions, namely, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the United Nations are discussed in relation to the protection of human rights in Zimbabwe. Thereafter, concluding remarks and possible recommendations that could be utilised to combat human rights violations and enhance the protection of human rights in Zimbabwe are provided. Keywords: human rights; judiciary; protection; enforcement; violations.

Making Human Rights a Reality

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie M. Hafner-Burton
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Population ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
National Human ◽  
The World ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions

In the last six decades, one of the most striking developments in international law is the emergence of a massive body of legal norms and procedures aimed at protecting human rights. In many countries, though, there is little relationship between international law and the actual protection of human rights on the ground. This book takes a fresh look at why it's been so hard for international law to have much impact in parts of the world where human rights are most at risk. The book argues that more progress is possible if human rights promoters work strategically with the group of states that have dedicated resources to human rights protection. These human rights “stewards” can focus their resources on places where the tangible benefits to human rights are greatest. Success will require setting priorities as well as engaging local stakeholders such as nongovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions. To date, promoters of international human rights law have relied too heavily on setting universal goals and procedures and not enough on assessing what actually works and setting priorities. This book illustrates how, with a different strategy, human rights stewards can make international law more effective and also safeguard human rights for more of the world population.

scholarly journals The role of african court on human and peoples’ rights protection: the case of libyan crises

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-222
Author(s):  
Getahun Kumie Antigegn
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Government

The emergence of regional human rights systems depicts one of the greatest achievements in the internationalization of human rights. The foundation of the charter paved the way for the birth of the court thereafter. The African Court is established by virtue of the 1998 protocol to the Charter and the court is built upon an arsenal of protective and remedial techniques. The establishment of the court has reset the stage and created a new platform for the protection of human rights in Africa. The cardinal objective of the paper is to investigate the role of African Court on human and Peoples’ rights protection in Libya Crises taking the case of Saif Al Islam Gaddafi. The paper has utilized qualitative methodology. The government of Libya responded with brutal force against civilian protesters in contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law. The security force of the government of Libya killed many protesters as well. This situation intensified human rights violations and enforced many of the peoples to displace. The court issued an important ruling in March 2011, ordering provisional measures against Libya in the armed conflict in its territory. Libya government denied the claims of human rights violations in its territory and showed its willingness to subject itself to criminal investigations by the Court if necessary. The issue of the fund, independence, commitment and competence of judges to interpret mandate and jurisdiction, the willingness of the states to support and to abide by court decisions, and powers of the concerned body to enforce court decisions hampered the court from being effective. Generally, African States act in good faith with respect to the decisions of the African Human Rights Court, the court becomes more import.

scholarly journals BRIDGING THE INTERNATIONAL GAP: THE ROLE OF NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES IN AFRICA

Obiter ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliyu Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
National Human ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions ◽  
Domestic Level

While most of the United Nations (UN) treaties have committees to monitor the implementation of their provisions among their States parties, one of the major challenges they encounter is their inability to independently verify the information provided by the States parties, on the level of fulfilling their obligations to the treaties. However, the establishment of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) by the majority of UN member states was meant to not only promote and protect human rights within the territories of States parties, but also to monitor the implementation of the provisions of treaties at the domestic level. This resulted in treaty bodies to encourage NHRIs, in monitoring and providing it with information on the level of implementation of the provisions of these treaties within the territories of respective States parties. This article examines whether these institutions in Africa have been able to discharge their mandates concerning the implementation of two treaties, namely, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which is monitored by the Human Rights Committee (HRC) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which is overseen by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). The NHRIs of South Africa, Morocco and Nigeria have been selected to test the effectiveness of these institutions. The study ultimately shows that the majority of these institutions are still far off from achieving their potential.

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS AND RELIGIOUS CONFLICT IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

2004 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 713-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Evans
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Asia Pacific Region ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
National Human ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions ◽  
National Human Rights Commissions

The last decade has seen the rise of a potentially significant development in the Asia-Pacific region in regard to human rights—the establishment of National Human Rights Institutions (particularly Human Rights Commissions) in numerous States.2 National Human Rights Commissions (hereafter NHRC) established in compliance with United Nations standards have been established in Australia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.3 In many of these States, however, human rights abuses are still widespread and serious. The establishment of NHRC, which generally do not have the power to make enforceable decisions, could easily be derided as an attempt by governments to create a fac.ade of respect for human rights while failing to take the enforcement of those rights seriously.4 While this criticism has a degree of validity, NHRC have played a constructive, if limited role, in the promotion and protection of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region.

scholarly journals The Retroactive Principle in Law No. 26 of 2000 concerning the court of human rights

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Ricky Tongam Marpahala Siahaan ◽  
Candra Perbawati ◽  
Ahmad Saleh
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
The Past ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government

Protection of human rights is a responsibility that must be carried out by the state, in this case the state must also resolve cases of human rights violations that have occurred. There are many cases of human rights violations that occurred in the past but cannot be resolved because there are no legal rules that govern at that time. The presence of Law Number 26 of 2000 concerning the court of human rightss is certainly a way for the government to resolve the problem of gross human rights violations in the past. The principle of retroactivity was included in Law Number 26 of 2000 concerning the court of human rightss so that gross violations of human rights that occurred in the past could be resolved. The retroactive principle in Law Number 26 of 2000 concerning the court of human rightss is considered to violate existing regulations in Indonesia, especially it is considered contrary to the 1945 Constitution. -Law Number 26 of 2000 concerning the court of human rightss. This research uses normative research methods. The data used are secondary data in the form of primary legal materials, secondary legal materials, and tertiary legal materials. The results of this study indicate that the application of the retroactive principle in Law Number 26 of 2000 concerning the court of human rightss does not contain elements that are absolutely contradictory to the Law. 1945 foundation.

24. Within the state

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Byrnes ◽  
Catherine Renshaw
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Common Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
General Law ◽  
National Human ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Common ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions ◽  
Domestic Law

This chapter examines the state’s role in promoting and protecting human rights, and is organized as follows. Section 2 deals with substantive protections: the nature, status, and scope of human rights protections under national law. These include the incorporation or other use of international human rights norms in domestic law, constitutional guarantees of rights, human rights legislation, protection under the general law, including the concept of the rule of law, and the common law. Section 3 considers institutional protections of human rights. It briefly outlines the types of institutions that commonly play a role in the implementation, monitoring, and protection of human rights, including the courts, the executive, and the legislature, as well as mechanisms such as ombudsmen and national human rights institutions.

scholarly journals Rachel Murray, The Role of National Human Rights Institutions at the International and Regional Levels: The Experience of Africa; Brian Burdekin, assisted by Jason Naum, National Human Rights Institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region, The Raoul Wallenberg Institute Human Rights Library

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 206
Author(s):  
Linda C. Reif
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Asia Pacific Region ◽  
National Human ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions

National Human Rights i nstitutions [NHRIs] are created by “a Government under the constitution, or by law or decree, the functions of which are specifically designed in terms of the promotion and protection of human rights.” Human rights commissions, ombudsman i nstitutions, hybrid single-office holder human rights ombudsman/commissioners, and specialized i nstitutions such as the children’s ombudsman are types of NHRIs.

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