Protection of human rights within the United Nations

Človekove pravice imajo naslednje temeljne lastnosti: so naravne, univerzalne, nedeljive, medsebojno odvisne in neodtujljive. Razvrščamo jih v naslednje generacije človekovih pravic: 1. generacijo sestavljajo državljanske in politične pravice, 2. generacijo ekonomske, socialne in kulturne pravice ter 3. generacijo solidarnostne in kolektivne pravice. Zametki človekovih pravic segajo daleč nazaj v zgodovino, od teženj starodavnih kultur in religij po enakopravnosti, pa vse do idej naravnega prava. Z vzponom fašizma in nacizma je prišlo med drugo svetovno vojno do sistematičnih kršitev človekovih pravic. To je mednarodni skupnosti dalo povod ustanoviti OZN in zapisati temeljne človekove pravice v splošnem mednarodnem dokumentu- Splošni deklaraciji človekovih pravic. OZN je najpomembnejša mednarodna organizacija, ki je bila ustanovljena 24. oktobra 1945, v San Franciscu. Glavni organi OZN so: Generalna skupščina, Varnostni svet, Ekonomski in socialni svet, Skrbniški svet, Meddržavno sodišče in Sekretariat. OZN ima vodilno vlogo pri varovanju človekovih pravic v okviru mednarodnega prava. Že iz Ustanovne listine OZN izhaja, da je varstvo človekovih pravic eno izmed najpomembnejših ciljev OZN. OZN varuje človekove pravice na dva načina, in sicer s postavitvijo norm na področju človekovih pravic ter z nadzornimi mehanizmi, s katerimi nadzoruje uporabo teh norm. Najpomembnejši dokument, sprejet v sklopu OZN, na področju varstva človekovih pravic, je Splošna deklaracija človekovih pravic, s katero je bilo prvič mednarodno priznano, da se človekove pravice nanašajo na vsakogar, ne glede na spol, narodnost, etnično pripadnost, jezik ali vero. Ostali pomembni dokumenti, sprejeti v okviru OZN, na področju varstva človekovih pravic so: Mednarodni pakt o državljanskih in političnih pravicah, Mednarodni pakt o ekonomskih, socialnih in kulturnih pravicah in številni drugi. V okviru OZN so vzpostavljeni mehanizmi za nadzor držav glede izpolnjevanja materialnih pravil na področju človekovih pravic. Ločimo med dvema vrstama mehanizmov: pogodbeno določenimi mehanizmi in mehanizmi, določenimi z resolucijami organov OZN. Pogodbeno določeni mehanizmi veljajo le za države podpisnice pogodb o človekovih pravicah. Za razliko od tega mehanizmi, ki so se razvili na podlagi Ustanovne listine OZN, veljajo za vse države članice OZN. Na podlagi resolucije organov OZN je bila ustanovljena Komisija za človekove pravice, ki se je v prvih 20. letih svojega nastanka ukvarjala predvsem z razvojem mednarodnih norm na področju človekovih pravic, kasneje pa je okrepila svoje delo na področju nadzora nad implementacijo človekovih pravic. Komisija se je v naslednjih letih srečevala s številnimi kritikami glede njene legitimnosti, saj so v Komisiji pogosto sedele grobe kršiteljice človekovih pravic. Vse to je privedlo do tega, da je bila leta 2006 Komisija za človekove pravice ukinjena in zamenjana s Svetom za človekove pravice. Svet za človekove pravice je temeljni organ za varstvo človekovih pravic. Njegova najpomembnejša naloga je spremljati razmere v svetu in takoj opozoriti na kršitve človekovih pravic. Svetu za človekove pravice so v pomoč pri njegovem delovanju naslednji mehanizmi: univerzalni periodični pregled, pritožbeni postopek, posebni postopki in Svetovalni odbor Sveta za človekove pravice. Poleg Sveta za človekove pravice so pomembni organi tudi Urad visokega komisarja za človekove pravice in Tretji odbor Generalne skupščine OZN. Na podlagi mednarodnih pogodb so bili ustanovljeni različni odbori strokovnjakov, ki nadzorujejo izvajanje norm posameznih pogodb. Odbore sestavljajo neodvisni strokovnjaki, ki obravnavajo periodična poročila držav, ki poročajo glede uspešnosti pri izpolnjevanju določb pogodb.Human rights have the following fundamental characteristics: they are natural, universal, indivisible, interrelated and inalienable. They can be divided into the following generations: the first generation comprises civil and political rights, the second generation economic, social and cultural rights, and the third generation solidarity and collective rights. The origins of human rights date far back in history, where ancient cultures and religions had tendency for equality, up to the ideas of natural law emerged. Due to the rise of fascism and nazism, human rights were systematically violated during World War II. This led the international community to establish United Nations and to draw up a universal international document setting out the fundamental human rights – known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN is the most important international organisation, which was founded on 24 October 1945 in San Francisco. The UN’s principal organs are: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. The UN has the leading role in protecting human rights within international law. From UN Charter follows that human rights protection is one of the most important goals of the UN. The UN protects human rights in two ways: by setting norms in the field of human rights and through the control mechanisms used to control the application of these norms. The most important document adopted within the UN in the field of human rights protection is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which set out for the first time on an international level that human rights apply to everyone, regardless of sex, nationality, ethnicity, language or religion. Other important documents adopted within the UN in the field of human rights protection are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and many others. Within the UN there have been established mechanisms to control states, regarding their fulfilment of substantive rules in the field of human rights. We separate between two types of mechanism: treaty-based mechanisms and mechanisms set out by the resolutions of the UN organs. Treaty-based mechanisms only apply to signatory States to the treaties on human rights. In contrast, mechanisms developed on the basis of the UN Charter apply to all UN Member States. Based on the resolution of the UN organs, the Commission on Human Rights was established, which, for the first 20 years of its existence, mostly dealt with the development of international norms in the field of human rights, and later strengthened its work in controlling the implementing human rights. In subsequent years, the Commission faced extensive criticism relating to its legitimacy, as gross offenders of human rights were frequently found in the Commission. This led to the abolishment of the Commission of Human Rights in 2006 and its replacement with the Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council is the fundamental organ for human rights protection. Its most important task is to monitor the global situation and immediately warn against human rights violations. The following mechanisms assist the Human Rights Council’s operation: the Universal Periodic Review, the Complaint Procedure and the Special Procedures and the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. In addition to the Human Right Council, other important bodies, which protect human rights are The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. On the basis of international treaties there were established different expert committees, which monitor the implementation of the norms for each treaty. The committees are composed of independent experts, who process periodic reviews from states reporting on the successful implementation of treaty provisions