Translation Spanish: Basic Primer 2

Authoredby Jeff King, the purpose of this manual is to serve activists andstudents. This service is expected to unfold in three ways: (1)primarily as a manual for reporting to the Committee on Economic,Soical and Cultural Rights; (2) as a resource for students,particularly those in remote locations with less access to the Internetand large English language libraries; and (3) as an educational tool intraning workshops, particularly for practical topics.

Note: the list below does not include links that pertain to specific rights or countries in which CESR does work. For those links, please look at the particular right or country.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

Intoday's global economy, gender inequality is growing. This is evidencedby the increasing poverty of women, and the re-emergence of sweatshopsand other forms of economic exploitation, including trafficking inwomen. On the basis of gender, women of all ages are denied access tobasic healthcare, housing, education, and work. Even when employed inhigh-paying jobs, as in the case of industrialized countries, women'swages are only 60-75% of men's wages.

WEEP was designed to address the following emerging concerns:

• Traditionally, the right to equality has been interpreted 1) as acivil and political right which does not encompass the economic andsocial rights dimensions of women???s inequality and 2) as a right whoseparadigm is gender neutrality.

DOCUMENTS AND RESOURCES
Draft Optional Protocol to the ICESCR
U.N. Working Group Report on developing an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR (2004)[pdf]
NGO Coalition Advocacy Kit on the Optional Protocol

What is the Optional Protocol (OP)?
The OP allows individuals to bring complaints about violations of theireconomic, social, and cultural rights to the attention of the Committeeon Economic, Social & Cultural Rights. The Committee is the maingoverning body for the International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights.

Why is it important?
There are three basic reasons why it is important to allow individual complaints under the Covenant:

• First, individuals must have a venue in which to seek justice for ESCR violations.As with other individual complaint mechanisms at the internationallevel, individuals would have to exhaust domestic remedies before beingallowed to bring their complaints to the international level.Therefore, for those individuals deprived of national justice, the OPwould provide the only available form of justice for ESCR violations.

click here for the UDHR in other languages

Preamble

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of theequal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is thefoundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights haveresulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience ofmankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoyfreedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has beenproclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled tohave recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny andoppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in theCharter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in thedignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of menand women and have determined to promote social progress and betterstandards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve,in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universalrespect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

The General Assembly,

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a commonstandard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the endthat every individual and every organ of society, keeping thisDeclaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and educationto promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressivemeasures, national and international, to secure their universal andeffective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of MemberStates themselves and among the peoples of territories under theirjurisdiction.

THE ROLE OF NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS IN THE PROTECTION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES ARISING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

THE DOMESTIC APPLICATION OF THE COVENANT

SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES ARISING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
Nineteenth session, Geneva, 16 November-4 December 1998
E/C.12/1998/24, CESCR

A. The duty to give effect to the Covenant in the domestic legal order

1. In its General Comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of Statesparties' obligations (art. 2, para. 1, of the Covenant) 1/ theCommittee addressed issues relating to the nature and scope of Statesparties' obligations. The present general comment seeks to elaboratefurther certain elements of the earlier statement. The centralobligation in relation to the Covenant is for States parties to giveeffect to the rights recognized therein. By requiring Governments to doso "by all appropriate means", the Covenant adopts a broad and flexibleapproach which enables the particularities of the legal andadministrative systems of each State, as well as other relevantconsiderations, to be taken into account.

2. But this flexibility coexists with the obligation upon each Stateparty to use all the means at its disposal to give effect to the rightsrecognized in the Covenant. In this respect, the fundamentalrequirements of international human rights law must be borne in mind.Thus the Covenant norms must be recognized in appropriate ways withinthe domestic legal order, appropriate means of redress, or remedies,must be available to any aggrieved individual or group, and appropriatemeans of ensuring governmental accountability must be put in place.

3. Questions relating to the domestic application of the Covenantmust be considered in the light of two principles of international law.The first, as reflected in article 27 of the Vienna Convention on theLaw of Treaties, 2/ is that "[A] party may not invoke the provisions ofits internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty".In other words, States should modify the domestic legal order asnecessary in order to give effect to their treaty obligations. Thesecond principle is reflected in article 8 of the Universal Declarationof Human Rights, according to which "Everyone has the right to aneffective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violatingthe fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law". TheInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights containsno direct counterpart to article 2, paragraph 3 (b), of theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which obligatesStates parties to, inter alia, "develop the possibilities of judicialremedy". Nevertheless, a State party seeking to justify its failure toprovide any domestic legal remedies for violations of economic, socialand cultural rights would need to show either that such remedies arenot "appropriate means" within the terms of article 2, paragraph 1, ofthe International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights orthat, in view of the other means used, they are unnecessary. It will bedifficult to show this and the Committee considers that, in many cases,the other means used could be rendered ineffective if they are notreinforced or complemented by judicial remedies.

B. The status of the Covenant in the domestic legal order

4. In general, legally binding international human rights standardsshould operate directly and immediately within the domestic legalsystem of each State party, thereby enabling individuals to seekenforcement of their rights before national courts and tribunals. Therule requiring the exhaustion of domestic remedies reinforces theprimacy of national remedies in this respect. The existence and furtherdevelopment of international procedures for the pursuit of individualclaims is important, but such procedures are ultimately onlysupplementary to effective national remedies.

5. The Covenant does not stipulate the specific means by which it isto be implemented in the national legal order. And there is noprovision obligating its comprehensive incorporation or requiring it tobe accorded any specific type of status in national law. Although theprecise method by which Covenant rights are given effect in nationallaw is a matter for each State party to decide, the means used shouldbe appropriate in the sense of producing results which are consistentwith the full discharge of its obligations by the State party. Themeans chosen are also subject to review as part of the Committee'sexamination of the State party's compliance with its obligations underthe Covenant.

6. An analysis of State practice with respect to the Covenant showsthat States have used a variety of approaches. Some States have failedto do anything specific at all. Of those that have taken measures, someStates have transformed the Covenant into domestic law by supplementingor amending existing legislation, without invoking the specific termsof the Covenant. Others have adopted or incorporated it into domesticlaw, so that its terms are retained intact and given formal validity inthe national legal order. This has often been done by means ofconstitutional provisions according priority to the provisions ofinternational human rights treaties over any inconsistent domesticlaws. The approach of States to the Covenant depends significantly uponthe approach adopted to treaties in general in the domestic legalorder.

7. But whatever the preferred methodology, several principles followfrom the duty to give effect to the Covenant and must therefore berespected. First, the means of implementation chosen must be adequateto ensure fulfilment of the obligations under the Covenant. The need toensure justiciability (see para. 10 below) is relevant when determiningthe best way to give domestic legal effect to the Covenant rights.Second, account should be taken of the means which have proved to bemost effective in the country concerned in ensuring the protection ofother human rights. Where the means used to give effect to the Covenanton Economic, Social and Cultural Rights differ significantly from thoseused in relation to other human rights treaties, there should be acompelling justification for this, taking account of the fact that theformulations used in the Covenant are, to a considerable extent,comparable to those used in treaties dealing with civil and politicalrights.

8. Third, while the Covenant does not formally oblige States toincorporate its provisions in domestic law, such an approach isdesirable. Direct incorporation avoids problems that might arise in thetranslation of treaty obligations into national law, and provides abasis for the direct invocation of the Covenant rights by individualsin national courts. For these reasons, the Committee stronglyencourages formal adoption or incorporation of the Covenant in nationallaw.

C. The role of legal remedies

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND RESPECT FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS

SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES ARISING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS

SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES ARISING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
(Thirteenth session, 1995)*

1.Introduction

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES ARISING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
(Eleventh session, 1994)*

1. The central importance of the International Covenant on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights in relation to the human rights of personswith disabilities has frequently been underlined by the internationalcommunity 1/. Thus a 1992 review by the Secretary-General of theimplementation of the World Programme of Action concerning DisabledPersons and the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons concludedthat "disability is closely linked to economic and social factors" andthat "conditions of living in large parts of the world are so desperatethat the provision of basic needs for all - food, water, shelter,health protection and education - must form the cornerstone of nationalprogrammes" 2/ . Even in countries which have a relatively highstandard of living, persons with disabilities are very often denied theopportunity to enjoy the full range of economic, social and culturalrights recognized in the Covenant.

2. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and theworking group which preceded it, have been explicitly called upon byboth the General Assembly 3/ and the Commission on Human Rights 4/ tomonitor the compliance of States parties to the Covenant with theirobligation to ensure the full enjoyment of the relevant rights bypersons with disabilities. The Committee's experience to date, however,indicates that States parties have devoted very little attention tothis issue in their reports. This appears to be consistent with theSecretary-General's conclusion that "most Governments still lackdecisive concerted measures that would effectively improve thesituation" of persons with disabilities 5/ . It is thereforeappropriate to review, and emphasize, some of the ways in which issuesconcerning persons with disabilities arise in connection with theobligations contained in the Covenant.

3. There is still no internationally accepted definition of the term"disability". For present purposes, however, it is sufficient to relyon the approach adopted in the Standard Rules of 1993, which state: