RIGHTS: An Empty Stomach? Tell It to the UN!

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Carole Vann and Juan Gasparini*

GENEVA, Jun 28 2006 (IPS) - Citizens may soon be able to complain to the United Nations when their governments are not treating them well – if these administrations have agreed to a host of new economic, social and cultural rights, that is.

At present, countries are sovereign in the services and benefits they provide for their nationals. No mechanisms currently exist for outside recourse against a government if, say, it fails to build a school in a remote mountain village, if an indigent person is denied medical care, or if the law forbids workers at a company from striking.

In future, however, groups or individuals who have been denied such rights may have recourse to the U.N. if they fail to make their case at a national level. For this to happen though, countries will need to agree to a raft of additional rights.

The U.N. Human Rights Council (which replaced the Commission on Human Rights in March) will vote Thursday on such a resolution, drafted by Portugal. If it passes, a working group will be appointed to study the issue.

This protocol will also deal with countries’ responsibilities when major catastrophes such as famines or droughts strike.

Currently, most Latin American and African nations, along with several in Europe such as Portugal, Finland, Spain, France, and Slovenia, support the plan. The United States, Canada, Australia and Japan, however, are steadfastly opposed to it.

In an interview, Christian Courtis – an Argentine member of the International Committee of Jurists and a key advocate of the plan – told us more about the controversies surrounding this initiative.

Q: Apparently, it is mainly the developed countries which are reluctant to approve the plan…

A: They think that such economic, social and cultural rights in and of themselves are more about public policy…than individual rights. They do not want U.N. interference in democratically arrived at policy decisions. Furthermore, they are worried about budgetary considerations.

Q: That’s understandable.

A: (But) these same arguments can be used to justify human rights violations. Affirming human rights implies limits to state sovereignty. We have a recent example of this with the United States: the security of citizens does not justify the use of any means whatsoever.

Q: The countries of Africa support the protocol. But why would poor countries want their citizens to be able to lodge complaints against them?

A: The reason is that this project provides a new context for poor countries to discuss the asymmetrical relations which exist between the nations of the North and those of the South. The African group thinks there should be international aid if it can be clearly shown that a country lacks the resources to meet its citizens’ needs for food or medical care.

Q: Won’t that make some countries even more dependent?

A: The idea is to distinguish between the lack of will and the lack of means: between a country that is doing everything in its power but is still incapable of providing for its citizens, and a country with other priorities, like buying weapons, for example.

Q: But do countries which have the rule of law need such a protocol?

A: Even in countries that have the rule of law, there is still a lot of work to do. Several years ago, the Commission on Human Rights complained to Spain about several unsuccessful appeals cases, and ruled that the country’s laws did not conform to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Spain was asked to reform its laws so that it conformed to the covenant, and it did so.

Q: It’s hard to visualise a miserable, sick person at the ends of the earth lodging a complaint with the U.N…

A: The complainant first needs to exhaust all avenues of redress at a national level. It’s true that that’s very time-consuming. An individual complaint to the U.N. would serve primarily as an example…as a warning to the country involved.

* Carole Vann and Juan Gasparini are journalists at Infosud, a news agency based in Geneva. This article is being published by IPS in terms of an agreement between the agency and Infosud.