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"Disappearances" and Political Killings - A Manual for action view details>>

Every individual human being is a rights holder

: IRIN

Every human being, because of the mere fact that he or she is a human being, is entitled to his or her rights without discrimination. Furthermore, human rights are inalienable; meaning that nobody can ‘give’ or ‘take away’ those rights and they are equally applicable to all.

The idea of human rights originated from the need to protect individuals against the (arbitrary) use of state power. This idea got a new impulse after the horrors of the Second World War.

In 1948 the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was adopted, followed by the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (1968), the International Covenant on Social Economic and Cultural Rights (1968) and numerous other treaties, conventions, declarations. Not only at the global level, but also at the regional level. It was realized that national schemes for the protection of human rights did not suffice and needed to be complemented by a system of international standards.

The most recent, and indeed very important, international human rights convention is the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted by the United Nations in December 2006.

State is duty bearer

All human rights treaties and other documents reflect the notion that it is primarily the duty of states and their authorities or agents to protect, respect and promote all human rights:

All human rights must themselves be protected by law. This is what is called ‘the rule of law’. In practical terms this means that states have a duty to ensure that the constitution and other laws are geared towards the protection of human rights, both were it comes to relations between the state and individuals (own citizens or foreigners), as well as between individuals themselves (own citizens and/or foreigners). Furthermore, any disputes about these rights should be submitted for adjudication through a competent, impartial and independent judicial system.
States have a duty to ensure that human rights are respected by state authorities or state agents themselves and by citizens, corporations and other non-state actors operating within their boundaries. Often this means that the state should refrain from action, for example refrain from hindering people to assemble or to choose their own education. However sometimes it means that the state should not refrain from action, but take action. For example by investing in the security of those who want to freely assemble or demonstrate in order to ensure they will not be harassed by those who might have different opinions.
States have a duty to ensure that human rights are promoted and implemented, so that individuals can fully enjoy those rights. Often this implies the development of adequate policies, the allocation of sufficient budgets and other resources by the state as well as the creation of space for non-state actors to do their work in a proper way.

Legal principles versus daily practice

: IRIN

Despite the fact that in principle all human beings are entitled to fully enjoy their human rights, in every day life, more often than not, states do not live up to what has been agreed as international human rights law. They do not take their duties and responsibilities seriously (enough). They violate human rights, make people disappear, do not combat even the most extreme forms of poverty, favour certain ethnic groups, religions or discriminate against women or homosexuals. People therefore mistrust or neglect the state and those who act in the name of the state. Often they dare not demand their human rights or hold the state (legally) responsible for violations of those rights, because it is too dangerous to do so. In other cases the state is almost non-existent. This phenomenon is called ‘a failed state’.

A failing state can be defined as:

Incapable of controlling its territory, or of guaranteeing the safety of its people,
Incapable of upholding its internal legal order, and
Incapable of providing its population with public services or creating the conditions for such provision.

In those circumstances the powers of the state in reality are exercised by –often violent- political, religious and/or armed bodies that control part of the territory, its inhabitants and natural resources. These non-state bodies usually hardly feel any belonging to the international community nor any commitment to what international agreement whatsoever.

In addition, especially as a consequence of economic globalization, the influence and reach of international business has grown. It is no exception that a (often small and poor) state has to deal with transnational corporations that outgrow the power of the state in terms of capacity, financial resources and economic power. This has led to an increasing debate about the roles and responsibilities of corporate actors with regard to human rights.

The struggle to make human rights real

Despite the fact that a lot of work has been done on human rights standard setting, a big challenge lies still ahead: having the standards put into practice by the duty bearer and holding the duty bearer accountable. Civil society has a major role to play. It has several means at its disposition:

using the international recognized and accepted standards as a reference for lobby and advocacy;
documenting cases;
using the existing legal instruments to hold to state responsible;
pressure other states to take measures or install international legal procedures, etc.

Enforced Disappearances: holding the state responsible when it occurs

Enforcing people to disappear is one of the most flagrant violations of human rights. Having said this it is still true that every day people around the globe disappear against their will. They are held in secret custody and taken out of the law-system, meaning they are deprived of all their rights. State institutions committing these violations are to be held responsible according to international law. The same should be done for non-state actors that exercise state powers in a situation whereby the state is disintegrating. Holding them responsible is primarily the task of the international community. They should act by denouncing the violations, assisting families of the disappeared, invoking the international mechanisms or installing smart sanctions that punish the leaders. In the global arena, this does not happen at once, especially when other interest (be it economical, political or military) are at stake.