Third Generation Human Rights

Historical Background• First Generation Human Rights

– Historical evolution of human rights law a Western phenomenon emerge from Western, liberal, democratic experience

– Importance of political theorists like John Locke, Jean Jacque Rousseau, and James Stuart

– “Natural Rights” thinkers belief that rights that antedate establishment of government.

– Emphasis on what the government cannot or should not do• Government formed by contract to protect “life, liberty and

property”. • In the West civil and political rights become paramount - the rights of

free speech, free press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and religious freedom.

Historical Background

• Second Generation Human Rights– Few non-Western countries have an individualist

tradition – Study of freedom must begin with freedom from

hunger, freedom from disease, freedom from unemployment, freedom from the lack of housing and access to health care.

– Second generation rights influential in the Third World– The influence of second-generation rights found in

recent human rights documents

Historical Background• In 1979, Karel Vasak presented a brief but systematic

theory of what he called "the third generation of human rights.“

• Vasak argued that several new human rights, such as the rights to development, to a healthy environment, and to peace, were already beginning to emerge in international law

• He suggested that these three generations of human rights corresponded respectively to the three ideals proclaimed in the French revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. Accordingly, these new human rights should be thought of as solidarity rights.

Basic Principle

• Third-generation or ‘solidarity’ rights are the most recently recognised category of human rights, in response to realization that mankind lives on a very small and fragile planet.

• The idea at the basis of the third generation of rights is that of solidarity; and the rights embrace collective rights of society or peoples

Basic Principle• the right to peace the right to live in peaceful

world, free from the threat of nuclear war • the right to a healthy environment The right

to live in a balanced eco-system free from environmental contaminants that are destroying the planet

• the right to development The right of all people to have a basic standard of living so that the gap between rich and poor is not too great

• No universal agreement on third generation rights

Rıght to development

• For the millions of people around the world who live in abject poverty, the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development offers hope.

• Indeed, the aspiration to make the right to development a reality for all is the foundation for the quest to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the internationally agreed global development goals.

Rıght to development

• The eight MDGs – to reduce poverty, hunger and disease and promote gender equality, education, environmental sustainability and global partnerships – are interrelated and to achieve them requires a partnership between developed and developing countries.

• This is articulated in Goal number 8 which asserts the collective responsibility for international cooperation and assistance to achieve all the MDGs.

Rıght to development

• The right to development can strengthen this global partnership to help achieve the MDGs. It requires the international community to create an enabling global environment free of structural impediments where developing countries have opportunities for international economic activities.

Rıght to development

• The right to development incorporates the principle of international cooperation along with the principles of transparency, equality, participation, accountability and non-discrimination. These principles should be followed at both the national and international levels.

Rıght to peace• Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace was

approved by General Assembly resolution 39/11 of 12 November 1984 – Reaffirming that the principal aim of the United Nations is the

maintenance of international peace and security, – Bearing in mind the fundamental principles of international law

set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, – Expressing the will and the aspirations of all peoples to

eradicate war from the life of mankind and, above all, to avert a world-wide nuclear catastrophe,

– Convinced that life without war serves as the primary international prerequisite for the material well-being, development and progress of countries, and for the full implementation of the rights and fundamental human freedoms proclaimed by the United Nations,

Rıght to peace• Aware that in the nuclear age the establishment of a lasting peace on Earth

represents the primary condition for the preservation of human civilization and the survival of mankind,

• Recognizing that the maintenance of a peaceful life for peoples is the sacred duty of each State, – 1. Solemnly proclaims that the peoples of our planet have a sacred right to

peace; – 2. Solemnly declares that the preservation of the right of peoples to peace and

the promotion of its implementation constitute a fundamental obligation of each State;

– 3. Emphasizes that ensuring the exercise of the right of peoples to peace demands that the policies of States be directed towards the elimination of the threat of war, particularly nuclear war, the renunciation of the use of force in international relations and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means on the basis of the Charter of the United Nations;

– 4. Appeals to all States and international organizations to do their utmost to assist in implementing the right of peoples to peace through the adoption of appropriate measures at both the national and the international level.

Right to a healthy environment

• The right to a healthy enviornment was recognised in Stockholm Conference in 1972 in an inter national environmental law document.

• The conference adopted what is known as the Stockholm Declaration, consisting of three non-binding instruments: – a resolution on institutional and financial

arrangements; – a declaration containing 26 principles; – and an action plan con taining 109 recommendations.

Right to a healthy environment

• In June 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and De velopment (UNCED) was held in Rio de Ja neiro, Brazil.

• The purpose of the conference was to elaborate strategies and measures to halt and reverse the effects of environmental degra dation and to strengthen national and international efforts to promote sus tainable and environmentally sound development in all countries.

Right to a healthy environment• In the international context, the Rio Declaration with its

Plan of Action ("Agenda 21”) contains measures to be taken for implementation of the Rio principles and the other major treaties produced in Rio.

• The measures are; – (1) provision of financial resources and mecha nisms; – (2)transfer of environmentally sound tech nologies; – (3) support for capacity-building; – (4)education and awareness;– (5)development of enforceable international legal instruments;– (6)environmental impact assessments; and – (7)information and tools for meas uring progress.

Right to a healthy environment

• The environment is mentioned directly in the ICESCR in article 12(2) on the right to health:

“ (a)The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for . . . (b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene.”