International Human Rights and State

Sovereignty
By David Gatti

Definitions:

International human rights- Rights put in place by international groups that apply to all
people in a very large geographical location

State Sovereignty- The idea of a state having a large degree of control of its people,
land and all other assets in the country

Purpose of Human Rights:

To protect the fundamental freedoms that all people should have

To maintain peace, order and security in the world

To provide all people with rights regardless of their state's policies on human rights

History of Human Rights:

First written example of human rights is the Charter of Freedom and Mankind from
Cyrus the Great in 6th century BC

The Magna Carta was signed in 1215CE and it was the first document stating that
even the king was not allowed to violate certain rights

The first installment of true international human rights was The Universal Deceleration
of Human Rights

Groups that Form These Rights:

The United Nations is a global organization that consists of many countries across the
world trying to achieve international peace and order

The American Convention on Human Rights is an organization that promotes peace

and order in Central and South America

The European Convention on Human Rights is a similar group, but it focuses on all
countries in Europe
The Universal Deceleration of Human Rights:

A deceleration signed in 1948 by The UN

The deceleration was made as a direct result of WWII

It outlines many basic rights in many different subjects

Enforcement of Human Rights:

Human rights violations are enforced by The UN in three main ways:

Diplomacy is usually the first step taken by The UN. Diplomacy involves peaceful
discussion with states that violate human rights
Sanctions are likely imposed If diplomacy does not work, sanctions are placed on
countries to discourage continual disregard for human rights. A sanction is a strong
discouragement to trade with the state that is in violation of international law
regarding human rights
Military action is used in some extreme cases of human rights violation. Military

action is considered to be ineffective as The UN has little military power

State Sovereignty:

Considered by many to be the main obstacle of effective international human rights

States usually refuse to relinquish their sovereignty for political, economic, religious
and cultural reasons

An Example of State Sovereignty and International Human Rights Conflicting:

In 1999, The UN stated that publicly funded Catholic schools in Canada were
discriminatory

The Government of Canada disregarded The UN and did not stop funding Catholic
public schools

This is an example of how easy it is for a state to disregard groups promoting

international human rights