Abstract
Human rights are the basic rights inherent in every human being. It is necessary that no person is deprived of this arbitrarily. International Organisations play a major role in protecting and promoting human rights through cooperation, dispute resolution and also influencing global norms and policies. UN provides for mechanisms for peaceful settlement of disputes and works with other international and regional organisations for the protection and preservation of human rights. This paper focuses on the origin of human rights. This paper delves into the history behind the founding the international organisations. This paper focuses on the role of United Nations (UN) as an important international organisation in developing human rights across the globe. It also examines the role of various bodies within the UN such as International Court of Justice (ICJ), UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council and other treaty bodies in the implementation of human rights. This paper examines how these bodies of UN investigate into the breaches of human rights in the member states. This paper also discusses various challenges of the UN and proposes for various reforms to improve the functioning of these bodies.
Key words: International organisation, human rights, International Court of Justice, UN Treaty Body.
1.1Origin of human rights
In the earlier period only, state was given more importance and an individual had no identity of his own. However later with the growth and development of society rights of individual attained great significance. Human rights have become a reality since the establishment of UN in 1945. The expression “human rights” denotes all those rights which are inherent in our nature and without which we cannot live as human beings[1].Human rights are essential for individual to develop their personality, their human qualities, their intelligence, talent and conscience.This in fact shows the necessity of agencies and bodies to preserve and protect human rights as they are most important for the human survival.
The Treaty of Versailles which was concluded in 1919 after the First World War established League of Nations[2]. The League of Nations undertook to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all other nation-states and undertook to the disuse or threat of military force as a means of resolving international conflicts.
The Fourteen Points which was enunciated by the then US President Woodrow Wilson in 1918 led to the transformation of world politics. It was put forward that the affairs between nations should be conducted in the open, on the basis of sovereignty, self-determination and the disuse of military force to settle disputes[3].
The Second World War witnessed the establishment of United Nations by the joint effort of the US and UK. The Atlantic Charter concluded in 1941 declared that there would be no territorial enlargement as a result of war[4]. The post war international relations would be cordial and disputes between states can be resolved through peaceful negotiation and not through threat or force. The Atlantic Charter became the foundation for the UN Charter. The UN Charter gave emphasis on peace, security, economic development and human rights.
The UN Charter lays down guiding principles with regard to protection and promotion of human rights. One of the major steps taken by the UN General Assembly is the adoption of UDHR(Universal Declaration of Human Rights) followed by the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) in 1966[5]. These covenants laid down the basic and fundamental rights to be guaranteed to each and every human being which was derived into the Constitutions of several countries across the world including India. The various bodies within the UN play a major role in implementing and protecting human rights.
[1] Dr. H O Agarwal’s International law and Human Rights387(Central Law Agency, 5thedn. 2018)
[2]John Mueller, Changing Attitudes towards War: The impact of the First World War, 21, British Journal of Political Science, 1, 3-4 (1991)
[3]World War I: consequences, https://unacademy.com, (last visited May 14, 2025)
[4] John Mueller, Changing Attitudes towards War: The impact of the First World War, 21, British Journal of Political Science, 1, 3-4 (1991)
[5] Dr. H O Agarwal’s International Law and Human Rights, 406 (Central Law Agency, 5th edn 2018)