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November 3, 2002
Review: Human rights: old and new
IN HUMAN rights, Zafarullah Khan covers wide ground. As he asserts in the preface, the book presents “a broad analysis of human rights concepts, processes, institutions and the human rights system”. His purpose in drawing up this book is to offer a handbook on the subject, and this he proceeds to do quite well.
The concept of rights of individuals and peoples can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome. However, the term ‘human rights’ became universally recognized only after the second world war, and now it has become an integral part of the modern lexicon. This is probably because it fulfils some dire needs —it places a limit on the actions of governments and it offers individuals and groups the right to seek redress.
With the onset of the human rights movement, heated debates ensued between upholders of cultural relativism as opposed to claimants of universalism of rights. The international human rights instruments are on the universalistic side of the debate, maintaining “everyone has the right to liberty”, “to equal protection”, etc. The relativists argue that this will “destroy the diversity of cultures” leading to “homogenization” of the world. Again, the Western democracies accuse the third world and former members of the socialist bloc of ignoring civil and political rights, while the latter retort that the West pays too little attention to economic and social rights.
There is some truth in all this. The chief concern of the UN enforcement system, i.e. the UN Commission of Human Rights, is with civil and political rights rather than economic and social rights.
The UN, we learn, receives some 300,000 complaints per year. However, as Khan notes, the UN Commission “is designed to move extremely slowly” as the process is tedious and lengthy. There are also other “serious gaps” in the Commission’s ability to respond to violations of human rights. To some extent this has been redressed by developing the “thematic mechanism” which focuses on violations relating to a theme — such as religious intolerance, the use of mercenaries — rather than a particular country.
In the broader human rights movement, the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have an important role to play. They “bring out the facts” and call governments to account for policies and practices that disregard human rights. The INGOs (international non-governmental organizations) focus on the preparation of reports on country situations. They also offer a broader analysis of the situation.
The UN relies heavily on NGOs for information so as to heighten pressures on “delinquent” states; and NGOs now have the right to lobby. Joint advocacy campaigns by NGOs have had fruitful results because of the NGO’s capacity to raise awareness. This was observed for instance, in the campaign to ban landmines and against the sexual exploitation of children. However, Khan is of the view that the consultative arrangement with the UN is “overloaded and unsustainable”.
Over time, the Communist threat and the people’s dire economic straits — with one billion people living in absolute poverty -convinced the world to work for a covenant on economic, social and cultural rights and translate these into binding treaty obligations. The states are now required to submit a report on the measures adopted, their progress and the difficulties encountered in fulfilling their obligations. With regard to social and economic rights, the ILO has achieved “an impressive record”.
Human rights pertaining to special interests such as women empowerment, modern-day slavery and a relatively new concept, the right to development, should interest and educate the readers .
Women’s rights have received a lot of publicity but slavery in various forms has not received much attention. In today’s society, there is no “open slavery” but those who work both in the rural fields, as bonded workers, and in the urban sweat factories are slaves of a kind. “Servile marriage” is yet another form of slavery where the woman is denied the right to refuse a marriage; she is “transferred” to another person when her value is paid; or at the death of her husband, she is “inherited” by yet another person.
In this regard state parties are required to prescribe “suitable” minimum ages of marriage and to ensure that the consent of both parties to marriage is freely expressed in the presence of competent civil or religious authority, and other such protective measures.
However, Khan points out that “many states” have not yet implemented this provision of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ever since the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Tehran in 1968, the relationship between human rights and development has become almost a central issue in the international discourse on rights. It has spurred debate, one question being asked is: “Do the economic needs and political rights represent a basic contradiction?”
Khan believes that this is a “wrong question” to ask; instead, one should note the “extensive interconnection” between the enjoyment of political rights and the fulfilment of economic needs. He admits that some authoritarian states such as Singapore, South Korea and China have had a faster rate of economic growth than other less authoritarian states, but one should not be misled as “the overall picture is much more complex”.
The upholders of the ‘right to development’ stress on the obligation of developed countries to assist poor countries. However, Khan states that it is difficult to sustain the argument that this is a “legally binding” obligation. One positive change is that “aid conditionalities based on human rights” have become common place.
Human rights is a useful reference book that will particularly interest students of law and human rights, journalists and writers. The textbookish presentation will not appeal to many general readers; however this should not detract from the value of the book.
Human rights
By Zafrullah Khan
Pakistan Law House, GPO 90, Pakistan Chowk, Karachi-74200 Tel: 021-221 2455.
Email: pak_law_house@hotmail.com
334pp. Rs400
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