Most people associate the United Nations with its peace-keeping role, seeing it as the body that tries - and often fails - to deal with problems such as those that have arisen in Kosovo. What they are aware of is the UN’s political role.
Generally speaking, people are much less aware of the UN’s role in setting international human rights standards and monitoring governments’ adherence to them.
Indeed, if you were to ask people in Britain or Ireland what their rights are under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, very few of them would even have heard of the Declaration, let alone be aware of their rights.
Yet human rights are extremely important. Everyone has the right to live their life free from torture, to receive a fair trial if they are accused of a crime, to practice their religion, to enjoy family life, and to exercise their rights free from racial or other forms of discrimination. Anyone whose human rights have been denied knows that without needing to study international human rights law. At a more general level, human rights matter because they represent guarantees by governments to those they govern that the state will not abuse its power and will respect people’s rights and recognise their dignity as human beings.
However, because people have little knowledge of what their human rights are, they do not know how to enforce their rights if things go wrong. The UN has a whole array of mechanisms for helping people to obtain their rights and redress their wrongs, but lawyers, advice agencies, and voluntary and community groups usually know very little about them.
This guide sets out to change all that. It explains where to find out about human rights, how the UN human rights machinery works, and how to make effective use of it.
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is particularly pleased to be
associated with the production and dissemination of the third edition of
this unique guide. The Commission hopes it will be widely distributed so
that individuals and groups around the world will be able to make much more effective use of the numerous United Nations mechanisms for protecting human rights.
The guide has drawn on the experience of many individuals who have been kind enough to share their knowledge. Future editions will benefit greatly from comments from readers, and especially users, which should be sent to:
Jane Winter Professor Brice Dickson
Director Chief Commissioner
British Irish RIGHTS WATCH Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
13b Hillgate Place Temple Court
London SW12 9ES 39 North Street
Belfast BT1 1NA