V-b. Studying National Human Rights Systems

A national human rights system is defined here as the array of institutional arrangements through which a national government attempts to carry out its commitments under international human rights law. In trying to understand these systems, one must look both outward and inward. The country is an element of a larger system, but it has a system within it. From the point of view of the international community, especially the United Nations treaty bodies, the concern is with the overall human rights performance of the country.  It doesn't much matter which agency within the country does what, so long as the final "output"--the quality of the human rights performance--is good.

For those responsible for that performance, however, it is important to look inward, to look under the hood and see which parts are working well and which are not, and to find ways to tune up the entire system within so that it works better.

Following the concepts presented in the preceding subsection, the major components of any rights system are the rights, the corresponding obligations and associated implementation mechanisms, and the accountability mechanisms. Anticipating the discussions of these three components in Sections VI, VII, and VII, the following questions can help to focus and organize research on national human rights systems:

RIGHTS

  1. Which of the major international human rights agreements has the country ratified?
  2. What reservations, understandings, and declarations did the country assert upon ratifying these agreements?  Why did it make these "RUDs"?
  3. What official explanation has the country offered for not ratifying some of the international agreements?  What other explanations have been suggested?
  4. What commitments are expressed in the country's constitution with regard to human rights?
  5. Does national law relating to food and nutrition set out specific rights for the people?
  6. Have the rights been adapted into specific, explicitly acknowledged entitlements?
  7. Do the people know their rights?
  8. Has the country acted to assure that its national legislation conforms with its obligations under the international human rights agreement it has ratified?
  9. Apart from legislation, what other means has the government used to articulate its policy with regard to human rights, e.g., in national development plans, policy papers, speeches, etc.?
  10. What is the situation on these dimensions specifically with regard to the human right to food and nutrition?

OBLIGATIONS

  1. Has the government acknowledged its obligations to assure the realization of particular human rights?  Is this understanding spelled out in the law or in particular policy documents?
  2. Does the government acknowledge that it has various forms of obligations: to respect, to protect, to facilitate, and to provide for the realization of human rights?
  3. How clear are the commitments with regard to the human right to food and nutrition?
  4. Which agencies of the government have specific responsibility to carry out the government's obligations?
  5. Are the employees of these agencies fully aware of the relevant human rights and the corresponding obligations that their agencies are supposed to carry out?
  6. Do those employees grasp their role in their nation's human rights system?
  7. Are they aware that their agencies may be held accountable in their national human rights system?
  8. Has the government set out a plan of action for assuring the realization of human rights generally, and food and nutrition rights in particular?
  9. Has the government prepared a National Program of Action as called for at the World Summit for Children in 1990?  What has been done with it? Does it acknowledge particular rights, and the corresponding obligations of government?
  10. Has the government prepared a National Plan of Action for Nutrition as called for at the International Conference on Nutrition of 1992?  What has been done with it? Does it acknowledge particular rights, and the corresponding obligations of government?

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS

  1. What mechanisms are there to assure that the government carries out its obligations to assure the realization of human rights?
  2. How responsive is the government to the United Nations agencies responsible for human rights, including the treaty bodies and the High Commissioner for Human Rights?
  3. Are there any agencies in government, apart from those primarily responsible for carrying out the obligations (the response mechanisms) monitoring the government's human rights performance and calling for corrective action when it is needed (e.g., the judiciary, ombudsmen)?
  4. Does the country have a national Human Rights Commission?  When was it created? What is its mandate? How powerful is it? How does it function? How effective is it?
  5. What role do nongovernmental organizations within the country play in monitoring the government's human rights performance?
  6. Do any outside nongovernmental organizations play a significant role in monitoring the government's human rights performance?
  7. Are there legal or other (e.g., administrative, judicial) remedies for people who feel their rights have been violated?
  8. Do the people know their rights?
  9. Do they know what they can do about it if they feel their rights have been violated?
  10. How have the accountability mechanisms functioned specifically with regard to the human right to food and nutrition?

These questions are only suggestive.  Many would be difficult to answer as a practical matter, but they help to convey an understanding of the issues.

Analyses of national human rights systems may be about national human rights systems taken as a whole, or they could focus on specific themes such as the human right to food and nutrition:  what entitlements, commitments, implementation mechanisms, and accountability mechanisms are in place relating to this particular issue?  In all such specialized studies it will be important to understand the particulars in the context of the nation's human rights system seen as a whole.

Many sources of information about human rights in particular countries focus on assessing performance; that is, gauging the extent to which particular human rights are realized. While that is certainly important information, it does not say much about the structure and operations of the human rights system itself. One of the best sources is reports provided by national governments to the United Nations treaty bodies.  Many of them can be accessed through the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Of course these national reports should be viewed with skepticism because governments generally try to put their situations into the best possible light. Their reports should be cross-checked and compared with other sources, especially with the views of critics of the government's human rights performance.

Critics' accounts should be viewed with just as much skepticism. They too have particular positions they are interested in advancing. Researchers should consult a broad variety of sources. The characterizations of countries' performance are always subject to contestation, and all assessments must be regarded as tentative and open to review. However, while assessments of performance may be sharply contested, descriptive accounts of a country's human rights system are less likely to be controversial.

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Section V-b last updated on October 12, 1999