Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I International Criminology
- Part II Law, Punishment, and Crime Control Philosophies of the World
- Part III Transnational Crime
- Part IV Organized Crime and Terrorism
- Part V International crime
- Part VI Delivering International Justice
- 44 The Role of the United Nations
- 45 Treaties and International Law
- 46 International Criminal Tribunals and Hybrid Courts
- 47 The International Criminal Court
- 48 The ICC and the Darfur Investigation
- 49 Victims’ Rights in the International Criminal Court (ICC)
- 50 Nongovernmental Organizations and International Criminal Justice
- 51 Global and Regional Human Rights Commissions
- 52 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa
- 53 The Guatemalan Truth Commission
- Part VII International Cooperation and Criminal Justice
- Part VIII International Research and Crime Statistics
- Part IX International research resources
- World Map
- Index
- References
51 - Global and Regional Human Rights Commissions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2014
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Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I International Criminology
- Part II Law, Punishment, and Crime Control Philosophies of the World
- Part III Transnational Crime
- Part IV Organized Crime and Terrorism
- Part V International crime
- Part VI Delivering International Justice
- 44 The Role of the United Nations
- 45 Treaties and International Law
- 46 International Criminal Tribunals and Hybrid Courts
- 47 The International Criminal Court
- 48 The ICC and the Darfur Investigation
- 49 Victims’ Rights in the International Criminal Court (ICC)
- 50 Nongovernmental Organizations and International Criminal Justice
- 51 Global and Regional Human Rights Commissions
- 52 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa
- 53 The Guatemalan Truth Commission
- Part VII International Cooperation and Criminal Justice
- Part VIII International Research and Crime Statistics
- Part IX International research resources
- World Map
- Index
- References
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Aspiring to promote respect for human rights as expressed in the U.N. Charter of 1945, the United Nations created the U.N. Commission on Human Rights – now the Human Rights Council. Regional organizations – the Organization of American States (OAS), the Council of Europe, and the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) – have founded similar quasijudicial entities that seek to provide address human rights violations in their respective parts of the world (Steiner, Alston, & Goodman, 2007). This chapter presents a brief overview of global and regional human rights commissions, their evolution, shortcomings, and achievements. It focuses on commissions that function as standing human rights entities of the United Nations or other regional authorities. It does not discuss commissions established for specific purposes, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.
THE UNITED NATIONS: FROM COMMISSION TO HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Pursuant to Article 68 of the U.N. Charter requiring that the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) create “commissions in economic and social fields and for the promotion of human rights,” the United Nations Commission on Human Rights was established in 1946 as a “charter-based” or “non-treaty-based” human rights mechanism. By 1948, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights produced the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, adopted that same year by the U.N. General Assembly.
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- International Crime and Justice , pp. 386 - 392Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
References
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