Accountability for human rights abuses : taking the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of human rights seriously : conference papers

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), on which the modern international human rights system is founded, makes no distinction between different categories of rights. Indeed, the vision of the UDHR is one of universal and integrated protection of all human rights. Article 28 articulates this vision, stating unequivocally that '[e]veryone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized'. The 1993 Vienna Declaration affirms the principle that all human rights are 'universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated'. The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Charter) is explicitly based on the principles of universality and indivisibility, recognising that 'the satisfaction of economic, social and cultural rights is a guarantee for the enjoyment of civil and political rights'. However, while the vast majority of states have endorsed both the UDHR and the Vienna Declaration, and most are party to both the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the weak implementation of social and economic rights remains problematic in all human rights systems, international, regional and national. In spite of overt commitments to universality and indivisibility, the application of these principles is not widely reflected in practice. And while there are good examples of the use of arguments invoking the universality and indivisibility of human rights in order to extend protection of all rights, this approach is not sufficiently well-developed or exploited.