ADVICE

Here are some Human Rights Questions and Answers:

WHAT RIGHTS DOES THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS PROTECT?

Like the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights begins by stating that all peoples have the right to self-determination and may freely dispose of their own natural wealth and resource. Article 2 of the Covenant provides that each State Party shall ensure the rights recognized in the Covenant without discrimination to all individuals within its territory.

The Covenant guarantees to everyone the right to life. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence to death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; no one shall be held in slavery; no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. Any one arrested shall be informed, at the time of the arrest, of the reasons for the arrest, and anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a Judge or other legally authorized person; anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.

The Covenant also guarantees that all persons deprived of their liberty should be treated with humanity and that no one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation.

The Covenant provides for liberty of movement – including the right to leave a country – and freedom to choose a residence. It places limitations upon the expulsion of aliens lawfully in the territory of a State Party. Provisions are made for the equality of all persons before the courts and for guarantees in criminal legislation is prohibited and the right of every to recognition as a person before the law is guaranteed. Arbitrary or unlawful interference with an individual’s privacy, family, home or correspondence is prohibited.

In addition, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and to freedom of expression – including the right to seek, received or impart information – are recognized and the Covenant provides for the prohibition by law of any propaganda for war or any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes an incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. The right of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association are recognized.

The right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to found a family, and the principle of equality of rights and responsibilities of spouses during marriage and at its dissolution are also recognized.

The right of every child, without discrimination, to necessary measures of protection of the part of his family, society and the State, is recognized, as is the child’s rights to acquire a nationality.

The right of every citizen to take part in the conduct of public affairs, to vote and to be elected, and to have access, on general terms of equality, to public services in his country are recognized. All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to equally protection, of such ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities as may exist in States Parties to the Covenant are called for.

The Covenant obliges each country which is a party to it to ensure that should someone’s rights be violated, he or she will be given an effective remedy within that country.