ULUSLARARASI KAMU HUKUKU I

Human rights are characterized by being:

The idea of basic rights originated from the need to protect the individual against the arbitrary use of state power. Human rights in this category are generally referred to as fundamental freedoms. The core element of such rights is universal and consists of freedom, equality, and liberty. 

human rights are characterized by being:
•Inherent in all human beings by virtue of
their being humans;
• Inalienable;
• Equally applicable to all

The natural law theory led to the natural rights theory, which is most closely associated with the modern concept of human rights. The chief exponent of this theory was John Locke

Under positivist theory, rules of international law are merely rules of positive
morality. According to positivists, the individual has no status in international law.

the sociological approach fails to explain how the rights are interrelated or what the priorities should be; “it does not answer the logical question of how a normative conclusion about rights can be derived empirically from factual premises such as having interests”.

The concept of human rights dates back to antiquity. One can find reference to rights in many national documents. The first reference of personal liberties is found in the Magna Carta of 1215 in England

At the regional level, such conventions have been adopted:
• the European Convention on Human Rights, 1950,
• the European Social Charter, 1961,
• the American Convention on Human Rights, 1969,
• the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples’ Rights, 1981,
• the Revised Arab Charter on Human Rights, 2004.

The Human Rights Council is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly. Unlike the CHR, which was a subsidiary body of the ECOSOC and reporting to the ECOSOC, the Human Rights Council reports to the General Assembly. “The Council is made of 47 Member States, which are elected by the members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot

The Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, consisting of 18 independent members with legal or diplomatic background, exists under the 1966 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Unlike the committees under the two human rights Covenants, the expenses of the Committee under the CERD are borne by the states parties to the Convention

Derogation: Lessening or restriction of the authority, strength, or power of a law, right, or obligation. Specifically in the European Convention on Human Rights, a provision that enables a signatory state to avoid the obligations of some but not all of the substantive provisions of the rest of the Convention (Martin, 2003: 146).

The Council of Europe is an organization of European countries. It was founded in 1949 by ten West European countries. Currently it has 47 members