FIFTY YEARS OF ADVOCATING HUMAN R

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14 October 1998 

NGOs: FIFTY YEARS OF ADVOCATING HUMAN RIGHTS 

By William Korey (2900)

(The following article by author William Korey appears in the U.S.
Information Agency's Electronic Journal titled: "Free and Equal: The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 50," posted on the overseas
home page October 14. It can be viewed at
www.usia.gov/journals/itdhr/1098/ijde/ijde1098.htm. Korey examines the
significant role played by nongovernmental organizations in the growth
of the international human rights movement during the past 50 years.
Korey is the author of numerous books on human rights law and history,
including the recently published NGOs AND THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS: A "CURIOUS GRAPEVINE.")

The phrase "human rights" rarely appeared in the media, textbooks, or
diplomatic discourse 50 years ago. Today, however, it occupies a
critical place in the public arena. Much of the reason for this can be
attributed to nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs. Whether they are
exhorting governments and the United Nations machinery or mobilizing
support for their goals through the media and local grass-roots
organizations, NGOs have been a major force in the human rights
movement throughout the world over the last half century.

Much of the impetus for the NGO human rights movement was a result of
World War II and the 50 million deaths that were its legacy. NGOs
played a major role, particularly in urging the incorporation of human
rights provisions into the charter for the then newly created United
Nations.

Early proposals for the UN Charter had contained only a passing
reference to human rights. The NGO community, both within the United
States and internationally, led the drive to redress this. For
example, the Pan-American Human Rights conference in Mexico City
"consolidated Latin American determination to see human rights
included in the charter," according to the Eleanor and Franklin
Roosevelt Institute in New York.

In the United States, three NGOs took the lead in advocating the
inclusion of human rights provisions in the charter: the American
Jewish Committee, the Federal (later National) Council of Churches,
and the Commission to Study the Organization of Peace. In May 1945,
after winning the support of a broad range of civic organizations, the
spokesperson for the three persuaded U.S. Secretary of State Edward
Stettinius of the importance of emphasizing human rights in the
charter; without that, the new UN might suffer the same fate as the
League of Nations and be rejected by the U.S. Senate.

Stettinius then persuaded U.S. allies to support the idea at the
convention in San Francisco that was already drafting plans for the
UN's creation. As a result, human rights became a central feature of
the UN Charter. Seven of its provisions relate specifically to human
rights, and one led to the creation of a UN Commission on Human
Rights.

Drafting of the Universal Declaration

The first task of the Commission on Human Rights, under the exemplary
leadership of former U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, was to draft
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After nearly two years'
work, the Universal Declaration was formally adopted by the UN General
Assembly on December 10, 1948, a day now celebrated throughout the
world as Human Rights Day.

The Declaration's 30 articles cover civil and political rights, as
well as economic, social and cultural rights. Overall, they constitute
an ambitious and far-reaching program for governments throughout the
world, for they seek to place individual human freedom and well-being
at the forefront of international activity.

Rene Cassin of France, a leading figure in drafting the Universal
Declaration, called it "an authoritative interpretation of the UN
Charter." To Burma's U Thant, UN Secretary-General in the 1960s, the
Declaration was "the Magna Carta of mankind."

One of the key figures in the commission's early years was Lebanon's
Charles Malik, who credited NGOs with playing a strong role in helping
to draft the Universal Declaration by acting as "unofficial advisers
to the various delegations, supplying them with streams of ideas and
suggestions." Cassin would later stress the crucial role NGOs had
played in publicizing the Universal Declaration. They were, he said,
"the first to make the principles of the Declaration widely known"
through brochures, periodicals, and articles, and at numerous
conferences.
  
The NGOs' goal of a United Nations that would actively pursue actual
human rights violations, however, met with considerable difficulty. As
early as 1947, the UN Commission on Human Rights officially declared
that it would not act on formal human rights complaints. Despite
approving the Universal Declaration, many UN members, particularly
those with totalitarian governments, were anxious to avoid scrutiny.
Indeed, many nations with poor human rights records remain so to this
day.

NGOs continued to pressure the commission to change its approach. But
the power of the Soviet Union and other totalitarian regimes was such
that it took two decades for the commission to agree to examine "gross
violations" of human rights that show a "consistent pattern." Even
then, the procedures it adopted limited effective action, and many
cases of government-sponsored torture, disappearances, and arbitrary
killings were met with silence. NGOs that protested these violations
were warned that they could lose their consultative status at the UN
if they disclosed particulars at UN meetings.

The Upsurge in NGOs

Frustration with the UN led the International League for the Rights of
Man (now the International League for Human Rights) to bypass it
altogether and instead focus attention on human rights violations
through published studies and the media. The League was thus one of
the earliest NGOs to practice the "shaming" of totalitarian regimes,
military dictatorships, and even democratic societies.

One of the most effective human rights NGOs has been Amnesty
International, which was formed in London in 1961. Its research
department is unmatched in accumulating data on human rights
violations. Paralleling the shaming technique, Amnesty began adopting
victims of state repression as "prisoners of conscience." In 1974,
Amnesty disclosed that 61 regimes engaged in torture, and its reports
spelled out the horrors that were perpetrated. Revelations about
military repression in Latin America were especially effective and
resulted in the organization's being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
1977.

International exposure has its limitations, however, for there are
some regimes too brutal to be shamed. The answer to this problem, the
NGO community believed, was international mechanisms that would act
upon the information they provided.
  
While the NGOs continued to advocate the creation of such mechanisms,
the Helsinki Final Act was adopted by the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, the European neutral and nonaligned nations, and the
Warsaw Pact on August 1, 1975. One of the key events in the evolution
of the international human rights system, the Helsinki Accords
demanded that its signatories adhere to "human rights and fundamental
freedoms" (principle 7). Follow-up fora in Belgrade, Madrid, and
Vienna allowed the airing of ideas that would challenge Soviet
totalitarian rule and ultimately contribute to the collapse of the
Communist empire.

In May 1976, the Moscow Helsinki Group was formed by Yuri Orlov. This
group was enormously important in preparing detailed documents on
Soviet human rights violations that the West would use at various
Helsinki meetings and in its international broadcasts to Eastern
Europe.

Another NGO oriented to the Helsinki process was Poland's Committee of
Workers Defense (KOR). Established in September 1976, the committee
became the framework from which the Solidarity movement emerged. The
Polish initiative was followed by the creation of Charter 77, headed
by Vaclav Havel, in January 1977.

Another NGO of great importance to Eastern Europe was Helsinki Watch,
formed the following year. Director Jeri Laber traveled frequently to
Prague and Warsaw, met with Helsinki activists, and served as a
conduit for information about them, which was then effectively
publicized in the West. When Vaclav Havel paid his first visit to the
United States after the Prague revolution, he insisted upon visiting
the headquarters of Helsinki Watch in New York, where he said:
"Perhaps without you our revolution would not be."

Like their counterparts in Eastern Europe, activists in Africa and
Asia, struggling to free their countries from colonial domination,
took heart from the message of the Universal Declaration.

So too, did the legions of human rights defenders and the hundreds of
NGOs across the globe that helped bring an end to apartheid in South
Africa. Indeed, the role that the United Nations played alongside
human rights organizations in the struggle to end apartheid is one of
the best examples of the force the international community can bring
to bear in defense of fundamental human rights.

South African President Nelson Mandela acknowledged as much when he
addressed the UN General Assembly in September 1998: "For those who
had to fight for their emancipation, such as ourselves, who, with your
help, had to free ourselves from the criminal apartheid system, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights served as the vindication of the
justice of our cause."

Support from the United States

The growth and power of the NGO movement and its involvement in human
rights was reflected in U.S. policies as well. In his inaugural speech
in January 1977, President Jimmy Carter stressed that the country's
"commitment to human rights must be absolute." Acting on the basis of
congressional legislation, Carter went on to establish a bureau of
human rights within the State Department and to issue the first
country reports on human rights conditions throughout the world. The
first reports, in 1977, covered only countries receiving U.S. aid,
then numbering 82; the reports for 1997 covered 184 countries.

Carter also encouraged frequent dialogue between the U.S. government
and the human rights organizations. Such access helped bring the
administration critical information that could be used to pressure
governments in Latin America and the Soviet orbit.

This emphasis on human rights "saved thousands and thousands of
lives," according to Argentine newspaper editor Jacobo Timerman. An
active critic of the Argentine military's "dirty war," his release
from house arrest owed much to the pressure NGOs like B'nai B'rith, as
well as the U.S. government, were able to exert.

The Carter administration also worked to support the right of NGOs to
participate more fully in the United Nations. Their combined efforts
began to pay dividends in 1980, when the Commission on Human Rights
voted to create a Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances. This was followed two years later by the creation of a
Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary and Extrajudicial Killings. Another
special rapporteur was created to investigate incidents of
government-backed torture in 1985.
  
Soon, special rapporteurs were also established for religious
intolerance, racism, and violence against women, as well as to
investigate particularly notorious abuser regimes like Iran, Iraq,
Burma, Cuba, and Sudan. These landmark developments stemmed largely
from NGO initiatives. Nongovernmental organizations also played an
important role in making these procedures more effective, furnishing
working groups and special rapporteurs the information they needed --
information governments often refused to provide. In fact, even some
members of the Commission on Human Rights continue to deny special
rapporteurs permission to visit their countries, an act of defiance
the United Nations remains powerless to overturn.

Another aspect of the international human rights system, the various
human rights covenants and conventions, also owes much to NGOs. The
two most important of these are the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social, and Cultural Rights. These have the force of international
treaties and were originally conceived to give legally binding status
to the Universal Declaration.

The Covenent on Civil and Political Rights came into force in 1976,
although it was not ratified by the United States until early in the
Clinton administration. A key feature of the covenant is that parties
to it must report on their compliance to the Human Rights Committee, a
body composed of experts elected by the ratifying states. During the
last two decades, the committee has taken on considerable authority
and become a major vehicle for NGO input. The Lawyers Committee for
Human Rights, in particular, has provided the committee with essential
documentation, along with advice concerning specific violations by
contracting states.

Several other UN human rights conventions pressed by NGOs have also
come into force. These include the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981), the Convention
Against Torture (1987), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(1990). Like the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, these
conventions include an implementing body to which NGOs provide
essential material aimed at bringing about compliance with treaty
provisions.

The World Conference on Human Rights

One of the most important milestones in advancing human rights through
the United Nations system occurred at the World Conference on Human
Rights, held in Vienna, Austria, in June 1993. Here, as previously,
NGOs played a crucial role, organizing an effective worldwide campaign
to ensure their participation. At the same time, they won the active
support of the Clinton administration, then in its first months. In
fact, the U.S. delegation at Vienna included members of the American
NGO community as well as government officials, just as U.S.
delegations to other international fora have done for several years.

Working together and with like-minded delegations from other nations,
the NGOs and governments were able to achieve a number of major
breakthroughs at Vienna, including winning unanimous endorsement for
the creation of a UN high commissioner for human rights and a
declaration reaffirming the universal nature of human rights. The
office of the high commissioner, now held by Mary Robinson, is charged
with promoting human rights within the UN system as well as defending
rights in the international arena.

The emergence of a whole new generation of NGOs from Asia, Latin
America, and Africa at the Vienna Conference, a process that had been
building for several years, marked a new factor in the international
human rights system; fully 3,000 NGOs would be registered by the time
the conference convened. Particularly notable was the preparatory
meeting in Bangkok, at which Asian NGOs adopted a declaration
insisting that international human rights standards be fulfilled and
calling for a high commissioner for human rights.

The Vienna Conference also focused international attention on women's
rights and their integral place in human rights in general. Its strong
support for women's rights laid the groundwork for the historic Fourth
World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and the acknowledgment
that women's groups are gaining throughout the world today.

For years, the horrendous character of 20th century abuses had
prompted NGOs, especially Human Rights Watch, to emphasize the need
for accountability with respect to both justice and historical truth.
By the time of the Vienna Conference, the war in Bosnia had convinced
many that a new mechanism was needed to hold perpetrators accountable
for the most egregious human rights abuses, such as genocide and
crimes against humanity.

Thus, the UN Security Council created the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1993. In support of this, Human
Rights Watch provided the tribunal with documentation that its chief
prosecutor, South Africa's Richard Goldstone, considered "invaluable."
Another NGO, Physicians for Human Rights, was lauded by the tribunal
for its assistance in the forensic examination of exhumed bodies.
European NGOs extended crucial psychological and welfare assistance
for witnesses.

The following year, the UN created a similar tribunal for Rwanda, with
its operating arm in Arusha, Tanzania. Although the U.S. government
and the NGO community have had their share of disagreements over the
years, both sides have attached great importance to the work of the
two tribunals and the principles of human rights accountability.
Indeed, the United States has supplied the lion's share of the funds
to sustain them.

The Global NGO Movement

As the 20th century ends, the involvement of nongovernmental
organizations in every aspect of human rights has grown
extraordinarily. Today there are human rights activists and
organizations in virtually every country of the world. Some are
risking their lives and livelihoods for the sake of free speech,
democracy, and religious and racial tolerance. Others are speaking out
against torture, arbitrary imprisonment, and contemporary forms of
slavery. Still others are working to influence international financial
institutions, promote development, limit child labor, ban landmines,
and eliminate trafficking in women and girls.

The world is still far from eliminating even the grossest human rights
violations, and the principles detailed in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights are far from being realized in much of the world. But
the strength and vigor of the international human rights movement
yields at least the hope that the next century will result in greater
progress. And one should always be mindful of the victories already
won, not least in the corners of the human mind.

In 1948, when the Universal Declaration was adopted, vast numbers of
people believed in autocratic ideologies, colonialism was still
prevalent, racism endemic, and sexism barely challenged. That all
these evils are now questioned by increasing numbers of people around
the world is testimony to how far we all have come.

(Note to Posts: The complete USIA Electronic Journal commemorating the
50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is
available on the USIA Home Page. Posts which would like a special
print version should see USIA Cable 17812.)