Poor relations

UNESCO Courier, Oct, 1998 by Emmanuel Abadie

As the gap between rich and poor widens, the have-nots are demanding more respect for economic and social rights, which are often given short shrift

"The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis." The June 1993 United Nations World Conference in Vienna added one more resolution to the long list adopted over the years when it reminded the signatory states of the Universal Declaration of their duty to guarantee economic, social and cultural rights - food, shelter, work, health and education - just as much as civil and political rights - freedom, security and justice. The initiative was critical because economic, social and cultural rights have always been sidelined for historical and ideological reasons.

In the 1950s the debate raged over drafting a covenant that would give the Declaration legal force. Rene Cassin of France favoured a single document, but the Western and Communist blocs were opposed. The Western countries emphasized political fights while the Eastern bloc, backed by several developing nations, gave priority to economic rights.

A compromise was reached in 1966, when two covenants were drawn up - one on civil and political rights, to go into effect immediately, another on economic, social and cultural rights, which would gradually enter into force and has so far been ratified by 137 countries.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stipulates that "each State... undertakes to take steps... to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the fights recognized...." Governments, especially in the developing world, often take advantage of the ambiguous wording to justify their non-observance of the treaty, says Philippe Texier, the French expert on the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights set up in 1985. Most countries ignore it, he adds.

Texier, a legal expert, recommends an optional protocol that, like the one on political rights, would empower the committee to review complaints from individuals or groups. But he admits that "respect for political rights, such as a ban on torture, is easier to verify than, for example, respect for the right to be decently housed."

Committee chairman Philip Alston of Australia says, "it is essential that such a procedure be created in order to provide the opportunity for the development of some jurisprudence relating to economic, social and cultural rights. In the continuing absence of such jurisprudence, the second-class status of those rights will inevitably be maintained."

Maribel Wolf, the United Nations representative of the French non-governmental organization Terre des Hommes, says that "the purpose of being able to process such complaints is not so much to possibly impose sanctions but to have the opportunity to publicly expose violations of economic rights."

"Governments don't like that," she says, and indeed they seem to show scant interest in the proposal. So far only six countries have responded to the draft protocol produced by the committee. Four of them - Cyprus, Syria, Finland and Ecuador - are fairly or very much in favour, while two - Germany and Canada - have expressed doubts.

"Since the governments of the rich countries have abdicated their responsibilities and hidden behind the excuse of the market economy, and elites in the developing countries refuse to redistribute wealth, it's the job of civil society to defend these rights," says Wolf.

She is cheered by Amnesty International's recent though small shift in that direction. Until now the human rights watchdog has primarily focused on individual freedoms. Weary of feeling "looked down upon" by political rights experts, Wolf claims the label "human rights activist" just as strongly as they do.

"We must stop thinking of political rights as an entitlement while economic and social rights are a mere premise or a utopian dream," says Colombian lawyer and human rights expert Alirio Uribe Munoz. The fate of every individual's economic, social and cultural rights depends on it.