Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Santa Clara Law Review

Abstract

The introduction by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1978 of a new procedure for responding to violations of human rights has been praised as "one of the organization's major achievements" and as being "exemplary within the system of international organizations."' Decision 3.3 was adopted by consensus by the UNESCO Executive Board, following an extensive examination of the procedures used by other international organizations and of the existing UNESCO procedure for the consideration of communications. Under the procedure, individuals, groups, non-governmental organizations, and possibly states, are entitled to petition UNESCO concerning alleged violations of certain human rights, provided that the authors of these communications are either themselves the victims of the violations or consider that they have reliable knowledge thereof. The procedure applies both to "cases," which concern individual and specific violations of human rights, and to "questions," which involve massive, systematic, or flagrant violations of human rights committed de jure or de facto by a state, or resulting from an accumulation of individual cases forming a consistent pattern. The UNESCO procedure is of particular interest because it seeks to remedy some of the shortcomings which have caused comparable procedures within the United Nations to be relatively ineffective to date. This article briefly notes the broader role of UNESCO in the promotion and protection of human rights, examines in some detail the new communications procedure and the way in which it might operate, and draws conclusions as to the problems associated with the procedure and its prospects for success.

First Page

665

Volume

20

Publication Date

1980

Download

Share

COinS