...So I had a go at answering your questions!
Answer:
"Australia’s obligations under international human rights law
are found in treaties (that is, binding agreements entered into between States)
and customary international law (that is, rules that are developed through the
practice of States and recognised as binding on them). International human
rights law requires a State to ‘respect, protect and fulfil’ the human rights
of those within its jurisdiction.
Australia adopts its treaty obligations in a two-step
process—signature and ratification. By signing a treaty, Australia signals its
‘in-principle’ commitment but does not become bound by the treaty.[2] When it approves a treaty,
it becomes a ‘State party’ and undertakes, as a matter of international law, to
observe the rights and obligations expressed in the treaty. The treaty will
not, however, automatically become part of Australian domestic law. For this to
occur, the provisions of the treaty must be implemented domestically through
legislation. In practice, not all of Australia’s international treaty
obligations have been incorporated in domestic law.
As a matter of international law, the division of
federal–state responsibilities cannot be used as an excuse for failure to
comply with an international obligation. Extensive federal–state consultations are
usually required to ensure that Australia can comply with its international
legal obligations. This can involve enacting, amending or repealing federal or
state or territory legislation to implement obligations or remove impediments
to the enjoyment of particular rights and freedoms."
Answer:
"The Human Rights Commission produced two major documents: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Both became international law in 1976. Together with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these two covenants comprise what is known as the “International Bill of Human Rights.”
The ICCPR focuses on issues such as the right to life, freedom of speech, religion and voting. The ICESCR focuses on food, education, health and shelter. Both covenants proclaim these rights for all people and forbid discrimination."
Answer:
"7 of the 43 countries have made efforts to promote birth registration.
The right to a name and nationality is one of the most fundamental human rights. But millions of children spend much of their lives without this legal identity and the benefits and protections it affords.
Children who are not registered do not officially exist. On an individual level, this can complicate enrolment in school and expose them to illegal adoption, trafficking, exploitation as cheap labour, or involvement in prostitution and criminal activities. Lack of a complete registration system means that government, not knowing the true number of its citizens, is hampered in planning for their needs.
Some governments are now giving the matter attention. In Ecuador, where an estimated 1 in 10 children under the age of 12 are not legally registered, the Government's Civil Registry has issued identity papers to a total of 322,600 children between 1990 and 1995. To ensure that this is not a once-only effort, civil registration procedures have been simplified and the Government has mounted a publicity campaign to stress the importance of a legal identity for children.
The right to a name and nationality is enshrined in the Convention.
New attempts to promote birth registration are also being made in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, and the Philippines, while Bolivia's Civil Registry recently issued new identity documents for 50,000 urban children under the age of 16.
For those children whose births are registered, the Convention seeks to end the practice, common in both industrialized and developing countries, of indicating on birth certificates whether the child was born out of wedlock (leading to possible legal and social discrimination). The Governments of Lebanon and the Philippines recently eliminated any reference to the marital status of a child's parents on identity papers."
Answer:
"All citizens have the right to understand for whom and what they are voting when they cast their ballots. This is why Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act requires jurisdictions with significant minority-language populations to print voting materials in both English and other needed languages. Over the years, this part of the VRA has served people like my grandparents well."
Answer:
| The UDHR |
Answer:
Remember when I first asked how you knew about certain rights from watching TV and how you felt about the certain issues they portrayed? I believed most were familiar with World Vision which highlights poverty and injustice in third world countries. This would make people aware of the rights being violated and what we can do to help them. Other campaigns we may be aware of include Amnesty International and Oxfam Australia. People who are familiar with refugees and asylum seekers issues on the news are also in touch with human rights issues. You can find a list of Australian Human Rights Organisations and Resources here.
Answer:
"A complex architecture has arisen in the United Nations to deal with human rights issues. Some parts of this architecture were established by the UN Charter, such as the Commission on Human Rights, which was recently replaced by the Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Committee, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and General Assembly also have significant responsibilities related to human rights.
The Human Rights Council
The principal UN Charter Body responsible for human rights is the Human Rights Council (HRC). The General Assembly established the HRC in 2006, in the hope that it would be more efficient and effective than its predecessor, the Human Rights Commission. Forty-seven UN member states sit on the HRC. One of its main purposes is to review the human rights record of every UN member state once every four years and to make recommendations for improvement. Australia is not currently a member of the Human Rights Council.
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
The Human Rights Commitee
The Human Rights Committee was established to monitor compliance of the ICCPR in states that are party to the agreement (have ratified and adopted the ICCPR in their domestic law). It consists of 18 “independent experts who are persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights.” Participating governments are required to file reports every five years that detail the state of civil and political rights in their countries, and the Committee meets three times a year to review these reports and issue recommendations based on their findings to the UN General Assembly (United Nations, Introduction to the Human Rights Committee, n.d.)."
