Global security, Ireland and the denigration of human rights

International Human Rights Day was on 10 December, but it would be a lie to say we celebrated it. Right now, in Darfur,  Amnesty International is receiving reports of villages where  the men have been killed and young girls have been raped by the Janjaweed militia and then abandoned by their own communities. In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, despair about the future is fuelling violence  while the dire economic situation is trapping an entire population in deep poverty. Similar  comments could be made about Iraq, Chechnya and so many other situations.

The human rights framework  – assembled over the past 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was agreed by all nations in the hope of never repeating the  inhumanity of the second world war – is under sustained attack.  9/11 was not only a dreadful day for the United States, the victims and their families. It also marked a downward spiral in the respect for human rights on a global scale.

It is worth taking a moment to remember the optimism of September 2000 when world leaders adopted the Millenium Development Goals, with human rights as a central  thread. These goals, which were to be achieved by 2015, included addressing poverty, illiteracy, child and maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS.

Instead, thanks to the changed global focus to one of “security”, progress on the development goals has been woefully inadequate.

Yet the analysis that led to those decisions in 2000 was correct. Human rights offer the  best protection against war, terrorism, poverty and discrimination. Development, peace, security and human rights are mutually reinforcing. Freedom  from want is a human right, not merely a matter of compassion. Poverty must be tackled as  a matter of justice and human rights. Fighting poverty is a duty that binds those who govern as surely as their obligation to ensure that all people have the right to freedom of expression and freedom from torture.

Ireland, in the context of our civil and political rights, is a relatively well-protected society. Those rights that are perceived not to cost money, such  as freedom of expression and the right to vote, are well protected by law. But there is a raft of other human rights to which Ireland has bound itself through the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and we have consistently failed to offer these rights the same legal protection. These are also fundamental human rights, and include the rights to education and health, as well as freedom from homelessness and poverty. As we all know, there is  ongoing neglect, inequality and discrimination in all of these areas.

So why is the state so resistant  to giving legal protection to these fundamental rights, even in the face of heavy criticism from UN monitoring bodies? It is because it will cost money to bring everyone to the same starting point; and it would also remove the system of clientelism on which so  much political activity in Ireland is based. Irish society is increasingly aware, however, that having an “in” with a local councillor or TD or other influentials is not the best way to ensure that elderly people in nursing homes, children with  mental-health difficulties, victims of sexual violence, and so many other areas of neglect, will be addressed in accordance with the highest international standards.

One of the political arguments advanced against taking a human rights-based approach  to economic and social issues is that it will simply be a charter to make lawyers richer. There is no need for the courts to be involved in the process if it is a fair process. In Ireland, we have established a range of ombudsman offices whose role it is to adjudicate on the fair and equal  implementation of legislation, while the Mental Health Commission, the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission fill similar roles. None of these offices are major drains on the state's finances, nor are they acting as cash cows for lawyers and all are constituted to ensure that citizens are treated with equality and dignity.

Ensuring legal protection of all fundamental rights for all citizens is what Kofi Annan, the outgoing Secretary-General of the UN, has asked governments to do. That means applying a human rights-based approach to our social and economic policies. As Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said this week, “Better distribution of collective resources and good governance, exemplified by tackling corruption and ensuring the rule of law, are within the reach of every state.”

Sean Love is executive director of Amnesty International (Irish Section)