In the probably most progressive document concerning collective human rights - the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (visited July 21, 2002) <http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/z1afchar.htm>. (article 20) - the right to self-determination is complemented with the “right to existence” and the further right to liberation “from the bonds of domination”, means for liberation being unrestricted, except for recognition of such “by the international community”. Moreover, the ACHPR declares a right to assistance from the other State Parties in any “liberation struggle against foreign domination”. The right of self-determination under the ICCPR and the ACHPR is absolute and immediate and non-derogable in any circumstances.
There is an opinion, that “self-determination has been the single most powerful legal concept shaping the world since the World War II”; being, however, at the same time very strongly affected by economic self-efficiency. Paul Reeves, The Human Rights of Indigenous People: Tiptoeing Towards Self-determination, in Universal Human Rights? 68-69 (Robert G. Patman ed., 2000).
The right of a group to existence is generally protected by the prohibition of genocide and apartheid. Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (visited July 20, 2002) <http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm>. defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such”. The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid relates the definition of the crime both to acts against individuals and to acts against groups. For example, article II (c) tells about “measures calculated to prevent a racial group or groups from participation in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country”. International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (visited July 20, 2002) <http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/11.htm>.
The right not to undergo group-based discrimination, granted to individuals, is frequently cited as an example of a collective right. This viewpoint finds support in many international human rights instruments. The most important example is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (visited July 20, 2002) <http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/d_icerd.htm>. In particular, the State Parties under this convention have an obligation “to engage in no act or practice of racial discrimination against persons, groups of persons or institutions” (article 2 (a)). Even so, that these provisions are formulated as state obligations, rather than as collective or individual human rights, “their result is a recognition of the rights of groups.” Eva Brems, Human Rights: Universality and Diversity 479 (2001).
The protection of minorities, reflecting the needs of minorities and groups as collectives, Nathan Lerner, Group Rights and Discrimination in International Law 10 (1991). is the oldest illustration of collective rights' protection. Since the seventeenth century international treaties included provisions guaranteeing certain rights to religious minorities. Examples are the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), granting religious rights to the Protestants in Germany; the Treaty of Olivia (1660), in favour of Roman Catholics in Livonia, ceded by Poland to Sweden; the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), protecting Catholics in territories ceded by France to Holland, and the 1763 Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain, protecting Catholics in Canadian territories ceded by France. Nathan Lerner, Group Rights and Discrimination in International Law 11-14 (1991). After the First World War the system of minority rights protection was established by the League of Nations. By means of special provisions in peace treaties this system provided for securing of legal equality for individuals belonging to minorities, as well as preservation of the group identity and traditions of minorities. For example, Articles 86 and 93 of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 (visited July 20, 2002) <http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/versailles.html >; the Polish-German Upper Silesia Treaty of 1922 not only guaranteed certain rights - including life, liberty, and the free exercise of religion - for all inhabitants, and equal treatment before the law and the same civil and political rights for all nationals, but also the same treatment and security in law and in fact to all linguistic, or ethnic minority groups of nationals; the right of minority groups to establish schools and religious institutions and to use their own language for publications, at public meetings, and before the courts. (visited July 24, 2002) <http://history.binghamton.edu/resources/bjoh/PolesAndJews.htm>. After the Second World War to the protection of minorities was applied rather an individual human rights approach. In the first place minority rights are secured trough the prohibition of group-based discrimination. In the second place, the ICCPR includes a special provision on the rights of individuals belonging to minorities serving as a starting point for further international and domestic legislation:
Страницы: 1, 2, 3