g. Extreme poverty and deep economic inequality
3.3 Regulation of the use of force
The UDHR was intended to operate in conjunction with the UN Charter’s prohibition on the use of force.
Article 2(4) of the Charter provides that all UN Member States “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” It allowed only two exceptions to the prohibition on the use of force in international law: self-defence under Article 51, and military measures authorized by the UN Security Council in response to “any threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression.”
Yet in recent years there have been military interventions that have been neither in self-defence nor authorized by the UN Security Council.
61 3. Limitations and Derogations
If the standards governing the use of force in the UN Charter are no longer effective, then the international community needs to create a new and more workable regime. Certainly we should understand that the UDHR and the UN Charter must operate together: a world in which war or the threat of war is endemic cannot be a world in which human rights are respected. The human rights community therefore has an interest in the workability of the UN Security Council’s role being revisited. Any revision should maintain the fundamental restrictions on the use of force.
The rise and persistence of international terrorism have shown us that armed conflict is not confined to state organizations, and in many respects is not amenable in principle to the sort of rules and restrictions laid down in the UN Charter, which mainly envisage inter-state conflict. Much of the rethinking that is required affects the international law of armed conflict, and that is not our subject here.
But the problem of international terrorism does raise a number of human rights issues – about surveillance, about detention of suspects, and about targeted killing. Since there appears to be no chance that these issues will abate soon, we need to address them on the basis that the circumstances giving rise to them have to be accepted for the time being as “the new normal.” This does not mean that current tactics of surveillance, detention, and targeted killing should not be questioned. But in doing so human rights principles need to be given due consideration: these practices, and the necessities on which some would base them, must be addressed as permanent features of our human rights environment. Hard work needs to be done to create an architecture of values and principles, derived from current conceptions and the enduring foundations of human rights, that can deal coherently with these new features.
The Commission wishes to emphasize two further points. First, violations of human rights committed in the name of state security can actually facilitate international terrorism by marginalizing individuals and alienating key constituencies, thus generating community support for and complicity in the actions of violent extremists. To be effective and sustainable, therefore, all policies and practices adopted to prevent terrorism must be firmly grounded in respect for human rights and the rule of law. Second, it is vital to take a comprehensive approach
to terrorism which encompasses not only essential security-based counter-terrorism measures, but also systematic preventative measures which address the root causes of violent extremism. These include lack of socio-economic opportunities; marginalization and discrimination;
poor governance; violations of human rights and the rule of law;
prolonged and unresolved conflicts; and radicalization in prisons. The creation of open, equitable, inclusive, and pluralist societies, based on the full respect of human rights and with economic opportunities for all, represents the most tangible and meaningful alternative to violent extremism and the most promising strategy for undermining its appeal.3
3 Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism, Report of the Secretary General, A/70/674 (available at http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=
A/70/674).
4. Social and Economic Rights
In addition to civil and political rights, the UDHR contains a list of social and economic rights. These are set out in Articles 22 to 26, which include provisions relating to social security, conditions of work, rest and leisure, standard of living, and education.
The inclusion of these rights occasioned some concern in the decades following the adoption of the UDHR and their inclusion continues to be controversial for some who resist the idea that these rights are as central as civil and political rights. Others argue that they are more central.
And some think of them as social and economic aspirations but doubt whether the language of rights makes sense.
Much of the success of the human rights movement over nearly seven decades is attributable to the creation of a set of standards that can be upheld without changing the structures of international affairs and the international economy. While social and economic rights were included in the UDHR, they differ from this paradigm in that their realization might be thought to require some restructuring of the international order. This challenges us to consider the extent to which social and economic objectives should be pursued through a human rights framework.