Table Of ContentA History of the UN Human Rights Programme and Secretariat
International Studies in
Human Rights
Volume 132
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ishr
A History of the UN
Human Rights Programme
and Secretariat
By
Bertrand G. Ramcharan
leiden | boston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ramcharan, B. G., author.
Title: A history of the UN human rights programme and secretariat / by
Bertrand G. Ramcharan.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill Nijhoff, 2020. | Series: International
studies in human rights, 0924-4751 ; volume 132 | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020008967 (print) | LCCN 2020008968 (ebook) |
ISBN 9789004356474 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004356504 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: United Nations. | Human rights--History.
Classification: LCC K3241 .R354 2020 (print) | LCC K3241 (ebook) |
DDC 341.4/8--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008967
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008968
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 0924-4751
ISBN 978-90-04-35647-4 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-35650-4 (e-book)
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Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Introduction 1
1 Navigating the Cold War 10
Introduction 10
1 Standard-Setting 11
2 Implementation 25
3 Dealing with Situations of Gross Violations of Human
Rights 32
4 Promotional and Advisory Services 34
Conclusion 36
2 Navigating the Colonial and Post‑Colonial Worlds 37
Introduction 37
1 The Influence of Developing Countries on the Charter and
the Universal Declaration 38
2 The Colonial Era 44
3 The Newly Independent Countries Oppose Apartheid
and Colonialism 45
4 Developing Countries Eviscerate the UN’s Arrangements
to Deal with Situations of Gross Violations of Human
Rights 47
5 Dialogue and Cooperation 51
6 The Right to Development 53
Conclusion 60
3 Organization, Mandate 61
Introduction 61
1 The Secretariat: The Division of Human Rights and
its Successors 61
2 The Commission on Human Rights 65
3 The Sub-Commission 76
4 The Human Rights Council 79
5 Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council 86
Conclusion 88
vi contents
4 Leaders 89
Introduction 89
1 Directors of the Human Rights Division/Centre for
Human Rights 90
2 Deputy Directors 101
3 Under-Secretaries-General/Assistant Secretary-
General 104
4 High Commissioners 106
Conclusion 107
5 Programmes, Resources 108
Introduction 108
1 The Human Rights Programme Has Covered Practically
Every Aspect of Humanity’s Predicament and its
Habitat 108
2 The Quest for Implementation and Protection 110
3 Initiatives by the Secretariat 116
4 A Historic Breakthrough: The Secretariat Initiative for a
Working Group on Indigenous Populations 119
5 The Secretariat Initiative for An African Commission on
Human and Peoples’ Rights 121
6 The Secretariat Initiative for an Asian Commission on
Human Rights? 124
7 Resource Starvation 126
Conclusion 129
6 The International Bill of Human Rights 130
1 The Drafting Process 132
2 The Contents of the Covenants 135
3 Obligations of States Parties 136
4 National Implementation 140
5 International Implementation 142
6 The Essence of the Reporting Obligation 144
7 Monitoring of Emergency Measures 146
8 Legality of Nuclear Weapons 148
9 Remedies 149
10 Jurisprudence 150
Conclusion 152
contents vii
7 Studies and Reports 154
Introduction 154
1 Global Studies 154
2 Policy Reports 156
Conclusion 162
8 Implementation 163
Introduction 163
1 The Concept of International Protection 163
2 The Covenants Enter Into Force 175
3 A Pioneering Country Investigation: Chile, 1975 181
4 The First Country Rapporteur: Chile 184
5 The First Thematic Rapporteur: Arbitrary and
Summary Executions 195
6 The Second Thematic Rapporteur: Torture 199
7 The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders 200
Conclusion 203
9 Petitions and Fact‑Finding 204
Introduction 204
1 Processing ‘Communications’ (Petitions) 205
2 Processing Petitions Under Human Rights Treaties 212
3 Supporting Human Rights Fact-Finding 217
Conclusion 221
10 Voices of Conscience 222
Introduction 222
1 ASG Henri Laugier 222
2 Theodoor van Boven 227
3 NGOs as Voices of Conscience 228
4 High Commissioners for Human Rights 230
Conclusion 234
11 Promotion and Advisory Services 236
Introduction 236
1 Public Information Activities in the Field of Human
Rights 236
2 Voluntary Fund for Advisory Services 238
viii contents
3 Human Rights Education 239
4 World Conferences 241
Conclusion 247
12 Partnership with NGOs and Civil Society 248
Introduction 248
1 NGOs in the Commission on Human Rights 249
2 The Participation of NGOs in the Human Rights
Council 253
3 Comparison between Arrangements for NGOs under the
Commission and the Council 254
4 The Participation of National Human Rights Institutions in
the Council 256
Conclusion 257
Conclusion 258
Bibliography 263
Index 266
Foreword
This is a valuable history of the United Nations human rights programme
and its secretariat.
There are indeed works on particular parts of this history, notably on
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants,
the Commission on Human Rights, the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, and the Human Rights Council. There is the valuable UN publica-
tion, UN Action in the Field of Human Rights, first issued in 1968 and last
updated in 1993. There are also memoirs and books by UN leaders such as
John Humphrey, Theodoor van Boven, and Mary Robinson. These works
feature in the bibliography to this book.
However, the foregoing and similar publications do not offer interpre-
tations of the history of the programme and its secretariat against the
background of historical currents such as the Cold War, colonialism and
decolonisation, and do not cover the seminal period during which the
programme moved decisively towards human rights fact-finding and the
denunciation of violations of human rights, which took place in the lat-
ter part of the 1970s and the 1980s, especially under the leadership of Dr.
Theodoor van Boven.
The author was a central player in this period, having served as the
Special Assistant to three Directors of the Human Rights Division, Marc
Schreiber, Theodoor van Boven, and Kurt Herndl for a dozen years, and
he writes with first hand knowledge of the establishment of the first the-
matic and country rapporteurs and of the establishment of the historic
Working Group on Indigenous Peoples. He was a member of the secre-
tariat that assisted the Commission on Human Rights when it first dis-
cussed country situations under the confidential communications proce-
dure (ECOSOC Resolution 1503 (XLVIII) and he provided solidarity to the
efforts of my good friend Jakob Möller and his colleagues in the Petitions
Branch as they developed the pioneering jurisprudence of treaty bodies,
notably the Human Rights Committee.
The author provides us with historical materials that only he is aware
of, having been at the heart of the action. He provides snapshots of Unit-
ed Nations human rights leaders from the beginning of the United Na-
tions, all of whom he knew personally. He also writes about the contribu-
tions of NGOs and NGO leaders who served the cause of human rights
with fortitude and determination.
