AI Index: POL 34/013/2005

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The dignity of an individual cannot and should not be divided into two spheres – that of civil and political and that of economic, social and cultural. The individual must be able to enjoy freedom from want as well as freedom from fear.

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Circle of Rights: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Activism: A Training Resource

DEFENDING DIGNITY: PROTECTING ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

[pic] © Crispin Hughes/Panos

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Time for action

Billions of women, men and children face levels of deprivation which undermine the right to live with dignity. Yet the world’s wealth has never been greater. Hunger, homelessness and preventable disease are not inevitable social problems or just the result of natural disasters — they are a human rights scandal.

Even in rich countries, there are people who do not have access to education, health care and housing. Governments often blame a lack of resources, but in fact many people face systematic discrimination, while those on the margins of society are often overlooked altogether.

The international community has stood by while individual governments have ignored the human rights of millions of people. International financial institutions have imposed conditions on countries that have led to reduced access to education and health care for the poor. Meanwhile, large-scale development projects have resulted in widespread homelessness.

In many countries, the government does not regulate corporations to ensure that they meet their human rights responsibilities. They allow pollution of the environment and extreme exploitation to continue unchecked.

Violations of economic, social and cultural rights are not a matter of inadequate resources; they are a matter of policy.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. It is independent of any government, political persuasion or religious creed.

Amnesty International’s mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights.

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[pic] Students and civil society activists join a protest by members of AI Nepal in Kathmandu on behalf of the victims of the Bhopal chemical disaster in India, 16 May 2005. Amnesty International called on Dow Chemicals to clean up the site more than 20 years after a toxic gas leak killed over 20,000 people. © AI [end pic]

What are economic, social and cultural rights?

All human beings are entitled to certain basic rights. In addition to civil and political rights such as the right to freedom from torture, these include economic, social and cultural rights such as:

 rights at work, particularly just and fair conditions of employment, protection against forced or compulsory labour, and the right to form and join trade unions

 the right to education, including ensuring that primary education is free and compulsory, that education is accessible, acceptable and adapted to the individual

 the promotion and protection of cultural rights, in particular for minorities and indigenous peoples

 the right to health is the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including the right to healthy living conditions and equality of access to health care

 the right to adequate housing, including protection from forced eviction and access to affordable, habitable and culturally appropriate housing

 the right to food entails the right to freedom from hunger and access at all times to adequate nutritious food or the means to obtain it

 the right to water, is the right to sufficient water and sanitation which is available, accessible (both physically and economically) and safe

Who is responsible?

States – national governments – bear the primary responsibility for making human rights a reality. Governments must respect peoples’ rights – they must not violate these rights. They must protect peoples’ rights – ensuring that other people or bodies do not abuse people’s rights. And they must fulfil peoples’ rights, making them a reality in practice.

Governments have widely differing resources. International law allows for the fact that full realization of economic, social and cultural rights can only be achieved progressively over time. However, the duty of governments to respect and protect these rights and to ensure freedom from discrimination is immediate. Lack of resources is no excuse.

Although governments may need time to realize economic, social and cultural rights, this does not mean they can do nothing – they have to take steps towards fulfilling them. As an initial step, they must prioritize “minimum core obligations” – minimum essential levels of each of the rights. Under the right to education, for example, core obligations include the right to free primary education. Governments must not discriminate in their laws, policies or practices and must prioritize the most vulnerable when allocating resources.

States also have obligations when they act beyond their borders to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights. These obligations extend to action they take through intergovernmental organisations such as the World Bank. As stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “every organ of society” has human rights responsibilities. Corporations play an increasingly significant role globally in the realization or denial of human rights. Amnesty International is committed to holding businesses accountable where their actions result in human rights violations.

[pic] Children share a school book in a camp for families fleeing the killings in Darfur, western Sudan. Many people from Darfur told Amnesty International that their main concern was that their children should have access to education. © AI [end pic]

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The right to health – court forces government to act

A court in Argentina ordered the government to produce a vaccine against an epidemic of Argentine haemorrhagic fever threatening 3.5 million people. It held the Minister of Health personally accountable for ensuring implementation of the court’s decision. The epidemic was unique to Argentina and the private sector saw the development of a vaccine as unprofitable. The case was brought by a law student together with the National Ombudsman.

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Rights in reality

Campaigners around the world have won significant victories in their efforts to advance economic, social and cultural rights. They have gained vital improvements for some individuals and groups who have been targeted for abuse, and have raised awareness of the importance of these rights. Economic, social and cultural rights are now widely recognized as enforceable in the courts under both national and international law.

 A World Bank-funded drainage and sanitation project in Lagos, Nigeria, was halted in 1998 after the Social and Economic Rights Action Center complained that thousands of people had been forcibly evicted from their homes.

 Protection for indigenous land rights was won in 2001 by the Awas Tingni people living on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, whose land was threatened by a foreign logging company’s operations. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered the government to protect their rights.

 After the European Committee of Social Rights found that Portugal was not sufficiently regulating employment practices in the granite industry, young boys were spared from work which was hazardous or interfered with their education.

 The Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa succeeded in making a group of international drug companies permit the production of low-cost copies of their anti-AIDS drugs, and in holding the South African government accountable for the provision of anti-retroviral drugs. The campaign highlighted the right of everyone to access life-saving medicines as a key component of the right to health.

[pic] A dalit woman (a member of a socially and economically marginalized caste) washes her hair. Because of her caste she is not allowed to use the public water supply. @Giuseppe Benanti/Italy [end pic]

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Cover image: Students at Dubangat Momicha government-run secondary school, in eastern Ethiopia, which is the only one in the area. Some classes can consist of up to 180 children.

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Amnesty International joins those campaigning for economic, social and cultural rights

For over 40 years, Amnesty International has mobilized millions of people all around the world, and has adapted to address the most pressing human rights issues of the day. Today there are many more prisoners of poverty than prisoners of conscience, and millions of people endure the torture of hunger and slow death from preventable disease.

Amnesty International members join local communities and activists worldwide in campaigning for economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights are indivisible – to ensure the protection of human dignity we must campaign to secure all human rights for all people.

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A campaigning success

The community of San Rafael in Mexico was badly damaged in a landslide in 2003. When members campaigned to be rehoused, complaining about the authorities’ failure to protect them in violation of their right to adequate housing, the village was visited by an intimidating group of soldiers and police officers. After appeals from human rights activists, including letters from members of Amnesty International, in early 2005 the community was rehoused and provided with access to clean drinking water and sanitation. [end box]

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What you can do

You can be part of Amnesty International’s worldwide campaign to advance economic, social and cultural rights:

 Join Amnesty International. Contact your local section, join online at www.amnesty.org or write to the International Secretariat, Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 0DJ, UK.

 Support Amnesty International. You can send a donation to support Amnesty International’s work. Please contact your local section or donate online.

For more information write to the address in the box above, if there is one. Or contact: Amnesty International. Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 0DW, UK.

AI Index: POL 34/013/2005. @Amnesty International

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