International Bill of Human Rights

A brief history, and the two International Covenants

Following the second world war, a series of declarations and covenants began to articulate universal human rights.

In 1948, for the first time, countries agreed on a comprehensive list of inalienable human rights. In December of that year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a milestone that would profoundly influence the development of international human rights law.

In December 1966, the UN General Assembly adopted two international treaties that would further shape international human rights: the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). These are often referred to as “the International Covenants.”

Together, the UDHR and these two Covenants are known as the International Bill of Human Rights.

Learn more about the UDHR

Learn about the specific rights covered by the ICESCR and the ICCPR, the responsibilities of States, and how the Covenants are monitored below.

The rights covered by the Covenants

The ICESCR and the ICCPR set out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that everyone is entitled to:

ICCPR	ICESCR
Freedom from discrimination Right to equality between men and women Right to life Freedom from torture Freedom from slavery Right to liberty and security of person Right to be treated with humanity in detention Freedom of movement Freedom of non-citizens from arbitrary expulsion Right to fair trial Right to recognition before the law Right to privacy Freedom of religion and belief Freedom of expression Right of peaceful assembly Freedom of association Right to marry and found a family Right of children to birth registration and a nationality Right to participate in public affairs Right to equality before the law Minority rights	Freedom from discrimination Right to equality between men and women Right to work Freedom to choose and accept work Right to just and favourable conditions at work Right to form trade unions Right to strike Right to social security Right of mothers to special protection before and after birth Freedom of children from social and economic exploitation Right to an adequate standard of living Freedom from hunger Right to health Right to education Freedom of parents to choose schooling for their children Right to take part in cultural life Right to enjoy benefits of science Right of authors to moral and material interests from works Freedom to undertake scientific research and creative activity

ICCPR

ICESCR

Freedom from discrimination
Right to equality between men and women
Right to life
Freedom from torture
Freedom from slavery
Right to liberty and security of person
Right to be treated with humanity in detention
Freedom of movement
Freedom of non-citizens from arbitrary expulsion
Right to fair trial
Right to recognition before the law
Right to privacy
Freedom of religion and belief
Freedom of expression
Right of peaceful assembly
Freedom of association
Right to marry and found a family
Right of children to birth registration and a nationality
Right to participate in public affairs
Right to equality before the law
Minority rights

Freedom from discrimination
Right to equality between men and women
Right to work
Freedom to choose and accept work
Right to just and favourable conditions at work
Right to form trade unions
Right to strike
Right to social security
Right of mothers to special protection before and after birth
Freedom of children from social and economic exploitation
Right to an adequate standard of living
Freedom from hunger
Right to health
Right to education
Freedom of parents to choose schooling for their children
Right to take part in cultural life
Right to enjoy benefits of science
Right of authors to moral and material interests from works
Freedom to undertake scientific research and creative activity

Responsibilities of States

The Covenants identify the responsibilities placed on States to respect, protect and fulfill those rights:

Respect

States must refrain from interfering directly or indirectly with your rights. For example, the State must not torture you or make you a slave. The State cannot force you to work in an area you have not freely chosen or stop you from speaking your language.

Protect

States must take measures to make sure that others, such as businesses, political groups or other people do not interfere with your rights. For example, the State must stop people using hate speech against you because of where you are from or who you are. And the State has to make sure that private companies provide a fair wage for your work and do not give different salaries to men and women who do the same job.

Fulfil

States must take steps to realize rights. For example, the State has to provide interpretation during trials if the accused cannot speak the language spoken in Court. The State must provide budgets to make sure everyone can access medicines and be free from hunger.

Examples of violations

Your civil, political, economic, cultural, and social rights can be violated through various means. Violations occur when a Government fails in its obligations to respect, protect and fulfil these rights. Often a violation of one of these rights is linked to a violation of other rights. Examples include:

Forcibly evicting people from their homes (the right to adequate housing and the right to choose his or her place of residence)
Water treatment facilities contaminating drinking water (the right to health and the right to life)
Failure to ensure a minimum wage sufficient for a decent living (the right to work and the right to equality before the law)
Denying a person access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health (the right to health and the right to life)
Systematically segregating children with disabilities from mainstream schools (the right to education and the right to equality and non-discrimination)
Banning the use of minority or indigenous languages (the right to participate in cultural life and the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language)

Ratification status of the Covenants by country

The International Bill of Human Rights is a powerful statement of your rights and should persuade all Governments to respect your rights. For the two Covenants to become binding in your country, your Government must ratify them. This means your Government must expressly agree to abide by them.

Check if your Government has ratified the Conventions

How the Covenants are monitored

The UN Human Rights system uses different mechanisms to monitor how well the world is doing to ensure that everyone enjoys the rights set out in these Covenants.

The human rights treaty bodies are among those mechanisms. The treaty bodies are committees of independent experts that monitor implementation of the 10 core international human rights treaties, including the CCPR and the CESCR.

The following treaty bodies are responsible for monitoring the CCPR and the CESCR:
● The Human Rights Committee monitors the CCPR, and
● The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights monitors the CESCR.

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