From the very beginning of the codification of human rights in 1948, the concepts that make up the human right to peace have been included and continue to be strengthened, slowly but surely, in international and regional texts:
The UN Charter, signed in 1945 by 50 countries, prohibits war and requires the peaceful resolution of disputes, making peace a right.
In its preamble, it makes clear that the nations are resolved “to practice tolerance, to live in peace with one another in a spirit of good neighborliness, to unite our forces to maintain international peace and security .”
The term ” human right to peace ” is not yet in use, but it is already an obligation for nations to live in peace, and a right for them to live in peace. Art. 1 states:
the four UN goals:
1. Maintaining international peace and security
- Prevent and avert threats to peace;
- Suppress any act of aggression or other breach of the peace;
- To achieve, by peaceful means, the settlement of international disputes likely to lead to a breach of the peace.
2. Develop friendly relations between nations
and take all other appropriate measures to consolidate peace
3. International cooperation
to solve international problems
4. To be a center for harmonizing
the efforts of nations towards these common goals.
The Universal Declaration of 1948
The human right to peace is its essence:
art. 3 :
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”.
art. 28:
“Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized”.
- Human rights require peace to take full effect.
European Convention on Human Rights
This 1953 convention specifies :
art. 2
“Everyone’s right to life is protected by law.”
art. 5.1
“Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person.”
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The 1966 UN Covenant defines the concept of security:
art. 9
“Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention (…)”.
The preamble to the Covenant states that civil, political, economic and social rights must be “free from fear” (security fears).
Regional charters
- The American Convention on Human Rights (art. 7)
- the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (art. 6)
- the Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004, art. 14)
contain similar provisions, recalling both the right to safety and the prohibition of arbitrary detention.
Progressive reinforcement of the human right to peace
1976
The Commission on Human Rights affirms:
“Everyone has the right to live in international conditions of peace and security…”. (resolution 5 XXXII, l).
1978
The United Nations General Assembly, in the Declaration on the Preparation of Societies for Life in Peace (Res. 33/73), affirms:
Art. 1: “All nations and all human beings (…) have the inherent right to live in peace”.
Art. 4: “All States (…) have the duty to take measures likely to promote the ideals of peace”.
1982, then 1984
The Human Rights Committee for the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ruling on the right to life, states that States have an obligation to strengthen peace as an essential element of the right to life.
1984
The UN General Assembly formally approves the “Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Live in Peace” (UN: A/res/39/11), but limits the right to peace to “peoples”, without mentioning the right to peace of “individuals”:
Art 1 “Solemnly proclaims that the peoples of the Earth have a sacred right to peace”
Art 2 “Solemnly declares that preserving the right of peoples to peace and promoting the realization of this right constitute a fundamental obligation of every State.
1997
UNESCO launches a wide-ranging consultation on the issue, clearly stating its desire to make peace a human right. The proposed text includes the following articles:
Art 2
“The human right to peace is the foundation of the culture of peace”.
Art 3
“Every human being has the inherent right to peace”.
Art 4
“Violence in all its forms is intrinsically incompatible with the right of every human being to peace.”
However, Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO and initiator of the project, gave up in the face of resistance from the States consulted.
1998
The Inter-Parliamentary Union adopts a Resolution on conflict prevention in which it calls for :
“that the right to peace inherent in every individual and every society be fully recognized”
in order to “promote all the constituent elements of a genuine ‘culture of peace'”.
The Organization of American States, in a declaration issued by its General Assembly, explicitly recognizes the human right to peace.
2006
The Luarca Declaration on the Human Right to Peace was drafted by leading human rights specialists grouped together in the SSIHRL*.
This Declaration includes the list of relative human rights (15 articles), the list of duties and obligations of all parties (7 articles) and a set of clauses for implementation and operation.
2009
In June, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR ) adopted Resolution 11/4 reaffirming the right of peoples to peace, but making no further mention of the right of every individual to peace. Note that the preamble rejects “the use of violence for political ends”.
In December, the OHCHR convenes a group of experts, including members of the SSIHRL, for a preparatory session at the UN on the right of peoples to peace (still without mention of the individual), attended by Graines de Paix.
At the State of Geneva, the human right to peace was the subject of an official proposal to the Constituante, charged with drafting the future constitution of the State of Geneva (accepted for consultation in December 2009), a proposal co-drafted by 9 associations, including Graines de Paix, and which specified:
II. Fundamental rights
Every human being has the inalienable right to live in peace, free from violence and fear, and to enjoy a minimum standard of living.
III. The role of government
“The State promotes peace and justice as principles of its action and as fundamental rights of the individual and of peoples”:
- Peace education
- Prevention and condemnation of violence, avoidance of any unnecessary use of force.
- Support for conflict prevention and resolution (mediation, other peaceful means).
- International solidarity in terms of peace, cooperation, human rights, etc.
- Service to society, promoting volunteerism (conflict resolution training, peace missions abroad)
- Human security:
– steps towards disarmament
– civil means to guarantee the security of the population.
See how the right to peace was sketched out there on 19.12.2011, then concretized in the final version voted on in October 2012.
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Sources:
- UN Charter, 1945
- International Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
- European Convention on Human Rights, 1953
- UN Res. 1978 (33/73) and 1984 (A/res/39/11).
- Report by the Director-General on the results of the International Consultation of Governmental Experts on the Human Right to Peace, 1998
- UNESCO, Executive Board, 154 EX/40.
- Resolution adopted by the 99th Conf. of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Windhoek, 1998.
- Luarca Declaration, SSIHRL*, 2006
- “Making peace a human right: The need for evidence
- Quelques réflexions pour la Constituante Genevoise”, Christophe Barbey, 2009.
* (Spanish Society for the Development and Implementation of International Human Rights Law).