Since the adoption of the UDHR by the United Nations in 1948, a number of other declarations and treaties on human rights have been adopted.

What is a treaty?

A treaty is the same thing as a convention or covenant. It is a promise or an agreement negotiated by countries amongst themselves (or using a body like the United Nations) which is then adopted. Countries can then choose to become a party to a treaty by signing it and ratifying the document (see the section on 'Signing and ratifying treaties').

Some treaties prohibit actions like torture or racism, while others protect certain populations like indigenous people, refugees, children or women.

We will look at some of the most important of these treaties but first we need to explain what we mean by signing and ratifying a treaty.

Signing and ratifying treaties

States are not required to sign the UDHR because it is a declaration rather than a treaty. It is a declaration of a commitment to uphold the principles written in the document. However, the UDHR has acquired the force of law and states are automatically bound to uphold the principles in the document because it is part of customary international law.

In the case of other treaties, if an individual country is going to be bound by a specific treaty it has to sign the document and then ratify it. When a state signs the treaty it is saying that it endorses the principles in these documents, but it is not yet legally bound to uphold them. When the state ratifies the document it is legally bound to comply with the provisions.

Once a state has ratified an international human rights treaty it either immediately becomes part of domestic law or the state has to pass a law which incorporates the treaty into its own domestic laws.

All states that ratify human rights documents are obliged to bring their laws and procedures in line with treaty obligations.

Additional points

There are some international documents that develop the minimum standards set out in the human rights treaties and the UDHR. Although states are not required to sign these documents (so they are not strictly speaking binding on any state), they have been adopted by members of the United Nations by consensus and so they also form part of international human rights law.

For example, the provisions contained in the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners add to the provisions in the Convention against Torture.

Even if your country has not ratified certain treaties, its treatment of its citizens must be in accordance with the norms of customary international law. As you know, the provisions of the UDHR are considered to be a part of customary international law and can be used to support any allegation of abuse of rights against a government.

As an NGO actively working to promote human rights in your community and country, it is important to know which treaties your country has signed and ratified. You can use this knowledge to put pressure on your government to implement the rights in the treaties it has ratified and to make it account for not carrying out its obligations.

Go to the website http://www.ohchr.org/english/countries which gives a list of countries and the international treaties they have ratified. Look up your own country and find out which treaties your government has signed and ratified: You can print out the list and file it in your workfile.

We will now look at some of the most important international treaties.