Human Rights: Assessment of Universal Rights and the ICC

This assignment analyzes the relevance and significance of Universal Human Rights in the contemporary world, examining their impact and application, including specific examples of human rights crises. It assesses the role and effectiveness of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in protecting and enforcing human rights, exploring its mechanisms, impact, and the author's views on its performance. The assignment considers instances of human rights violations, the work of the Human Rights Council, and how the ICC addresses international crimes. It references relevant sources such as the Human Rights Watch World Report 2019 and the Human Rights Toolkit to support its arguments and conclusions, and to examine the complexities of human rights enforcement and advocacy. The assignment also provides an overview of the development and evolution of universal human rights law and the challenges faced in addressing human rights issues.

Running head: HUMAN RIGHTS 1
Human Rights
Name
Institution

HUMAN RIGHTS 2
Human Rights
1. The Relevancy and Importance of the Universal Human Rights
Universal Human rights enabled the creation of the human rights council in the year
2006. This council has addressed sensitive and vital issues that affect most countries such as
Rwanda. Also, the Universal periodic review created in the year 2006 has allowed nations to
assess each other and offer assistance for improvement (Greer Gerards & Slowe, 2018).
Besides, Universal Human Rights protect susceptible groups from abuse: The declaration
of Human rights was established due to the Holocaust as well as the horrors of world war 11
(Banciella & Marie, 2018). During this time, many vulnerable people in the community were
targeted along with the population of Jewish, including those with disabilities as well as LGBT.
Today, the body of universal human rights law continues to expand and evolve, to address
critical human rights issues, for example, the rights of the vulnerable people, and the right to the
truth. Today, women’s rights are acknowledged as essential human rights. Universal human
rights are addressing discrimination as well as the act of violence.
B. Violation of Human Rights
Yes, human rights are indeed being violated. A violation of human rights may occur
when the government fails in its duties to ensure that human rights remained enjoyed without
discrimination. For example, the president of Venezuela known as Nicolas Maduro has been
condemned by many people for violating the human rights.
2 How to Assess ICC
I would assess the role of ICC in protecting Human Rights mainly by examining the
mechanisms that the international criminal courts are using in enforcing the law. For instance, in
a case where the ICC does not have sufficient mechanisms to hold people accountable for their
international crimes, then it means that the ICC is not performing its duties.

HUMAN RIGHTS 3
Also, an analysis of the impact of the international criminal court would help in assessing
their role in enforcing human rights. I would, therefore, conduct an analysis of the impact of this
institution on the creation of either peace or prevention of future crimes. By assessing the impact
of the work of court would aid me in assessing the effectiveness of the international criminal
court in protecting/enforcing Human rights.
B. My Views on the ICC
To me, for many years now, the international criminal courts lacked adequate
mechanisms to hold victims accountable for some of their international crimes. Generally, the
court has not been able to follow its conventions or customary law of war in punishing those that
commit international crimes. It is also true that the international criminal court is unwilling to act
in most of the cases of international crimes because of systematic violence or due to the
involvement of the government's agents in the commission of crimes. For instance, if you look at
the historical events of past years, such as Rwanda and Nazi Germany, you find that the agents
of the government were included in the commission of those misconducts.
In conclusion, it is true that Universal Human rights respond to crises, supports
defenders of human rights, as well as brings human rights closer to individuals. Through
monitoring, advocacy as well as training activities, it leads to legislative and reforms of policy to
increase accountability for advance human rights and human rights violation. We also found that
the international criminal court has not been able to follow its conventions or customary law of
war in punishing those that commit international crimes.

HUMAN RIGHTS 4
References
Banciella, B., & Marie, P. (2018). The Development of universal Human Rights Law: Latin
American collaboration as key determinants to the international historical legal
process. Revista de Estudios Histórico-Jurídicos, (40).
Greer, S., Gerards, J., & Slowe, R. (2018). Human rights in the Council of Europe and the
European Union: achievements, trends and challenges (Vol. 29). Cambridge University
Press.