Editorial
| DOI | 10.1177/016934419401200101 |
| Date | 01 March 1994 |
| Published date | 01 March 1994 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
Human rights tends to be formulated in legal terms. This is the way in which they are
normally presented in this quarterly journal. Behindthe legal terms there exists a political
reality in which human rights are sometimes more, and often less reflected. Non-
governmental organizations try to influence this political reality. So do organs of
intergovernmental organizations. This issue of NQHR contains information about major
examples of both: Amnesty International on the one hand, and the United Nations High
Commissioner on Refugees on the other.
Amnesty International is often seen by the world outside as the only non-governmental
human rights organization. That is manifestly wrong and does an disservice to such
organizations as the International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch, Justitia
et Pax, the International Helsinki Federation and the countless other non-governmental
organizations that devote their activities to the maintenance of international human rights
standards. At the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights Conference in Vienna more
than 2000 of such organizations were represented.
It is true, however, that Amnesty International is the largest and possibly the most
effective of such organizations. Some of its effectiveness may be caused by the limited
mandate on the basis on which it operates. In this issue, Peter Baehr looks at the
repercussions of this choice of a limited mandate and the challenges it poses to the
organization. Amnesty International deals with the political reality in the world. There
clearly exists also a political reality inside the organization. That political reality has to
do with the clearly expressed wish of the organization to expand its membership beyond
the western world, where it has been concentrated up to now. Time will tell, whether the
'regional particularities' that are mentioned in the final declaration of the Vienna
Conference, will also have an impact on Amnesty's mandate.
The importance of having a nationality - a right that is guaranteed in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights - is most
clearly felt by those who are lacking it. Like freedom and countless other rights its value
is most highly appreciated by its absence. Countless stateless people, refugees and illegal
immigrants lack a nationality, being 'stateless', and therefore lack the protection a state
offers its citizens. This issue is dealt with by Peter van Krieken, who looks in particular
at the situation in the Baltic countries which have recently regained their political
independence. The article deals with nation building, citizenship, citizens and non-citizens
and foreigners, statelessness and the status of stateless persons. Of all UN organs,
UNHCR is most directly involved with such issues, as refugees often happen to be
stateless. UNHCR is the organ
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excellence to offer protection to these individuals,
which they will not receive from national governments. Human rights protection should
of course be available to all human beings, and especially to those who are most in need
of such protection. Non-citizens rank highly in that order.
This issue also contains the recommendations made by the rapporteur of the UN Sub-
Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Thea van
Boven, on the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of gross
violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. His report is partly based on the
results of a seminar, that was held in Maastricht, 11-15 March 1992. The papers of that
seminar have been published in SIM Special No. 12, which is freely available on request.
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