Stock-taking on Human Rights: The World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna 1993
| Author | Kevin Boyle |
| Published date | 01 March 1995 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.1995.tb01737.x |
| Date | 01 March 1995 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Political
Studies
(1
995),
XLIII,
79-95
Stock-taking on Human Rights: The
World
Conference on Human Rights,
Vienna
1993
KEVIN
BOYLE
Introduction
In June 1993, 171 states were gathered by the United Nations
in
Vienna to
confer on human rights. Representatives of states and of international agencies
were joined by an estimated
800
non-governmental organizations, making it
the largest assembly ever on global human rights issues. The Vienna World
Conference on Human Rights was only the second such international
consultation focused exclusively on human rights in United Nations history.
A
similar conference had been held in Teheran in 1968 to mark the twenty fifth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of
Human Rights.' International
conferences
are
not a new phenomenon but historically a staple of great power
diplomacy. But in a post-colonial world of now over
180
independent and
formally equal states, such world wide UN inspired consultations, involving all
governments and open to a degree
of
non-governmental participation and
pressure, has a distinctly different significance. The World Conference on
Human Rights in Vienna had been preceded by the Rio conference on
Environment and Development, in 1992 and was followed in September 1993
by the UN conference on Population and Development held in Cairo.
A
conference on World Social Development will be held in March 1995 in
Copenhagen, to be followed by the Fourth World Conference on Women in
Beijing in September 1995. These global processes of consultation and
participation and poiicy formation are likely
to
be a significant element in
shaping the future international society.2
The idea of a world conference on human rights was first suggested in 1989,
as the Cold War was coming to an end. The ideological competition between
East and West which had long distorted United Nations processes was over.
The thought was that a fresh start could be made in strengthening the United
Nations to enable it to pursue a range of global challenges including its human
rights mi~sion.~ The focus of the conference therefore was intended primarily
'
See the Proclamation
of
Teheran,
13
May
1968
in,
Human Rights a Compilaiion
of
International
D.
Held,
Democracy and the International Order
(London, Institute
of
Public Policy Research,
Boutros Boutros Ghali,
An
Agenda For Peace, Preventive Diplomacy Peacemaking and Peace-
'c,Political
Studies Association
1995.
Published
by
Blackwell Publishers,
108
Cowley
Road,
Oxford OX4
IJF.
UK and
238
Main
Street, Cambridge, MA
02142,
USA.
lnstrumenfs
(New
York,
United Nations,
1988),
p.43.
1993).
Keeping,
Security Council S/24111, 17 June
1992
(New
York,
United Nations).
80
Stock-takiizg
on
Humart
Rights
as a review of the international system for promoting and protecting human
right^.^
The conference when eventually held however, in June 1993, took place in an
atmosphere with little of the euphoria and enthusiasm which had swept the
world in 1989. Its agenda, only finally agreed through the intervention of the
General Assembly, included more questioning of the basic principles of
universal human rights and less focus on technical improvements than
anticipated. The protracted process of preparing the conference and the bad
tempered sessions at Vienna itself, were reminders of the deep uncertainties,
confusion and regional tensions that have replaced the Cold War in
international relations. The Conference was overshadowed by the shameful
conflict in Bosnia Herzogovina, an hour’s flight from Vienna and the failure it
represented
for
the promise of a new era of international cooperation. But its
defining feature was that
it
provided a major opportunity after decades of
East-West ideological confrontation over human rights to address the most
pressing of many global dilemmas: how can a common commitment to a single
standard of human rights help transform relations between the developed
minority world and the developing majority world?
The Conference did make a beginning in answering that question. It will be
remembered for the acceptance by the North that the peoples of the South have
a right to development and that guarantees of basic economic and social rights
are necessary
if
political stability and respect for civil and political rights are
to
be ensured.
It
will be remembered also for the acceptance by the South that the
pursuit of sustainable development requires a democratic society, not measured
alone in the holding of elections, but in the full participation of the entire
population men and women. in decisions effecting them. Successful develop-
ment in turn requires effective governmental institutions which operate under
the rule
of
law and which guarantee individual civil and political rights and
freedoms.
The conference will be remembered less in terms of offering immediate
answers to the explosion of ethno-nationalist conflict in different parts of
Europe, Africa and Asia
or
to the massive violations of human rights which
flow from such conflicts. However, the Conference conclusion that the
promotion and protection of human rights must be treated as a priority
objective of the United Nations as well as its recognition of the link between
that objective and maintaining international peace and security, reflects new
thinking which will prove significant in current debates over strengthening
Cnited Nations work in preventive diplomacy, peace-making and peace-
keeping.
The World Conference was preceded by a negotiating process that centred
on four preparatory meetings held in Geneva and a number of regional and
‘
The six objectives laid down for thc World Conference
were,
(i)
to review and assess progress in
the field
of
human rights since
1948
and to identify obstacles and ways to overcome these; (ii) to
evaluate the effectiveness of the
UN’s
methods and mechanisms in
the
field of human rights;
(iii)
to
formulate concrete recommendations for improving the
UN
human rights activities and
mechanisms; (iv)
to
make recommendations to ensure the necessary resources for
UN
human
rights activities; (v)
to
examine the relationship between development and all human rights and (vi)
to
examine ways and means to improve the implementation of existing human rights standards and
instruments. General Assembly Resolution
45;155
of
18
December
1990.
(
Political
Studies
Association.
1995
To continue reading
Request your trial