The Role and Limits of Human Rights NGOs at the United Nations
| Author | Rachel Brett |
| Published date | 01 March 1995 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.1995.tb01738.x |
| Date | 01 March 1995 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Role
and Limits
of
Human Rights
NGOs
at the United Nations
RACHEL
BRETT
‘.
.
.
organizations thut operate as an essential brake on the juggernaut
of
state
po\ser’.’
Introduction
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental body. However, in an
historic precedent, article
71
of the
UN
Charter’ created a formal relationship
between the
UN
and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs).
The term ‘non-
governmental organization’ with its negative phraseology is inherently
unsatisfactory;
it
could encompass any grouping that is not a government. It
can also have unfortunate connotations; apparently in Chinese
it
translates as
‘anti-g~vernment’.~ It is unclear how distant from government, both in terms
of political power and funding. an organization has
to
be to qualify as ‘non-
governmental’. The Charter itself having established the term makes no
attempt at definition. The
CSCE
(Conference on Security and Co-operation in
Europe), when
it
faced the question of
NGO
status in the 1990s, opted for self-
definition, recognizing as
NGOs
‘Those who declare themselves as such
according to existing national procedures’ with a bar only on those using or
publicly condoning violence or terrorism.‘ This singular decision has
so
far
caused surprisingly few problems? but the
UN
shows no sign
of
following this
example.
The relationship between
NGOs
and the
UN
is again under review, but at
present the required characteristics remain those listed in Resolution
1296
of
the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).6 ‘The organization shall be of
’
L.
Wiseberg. ’Protecting human rights activists and
NGOs:
what more can be done?‘,
Humun
Rights
Quarter/j,.
13 (1991) 52544. p. 525.
‘Charter
of
the United Nations. article
71:
‘The Economic and Social Council may make
suirdbie arrangements
for
consultation with non-govcrnmental organizations which are concerned
with
matters within its competence.
.
.’.
H. Tolley
Jr.,
‘Popular sovereignty and international law: ICJ strategies
for
human rights
standard setting’.
Human
Rights
Quarter/!..
11
(1989). 561--85, p. 562.
Document of the Moscow Meeting
of
the Conference on the Human Dimension ofthe CSCE,
1991, para. 43: CSCE Helsinki Decisions 1992, ch.
I,
para. 16.
See R. Brett.
‘NGOs
and the human dimension
of
the CSCE’,
CSCE
ODIIIR BuNetin,
1
(1992/
93). 1--6:
R.
Brett, “on-governmental organizations and the CSCE’,
Helsinki
Monitor,
3
(1992),
19-24; and
R.
Brett,
‘A
new role for
NGOs
in the CSCE’ in
A.
Bloed (ed.),
The
Challenges
of
Change
(Dordrecht, Nijhoff, 1994).
pp.
359-82.
‘
UN
Economic and Social Council Resolution 1296
(XLIV)
‘Arrangements
for
consultation
with
non-governmental organizations’
of
23 May
1968.
i
Political Studies
Association
1995
Published
b)
Blackwell
Pubhshers.
108
Couley
Road,
Oxford
OX4
IJF,
UK
and
238
Main
Sireel. Cambridge.
MA
02142.
USA
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