Human rights have become the established means of relating individual and universal, national and global, values together in a more interdependent world. That is one of the real achievements of international politics and society over the decade since the Cold War ended. It is difficult to recognise that from within the thickets of localised politics and amidst the all too prevalent atrocities and violations of such norms. But international Human Rights Day tomorrow can with justice be marked by a recognition that progress has been made.
Human rights begin at home but they do not end there. In Ireland they have a central role in the Belfast Agreement. This provided that both sovereign governments would put in place new regimes to entrench and monitor human rights and arranged that they would be a central benchmark by which the power-sharing executive would operate. Both governments agreed to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into their domestic legislation. This is a radical change in their legal and judicial practice, which has not been without difficulty and controversy as it is put into effect. The Government has opted for a minimal formula which limits the extent to which courts can decide on issues arising from the incorporation - giving greater leeway to the Oireachtas. It has also sorely disappointed and angered many of those most directly involved by appointing only a small number of the people recommended to serve on a human rights monitoring committee. These are disturbing trends, which it is to be hoped will not affect the commitment to the basic principles involved in the Belfast Agreement.
Internationally, human rights values are used increasingly to facilitate dialogue, validate political and social claims and moderate traditional state sovereignty. They provide the language to relate local and universal values, following the collapse of Cold War polarities. Over recent years the United Nations has become more able to become involved in arenas of conflict on this basis, insisting that there can be no complete disengagement from human rights by any state adhering to UN principles. It is significant indeed that Mrs Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, feels more optimistic on the subject following several years in office. By broadening human rights to embrace rights to economic and social development she has been able to appeal to a wider international audience. This is slow and painstaking work; but it can suddenly become more relevant, as has been the case in several UN initiatives over the last year or so, among them developments in East Timor, China, ex-Yugoslavia and in the Palestinian areas occupied by Israel. A report on the torture of children published yesterday by Amnesty International graphically and sickeningly illustrates what is at stake. It gives details of how children are caught in the middle of wars and political conflicts in 50 countries, or embroiled in relations between states and criminals. Just to publicise such atrocities adds to to the public awareness about human rights violations. The emerging consciousness that it is possible to make a difference by having human rights defended and vindicated adds immeasurably to the value of such work.