United Nations human rights frameworks and international law

United Nations / Rights

The United Nations Watches Over International Human Rights

Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person," (General Assembly of the United Nations, Article 3); it is a surprisingly modern conception that every human being on this earth should have natural rights which not even their sovereign king or nation can take away from them. The horrors of genocide witnessed in WWII shocked the world. In response to these horrors representatives from many nations designed the United Nations, which would ensure the natural rights to all people despite their nationality.

The General Assembly of the United Nations was created "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind," (Charter of the United Nations Preamble). Representatives wanted to ensure that there would never be such occurrences as those seen in the Nazi regime through the creation of an international watch dog which would protect citizens of all nations. Both the "Charter of the United Nations" and the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" represent the UN's promise to protect people everywhere from "crimes against humanity." This was the global response to Nazi genocide, and therefore a persuasive way to therefore begin action against those who violate their conventions.

These conventions were then put into action with the onset of the Nuremberg trials, which held Nazi officers accountable for their actions. As evident in the "Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 1: Charter of International Military Tribunal," foreign nations had used UN conventions to step into other countries affairs if certain rights were violated. Officers of the Nazi regime were tried in an international tribunal unlike any event before. They were tried not only for war crimes, but also for their crimes against humanity, which included the mass extermination of millions of European Jews.

Paul G. Lauren explains in the Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen, that the essential language used in formulating the UN Charter encouraged many nations and individuals to take action against known violators of human rights. The Nuremberg trials were one of the most prominent examples of how these international criminals can be brought to justice outside of the protection of their own nation's regimes.