Lecture hall on human rights for undergraduates of the Consortium of Russian Universities
The next workshop lecture for masters of the Consortium, which includes our University for the Humanities, was devoted to international mechanisms for the protection of human rights.
Head of the Department of International Bilateral Cooperation of the Department of International Cooperation, VE Tolmachev, began his speech with an address to the audience. The representative of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation was interested in the opinion of students on the implementation of the principles of human rights protection in the context of such topical issues as the attitude towards the death penalty and the need for a clearer specification of the concept of “human rights”.
Such an introduction strengthened the attention of the audience, but since the question was complex and to a certain extent rhetorical, the lecturer independently developed his idea, starting with a historical retrospective. The speaker identified the birth of "human rights" with the adoption on December 10, 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the period after the Second World War. Awareness of the naturalness of human rights, based on his biological nature of the individual, came along with the understanding of losses and the magnitude of the level of insult to human dignity. After that, a number of human rights instruments appear, including conventions that are binding on ratifying states. The idea of human rights becomes material, and the question of responsibility becomes the basis of international discussion.
The lecturer divided the concepts of "Ombudsman" and "National Human Rights Institutions (hereinafter referred to as NHRIs)", highlighting the exclusively administrative focus of the former. With the addition of the idea of protecting human rights in 1989-1991. there is an explosion in the development of this institution - the merger of the role of the ombudsman and the defender of human rights in the NHRI.
The institution of the Commissioner for Human Rights (hereinafter - OHR) is enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which emphasizes its particular importance at the legislative level. International cooperation in the activities of the Human Rights Commissioner is one of the 4 areas of activity, the initial idea of which is "an internal state human rights audit - a bridge between international bodies and what is happening inside the state."
The lecturer noted that in different countries, depending on the peculiarities of the legal system, the organization of NHRIs is carried out in different ways. For example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a result of the national structure after the war in the Balkans in the 90s, there are now three ombudsmen. Thus, each state adapts to its historical and social realities. In many states, human rights institutions exist in the form of commissions consisting of commissioners elected by parliament. At the level of international cooperation, institutions for the protection of human rights are especially necessary when interacting with those states with which diplomatic relations are not developed.
Further, the lecturer recalled the importance of the Paris Principles, the observance of which this year made it possible to confirm the highest “A” status of the human rights organization HRC RF. This provision allows to make regular reports to the UN along with representatives of the state, to file complaints with treaty bodies and committees of the UN.
Concluding his report, the lecturer noted that "changes are taking place slowly, but they are still happening." Constant work and recommendations are gradually changing the psychology, mentality and social and legal policy.
Material and photos for the site were provided by Elena Sukhinina, 2nd year full-time master student of the Faculty of Law