WEEK 1 • International Convention for the

Protection of All Persons from

Sources of Human Rights
• Custom
• Treaty
• Declarations, Recommendations,
Guidelines, Principles, Code of
Conduct
International Bill of Human Rights
• UDHR
• ICCPR
• ICESCR
Seven Core Human Rights Instruments
• International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination
• Convention Against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
• Convention on Rights of the
Child
• Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities
• International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and their
Families
• Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women
Enforced Disappearances
Three-fold State Obligations
• Obligation to Respect
• Obligation to Protect
• Obligation to Fulfill
WEEK 2
Differences between International
Humanitarian Law and International
HR Law
• IHL applies during armed
conflicts
o While IHRL applies
during peace and wartime
• IHL deals with the conduct of
parties during an armed conflict
o IHRL deals with the
fundamental obligations of
a state to its citizens
Jurisdiction of the Rome Statute
• Genocide
• Crimes against humanity
• War crimes
• Crime of aggression
WEEK 3
Three levels of Human Rights
Protection Systems
• Global Mechanisms
• Regional Mechanisms
• State-Level Enforcement
Functions of the UN Treaty Bodies
• Interpreting human rights laws
• Monitor state compliance with
treaty obligations
Under International Criminal Law
• Ad hoc tribunals
• International Criminal Court
Common Features of HR Mechanisms
• Established under the auspices of
intergovernmental bodies
• Only states are accountable for
HR violations
• Complaints mechanisms
• Monitoring and promotion
activities
• Only supplementary to domestic
courts
Regional HR Mechanisms
• Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights
• European Human Rights System
• African Commission on Human
and People’s Rights
• Sub-region: ASEAN HR System
Minimum Standards of NHRIs based
from Paris Principles
• Clearly-defined and broad-based
mandate
• Autonomy from government
• Independence guaranteed by
legislation/constitution
• Pluralism
• Adequate resources
• Adequate investigative powers
WEEK 4
Three Generations of Rights
• 1st gen – Civil and Political Rights
• 2nd gen – Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights
• 3rd gen – Group Rights (LGBT,
IPs and minorities)
Elements of Enforced Disappearances
• An arrest, detention or abduction
of a person by a government
official or organized groups or
private individuals
• These people act with the direct
or indirect acquiescence of the
government
• The refusal of the state to disclose
the fate or whereabouts of the
person concerned or refusal to
acknowledge the deprivation of
liberty
• Ehich places such persons
outside the protection of law
WEEK 5
Elements of EJK in AO35
• Victim was:
o Member or affiliated with
an organization, to include
political, environmental,
agrarian, labor, or similar
causes;
o Or an advocate of those
causes
o Or a media practitioner
o Person apparently
mistaken or identified to
be so
• Victim was targeted and killed
because of actual or perceived
membership, advocacy or
profession
• the person/s responsible for the
killing is a state agent or non-
state agent
• Method and circumstances reveal
a deliberate intent to kill
Definition in OHCHR
• The deprivation of life without
full judicial and legal process and
the involvement, complicity,
tolerance or acquiescence of the
Government or its agents
• Death through excessive use of
force by the police
WEEK 6
Elements of Torture
• Severe pain or suffering
intentionally inflicted
• Whether physical or mental
• Purpose is to
o Obtain from the victim or
a 3rd person information or
a confession
o To punish the victim or a
3rd person for what he has
done or is suspected of
having done
o To intimidate or coerce
him or a 3rd person
o For any reason based on
discrimination of any kind
• Act is by or at an instigation of or
with consent or acquiescence of a
Person in Authority or an agent
thereof
Five Techniques of “Torture” (Actually
classified as cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment)
• Wall-standing
• Hooding
• Subjection to noise
• Deprivation of sleep
• Deprivation of food and drink
Definition of Cruel, Degrading and
Inhuman Punishment under RA 9745
• Refers to deliberate and
aggravated treatment or
punishment that is not an act of
torture in PH law
• That attains a level of severity
causing suffering, gross
humiliation or debasement to the
victim