Benue State University, Makurdi

Internationalisation of Human Rights: Evaluating the Fundamental Nature of Human Rights within the United Nations

Ayowole Olotupa-Adetona*

Abstract

Human rights have emerged as a major focus of the international law system. This has not always been so. Initially, human rights were largely within the exclusive preserve of the territorial sovereignty of states. The establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945, with the immediate historical background of gross violations of human rights and threats to peace and security during the World War II, necessitated the shift from human rights only being within the domestic domain to becoming an area of concern for international law also. This international dimension of human rights is evident from the entire system of the UN. This includes provisions of the UN Charter and functions of the UN primary organs. Furthermore, bodies and instruments geared towards the direction of human rights have been created within the UN. This is undeniable progress in the status of human rights within the UN and the wider international law system. Regardless of this significant progress, human rights still fall short of being a fundamental feature of the UN in the absence of key indicators like sufficient synergy between relevant mechanisms and judicialisation of human rights issues.

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