Making Rights Law

When the economic, social and cultural rights of people living in poverty are violated, they in particular face difficulties in accessing justice. Their rights must be protected, respected and fulfilled nationally and internationally.

Let's say you have been forcibly evicted from your home. Your family is left homeless, but the law in your country offers you no protection and no compensation. What do you do? Who do you turn to?

You are pregnant, but cannot get the life-saving maternal health care you need without bribing hospital officials, a bribe that you cannot afford to pay. Who can you complain to?

The economic, social and cultural rights of many people around the world, particularly people living in poverty and other marginalized groups, are violated on a daily basis. These include their right to education, adequate housing, water and sanitation, health and food. Too often, they are denied justice when they try to challenge these violations.

In different parts of the world, there is an urgent need for greater accountability for violations of economic, social and cultural rights. In many countries, many or all of these rights are not recognised or enforceable by law, leaving people with little hope of an effective remedy. The remedies that exist may also be ineffective in providing reparation, including compensation, rehabilitation and restitution to victims or not adequately enforced.

For the last five years, Amnesty International has been campaigning with other local, national and international organizations to strengthen the enforceability of economic, social and cultural rights. We will be building and expanding on our work in this area under the Demand Dignity Campaign.

At the international level, we will continue to campaign for the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Optional Protocol) to enter into force. The Optional Protocol establishes an international mechanism that provides an avenue of redress for those who are unable to seek justice in their own countries. The decisions made by this new mechanism are likely to influence decisions of national and regional courts around the world.

Amnesty International will use this as an opportunity to engage in a dialogue with governments on the measures they should be taking nationally to ensure that economic, social and cultural rights are enforceable and that victims have access to effective remedies.

Amnesty International will also publicly campaign for the implementation of key judicial decisions on economic, social and cultural rights.

Sign the Petition to support the Optional Protocol: http://www.protectallhumanrights.org/

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