11) THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE UNITED
NATIONS MACHINERY ON HUMAN
RIGHTS
Louis B. Sobn
Bemis Professor of Internacional
Law
Harvr.lrd
Law
School ...
One third of thecentury has elapsed since the Charter of the United
Nations made the promotion of universal respect for, and observance
of, human rights and fundamental freedoms one of the basic objectives
of .the new world order.
1
It is thirty years since the United Nations
General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Dedaration of Human
Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all
nations and defined the rights and freedoms to which everyone i3.
entitled.
2
It
is also thirty years since the Ninth International Confe.
rence
oE
the AmericaJi States approved the American Declaration of
the Rights and Duties of Man which not oniy affirmed the essential
human rights but also retognized that rights and duties are interrelated
and thatthe "fulfillment of duty by each individual is a prerequisite
to the rights of a11".
3
.It
seems appropriate, therefore, to review what has been accom·
plished during this crucial period, and to consider what improvements
might .be suggested in the United Nations system for the protection
of humanrights. That system is composed, at present, of two main
elements: the International Bill of Human Rights and the procedures
fprpromoting the observance
oE
human rights. A complex United
Nations machiQery has evolved for the purpose of developing inter.
national human rights standards and implementir¡g them.
«Doctor en Ciencia Política. Profesor Escuela de Derecho Univer.
sidad de Harvard.. Bemis Profesor of Inte:rnatíonlll Law. Harvard Uní–
versity•
. 1
United Nations Charter; 26 june 1945, Articles 1 and 55.
.
. 2Approved by Resolution 217A (III) of the General Assembly, 10
december 1948. 3(1) GAOR, Resolutions (A/810), pp. 71-77.
3
Approved by. Resolution XXX of the Ninth International Conference
(}í
\Americlln States, 30 march - 2 may 1948. Pan American Uníon, Final
Act: of ,the: Ninth Conference of American States (1948), pp. 88-45. The
quotations is from the preamble to
t4~
Declaration.
171
