Covenants

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) opened for signature on December 19, 1966 in New York, and came into force on January 3, 1976. The main purpose of the CESCR was to further describe and clarify rights declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many of the abstract rights such as self-fulfilment and legal rights were meaningless when one does not possess basic and more concrete rights. The CESCR protects these rights; they can be grouped into the following categories: "workers' rights, family rights, rights to health and to an adequate standard of living, educational rights, and cultural rights" (Dickinson, Liepner, Talos, and Buckingham. Understanding the Law. 2nd ed.
Canada: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1996, pp. 534) . Workers' rights entail the freedom to choose one's job, fair wages, and proper working conditions. Family rights include the protection of the family as a fundamental unit of society, paid leave for working mothers, and protection of children from exploitation. Rights to health and to an adequate standard of living include the fundamental right to be free from hunger, the right to proper housing and standard of living.

Member states that signed the covenant were required to guarantee the stated rights without discrimination in any form, namely "race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."
This covenant is monitered by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The committee holds an annual meeting takes place in Geneva. Prior to the metting, a five member team analyzes reports from State Parties to create a list of questions to ask representatives of certain parties during the meeting.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) first opened for signatures on December 19, 1966, and came into force on March 23, 1976. Like the CESCR, this covenant also described and clarified rights stated in the UDHR, and also dealt with new rights. The rights protected by the CCPR can be categorized as the rights protecting "sanctity of life, rights protecting accused persons and criminals, mobility rights, and civil rights" (Ibid, pp. 535) . The rights protecting sanctity of life include the right to be free from the death sentence except for very serious crimes and the right to not be tortured. Rights protecting accused persons and criminals include the right to not be subjected to unfair arrest or detention and to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Mobility rights protect a person's freedom of movement, and the right to leave any country and the right to not be unfairly denied entrance to one's own nation. Civil rights include the freedom of thought and expression.

Any country bound by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is obliged to protect its inhabitants from having their rights violated. The covenant applies to every human living in a state under the covenant regardless of age, gender or race. The Human Rights Committee was established in 1977 to monitor the state parties and their actions pertaining to the covenant.