Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698830223262.pdf (South Africa)
Overview of South Africa’s treaty obligations and the role of the Parliament in promoting implementation Jean B Fokwa Tsafack Human Rights Officer Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Office for South Africa What are human rights • Human rights are fundamental rights that everyone is endowed with by virtue of being human.

Human rights have the following characteristics.
• Inherent • Inalienability • Universality • Indivisibility • Interdependence The main UN Human Rights Mechanisms General Assembly Adopts Creates Human Rights Treaties Human Rights Council Secretariat OHCHR* *OHCHR supports the work of the HRC and the mechanisms Treaty Bodies (Committees) Universal Periodic Review Special Procedures Developing human rights standards Universal Declaration of Human Rights • The declaration was adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948 • This document, expressed as “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”, sets out a wide span of rights covering all aspects of life including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
• While the Declaration is not legally binding treaty, its importance should not be underestimated.

• It sets out human rights standards and some of the provisions have been accepted as customary international laws.
Human rights treaties • Human rights treaties are agreements between states which grant specific rights to individuals who are not themselves parties to the instruments, but for whom the correlative duties fall primarily on States • States become a party to a treaty through ratification, accession or succession, • A State voluntarily becomes obligated under public international law to uphold and implement the provisions of the treaty.
The obligation of the State Duty-bearers Respect Protect Fulfill Refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of rights Prevent others from interfering with the enjoyment of rights Adopt appropriate measures towards full realization of rights • Once a State has become party to the treaty in question, it must take steps to ensure that domestic legislation is in conformity with the provisions of the treaty.

• Measures must also be put in place towards implementation.
• In some cases, a State may declare a reservation to a particular article of a treaty it has ratified.
If the reservation to the relevant article is deemed admissible, then the State is no longer considered bound to fulfil that particular provision Overview of core international human rights treaties Specific groups Specific phenomena International bill of human rights Universal Declaration of Human Rights International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - OP on a complaints procedure - OP on abolition of death penalty International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - OP on a complaints procedure International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - OP on Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - OP on complaints procedure Convention on the Rights of the Child - OP on involvement of children in armed conflict - OP on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography - OP on complaints procedure Convention on the rights of Migrant Workers and members of their families Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities - OP on complaints procedure Treaty bodies § Human Rights Committee (HRC) § Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) § Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) § Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) § Committee against Torture (CAT) § Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) § Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) § Subcommittee on the prevention of torture (SPT) § Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) § Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Six key functions of treaty bodies Treaty Bodies monitor State parties’ compliance with their treaty obligations through: 1 Reporting procedure (including follow-up procedure) 2 Complaints procedure (individual and inter- State) 3 4 Country visits
 Inquiries Treaty Bodies interpret human rights violations through: the treaties and prevent 5 General comments/ Days of general discussion 6 Urgent action/ Early warning South Africa’s treaty ratification and reporting status Core Human Rights Treaties Date of ratification by South Africa Reporting status The Convention Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 10th December 1998 Next report due on 17 May 2023 10th December 1998 Next report due in April 2024 The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 15th December 1995 Next report due in 2025 The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 16th June 1995 Report submitted on 27 May 2021 The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 30th September 1990 Report due on 15 January 2022 CRC Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict 24 September 2009 Report overdue on 25 October 2011 CRC- sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography Report due on 15 Jan 2022 The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW) The International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED) 30th June 2003 12th January 2015 4th December 2007 Not a State party Not a State party Next report due on 31st October 2023 Report due 03 June 2022 ------- ------- Regional human rights treaties ratified by South Africa § African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) § African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter) § Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights §
 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women South Africa’s reporting and implementation obligations to treaty monitoring bodies § South Africa is under the obligation to report to treaty monitoring bodies on the steps it has taken to ensure the implementations of the provisions of different treaties it has ratified.
§ In return, the treaty monitoring bodies are expected to issue what is recommendations on such known as ‘concluding observations’ or reports.

§ South Africa has an obligation to implement the treaty provisions by also implementing the recommendations or concluding observations from the treaty bodies.
The role of the Parliament in the implementation of human rights treaties § Encourage ratification of treaties yet to be ratified § Exercise oversight function by requesting the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and responsible Government Departments to keep the committee up to date on the status of SA’s reporting obligations and implementation of recommendations from all human rights mechanisms § Using international human rights standards and principles (General Comments/Recommendations and Concluding Observations) as benchmarks in drafting laws or scrutinizing compliance § Facilitating the domestication of human rights treaties in SA.
§ Monitoring implementation by the Government of Concluding Observations or recommendations issued by treaty monitoring bodies and other human rights mechanisms.

§ Make necessary budget allocation for the implementation of recommendations.
General measures for child rights Governance and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child v Ensuring that legislation is fully compatible with the Convention v Ensuring adequate resource allocation and making children “visible” in budgets v Ensuring that there is a systematic process of assessing new laws, policies or programmes for their impact on children’s rights (“Child Impact Assessments”) v Developing permanent mechanisms in government to ensure the effective co- ordination, monitoring and evaluation of implementation v Developing a detailed, comprehensive v Developing training, education and national strategy or agenda for children, based on the Convention, and taking into account policies of decentralisation capacity-building for all those involved in the implementation process.
v Creation of a mechanism or process to ensure all state and non-state service providers (e.g.

the private sector, faith organizations, NGO/civil society) respect the Convention.

v Promoting co-operation and co- ordination with civil society - with professional associations, non- governmental organizations, children and so on.

v Ensuring the development of appropriate indicators and sufficient data collection on the state of children.

v Promoting international co-operation in implementation.
v Creating statutory children’s rights institutions / ombudsmen offices.

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