The reach of human rights extends far beyond the scope of the International Bill of Rights, thanks to a large number of rights-specific conventions. There are too many to cover in great detail, but a number will be discussed at greater length through the Issue in Depth.

Some of the more important core international conventions dealing with human rights include the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948, 1951)²⁸;  the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965, 1969); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979, 1981); the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984, 1987); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990); and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998, 2002).

In additional, there have been a number of notable regional human rights agreements. These include the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950, 1953); the American Convention on Human Rights (1969, 1978); the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1982, 1986); and the Arab Charter on Human Rights (1994). These regional conventions have also been supplemented by a host of more rights-specific agreements addressing such topics as torture and disappearance of persons, rights of women and children, rights of indigenous peoples, and rights of the disabled among others.

For full texts, see the following links:

Convention on Genocide: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/p_genoci.htm

Convention on Racial Discrimination: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/d_icerd.htm

Convention on Discrimination Against Women: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/e1cedaw.htm

Convention Against Torture: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_cat39.htm

Convention on the Rights of the Child: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm

European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/005.htm

American Convention on Human Rights: http://www.cidh.org/Basicos/basic3.htm

African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: http://www.achpr.org/english/_info/charter_en.html

Arab Charter on Human Rights: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/arabcharter.html

28 All dates refer to (a) date of adoption and (b) date of entry into force.

Next:  Monitoring and Enforcement