PHM-Exch> The Maastricht Extra Territorial Human Rights Obligations Principles

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Rebecca Brown <rbrown at escr-net.org>
From: Rolf Künnemann [kuennemann at fian.org]


We are very pleased to announce that the Maastricht Principles on
Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights have been adopted and are now public. You will find below
the Press Release as well as the URL for the final version of the
Principles. The conference in Maastricht during which 40 experts discussed
and adopted these Principles could draw on the tremendous work of the
Consortium and its members over the last years.


In terms of the work specifically on the Principles, they will be translated
into Arabic, French and Spanish in the coming weeks. The work on the
Commentary on the Maastricht Principles will continue and both the
Principles and Commentary will be formally launched in Geneva during the
19th session of the Human Rights Council.


 *Press Release*

Maastricht/Geneva, 17 October 2011

*
*

*Principles on Extra-Territorial Human Rights Obligations Adopted*


The Maastricht Centre for Human Rights of Maastricht University and the

International Commission of Jurists are pleased to announce the adoption of
the

*Maastricht** Principles on Extra-Territorial Obligations (ETOs) of States
in*

*the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights*.


These international legal principles clarify the human rights obligations of
States beyond their own borders.


The Principles cover all economic, social and cultural rights, including
among

others the right to just and favourable conditions of work, social security,
an

adequate standard of living, food, housing, water, sanitation, health,
education

and participation in cultural life.


The Maastricht Principles constitute the outcome of the deliberations of a
group

of 40 distinguished experts in international law and human rights from all
regions

of the world. The expert group includes present and former members of

international human rights treaty bodies; present and former special
procedures

mandate holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council; and leading

academic and civil society legal experts. The experts met in Maastricht from
26

to 28 September 2011 at a conference co-convened by the Maastricht
University

and the ICJ and considered legal analysis conducted over a period of four
years

by the ETO Consortium, consisting of academic, civil society and other

independent experts on economic, social and cultural rights.


The Principles take as their starting point the conviction that the human
rights of

individuals and peoples are necessarily impacted substantially in both
negative

and positive ways by the conduct of States other than their own. The
Principles

affirm that States are obliged to cooperate and assist other states in
realizing

economic, social and cultural rights of all people. They also make clear
that

States may be held responsible for the adverse effects that their conduct
brings

to the enjoyment of rights beyond their own borders.


The experts stressed that economic globalization and the increasing shift in

decision-making competency and authority to international bodies were
placing

great strain on the capacity of each State to realize human rights of their
own

nationals and residents, and that all States acting singly or jointly must
act to

ensure that human rights do not become a casualty of this trend.

The Maastricht Principles complement and build on the 1986 Limburg
Principles

for the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights and on the 1997 Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. They constitute a significant
contribution

towards the achievement of the historic promise made by States in the
Charter of

the United Nations to promote universal respect for, and observance of,
human

rights and fundamental freedoms for all.


The text of the Maastricht Principles is available at:

www.maastrichtuniversity/humanrights and www.icj.org


URL: <*> 2 of 2 File(s)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ESCR-Right-to-Health/attachments/folder/1667457055/item/list


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