Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (General)

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United Nations Human Rights System: Treaties, Mechanisms and Documents

The United Nations system is composed of various agencies, treaties and documents Recent reforms at the UN have altered the structure of its human rights enforcement bodies.

Case of the Street Children (Villagrán-Morales et al.) v. Guatemala

A petition was filed with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) against the State of Guatemala alleging the kidnapping, torture and death of four minors and the murder of a fifth one in 1990, in the city of Guatemala, by members of the security forces, and the State's failure to provide adequate judicial protection to the victims' families.

Amilcar Menéndez, Juan Manuel Caride, et al. Case Nº 11.670. Report Nº 03/01 [ENG]

Between December 27, 1995 and September 30, 1999, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) received numerous petitions filed by retired persons and several non-governmental organizations. The petitions claimed violations of the rights to effective judicial remedy, due legal process, property, social security, health, well-being and equal protection, which are enshrined in the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man (ADRDM) and in the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR).

Comunidad Yanomami. Caso Nº 7615. Resolución Nº 12/85. [ENG]

A petition was filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) against the State of Brazil and in favor of the Yanomami indigenous community.

Case of the Indigenous Community Yakye Axa v. Paraguay [ENG]

The Yakye Axa community, a Paraguayan indigenous community belonging to the Lengua Enxet Sur people, filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) alleging Paraguay had failed to acknowledge its right to property over ancestral land. Given its impossibility to solve the case, the Commission referred it to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

UN Special Procedures and the Special Rapporteurs

The Commission on Human Rights has established certain mechanisms to address thematic and country-specific human rights issues. One of these special procedures is the appointment of special rapporteurs or independent experts, whose mandate is to "examine, monitor, advise, and publicly report on...

Other Universal Treaties

ESCR are found throughout the body of international human rights law. Apart from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, there are two major conventions which are important for the protection of ESCR: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms...

The Right to...

This section provides in-depth information about the specific content, minimum core standards, and other implications of individual economic, social and cultural rights.

Azanca Alhelí Meza García, Expte. N.° 2945-2003-AA/TC. [ENG]

An HIV/AIDS-positive person submitted an amparo action with Peru's Health Ministry requesting full medical care, including permanent supply of drugs and periodical testing, as well as CD4 and viral load tests. The petitioner alleged to lack enough financial resources to face the high cost of the treatment. The Court accepted the amparo action and ordered government agencies to comply with Article 8 of Law 26626, which set forth that a Plan to Fight AIDS should have top priority in the budget.

Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua [ENG]

The Mayagna Awas (Sumo) Tingni Community lives in the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua and is made up of approximately 142 families. Jaime Castillo Felipe, a leader of the community, lodged a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) denouncing the State of Nicaragua for failing to demarcate the Awas Tingni Community's communal land and to take the necessary measures to protect the Community's property rights over its ancestral lands and natural resources.