Who bears the duties relating to human rights?
The international human rights framework has been developed as a part of public international law. The conventions mentioned above have been voluntarily adopted by states as a form of contractual obligations towards other states. Thus, the primary obligation for the implementation of human rights rests with the States Parties to the various instruments. This is not to say that individuals have no responsibilities, rather that these duties are governed by a different branch of law. However, states are obliged to protect human rights from abuse by third parties and should introduce national laws to govern the behaviour of individuals and groups. In addition, attempts are currently being made within the human rights community to find ways of extending human rights responsibility to corporations, particularly multi-national companies, and to the international financial institutions.
