International Human Rights Conventions

There are basically three distinct types of human rights:

• civil and political rights, e.g. the right to life, peaceful assembly and religious freedom
• economic, social and cultural rights, e.g. the right to work, to education, and to social security
• rights of the third generation, e.g. the right to development and to a clean and healthy environment

Principal United Nations conventions on human rights:

Unlike the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the above conventions are binding on states parties. Switzerland has ratified all except the last.

The principal Council of Europe conventions on human rights are:

• The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ECHR (CETS no. 005) and its Additional Protocols
  Switzerland ratified the ECHR and Additional Protocol 6, 7 and 13. It signed Additional Protocol 1 in 1976.
• The European Social Charter and the European Social Charter (Revised)
  Switzerland signed the original 1961 European Social Charter in 1976. The Federal Council adopted a report on the compatibility of the revised European Social Charter with Swiss law on 2 July 2014.
• Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
  Switzerland ratified the convention in 1998.
  
• Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings
  Switzerland ratified the convention in 2012.
• Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention)Switzerland ratified the convention in 2014.
• Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul convention)
  Switzerland signed the convention in 2013.

The principal UN conventions on human rights establish committees to monitor compliance with their provisions. They provide for a mandatory reporting procedure whereby states which have ratified the conventions submit reports to the relevant committee on the way in which they have fulfilled their human rights obligations. The committee examines the reports and formulates recommendations.