regional human rights protection mechanisms

There are three main regional systems that aim to protect and promote human right: the Council of Europe; the Organization of American States; and the Organization of African Unity. Of these, Europe has the oldest and most developed system with an established judicial mechanism for determining complaints brought by individuals. The inter-State and individual complaint processes before the European Court of Human Rights are no longer optional. However, the Court is still an organism of international law and repeatedly asserts its role as supervisory, the primary responsibility for the implementation of the European Convention remaining with States.

In the Americas, the Organization of American States its human rights machinery is not as developed as European system, yet the achievements have been remarkable given the political turmoil in the region until comparatively recently. Promoting democracy has been a priority in the region and, indeed, has been its major success. States of emergency were commonplace thus human rights have often been relegated in importance in response to serious problems of political and economic stability. The establishment of Inter- American Court provided a judicial forum for the determination of individual complaints, further developing the pioneering work of Commission.

The youngest developed regional system is to be found in Africa. Against oppressive regimes   violent and often undemocratic background, attempts to consolidate human rights should perhaps have been doomed to failure. However, the African system has succeeded in developing a coherent system for protection of human rights. The Commission received several complaints related to torture and right to life. The African system has succeeded in raising many issues in public awareness and developing a distinctively African body of human rights materials.