Research Reports

01-01-2005

Index of International Commitment to Human Rights 2004

By Fernando J. Ruiz

Author: Mariel Julio
Editor: Fernando Javier Ruiz

Executive Summary

Chile ranks number one on the Index of International Commitment to Human Rights (IICHR) with 16 points. The next ten positions are held by the following European countries: Austria, Croatia, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Hungary, United Kingdom, Italy and France.

There is a tie among countries with least international commitment to human rights: Egypt, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Cuba, they all have -9 points.

Europe ranks number one on the IICHR at a continental level with 11 points. Oceania ranks second with 8 points. America is in third place with 6.4 points.

The continents with least international commitment to human rights are Asia, with -1.1 points and Africa, with -6.7 points.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the case that arouses most international consensus on violations of human rights (40 points).

The most controversial draft resolutions on human rights violations were those of Chechnya (-40 points), China (-33 points), Cuba (-8 points) and Zimbabwe (-8 points), obtaining the greatest number of 'against' votes and abstentions.

Europe and Africa are the continents that have a common foreign policy regarding international commitment to human rights. Europe has a homogeneous foreign policy regarding commitment, whereas Africa presents a lack of commitment.

America is the continent that displays the most diverse results: it includes Chile that ranks number one with 16 points and Cuba, which is ranked among the countries with least international commitment to human rights with -9.

Regarding the composition of the Commission on Human Rights, there are a greater number of countries that violate human rights compared to last year. Freedom House publishes an annual assessment that classifies countries as being "free", "partly free" and "not free" and if we use this as a reference, the percentage of free countries represents less than half the member states. "Free" countries account for 43.4%, "partly free" countries 26.4% and the remaining 30.2% are "not free".

There is a correlation between the situation of human rights within national borders and the international commitment to human rights. The group of countries with the highest international commitment to human rights is almost completely comprised of countries that are classified as "free" by Freedom House. The only country that does not belong to this category is Guatemala ("partly free"). States that violate human rights ("not free" and "partly free") represent 92% of the group of countries with least international commitment to human rights. India and South Africa are the only countries in this group that are classified as "free".

Fernando J. Ruiz

Academic Advisor

Fernando J. Ruiz studied Political Science and earned a PhD in Communication. As a journalist and researcher he traveled and gave courses and conferences in almost all Latin American countries. He was a founding member and president of the Argentine Journalism Forum 2019-2021 and a jury member of the Colpin Award (Latin American Conference of Investigative Journalism). He was a consultant for Voces del Sur, the organization that brings together the region's main journalists' organizations. He is a full time professor and researcher at the School of Communication of Universidad Austral and a member of the National Academy of Journalism. He is the author of the following books: Las palabras son acciones. Historia política y profesional del diario La Opinión de Jacobo Timerman, 1971-1977 ("Words are Actions. Political and Professional History of the Newspaper La Opinión of Jacobo Timerman, 1971-1977") (Perfil, 2001); Otra grieta en la pared: informe y testimonios de la nueva prensa cubana ("Another crack in the Wall: Report and Testimonies of the New Cuban Press") (La Crujía, 2003); El señor de los mercados: historia de Ámbito Financiero, 1976-2001 ("The Lord of the Markets: A History of Ámbito Financiero, 1976-2001") (El Ateneo, 2005); Guerras mediáticas. Las grandes batallas periodísticas desde la Revolución de Mayo hasta la actualidad ("Media Wars. Great Journalistic Battles from the May Revolution to the Present Day") (Sudamericana, 2014); Cazadores de noticias. Doscientos años en la vida cotidiana de los periodistas ("News Hunters. Two Hundred Years in the Daily Life of Journalists") (Ariel, 2018); and Imágenes paganas: periodismo, democracia y pandemia en Argentina y América Latina ("Pagan Images: Journalism, Democracy and Pandemic in Argentina and Latin America") (Cadal/Adenauer, 2021).