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ANA POLAK PETRIČ CYIL 5 ȍ2014Ȏ
same time the precondition for the entire set of basic human rights that are directly
linked with the survival of human beings exposed to a natural disaster. States must
ensure and protect these rights in every situation, including in the event of natural
disasters.
The right to life is the most fundamental and ‘supreme’ human right from which
all rights derive; if persons are deprived of their right to life, all other human rights
are meaningless. The codification of the right to life as a so-called ‘first generation’
fundamental human right in all major universal as well as regional international
human rights instruments only strengthens its role and meaning as reflecting the
conscience of mankind. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its article 3
sets forth the right to life in the following manner: “[e]veryone has the right to life,
liberty and security of person”. Article 6 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (CCPR) refers to the right to life as “[e]very human being has
the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily
deprived of his life.” Considering that the right to life is the first right of a human
being, other international human rights instruments proclaim the right in fairly
similar terms.63 The right to life as a norm of international customary law or a general
principle of international law, however, transcends these particular statements of the
right in specific international conventions and is therefore binding on all States,
regardless of their accession to international human rights treaties. In addition, the
recognition of the right to life as a ius cogens not only implies that no government
may deny its existence but also, as already mentioned, the rule of non-derogability in
any circumstances whatsoever to all States.64
Article 2 (1) of the CCPR clearly obliges the State parties to undertake to respect
and to ensure to all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction
the rights recognized in the Covenant, including the right to life. The Human Rights
Committee asserted as early as in 1982 that the inherent right to life cannot be
properly understood in a restrictive manner, suggesting ‘only’ limitations on the
acts of State law enforcement. Therefore, the protection of this right requires that
States adopt positive measures to protect the lives of people on their territory and to
reduce “infant mortality and to increase life expectancy, especially in adopting measures
to eliminate malnutrition and epidemics”.65 In line with this, it is clear that today
narrow and traditional approaches to the right to life are no longer appropriate. The
right to life encompasses not merely the protection against intentional or arbitrary
deprivation of life but also places a duty on each government to pursue policies
designed to ensure access to the means of survival for every individual within its
63 The Convention on the Rights of the Child, the European Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the American Convention of Human Rights and the African Charter
on Human and People’s Rights.
64 For more on the right to life, see for example Prémont, D., et al., Essais sur le concept de ‘droit de vivre’:
en mémoire de Yougindra Khushalani, Bruylant, Bruxelles, 1988.
65 UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR general comment No. 6 (Article 6: The Right to Life), available
at: , para. 5.