Human rights law also places a responsibility on States to provide effective
remedies in the event of violations.3
Those human rights that are part of customary international law are
applicable to all States.4 In the case of human rights treaties, those States
that are party to a particular treaty have obligations under that treaty.
There are various mechanisms for enforcing these obligations, including
the evaluation by treaty-monitoring bodies of a State’s compliance with
certain treaties and the ability of individuals to complain about the
violation of their rights to international bodies. Moreover, and particularly
relevant to a number of human rights challenges in countering terrorism,
all Members of the United Nations are obliged to take joint and separate
action in cooperation with the United Nations for the achievement of the
purposes set out in Article 55 of its Charter, including universal respect
for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.
A key question is the territorial reach of a State’s international human rights
obligations. The nature of the general legal obligation of States parties
in this respect is addressed in article 2 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights. As confirmed by the Human Rights Committee
in its general comment N° 31 (2004), this obligation on States to ensure
Covenant rights to all persons within their territory and subject to their
jurisdiction means that a State party must ensure such rights to anyone
within its power or effective control, even if not situated within its territory.
Furthermore, the enjoyment of international human rights is not limited
to the citizens of States parties but must be available to all individuals,
regardless of nationality or statelessness, such as asylum-seekers and
refugees. In an advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice has,
similarly, concluded that “the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights is applicable in respect of acts done by a State in the exercise of its
jurisdiction outside its own territory.” It reached the same conclusion with
regard to the applicability of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.5
B. What is terrorism?
Terrorism is commonly understood to refer to acts of violence that target
civilians in the pursuit of political or ideological aims. In legal terms,
although the international community has yet to adopt a comprehensive
definition of terrorism, existing declarations, resolutions and universal
“sectoral” treaties relating to specific aspects of it define certain acts and
core elements. In 1994, the General Assembly’s Declaration on Measures
to Eliminate International Terrorism, set out in its resolution 49/60, stated