Today, 16 December, marks the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the two UN human rights Covenants: on civil and political rights; and economic, social and cultural rights. Throughout the year events have taken place commemorating this anniversary. But what do we commemorate?
The 1966 Covenants are widely regarded as the foundation of contemporary human rights work. This understanding fits into the standard historical narrative that has focused on the evolution of the International Bill of Human Rights consisting of the 1948 Universal Declaration, the two Covenants and the implementation measures they contain. However, there is a different version of this history that deserves to be told. Instead of a story of “foundations”, it may be pertinent to discuss the “dismembered” corpus of international human rights law we have had since the 1960s, as its unacknowledged legacy is with us today.
