CYIL Vol. 5, 2014

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: http://www.refworld.org/docid/45388400a.html, para. 5.