CHAPTER V

AREAS IN WHICH STEPS NEED TO BE TAKEN TOWARDS FULL OBSERVANCE

OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS SET FORTH IN THE AMERICAN DECLARATION OF

THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MAN AND THE AMERICAN CONVENTION ON

HUMAN RIGHTS

          The analysis of the human rights situation in the States to which the Commission has made reference in the foregoing chapter, as well as in others where the human rights situation has been considered by the Commission in recent years, enables the Commission to affirm that only by means of the effective exercise of representative democracy can the observance of human rights be fully guaranteed.

          It is not a question merely of pointing out the organic relation that exists between representative democracy and human rights, which is manifest in the Charter of the OAS and other instruments of the inter-American system. The Commission's factual experience has been that serious human rights violations that have occurred or that are occurring in some countries of the Americas are primarily the result of the lack of political participation on the part of the citizenry, which is denied by the authorities in power. The resistance of these authorities as regards taking the action necessary to reestablish representative democracy has increased the tyranny, on the one hand, and led to serious social strife, on the other. The result has been that both the government and the more extreme opposition sectors have shown a preference for the use of violence as the sole means of resolving conflicts in the face of a lack of peaceful and rational options.

          This experience confirms, therefore, that authentic social peace and respect for human rights can only be found in a democratic system. It is the only system that allows for the harmonious interaction of different political tendencies and within which, by means of the inter institutional equilibrium it establishes, the necessary controls can be invoked to correct errors or abuses by the authorities.

          This does not mean that democracies are exempt from problems as they seek to ensure the effective observance of rights. Many are the hurdles that stand in the way of the efforts of these governments to ensure the observance of the basic rights and freedoms of their citizenry.

          First of all, one ought to mention the historically unprecedented economic crisis besetting Latin America, the extent and gravity of which have affected those social sectors of society which are the least protected. This crisis has undermined the stability of the democratic government, which, in some cases, has returned to democracy following an arduous struggle. Notwithstanding the political, economic or financial measures the governments of the Americas must institute, a consideration of which lies outside its area of competence, the Commission is convinced that the focal point and underpinning of any policy must be the effective observance of the rights of the individual. It is essential, under present circumstances, to institute the means necessary to ensure for every man and woman in the hemisphere the enjoyment of his or her economic, social and cultural rights. Hence the importance that the Commission attributes to the prompt adoption of an Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights with regard to these rights.

          Another challenge to democracies is terrorism, which in some countries of the region has reached alarming proportions.

          In previous reports, the Commission has had occasion to make reference to terrorism, which it has fervently condemned pointing out that whatever the motive, terrorism can have no justification. At the same time, it has repeatedly pointed out that the States have an obligation to maintain public order and ensure the personal safety of their inhabitants. The governments must therefore prevent and repress acts of violence by using all available legal means.

          It is precisely the use of these means, which evidences the existence of the rule of law. Thus, whereas nondemocratic regimes, which maintain themselves in power by means of force usually fight insurgent terrorism with state terrorism, they exclude no method provided that it leads to the extermination of the subversion. Democratic regimes, if they aspire not to enter into contradiction with what they are essentially cannot substitute one form of violence for another. In other words, summary executions, forced disappearances, tortures, indefinite detentions without due process, administrative expulsions of dissidents, irrevocably engender a spiral of violence, which ends up destroying the rule of law, and consequently, democracy itself.

          The Commission subscribes to the view that there can be no authentic true democracy which does not ensure the safety of its inhabitants and is not based on unimpeded respect for the human rights of all.

          A difficult problem that recent democracies have had to face has been the investigation of human rights violations under previous governments and the possibility of sanctions against those responsible for such violations. The Commission recognizes that this is a sensitive and extremely delicate issue where the contribution it—or any other international body for that matter—can make is minimal. The response, therefore, must come from the national sectors which are themselves affected, and the urgent need for national reconciliation and social pacification must be reconciled with the ineluctable exigencies of an understanding of the truth and of justice.

          Therefore, the Commission considers that only the appropriate democratic institutions—usually the legislature—with the participation of all the representative sectors, are the only ones called upon to determine whether or not to decree an amnesty of the scope thereof, while amnesties decreed previously by those responsible for the violations has no juridical validity.

          Independently of the problem of proving guilt, which in every case must be determined individually and with due process guarantees by a pre-existing court which applies the law in force at the time the crime was committed, one of the few matters that the Commission feels obliged to give its opinion on in this regard is the need to investigate the human rights violations committed prior to the establishment of the democratic government.

          Every society has the inalienable right to know the truth about past events, as well as the motives and circumstances in which aberrant crimes came to be committed, in order to prevent repetition of such acts in the future. Moreover, the family members of the victims are entitled to information as to on what happened to their relatives. Such access to the truth presupposes freedom of speech, which of course should be exercised responsibly; the establishment of investigating committees whose membership and authority must be determined in accordance with the internal legislation of each country, or the provision of the necessary resources, so that the judiciary itself may undertake whatever investigations may be necessary.

          The Commission considers that the observance of the principles cited above will bring about justice rather than vengeance, and thus neither the urgent need for national reconciliation nor the consolidation of democratic government will be jeopardized.

          Another problem that not a few democracies in America are grappling with is the lack of an efficient and modern judiciary. In its last Annual Report, the Commission already commented on the need for the countries of the Americas to adopt effective measures to ensure a strong and independent judiciary, which, as the Commission has frequently stated, are the pillars upon which democracy rests.

          Without detracting from the importance of such measures, which are set out in the 1984-1985 Report, the Commission wishes at this time to draw attention to some of the serious obstacles that the Judiciary, as an institution, or the judges themselves, are facing in their effort to achieve an autonomous and efficient administration of justice. These obstacles arise from a variety of norms, such as domestic law, as in the diminution or suspension of constitutional guarantees for the correct administration of justice, or the absence of norms to ensure authentic juridical, administrative and economic independence of the Judiciary. In other cases, the source is the lack of support from political or police authorities in implementing the Judiciary's decisions, or the lack of protection for judges against acts of vengeance or professional reprisal for the exercise of their authority, which inhibits them in their role as judge. In conjunction with delays in trials due to unwieldy legislation and the lack of information regarding many crimes, these factors have led in more than one case to a shrinking credibility in the administration of justice, and even in law itself, which regrettably is also undermining confidence in democracy itself.

          Tied to the issue of the Judiciary are two matters to which the Commission would like to direct its special attention. The first is the lack of effectiveness of the remedy of habeas corpus in some countries when a state of emergency has been declared, a problem which due to its importance will be the subject of a consultation with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

          The other problem is the recent persecution of human rights organizations precisely in those states where the authority of the judiciary is weakest or most limited.

          The Commission will refer below to that issue, as well as to the additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the area of economic, social and cultural rights, which it has drafted pursuant to the mandate of the General Assembly.

I.          DIFFICULTIES FACED BY HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS

          The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has always attached great importance to the activities carried out in the countries of the Americas by human rights organizations, both governmental—whose principal function is understood to be the promotion and dissemination of domestic and international law regarding human rights, as well as private, or nongovernmental, organizations dedicated essentially to furthering the protection of human rights.

          It has been therefore the consistent policy of the Commission to encourage the establishment of such organizations and to support their activities, which can effectively contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights.

          These organizations, especially those devoted to the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, are especially important in those countries where the Judiciary, whether in practice or by legal constraints, is not endowed with the authority to effectively protect the fundamental rights of the individual.

          Limitations or weakness of the judiciary have led human rights organizations, particularly nongovernmental ones, to play an active role in the protection of human rights, the denunciation of violations, and the movement to investigate such violations.

          In some cases, the activities carried out by these organizations have helped to correct abuses, in other cases, as the Commission has regrettably found in examining the situation of human rights in various states, these organizations or their leaders have been persecuted by government authorities, which has enormously hampered their valuable work.

          Several cases of such persecution can be cited. In some instances, human rights organizations have been denied legal status or judicial personality. In others, their offices have been raided and their property confiscated. Moreover, in at least three countries, their leaders have been subjected to threats, smear campaigns, harassment and even detention, in which the flimsiest pretexts have been used to block their functions and activities.

          Since many of these methods have regrettably been used more intensively in recent years in some member states, as described in the preceding chapter, the Commission feels obligated to reiterate to those member states where such organizations are carrying out their important functions under such precarious conditions, their obligation to guarantee the autonomy and freedom of their leaders.

II.          DRAFT ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE

AMERICAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS WITH REGARD TO

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

          The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will refer below to the American Convention on Human Rights in regard to economic, social and cultural rights, which it has prepared pursuant to the mandate of the General Assembly of the Organization.

          In its last six annual reports to the General Assembly, the Commission has highlighted the importance of economic, social and cultural rights and the need to establish institutional mechanisms to effectively protect such rights.

          The General Assembly of the Organization, in resolutions AG/RES. 510 (X-0/80) of November 27, 1980, AG/RES. 543 (XI-0/81) of December 10, 1981 and AG/RES. 618 (XII-0/82) of November 20, 1982, has shared the views expressed by the Commission, and reaffirmed the opinion that the effective protection of human rights should also include economic, social and cultural rights.

          Through resolution AG/RES. 619 (XII-0/82) of November 20, 1982, the General Assembly instructed the General Secretariat to prepare a preliminary Draft Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights that would define economic, social and cultural rights. That resolution also instructed the General Secretariat, after preparing the preliminary draft, to sent it to the governments of the member states and to the Preparatory Committee of the General Assembly for their observations and recommendations.

          In its annual report for 1982-1983, the Commission referred to the decision adopted by the General Assembly and considered that, as an organization specifically entrusted with the promotion and protection of human rights, the Commission had the obligation to play as active a role in the protection of economic, social and cultural rights as it was playing with regard to civil and political rights.

          In light of the above, the Commission proceeded to carefully study the preliminary draft prepared by the General Secretariat, and in August 1984, together with the Institute for Juridical Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Commission organized a seminar on the international protection of economic, social and cultural rights, which brought together distinguished specialists in this field.

          In its annual reports for 1983-1984 and 1984-1985, the Commission took into account the papers, deliberations and conclusions of the seminar in Mexico and the results of its own analysis, and set out the criteria that should lay the basis for the Additional Protocol, establishing rights that should be protected and identifying the institutional mechanisms and organizations which in its view should assume the task of protecting such rights.

          By means of Resolution 778 (XV-0/85) regarding the Commission's Annual Report, the General Assembly requested the Commission to submit to the next session of the General Assembly a Draft Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights with regard to economic, social and cultural rights. The General Assembly also directed the Permanent Council, through resolution AG/RES. 781 (XV-0/85), to inform it of the views of the member states and of the agencies and organizations interested in the content of the draft additional protocol, with respect to the definition of the rights to be protected and the institutional mechanisms that should be established for the appropriate protection of such rights.

          In carrying out these mandates, the Commission has been coordinating its efforts with the Working Group that was established for that purpose by the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council. It expressed its views to the Working Group at a meeting convoked for that purpose by the Working Group, and will send to the Permanent Council the text of the Draft Additional Protocol that it prepared in the course of this session, while in accordance with the terms of AG/RES. 778 (XV-0/85), it will also submit the draft to the General Assembly through this annual report.

          The Commission will not elaborate in its report on the draft, since the guidelines it used to determine the economic, social and cultural rights to be included in the Additional Protocol, as well as the institutional mechanisms to be established, have already been carefully examined by the Commission as stated above, in its annual reports for 1983-1984 and 1984-1985, which can be used for reference.

          In preparing this draft, the Commission has carefully considered recent doctrinal contributions in this field, particularly in the papers, debates and conclusions of the above-mentioned seminar held in Mexico in 1984. It has also carefully examined international instruments in force in this field, such as the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International American Charter of Social Guarantees, the Charter of the Organization of American States, amended by the Protocol of Buenos Aires, and especially the International Pact of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966, which served as the basis for several articles in the Commission's draft. In addition, the Commission has given special attention to the national legislation of several member states of the Organization of American States, and has taken into account the preliminary draft prepared by the General Secretariat of the Organization in 1983. It has also taken into account the observations made by several member states, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation on that preliminary draft. Subsequent views offered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the International Labour Organisation, and the Pan American Health Organization have been particularly useful to the Commission in drawing up the draft it presents herein.

          While taking into consideration all of the information and opinions cited above, in preparing this draft the Commission has considered that although in some cases certain economic, social and cultural rights should merely be reaffirmed in the Additional Protocol, since these are adequately covered out in other instruments, either universal or regional, other rights should be elaborated and developed in order to consolidate representative democracy in America, grounded in the integral observance of individual rights and the right of its peoples to development, self determination and the free disposition of their wealth and natural resources in accordance with international law. The draft also includes some provisions that are based solely on national legislations.

          The draft that the Commission submits for the consideration of the States Parties to the American Convention on Human Rights consist of a preamble and 22 articles. The preamble sets out the reasons which, in the opinion of the Commission, justify the adoption by those states of an additional protocol on economic, social and cultural rights. Among these reasons, the Commission wishes to underline the close relation between the observance of economic, social and cultural rights and that of civil and political rights, since the two categories of fights constitute an indissoluble whole, based on recognition of the dignity of the individual. It is because of that relation that the Commission has repeatedly stated that both categories of rights require ongoing protection and promotion in order to bring about full observance, while also noting that the violation of one category of rights cannot be justified by pursuit of the observance of others.

          The first five articles contain general provisions, customary in this kind of instrument, which refer, respectively, to the obligation of states to adopt the necessary measures consistent with available resources to gradually attain the full observance of the rights recognized in the Protocol; the obligation to nondiscriminatory conduct; the obligation to adopt internal legislation to render effective the rights established in the Protocol; the nonadmissibility of restrictions on recognized rights by virtue of domestic or international legislation, on the pretext that the Protocol does not recognize them or recognize them to a lesser degree; the admissibility of establishing restrictions and limitations on the enjoyment and exercise of rights established in the Protocol to the extent that they are compatible with the nature of such rights and are imposed through laws passed in order to promote the general welfare in a democratic society.

          Articles 6 to 16 establish the economic, social and cultural rights to be protected. According to the system established by Article 1 of the Convention, the object of international protection is the person, interpreted as all human beings. In this regard, the Commission wishes once again to state that the rights to be guaranteed by means of the additional protocol are attributes of the human person as such, and they therefore cannot be considered the byproduct of the success of given economic or social policies. As human rights, economic, social and cultural rights are thus imposed imperatives and not merely desirable development goals.

          In establishing these rights, the Commission has taken as its point of departure the fundamental nucleus comprised of labor, health and education rights. To these are added other related rights or rights directly linked to them or to measures that aim at achieving them in practice.

          With respect to the right to work, which is recognized in Article 6, the draft also refers in subsequent provisions to equitable and adequate working conditions; trade union rights; the right to strike; and the right to social security.

          Based on views set out by the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization, the right to health has been defined in Article 11, which also states the obligations of the State in the health field. Articles 12 and 13 incorporate two important rights linked to the right to health: the right to live in a healthy environment and the right to food.

          The right to education, as well as rights directly linked to it, such as freedom of education and the right to the benefits of culture, are set out in Articles 14, 15 and 16. In addition to these economic, social and cultural rights, the proposed draft upholds rights that aim at the participation of institutions or groups, such as the family, referred to in Article 17. The draft also attaches importance to the specific inclusion of these groups: children, the elderly and the handicapped. In the opinion of the Commission, these are categories of individuals who, due to their particular characteristics and place in society, require special attention so that they may enjoy economic, social and cultural rights. Indeed, for these rights to be truly exercised by the above-cited groups, the State should adopt specific measures that go beyond those necessary for the general population. Without such special consideration, the economic, social and cultural rights of these groups would be seriously weakened.

          Although the rights of children have been defined in Article 19 of the American Convention on Human Rights, the Commission has found it advisable to add to Article 18 of its draft, a provision that restates the need for children to have the special protection of the family, society and the State, and some specific measures to this end are cited.

          Regarding the elderly, considered under Article 19, the Commission believes that because they have passed the age of active employment, the elderly often find themselves forced to live in very precarious conditions. As a group that is particularly vulnerable because of its characteristics, the elderly should be given priority attention by the State. Similar considerations apply to the handicapped, referred to under Article 20.

          Despite the fact that the preceding provisions refer to groups or categories of persons, in order to maintain the structure of the draft and to reaffirm the personal nature of the rights that are established in the draft Additional Protocol, such provisions have been drafted so as to confer the corresponding rights to each of the persons comprising those groups.

          The core of the Additional Protocol certainly lies in the institutional means that are established for the protection and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights. In order to overcome the potential difficulties that such a delicate matter could pose, the Commission, in Article 21 of the draft, has proposed a realistic, flexible and effective system which it is confident may be accepted by the States parties to the American Convention on Human Rights, as it already has a previously-accepted basis in that Convention.

          The draft Additional Protocol confirms that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is competent to monitor the observance of the rights protected in the Protocol by preparing reports that will follow guidelines to be set out in the Commission's Statute.

          The Commission has deliberately decided to incorporate in its Statute, rather than in the Protocol itself, the guidelines along which such reports shall be prepared. In this, the Commission's intent has been that in light of experience acquired in preparing such reports, their format may be regulated in an instrument that is more easily amended, such as its Statute, thus avoiding mechanisms such as that regulated under Article 42 of the American Convention on Human Rights which established an inadequate system of protection and therefore has not been applicable in the years in which the Convention has been in force. Nevertheless, the draft requires that the Commission take into account the gradual nature of the observance of the rights set out in the Protocol.

          In order to facilitate carrying out the functions conferred upon the Commission, which it has exercised in fact in the past, it is confirmed that the Commission may have the advice of experts and may establish the relations it deems advisable with the organs and agencies of the inter-American system, as well as with the specialized agencies of the United Nations.

          Without prejudice to the foregoing, the Commission considers that three rights defined in the protocol—trade union rights, the right to strike and freedom of education—should enjoy the same system of protection that was established for civil and political rights. Thus, paragraph 5 of Article 21 of the draft makes applicable the system of individual petitions of the Convention—with the participation of the Commission or where appropriate of the Court—when one of these rights is violated by an order directly attributable to a State Party.

          The last article of the draft refers to the signature and ratification or adherence and the entry into force of the Protocol, respectively.

          The Commission hopes that it has complied with the mandate entrusted to it, and that by presenting this draft hereby submitted to the consideration of the States Parties to the American Convention on Human Rights, it will facilitate the adoption by those states at a future General Assembly of the Organization of this additional protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in regard to economic, social and cultural rights.

          The Commission trusts that the comments and observations on the proposed text that will be offered by the governments of the member states and the specialized organs and agencies of both the inter-American system and the United Nations will enrich the careful consideration of it by the Permanent Council, all of which will help the inter-American system to acquire a modern instrument devoted to carrying out the important function of internationally protecting the economic, social and cultural rights of the individual.

          The text of the proposed protocol is transcribed below.

DRAFT PROTOCOL ADDITIONAL TO THE

AMERICAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

(PACT OF SAN JOSÉ DE COSTA RICA, 1969)

          The States Parties to the Protocol Additional to the American Convention on Human Rights,

          Reaffirming their intention to consolidate in this hemisphere, within the framework of democratic institutions, a system of personal liberty and social justice based on respect for the essential rights of man;

          Recognizing that the essential rights of man are not derived from one's being a national of a certain State, but are based upon attributes of the human person, for which reason they merit international protection in the form of a convention reinforcing or complementing the protection provided by the domestic law of the American States;

          Considering the close relationship that exists between economic, social, and cultural rights and civil and political rights, in that the two categories of rights constitute an indivisible whole based on the recognition of the dignity of the human person for which reason both require permanent protection and promotion if they are to be fully realized, although the violation of one group of rights in favor of the realization of the other group can never be justified;

          Recognizing that, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social and cultural rights as well as his civil and political rights;

          Bearing in mind that, although fundamental economic, social and cultural rights have been embodied in earlier international instruments of both world and regional scope, it is essential that those rights be reaffirmed, developed and perfected in order to consolidate in America, on the basis of full respect for the rights of the individual, the democratic representative form of government as well as the right of its peoples to development, self-determination, and the free disposal, in accordance with international law, of their wealth and natural resources; and

          Considering that the General Assembly of the Organization has repeatedly expressed its wish to draw up a protocol additional to the American Convention on Human Rights for the purpose of defining the economic, social, and cultural rights to be protected and to establish institutional arrangements for ensuring the appropriate protection of such rights; and

          Considering that the American Convention on Human Rights provides that draft protocols additional to that Convention may be submitted for consideration to the States Parties, meeting together on the occasion of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, for the purpose of gradually incorporating other rights and freedoms into the system for the protection thereof;

          Have agreed upon the following Protocol Additional to the American Convention on Human Rights:

Article 1

Obligation to adopt measures

          The States Parties to this Protocol Additional to the American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San José, Costa Rica, 1969) undertake to adopt all the necessary measures within the extent of the resources available to them, to achieve the progressive realization of the rights recognized in this Protocol.

Article 2

Obligation of non-discrimination

          1.          The States Parties to this Protocol undertake to guarantee the exercise of the rights set forth herein without discrimination of any kind.

          2.          The States Parties to this Protocol undertake to invest men and women with equal title to the enjoyment of all the economic, social and cultural rights set forth in this Protocol.

Article 3

Obligation to enact domestic legislation

          If the exercise of the rights set forth in this Protocol is not already guaranteed by legislative or other provisions, the States Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their constitutional processes and the provisions of this Protocol, such legislative or other measures as may be necessary for making those rights a reality.

Article 4

Inadmissibility of restrictions

          Prohibited is any restriction or diminution of a right recognized or guaranteed in a state's legislation or by means of international treaties, on the pretext that the present Protocol does not recognize the right or recognize it to be a lesser degree.

Article 5

Scope of restrictions and limitations

          The State Parties may only establish restrictions and limitations on the enjoyment and exercise of the rights established in the present Protocol by means of laws promulgated with the purpose of preserving the general welfare in a democratic society, to the extent that they are compatible with these rights, public health and morality.

Article 6

Right to work

          Everyone shall have the right to work, which includes the right of opportunity to lead a decent life by carrying out an activity which one freely chooses or accepts.

Article 7

Just and satisfactory conditions of work

          The right to work defined in the foregoing article presupposes that the same is carried out in just and satisfactory conditions, which the State Parties to the Present Protocol undertake to guarantee in their internal legislation:

          a. Remuneration which guarantees, at a minimum, to all workers decent living conditions for them and their families and just and equal wages for work of equal value, without distinction. Women must be guaranteed working conditions equal to those of men.

          b. Freedom to change employment opportunities of promotion and mobility, work stability and the corresponding indemnization in the case of unjustified dismissal.

          c. Safety and hygiene at work.

          d. The prohibition of night work or unhealthy or dangerous working conditions for persons under the age of 18 and, in general, all work which could place in danger the youth's health, safety or morals. As regards minors under the age of 16, the workday will be subordinated to the provisions regarding compulsory education and in no case will it constitute an excused absence from classes or a limitation on benefiting from education received.

          e. The limitations on the hours of work, both daily and weekly. The days will be of shorter duration if the work is dangerous or unhealthy.

          f. Rest, leisure, reasonable limitation of working hours and paid vacations as well as remuneration for public holidays.

Article 8

Trade union rights

          1.          The State Parties undertake to ensure the right of everyone to form trade unions and to join the trade union of his choice for the promotion and protection of his economic and social interests. As an extension of that right, the State Parties shall permit trade unions to establish national federations or confederations, or to join those that already exist, as well as to form international trade union organizations and to join that of their choice. The States Parties shall also permit trade unions, federations and confederations to function freely.

          2.          The exercise of the rights set forth above may be subject only to the restrictions stipulated by the law, provided that they are characteristic of a democratic society and necessary for safeguarding public order and protecting public health or morals and the rights and freedoms of other persons.

Article 9

Right to strike

          1.          The States Parties to the present Protocol recognize the right to strike of trade union organizations.

          2.          The right to strike recognized in the present Protocol must be exercised in conformity with the laws of the corresponding State.

          3.          The provision of the present article shall not prevent States from imposing legal restrictions on the right to strike as regards members of the armed forces, the police or other public service agents of the State.

Article 10

Right to Social Security

          1.          Everyone shall have the right to social security that protects him against the consequences of unemployment, old age, and disability which, being the result of causes beyond his control, prevent him physically or mentally from earning the means for a decent living.

          2.          In the case of persons who are employed, the right to social security shall cover at least medical care and an allowance or retirement benefit in the case of occupational accidents or occupational disease and, in the case of women, paid maternity leave before and after childbirth.

Article 11

Right to health

          1.          Everyone shall have the right to health, which is understood to mean the enjoyment of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being.

          2.          To that end, the States Parties undertake to recognize health as a public good and in particular to guarantee this right by means of the following:

          a. Primary health care, that is, essential health care made available to all individuals and families in the community;

          b. To extend the benefits of health services to all individuals subject to the State's jurisdiction;

          c. Universal immunization against the principal infectious diseases;

          d. The prevention and treatment of endemic diseases;

          e. The education of the population concerning the prevention and treatment of health problems;

          f. The satisfaction of health needs of the highest risk group, who because of their poverty are the most vulnerable.

Article 12

Right to a healthy environment

          Everyone shall have the right to live in an environment free of pollution and to have access to basic urban services, especially a safe water supply and sewerage services.

Article 13

Right to food

          Everyone has the right to adequate nutrition, which guarantees the possibility of enjoying the highest level of physical, emotional and intellectual development.

Article 14

Right to education

          1.          Everyone has the right to education.

          2.          The State Parties to the present Protocol agree that, in general, education should be directed towards the full development of the human personality and human dignity, and ought to strengthen respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and peace. They agree, also, that education ought to equip all persons in the task of achieving a decent existence, and enabling one to participate effectively in a democratic society.

          3.          The States Parties to the present Protocol recognize that, in order to achieve the complete exercise of the right to education: