The International Human Rights Clinic at Santa Clara University’s School of Law (hereinafter “the Clinic”) submitted a written contribution encouraging the U.N. Human Rights Committee to consider incorporating in its upcoming General Comment 36 the rich jurisprudence on the “right to a dignified life” developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Court”).
In the last fifteen years, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has consistently held that the right to life recognized under Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights includes the concept of a “right to a dignified life” (vida digna in Spanish), as interpreted in light of other international human rights treaties – including Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In essence, the Court has understood the right to life as one that necessarily includes a corresponding state obligation to ensure and guarantee minimum conditions of existence. The Court has further developed this concept of a vida digna in cases involving vastly different scenarios, from reprehensible prison conditions to indigenous peoples living under appalling circumstances.
In this jurisprudence, the Court has consistently held that States have two types of obligations with regards to the right to life: a negative obligation not to arbitrarily deprive a person of his or her life, and a positive obligation to adopt all measures necessary to ensure, guarantee and fulfill this right. The notion of a “right to a dignified life” or vida digna falls within the latter category of positive obligations States have to ensure minimum conditions of existence of all persons under their territory or jurisdiction. According to the Court, the right to life is therefore inextricably intertwined with certain basic socioeconomic rights, such as the right to adequate and accessible healthcare, education, food, water, and other minimum essential rights necessary for the enjoyment of a dignified existence.
The Clinic invited the members of the Committee and its staff to explore this jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its July 14th, 2015 discussion on the right to life (Article 6 of the ICCPR), and to incorporate the notion of a vida digna in the Committee’s upcoming General Comment 36.
The Clinic’s written contribution can be downloaded here.
