Regional Human Rights: A Comparative Study of the West European and Inter-American Systems

Just as human rights issues are commanding increasing attention on both the international and local levels, the need to establish systems for promoting these rights and implementing programs for their protection is becoming a worldwide priority. A. Glenn Mower, Jr., evaluates the effectiveness of the regional systems developed by the Council of Europe and the Organization of American States, examining their structure and performance during the 1980s and how they influenced the advancement of civil and political rights within each region. By discussing both the operational and legal groundwork for the establishment of working agencies by these systems, the study demonstrates the degree to which each region's particular needs were met by the enactment of appropriate programs to fulfill those requirements. This book is an excellent guide to the development of viable agencies in many diverse geographical areas.

The comparison of the West European and Inter-American systems focuses on those agencies that played a major part in the furtherance of human rights and details the definition of human rights standards within each region. Each region is characterized according to its economic, social, and political environment. The ability of the programs designed to respond to that profile is analyzed. The necessity for agencies to be sensitive to the changes that inevitably occur as an area becomes more economically and politically sophisticated--and to anticipate increased work load due to increased public awareness of human rights-- are concepts central to the entire work, and can help direct the establishment of systems in other locations.