Behind the Scenes: Act 4

Behind the Scenes of Article 4: Freedom from Slavery

The content of this right is summed up by a quote: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms” (Flores 403). The right that will be analyzed is Article 4, “Freedom from Slavery”. Within this right and article there are International Instruments that protect this certain right. International Instruments are “treaties and other international documents relevant to International Human Rights law and the protection of Human Rights in general” (International Instruments 361). There are ten conventional core International Human Right instruments. Out of the ten, there are three instruments that fully support and protect “Freedom from Slavery”. Firstly, the “Convention on the Rights of the Child”. This instrument was introduced on November 20th, 1989 and its monitoring body is CRC (International Instruments 362). The CRC is known as the Committee on the Rights of the Child.The CRC is the body of eighteen independent experts and monitors things like child sale, pornography and armed conflict (362). This leads to the second instrument, the “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child”. It entails things like the sale of the children and child pornography. Once again, the monitoring body is the CRC. Secondly, there is the “Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or defrauding Treatment or Punishment” (364). This is known as the CAT. Thirdly, there is the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”. The monitoring body is the CCPR. All these instruments play a huge role in supporting Article 4. Without them, “Freedom from Slavery” would be very insufficient without their roles. Furthermore, there are also declarations that are apart of the International Instruments. The one that supports “Freedom from Slavery” is the Declaration of the Rights of the Child which was adopted in 1924 (367). It is said that “The...