This article examines the ways in which international law protects economic, social and cultural rights in times of armed conflict. It begins by showing that the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights applies in times of armed conflict and, in some cases, extra-territorially. It uses the example of water to show that economic, social and cultural rights are generally defined by both human rights law and international humanitarian law.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ rights issued its first decision on an individual communication in 1994. It is self-evident, however, that the potential for improvement in human rights protection held by such judgments and decisions can only be realized with implementation. Yet, there is very little written either in academic literature or policy documents and little available information at national or regional levels about what happens to decisions of the African Commission or other regional human rights organs once they have been published. These challenges provide the backdrop against which this article examines the potential for strengthening implementation mechanisms at both national and regional levels.
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