Measuring Human Rights

This chapter discusses several efforts to use indicators within the law of international human rights. It identifies the criticisms made to these efforts, and states that there is an increasing potential for suitable tempered indicators to play valuable roles. It then takes a look at the project of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which is aimed to create internationally-prescribed indicators for a number of primary UN human rights treaties. It determines that these indicators may help in addressing the concerns of the perceived legitimacy of the supervisory committees under these treaties. This chapter also suggests that indicators may play a role in assisting peoples and publics to use the kinds of pressures and constraints on governments that human rights advocates have long sought after.