Monitoring Cultural Human Rights: The Claims of Culture on Human Rights and the Response of Cultural Rights

Abstract

Given the reticence of states about cultural rights, this essay explores how the independent UN human rights monitoring bodies filled the gap. Cultural rights made the human rights system burst at the seams, and these bodies picked up the bold demand that culture poses for human rights. Through their practice, they crafted an understanding of the normative content of cultural rights and thus helped overcome the seemingly insurmountable political difficulties of states. Through an international law perspective, the essay unravels this practice and presents a critical analysis of the new developments in this area.