Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons -

International Standards

The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2) (other languages) restate and compile human rights and humanitarian law relevant to internally displaced persons.

Background to the Guiding Principles

In 1993, at the request of the Commission on Human Rights, prior Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons Francis M. Deng prepared his first study (E/CN.4/1993/35 Annex) of international standards relevant to internally displaced persons (IDPs). In a more comprehensive two-volume study presented in 1996 (E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2) and 1998 (E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.1), Representative Deng concluded that existing law provided broad protection for the rights of internally displaced persons, but that there were also certain gray areas and gaps in coverage.

With the encouragement of the Commission of Human Rights (E/CN.4/RES/1996/52, para. 9) and the General Assembly, Representative Deng proceeded to develop a document setting out the relevant law and addressing the gray areas and gaps, with the help of a team of international legal scholars chaired by Mr. Walter Kälin (now Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons). The resulting Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2) were presented to the Commission on Human Rights in 1998.

The Commission has expressed its appreciation of the Guiding Principles as an important tool for dealing with internal displacement, and has welcomed the fact that an increasing number of States, United Nations agencies and regional and non-governmental organizations are applying them as a standard (E/CN.4/RES/2004/55, operative paragraph 6).

A handbook* and legal annotations* (the latter authored by Mr. Kälin) were subsequently developed to make the Guiding Principles more accessible.

Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles in English.
Guiding Principles in Abkhaz.
Guiding Principles in Albanian.
Guiding Principles in Arabic.
Guiding Principles in Armenian.
Guiding Principles in Azeri.
Guiding Principles in Bahasa Indonesia.
Guiding Principles in Bengali.
Guiding Principles in Burmese.
Guiding Principles in Bodo.
Guiding Principles in Cebuano.
Guiding Principles in Chinese.
Guiding Principles in Dhivehi.
Guiding Principles in Dinka.
Guiding Principles in French.
Guiding Principles in Georgian.
Guiding Principles in Hausa.
Guiding Principles in Hindi.
Guiding Principles in Ibo.
Guiding Principles in Karbi.
Guiding Principles in Kirundi.
Guiding Principles in Kurmanji Kurdish.
Guiding Principles in Luo.
Guiding Principles in Macedonian.
Guiding Principles in Magui.
Guiding Principles in Meitei.
Guiding Principles in Nepali.
Guiding Principles in Nuer.
Guiding Principles in Pashtu & Dari.
Guiding Principles in Portuguese.
Guiding Principles in Russian.
Guiding Principles in Rutoro.
Guiding Principles in Serbo-Croatian.
Guiding Principles in Sgaw Karen.
Guiding Principles in Sinhala.
Guiding Principles in Somali.
Guiding Principles in Spanish.
Guiding Principles in Swahili.
Guiding Principles in Swahili DRC.
Guiding Principles in Tagalog.
Guiding Principles in Tamil.
Guiding Principles in Tetum.
Guiding Principles in Thai.
Guiding Principles in Turkish.
Guiding Principles in Urdu.
Guiding Principles in Yoruba.

Legal Bases for the Guiding Principles

The Guiding Principles are based in part on the following instruments:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

ILO Convention (No. 169) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (applied by analogy)

Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I)

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II)

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Statute of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991

Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committee in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens Responsible for Genocide and Other Violations Committed in the Territory of the Neighbouring States, between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994