Law, Culture and Women's Inheritance Rights in ... - Leitner Center

With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for
peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights
and self-determination of peoples, the United Nations shall promote: ... (c) Universal respect for,
and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race,
sex, language, or religion.
Id.; Universal Declaration of Human Rights, supra note 19, art. 7 states:
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of
the law.
Id.; ICCPR, supra note 12, art. 26 states:
All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal
protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to
all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status.
Id. Article 2(1) of the ICCPR states:
Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all
individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present
covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political
or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Id. art. 2(1); ICESCR, supra note 13, art. 3 states:
The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and
women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in the present
Covenant.
Id.
[FN23]. See, e.g., African Charter, supra note 15, arts. 2, 3, 18(3). Article 2 states:
Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and
guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune,
birth or other status.
Id. art 2. Article 3 states:
(1) Every individual shall be equal before the law;
(2) Every individual shall be entitled to equal protection of the law.
Id. art 3. Article 18(3) states:
The State shall ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also ensure
the protection of the rights of the woman and the child as stipulated in international declarations
and conventions.
Id. art. 18(3). see also CEDAW, supra note 14, arts. 2, 3, 15, 16. Article 2 states:
States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all
appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and
to this end, undertake
(a) To embody the principle of equality of men and women in their national constitutions or
other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other
appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle;
(b) To adopt appropriate legislative measures, including sanctions where appropriate
prohibiting all discrimination against women;