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32 Hum. Rts. Q. 601 (2010)
Practice of United Nations and Human Rights Treaty Bodies in the Reconciliation of Cultural Diversity with Universal Respect for Human Rights

handle is hein.journals/hurq32 and id is 607 raw text is: HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY Practice of United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies in the Reconciliation of Cultural Diversity with Universal Respect for Human Rights Michael K. Addo* ABSTRACT The traditional scholarly narrative on the relationship between cultural diversity and universal respect for human rights suggests a tension which must, at best, be managed. There is, however, no consensus among schol- ars as to the best way to reconcile or manage this tension and so creating an intellectual gap between universalist and cultural relativist schools of thought which has come to inform important aspects of diplomatic practice. This article analyses an alternative approach to the management of this tension based on the practice of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies. The working methods of these supervisory bodies, especially the constructive dialogue on national periodic reports, suggest that they adopt a legal approach in which cultural diversity and universal respect for human rights complement and reinforce each other. At the same time, focusing on effective protection, the treaty bodies challenge specific cultural practices that they consider to be harmful or contrary to human rights guarantees. Although the treaty bodies' approach to this subject is still evolving, it reveals interesting doctrinal lessons concerning the universality of human rights norms. * Michael K. Addo, School of Law, University of Exeter, United Kingdom, is editor of Interna- tional Law of Human Rights (Ashgate 2006) and author of The Legal Nature of International Human Rights (Nijhoff 2010). Research and preparation of this article was made possible with the generous sup- port of a British Academy Small Grants Scheme to fund the part time research assistance of Milena Kadieva, Jana Mereckova and Victoria Hamlyn. I have benefited from the com- ments on earlier versions of this article provided by Professors Matthew Craven and Sigrun Skogly as well as from Dr. Nathalie Prouvez. Any remaining shortcomings are entirely my responsibility. Human Rights Quarterly 32 (2010) 601-664 © 2010 by The Johns Hopkins University Press

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