Human Rights Exam 1

Who are duty bearers?

"A clear answer can thus be given to the objection that economic and social rights remain unanchored by any corresponding duties. The ground of the duty is the same as for the rights, human needs, *the general duty to aid those in need is however, neither unlimited nor unassignable. It falls in the first instance upon governments, from societal resources, to ensure that basic rights are realized, where individuals, families, or groups prove insufficient by themselves; and to the international organizations in turn, from the resources of the developed world, to support this effort where national resources prove insufficient. Such duties are widely acknowledged." (Essentials 1.3) *

Reasons why some countries repress more than others

1.) Former Colonies 2.) Oil 3.) Semi-democracies 4.) Developing 5.) Civil War 6.) Dictatorshio

Nine (9) Core UN Treaties

1.) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) 2.) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)* - among other things, the right to self-determination, the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion" 3.) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)* 4.) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) 5.) Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984) 6.) Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) 7.) International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990) 8.) International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (2006) 9.) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)

Developing Countries 3 critiques against universal human rights

1.) They had little input in the drafting of the document due to their colonial status 2.) the same coutnries contend that the rights outlined in the declaration are ethnocentric, reflecting Western values and ommitting non western views 3.) There is to much empahsis on the rights of the individual often at the expense of the rights of groups or collectives

United Nations Charter Article 63

- Article 62 establishes the Economic and Social Council (UNESCO) which "may make recommendations for the purpose of promoting respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all"

Cultural Relativisim

"Human rights are culturally or historically defined and will likely change over time. Moral values or what is socially acceptable are defined by one's culture." (Essentials 1.2) - "What one society calls a human rights violation, another society might claim as a legimitate cultural practice." - Contended that universal rights are cultural imperialism of Western values.

Legal Positivism

"Positivist philopshers deny an a prior source of rights and assume that all authority stems from what th estate and officials have prescribed. Rejects any attempt to articleate an idea of law transends the empirical relaities of an exisiting legal system. the source of human rights is found only in those enactments of a system of law with sanctions attached to it. views on what hte law ought to be have no place in law and are congitivley worthelss." (Essentials 1.5) -Negates the moral philopshical basis of human rights "Positivist encourage the belief that the law must be obeyed no matter how immoral it may be or however it disregards the world of the individual." "Critics maintain that unjust laws not only lack a capacity to demand fidelity but also do not deserve the name of law because they lack internal morality." - The law is the law, rights exist only within the state - Legal source value v. moral source value? - The law is the law regardless of morality

Sociological Approach to Human Rights

"Sociological jusrisprudence moves away from both a prior theories and analytical types of jurisudence. as it relates to human rights directs attention to the question of institutional development, someimtes focuses on specfic problmes of public policy that have a bearing on human rights and sometimes aims at classifying behavior dimensions of law and society. In a human rights context the apprcoah is useful because it identifies the empircal component of a human rights system in the context of the social process." "A primary contribution of the sociologal school is its emphaisi on obtaining a just equilibrium of interests among prevailing moral sentiments and the social and economic conditions of time and place."

United Nations Charter Article 56

- "All members pledge themselves to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article 55."

Leckie 1998

- "Although the international community has consistently reiterated the proposition that all human rights are intertwined w coherent system of law, responses to violations of economic, social and cultural rights-both procedural and substantive-have paled in compari- son to the seriousness accorded infringements of civil and political rights." - " For instance, when someone is tortured or when a person's right to speak freely is restricted, observers almost unconsciously hold the state responsible. However, when people die of hunger or thirst, or when thousands of urban poor and rural dwellers are evicted from their homes, the world still tends to blame nameless economic or "developmental" forces, or the simple inevitability of human deprivation, before placing liability at the doorstep of the state" - " Ambivalence towards violations of economic, social and cultural rights-whether by those entrusted with their implemen- tation or those mandated to monitor compliance with them-remains commonplace" - " Despite the enumeration of the aforementioned violations, the nuances of economic, social and cultural rights make the development of a universally applicable list of violations for each right tentative at best. There are, however, several reasonably specific formulas that have been devel- oped with the purpose of delineating violations or possible violations of economic, social and cultural rights." - "These include: the carrying out by states of "deliberately retrogressive measures," the development of a "decency threshold," minimum core entitlements, the practice of forced evictions, and the principles of permeability, equality, and nondiscrimination" 1. Deliberately Retrogressive Measures. - " The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has sought to discourage what it deems "deliberately retrogressive measures" being undertaken by states parties to the ICESCR, stating that such measures "can only be justified by reference to the totality of the rights provided for in the Covenant and in the context of the full use of the maximum available resources" - " Thus, the abject unwillingness of a state to respect a norm when it is clearly capable of doing so, combined with an active policy or law resulting in eroded living and housing conditions, involves a conscious attempt to restrict and therefore violate such a right. Both principles outlined in this section are capable of widespread application." 2. The Decency Threshold -" The European Committee of Independent Experts, within its supervisory procedures relating to the European Social Charter,61 has developed what it labelled a "decency threshold." In determining states parties' compliance with the rights established under Article 4(1) of the Charter,62 the Commit- tee, while recognizing the diversity of social and economic conditions in states parties, has determined that any wage less than 68 percent of the average national wage, combined with compensatory measures, would not meet the "decency threshold" and would therefore not fulfill the norms of the Charter" 3. Minimum Core Entitlements -" The minimum core entitlement principle has received widespread support as a means of substantiating and refining economic, social and cultural rights claims" - " Addressing minimum standards in this manner raises the question as to whether such minimums apply primarily to the individual enjoyment of a right or to society-wide levels of enjoyment. Proponents of a "minimal threshold approach" have favored the latter position, asserting that "the scope of violation of socio-economic rights would then refer to the percentage of the population not assured of this minimal threshold."68 Others, however, have sought to address this equation more from the perspective of the people possessing the rights, rather than from the state's perspective, which is exclusively obliged to ensure these rights. For" 4. Forced Evictions - " Of the acts of commission and omission considered by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to constitute violations of the ICESCR, none has received more prominence than the practice of forced evict" - " Within the framework of the reporting process, despite an emphasis on promoting constructive dialogue between states and itself, the Committee has instigated a practice of declaring particular states parties to have violated this text, most notably with regard to the housing rights norms established pursuant to Article 11(1)" - "These exemplary cases indicate the manner by which one human rights body has given substance to the housing rights provisions of the ICESCR through confronting both the practice of forced evictions and the states that engage in such activities. " 5. Permeability, Equality Rights, and Non-Discrimination -" The essentially "permeable" nature of many human rights should have long ago laid to rest sentiments divorcing, rather than merging, civil, cultural, economic, political, and social human rights.77 " - " terpreting human rights law and related violations thereof.79 This unified approach to human rights is also captured by equality rights and nondiscrimination. These multifaceted concepts encapsulate notions of equality of treatment, equal protection of the law, equality of opportunity, and substantive equality" - " the permeability thesis, coupled with rights to equality and nondiscrimination, confirms the fundamental ideas of indivisibility, the imperative of treating all rights and all violations from the same vantage point, and the fact that all human rights contain components that are justiciable in any courtroom of the world." Violators - " The list of potential violators of economic, social and cultural rights expands beyond actors linked directly to the state; it must be seen to include all entities capable of causing harm to the enjoyment of these rights." - "se rights.93 Although third parties may possess fewer obligations than the states to which they are ultimately accountable, these entities cannot be considered immune from duties to respect and protect the rights afforded individuals under human rights law. Nor can the state escape liability for failing to regulate social relations at this level. Potential violators can be categorized in five distinct groups:" 1. The State and Public Actors 2.Non-State Actors - "ployers, corpora- tions, landlords, teachers, doctors, and any other citizen capable of violating an individual's rights because of neglect or encouragement by the state are increasingly being held accountable" 3. International Finacial and Other Institutions - World bank and the International Monetary Fund make good examples 4. Transnational Corporations (TNC's) " Developing regulatory mechanisms on TNCs remains a fundamental chal- lenge to the protection and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights. Although a range of international institutions have issued codes of conduct, these remain both limited and nonbinding. The closure of the UN Commission on Transnational Corporations effectively killed the UN draft Code of Conduct on Transnational Corporations,121 which included lan- guage to the effect that TNCs "shall respect human rights and fundamental freedoms."'122 While it is legally possible to reach TNCs indirectly through a state's obligation to "protect" human rights, the immense influence that thse giant entities exert often makes such options futile." 5. The International Community Conclusion: - " Adequately addressing violations of human rights requires a wide spectrum of responses, both preventative and remedial in nature (e.g., developing effective early warning systems and emergency response mechanisms designed to prevent pending violations from occurring, expanding public awareness, seeking the issuance of injunctions and other judicial orders, and amending law and policy). " - " The preceding analysis has shown that though there are few theoretical or legal obstacles obscuring the determination of violations of these rights, the tools and mechanisms currently available are neither sufficiently ardent nor well enough developed to induce large-scale alterations of practices, policies, or laws" - " Despite the relatively clear status of human rights law, the international legal community has yet to come to terms with the fact that homelessness, hunger, social and economic exclusion, discrimination on the basis of poverty, displacement, illiteracy, unemployment, and many other social ills can and usually do constitute human rights violations. These violations are as serious, as worrying, and as threatening to the social and economic fabric of the world as any violations of human right" - " Possibilities of claiming economic, social and cultural rights interna- tionally or regionally and thus, in theory, redressing violations of these rights, must not be viewed as an act of ultimate futility. Reliance on human rights law has stopped planned violations from occurring and has, in some cases, provided relief to victims." "he effectiveness of the remedial proce- dures that do exist, the frequency of their use, the seriousness accorded them by states, the range of coverage, and the degree to which any decisions stemming from them actually alter local circumstances, however, remain limited." - "the rule of law. Everyone everywhere is a potential victim of violations of economic, social and cultural rights. This fact, built as it is upon real or potential self-interest, may at the end of the day have the most marked impact upon the powers that be-whether states or corporations-to change ways of acting in and viewing the world. *Such an impact would definitively alter behavior such that human rights, particularly economic and social ones, would be seen to be a source of stability, a springboard for peace, and finally, not just good for business, but imperative for a healthy world"*

Using the Physical Quality of Life Index to Explore the Level of Subsistence rights

- "Clean air and water, adequate food, clothing, and shelter, and the provsion of minimal healthcare are all included in teh defintion of susbsistence rights and collectivley constite basic human needs" (Essentials 2.6) - "subsistence is one part of a set of basic rights that are everyone's minimum reasonable demands upon the rest of humanity." - Assuming that basic needs should be provided (or at least not withhedl) by soverign states, has led to the question of how to measure the rights...for decades GDP and GNP were used." Problems with use of GDP and GNP to measure basic human needs 1. weath in this form is an nidex of the aggregate population not the individual 2. the issue involving the evaluation of output form differne countires in a common measure are torublesome 3. a measure of GNP does not account for the income is distributied within society, partocularly among women and children. "As a sresult there have been numerous attempts by international organziation to find superior measures using: Health Education Nutrition Water Supply Sanitation Housing As variables" -"The search for adequate measures can be further broken down into indicators that reflect outcome or results are preferable when trying to evaluate the actual performance of governments" - "the Physical Quality of Life Index was developed by morris under the asupeices of the OVerseas Develppment Council. The measure is desinged to capture the ability of a country to meet the basic needs of its people." 3 Indicators 1. Infant mortaltiy at birth per thousand lives 2. Life expectancy at age 1 3. Basic literarcy of the population over 15 - The first two components, infant mortaltiy and life expectancy, measure the health of a socieyt. - The literacy varaible gives an indication of the general level of development within a society and specficially reveals whetehr social beenefits acutally extend to women or children. Infant mortaltiy formula: 250 - IMR/2.50 Life Expecatncy formula: LE1 - 38/ 1 - IMR Critiques of PQLI: "One argument is that a loss of information may result form an index of indciators that measrue similar aspects of basic human needs.. conversley combining them could mask the changes that might be detected by using them individuall." - another ciritque is that they are arbitrarilly equally weighted, infant mortalty, literacy, and life expectancy Morris reasons for not weighting them differently: 1. It streamlines the analysis and makes reporting more sccuinct. 2. if it can be assumed that the sperate components of the index capture different aspects, then it is indeed justification for the composite index. 3. It can lessen any impact of a single item by weighting them the same "PQLI is currently the beast measure for measuring the concept of basic human needs."

Commonly Used Human Right Measures:

- "Health: life expectancy, health expenditures, doctors per thousand population, hospital beds per thousand population - Education: literacy, primary school enrollment, education expenditures - Nutrition: caloric supply per head, caloric supply as percentage of requirements Water supply: percentage of population with portable water, infant mortality per thousand population - Sanitation: percentage of population with access to sanitation facilities, infant mortality per thousand population - Housing: no acceptable indicator available" From Milner and Callaway in Callaway and Harrleson-Stephens, page 61

United Nations Charter Article 2.7 (non-intervention declaration)

- "Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll"

Attainment of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

- Article 7: work (white) - Article 8: trade unions (green) -Article 9: social security (pink) -Article 10: Family (yellow) - Article 11: Standard of living (gray) - Article 12: Health (blue) - Article 13: Education (gold) - Article 15: Cultural Life (white/purple)

Repression Case: Kenya

- Disputed elections -Violent protests then muder in the middle

Monitoring Human Rights

- Evaluating trends - Analyzing domestic law and policies - Analyzing budgets

Lauren 2003

- In regards to human rights " largely unknown and unassuming men and women who rejected prevailing practices and attempted to follow the precepts of their faith demonstrated that religious beliefs matter—and that for some people they matter greatly. *These beliefs left a legacy that eventually made four critical contributions to the evolution of international human rights.*" 1.) established timeless visions of ideals and normative standards in the form of moral codes addressing the worth and dignity of human beings and how they should be treated. 2.) "in making sharp contrasts between the world as it is and the world as it ought to be, these religious visions presented radical alternatives to the status quo. " -"Especially when addressing issues of justice, the value of each person, and freedom from oppression, they challenged prevailing power structures, the tyranny of vested interests, injustices born of special privilege or prejudice." 3.)" developing moral imperatives, these religious visions helped establish an element essential for any and all international human rights: the concept of responsibility to act on behalf of others" -"Assertions for human rights in one place would have remained forever unanswered, isolated, or localized unless there had been people elsewhere in the world who believed that they had larger responsibilities, or "duties beyond borders,"16 to take action on behalf of common humanity, and protect others regardless of station or location." 4.)"developing concepts of duties, these religious traditions provided a inherent link between duties and rights." -"They were not so much interested in the claims of individuals against governments or others, but in ways of ordering life within the human family collectively so as to ensure dignity and worth for all of its members. " Philosophical Visions: Human Nature, Natural Law, and Natural Rights -"For centuries most of these early philosophical theories of natural law—just like those of religious doctrine—focused on universal moral responsibilities and duties rather than what are now described as legal rights. But modifications of theories and then the transformations of theory into policy, as we shall see constantly, always have been tied to particular political, economic, social, scientific, and intellectual upheavals throughout history." -"Other philosophers of the Enlightenment sought to make this connection between natural law and rights even more explicit. In this regard, they were aided by the fact that in French the word droit covers both meanings: law and right. " "Nevertheless, these visions collectively established an essential principle of international human rights: if natural law established certain universal principles of justice and natural birthright rights for all people—simply as a result of being human—and irrespective of the particular governments or cultures under which they lived, then all people were entitled to claim them." -"Most important, these early philosophical and secular visions of human rights also shared several fundamental features with the religious visions that preceded them." -"Some of the most vehement challenges to visions of human rights—and ones that would influence the fate of international human rights for centuries—came from those who emphasized the importance of differences between people rather than similarities." -"Among all the elements of traditional difference that profoundly challenged larger visions of human rights and equality for all, gender stands out in striking clarity. The subordination of women to men in both the public and private realms represented the well-entrenched norm rather than the exception, and ideas of being a "brother's keeper" often applied literally only to brothers." -"In terms of its specific impact on international relations, perhaps no factor of difference confronted basic principles of human rights more directly than that of race" -"Burke's mention of property in this context is of great importance, for it revealed that visions and the language of rights could also present double-edged swords. That is, not all people shared the same vision, and the claimed rights of some could easily challenge the asserted rights of others or create difficult inconsistencies. " -"In this regard, it is extremely important to recognize that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in the United States, as well as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in France, reflected far more vision than reality." CONCLUSION: -"During most times and places, from the beginning of recorded history to the end of the eighteenth century, the overwhelming majority of all of those who ever lived and died found themselves confronting various forms of abuse based on gender, race, casteor class, belief, ethnicity, place of origin, or some other form of difference." -"Yet in the midst of this hostile historical setting, and often in the face of entrenched traditional practices and fierce opposition, there were those creative and courageous enough to see visions of a different kind of world in which all people should be treated with dignity and equality. " -"By the end of the eighteenth century, these visions had helped to inspire wars, revolutions, declarations, constitutions, books, hymns, the beginnings of the historically momentous transformation of individuals from subjects into citizens, and the creation of human rights NGOs, as well as personal acts of compassion. "

Political Terror Scale

- "Since the 1980's a group of human rights scholars and students at Purdue university produced the Political Terror Scale (PTS) countries are coded on a scale of 1-5 according to their level of terror. - The main focus is political integrity rights. Scale: 1: secure rule of law 2: limited amount of nonviolent political activity imprisonment, Poltiical murders are rare 3: Political imprisonment is extensive and execution or political murders are common, unlimited detention with or without trial is accepted 4: Murders and disappearances are a common part of life, but violence typically affects those involved in politics 5: The violence of level four affects the entire population, leaders place no limit on how they will achieve their ideological goal. Other things that coders look for or are told to do: 1. Ignore own baises 2. Give countries benefit of the doubt (choose lower level if not sure) 3.Consider the size of the county being coded 4. View the various levels as part of a continuum (countries with higher scores should have higher numbers of human rights abuses) -"Related to this, it is importatn taht the various levels not be interpreted literally that one misses the eseences of the PTS is attempting to measure, what differentailes a level 4 from a level 5 is the population targeted." So for example nazi germany they targeted jews only, but that was such a large portion of the population they would have been a level 5 The PTS tries to also 1. Measure governemtn terror but ultimatley be sensitve to other forms of terror 2. Try to read what the reports are tyring to say, if a report says that the human rights situation in teh country is getting better, the PTS shoudl refelect that (maybe by lowering the ranking) - It doesn't matter if the narrative of terror is bad, the PTS only measures actual terror HOW THE PROCESS WORKS: - The PTS is coded by 2 people, for important countries they use a third. If they can't agree on a ranking, they discuss until unamity is reached. - on a scale of 1 - 5 - Those with a 1 have a secure rule of law, while those who have a 5 have terror that extends to the whole population - This was done to train university students to read human rights reports without needing a coding document

Davenport 2007

- "State repression includes harassment, surveillance/spying, bans, arrests, torture, and mass killing by government agents and/or affiliates within their territorial jurisdiction. " - "By most accounts, repression involves the actual or threatened use of physical sanctions against an individual or organization, within the territorial jurisdiction of the state, for the purpose of imposing a cost on the target as well as deterring specific activities and/or beliefs perceived to be challenging to government personnel, practices or institutions" - "Rather, it deals with applications of state power that violate First Amendment-type rights, due process in the enforcement and adjudication of law, and personal integrity or security" - "My conception encompasses a wide variety of coercive efforts employed by political authorities to influence those within their territorial jurisdiction: overt and covert; violent and nonviolent; state, state-sponsored (e.g., militias), and stateaffiliated (e.g., death squads); successful and unsuccessful." - "By far the most long-standing and stable influence on state repression concerns political conflict" - "When challenges to the status quo take place, authorities generally employ some form of repressive action to counter or eliminate the behavioral threat; in short, there appears to be a *"Law of Coercive Responsiveness.*"" - "Sometimes the impact of repression on dissent is negative (Hibbs 1973); sometimes it is positive (Francisco 1996, Lichbach & Gurr 1981, Ziegenhagen 1986); sometimes it is represented by an inverted Ushape (Muller 1985); sometimes it is alternatively negative or positive (Gupta & Venieris 1981, Moore 1998, Rasler 1996); and sometimes it is nonexistent (Gurr & Moore 1997). Both findings viewed together I refer to as the *"Punishment Puzzle.*" Flaws with this: 1. "DEEPENING THE THREAT HYPOTHESIS First, although it is clear that authorities respond to behavioral threats with repression, it is not clear how this process works" 2. "BEYOND STICKS, STONES, AND SEVERING LIMBS Second, whereas the state's coercive response to dissent has been considered extensively, the use of alternative mechanisms of control in the face of political conflict and the role of repression in the government's repertoire have not been examined extensively" 3. (Re)CONSIDERING THE PUNISHMENT PUZZLE Third, we must begin to focus on the implications of the imbalanced findings within the dissent-repression nexus The Democratic Peace 1. Democratic institutions are believed to increase the costs of using repressive behavior because, if state actions are deemed inappropriate, authorities can be voted out of office. 2. Individuals in democracies generally accept specific values regarding passivity, toleration, communication, and deliberation—values that are challenged and undermined by the use of repression. 3. Democracies provide an alternative mechanism of control through participation and contestation. They also weaken the justification for coercive activity by reducing the likelihood for human conflict and facilitating the conveyance of grievances. "almost all studies find that democratic political institutions and activities decrease state repressive behavior. Consequently, there is support for what is commonly referred to as a "domestic democratic peace"" FLAWS WITH DEMOCRACTIC PEACE 1. FROM BULLETS TO BALLOTS AND BACK AGAIN Although it is part of the 40-year tradition of conflict studies, the investigation of democracy's influence on state coercive behavior is not widely known among political scientists or the mass public. 2. PEACE BY PIECE: DISAGGREGATING THE INFLUENCE OF DEMOCRACY Another important concern related to the domestic democratic peace is the identification of exactly what it is about political systems that influences state coercion. Peripheral Finding I: Economic Indeterminacy - "The influence of the domestic and international economy on repressive behavior has been examined in some of the most prominent theoretical work in comparative politics and international relations." - "his is problematic in repression research, as in the civil war literature, because the influence of GNP is consistently negative; poorer countries tend to repress more. The precise reason for the finding, however, is unclear. " - "In contrast to the stable effect of domestic economic factors, the influence of external factors such as "globalization" has been quite unstable. Several authors have found a positive effect of trade on state repression, supporting the argument of dependency/dependencia that political authorities use coercive behavior in an effort to protect profitable as well as exploitative economic relationships" - " Some find that external economic interactions reduce state repression, supporting a liberal tradition." - "Though an important improvement on prior research, this work leaves repression scholars in the same situation as civil war researchers, trying to understand exactly what GNP tells us about, respectively, repressive capability or rebellious incentives." Peripheral Finding II: International Agreements - "One of the least developed and newest findings in the literature arises from the efforts of a few international relations scholars to understand why states use political repression and (continuing the normative emphasis within the literature) what can be done to reduce or eliminate it. " - "Hathaway expects that if governments sign a human rights treaty, they will be less inclined to violate human rights, because breaking the treaty could" - "Specificaly, she argues that through persuasion and (more importantly) coercion, international law can alter the decision-making calculation of political leaders, shifting them away from repressive action by making it more costly." - "Proper contextualization and model specification are important in repression research because in order to comprehend the importance of international as well as domestic factors, we need a more thorough consideration of both the domestic and international realms (including the most appropriate measurements as well as the most valid and up-to-date specifications of causal relationships). " - Signing an agreement makes the cost of violating human rights more, making repression less likley Topics for Future Research: -" The first topic that requires more detailed attention is the theoretical explanation for why repression takes place" - "The second topic that requires consideration is the disaggregation of repressive behavior across time, space, and types of activity. Such an approach is not only essential for gauging the robustness of the propositions developed in this literature but also allows us to explore other arguments that have previously been ignored. In particular, three issues are of interest" - "The third type of disaggregation that should be of interest to repression scholars concerns distinct types of repression." Intergration: - "At present, state repression is seldom considered outside of conflict studies, law, human rights, and political theory and philosophy. It is not really integrated into most areas of interest to political scientists. A subset of scholars are interested in the reasons for variation in coercive behavior, but the implications of repression for other political, social, and economic phenomena are not considered—at least not in any sustained manner. This is intriguing because state coercion, as it is intimately connected with issues of political order, has been one of the major areas of concern for political theorists, strategists, and activists as well as ordinary citizens for hundreds of years. Neglecting repression hinders our understanding not only of repression itself but also of other topics."

Venezuela has solved its hunger problem? Don't believe the U.N.'s numbers. - Jurkovich

- "The problem? We haven't decided what "hunger" is, nor is there agreement on how to measure it. This means that the United Nations' old goal of cutting world hunger in half, and its new goal of achieving 'zero hunger' are open to all kinds of politics and manipulation." "Some of these countries probably didn't deserve the honors. For example, as the Economist says, there is a lot of evidence that hunger has gotten worse rather than better in Venezuela, a country in the middle of an economic meltdown." - "The numbers don't reflect the evidence on the ground. Even under the FAO's most recent data, Venezuela is still listed as having a hunger rate of less than 5 percent — among the lowest in the world. That suggests that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way that the PoU measures hunger." - "Too many different and incompatible measures can mask what is happening rather than reveal it. What happens when measures don't line up with one another? The graphs below show what happens when we look at just four of the proposed indicators for the SDGs side by side for the same country in the same time period. T" - "*The results are startling — different measures of hunger give wildly different impressions of the situation in a given country. This is in part because the proposed measures have different definitions of what hunger is and how best to measure it. But the differences are jarring, even if, for example, we focus on the three metrics attempting to estimate severe food insecurity (the orange, gray and yellow lines). There is just no agreement on who's hungry in a given country."* - "Instead of looking at the underlying problems in some of our hunger indicators or acknowledging that different measures reflect different basic understandings of what hunger is, the SDGs open the floodgates by proposing 14 indicators, corresponding to eight targets, aiming to "end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture." "The uncomfortable truth is that there is no consensus among the international community on what hunger is. When we say there should be "zero hunger," what do we actually mean by that? Do we mean zero hunger that is so bad that it's leaving irreversible damage to the human body?" - "The United Nations is trying to fix this with a plethora of incompatible measurements, but the underlying problem is that there is no international agreement on what hunger is"

Donnelly 1985 "The Problem of Lists"

- "The third theoritical level of lsits has been scrupously avoided...a specificaion of a list of human rights will require the elaboration and defence of a philopshical theory of human nature." - "The immense political and technical problem of draftinga nd adoping international human rights declaration would explain the relcuatcane to rasise philosphical questions about the nature and source of human rights.." - "In particular, those who have argued that only civil and political rights are human rights, as opposed to social goals or other non rights demands of justice, have doen so without any cound conceptual foundation." - Those such as Cranston who say that economic rights cannot be universal like political rights are wrong, because things like trial by jury are not universal. -"Traditional lists of civil and political rights single out the role of citizens for such proteciton, but there is no logical reason why other roles, such as worker or parent, cannot be similary selected." -" In other words, Cranston's argument of universialtuy, which he presents as a logical argument against economic and social rights, is at best a disguised and unsupported substantive moral argument." - "The derivation of a list of human rights rests on a substantive theory of human nature...if economic and social rights are to be exclude, these underlying theories must be taken on directly and in substantive terms." - The distinction between negative rights which require only forebarence if they are to be realized, and positive rights which require the provision of a good and service, often in considerbal equanitty if they are to be enjoyed." - Cranston argues taht traditioanl and political reights desrive priorty over eocnomic and social right however, Shue finds that the dinsction between negative nad postive rights fails to correspond ot the distinction between economic and poltical, and in any case is of no moral signficaince." - "Even such a negative right such as the right to not be tortured, has a positive component such as most countries to follow this must change there existing laws." - "Shue also prevents a poweful example of a positive right such as the right to substicne may in some cases be essentially negative...a peasant who produces a quarter of his villages food swithces to a new crop for a government program which leads to a shortage which could have been avoided if the goverment imposed self-restraint (negative right) in agricutlrue production." - "A formal statment of a what a right is a right to simply not tell use whether it is negative or positive, *Shue argues that virtually all human rights are both negative and positive.* entailling (negative) duties to forebear and (postive) and duties to proteect and to aid." - However, even if some particular human right or class of rights were entirley negative, Shue argues that they would not deserve priorty...she argues thatt ther is no important moral difference." - "the moral difference lies not in the eseential character of the per se right, but in the empircal circumstances." - "Arumgnets for priorty of civila and poltiical rights stand up to scrutiny less well." -"Standard arguments for the categorical priorty of economic and social rights are equally misguided." -"It still may turn out that one set of rights or another deserve pride of place...but such priority as it currently stands does not stand up to scrutiny...the reason for this is that previous arguments have failed to ground lists of human rights in a theory of their nature and osurce, most have not even shown an awareness of the need to do so."

African Critique of Universality

- "To Understand the Africanist discourse on the cultural relativity of human rights in Africa, it is necessary to once again understand the argument that the contemporary concept of human rights has roots to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was thus alien to traditional societies in Africa or elsewhere...As indicated, the idea that rights are entitled of an individual in relation to the state did not exist in the traditional African society." (Essentials 4.5) -"Traditional societies generally did not recognize rights held simply because they are human beings. Persons were defined by social status or group membership. The kind of social relationship between the state and the individual was therefore never created within the context of such traditional societies. Human rights were thus alien to traditional African societies." (Essentials 4.5) Africanist approach to discourse on cutlural relativism can be divided into 2 schools: - 1. less radical approach, ideologically closer to universal west: recognizes the validity of a uniquley African conception of human rights, ut also recongizes the universality of a basic core of human rights. - 2. more radical, seeks to challenge the west: African socities are different from the West and Europe, collectivist rather than individualasitc conceptiosn of rights and duties dominate Africa. This school ^ has three 3 reasons that the Western Oriented rights are inappropriate to Africa 1.) Individuals not collectives make up western society 2.) Duties are different 3.) The primary method for securing human existence in society is through rights, not of legalism where rights are claimed as inaleinabel entitltenents and adjudicated upon, not reconcillaitoon, repentance, and education - "The second level of Africansit discourse on the cultural relativistm of human rights relates to questions that have been raised over the applicability to the African context, of modern human rights conceptions (western views)" - " Several Western scholarls and Africanists contend that since all African countries have been or are modernizing on a Western modle which gives priority to the individual the only conception of human rights which exisists (ie, the Western one) is of equal application to modern Africa." - "Some Africanists however insist that to make it relevant to the continent, the content of universial human rights has to be tempered to be African specific , essentially it has to bear the *African Cultural Fingerprint* which emphasizes the group, duties, social cohesion, and communal solidarity as opposed to rigid individualism." *Re-considering the Full Belly Thesis* - "The thrid level of the argument in Africanist discourse on the cultural relativism of human rights stems from the tendency of some African elites to stress the priorty of social and economic rights (food) over political and civil rights." - one man one vote is meaningless unless accompinaed by the principle of one man one bread -"however some western liberals have disagreed and said that civila nd political rights are needed to gurantee social and cultural rights and the maintence of a stable social order necessary for soceity itself to exisist." - Full belly thesis - having food is the most important thing and rights can be sacrificed to secure food.

United Nations Charter Article 1.3

- "To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion"

Universality

- "Universalism suggests that human rights are inherent in the individual, regardless of his or her nationality, ethnicity, or socioeconomic standing." (Essentials 1.2) - Human rights are not granted by the state or by laws, bu rather there intrinsich in humanity. Every individual is born with the same fights, regarldess of whewre they are born, making them inaleiable for all humans.

Civil and Political Rights:

- "ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression." - From the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights "among other things, the right to self-determination, the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion" (Essentials 1.1)

Fein 1995

- "this article will examine the relationship between life-integrity violations and freedom in 145 states during 1987 and will probe two alternate hypothese" - "Our findings support the second, which asserts that there will be more conflict mobilized and incentives for repression-i.e., worse violations of life integrity-as democracy is extended before it is fully institutionalize" - This research examines life integrity violations which will be the violation of " the right to life;4 the right to personal inviolability; and the right to be free of fear of arbitrary seizure, detention, and punishment" - "respect for life-integrity should be positively related to the achievement of liberal democracy, viewing the latter as a continuum. Yet, both historical and contemporary observations caution against expecting a continuing rise in personal freedom as liberal democracy increases" 2 Hypotheses: 1. "democracy is positively related to respect for life-integrity, and, therefore, expansion of democracy increases respect for life-integrity. The more democracy there is, the lower is the level of life-integrity violations" 2. "in the intermediate stages of democracy tend to produce more severe governmental violations of life-integrity than do nondemocratic states, while the continued expansion of democracy promoting respect of civil liberties and participation of all classes and groups in regulated competition-leads to increased respect for lifeintegrity." - "Thus, we anticipate a higher level of violation of life-integrity in partly democratic or partly free states than in nondemocratic or authoritarian states This is later referred to as the More Murder in the Middle (MMM) thesis" "Thus, there is no support for the hypothesis which anticipates that violations should decline progressively as freedom expands, but there is some confirmation for the second hypothesis, that there is more murder in the middle-between liberal democracy and absolutism." Possible Explanations: 1. "we expect to find a positive relationship between ethnic discrimination and violations of life-integrity, assuming that discrimination stirs internal strife which, in turn, provokes elites to use violations for social control." -"The level of ethnic discrimination does not directly correspond to the level of violation except among free states. Although free states were much less likely to maintain a high level of discrimination than other states, those free states with high discrimination also had much higher levels of violation... Free states were much less likely to be involved in internal war than not free or partly free states. As expected, war is uniformly associated with a higher level of violation in all states." -"Thus, we can infer a chain of linkage; ethnic discrimination triggers conflict in the state provoking high levels of violations leading to a prolonged internal war.'" 2. "we expect that war is positively related to life-integrity violations, especially when opposition forces are ethnically-differentiated from government forces. " 3. "we expect that inequality will be positively related to the level of violation because inequality instigates conflict" "Among these thirty-nine countries, the states of high development all had low inequality indices and had low or zero levels of life-integrity violation. However, if we simply compare states of low and intermediate development with low and high inequality we observe that states with high inequality are twice as likely to have the worst levels of violation than states of low inequality (56 percent in high inequality states, as opposed to 27 percent of low inequality states). States of low inequality at these development levels are more apt to use torture while states of high inequality escalate to disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and mass killings. This appears to support our previous explanation (MMM). State killing increases in less developed states with high inequality because inequality incites more social conflict. In these states, elites may use killing as a means of instilling terror. " - "There is little difference between partly free and unfree states-the majority are bad or terrible violators-but partly free states are more likely to be at the worst level of violation than are unfree states" - "This confirms the second hypothesis, that more severe life-integrity violations should be anticipated among partly free states than in authoritarian states (more murders in the middle [MMM]). It can be inferred, in accord with previous theory, that an increase in freedom among unfree states arouses a greater expression of opposition and provokes greater state repression, leading to more intense and wider-ranging violations-i.e., massacres, calculated murders, and torture." - "Several causes and conditions interact to escalate violations, some of which could be affected by international policies. In brief, high levels of ethnic discrimination lead to high violations and at times prolonged civil strife. War increases violations among free, partly free, and authoritarian states but free states are much less likely to go to war. The findings on inequality, though incomplete and difficult to disentangle from development, suggest that high inequality in less-developed states promotes escalation of life-integrity violations toward calculated and mass murder"

Freedom House

- 3 categories: Free, Partly Free, Not Free - Political Rights and civil liberties are measured - External analysts assess the 209 countries and territori - "For each country and territory, Freedom in the World analyzes the electoral process, political pluralism and participation, the functioning of the government, freedom of expression and of belief, associational and organizational rights, the rule of law, and personal autonomy and individual rights." (Freedom House Website) - "The Freedom in the World 2018 survey contains reports on 195 countries and 14 territories. Each country report begins with a section containing the following information: population, capital, political rights rating (numerical rating), civil liberties rating (numerical rating), freedom rating (the average of the political rights and civil liberties ratings), freedom status (Free, Partly Free, or Not Free), and "electoral democracy" designation. Each territory report begins with a section containing the same information, except for the capital and the electoral democracy designation." -* "The political rights and civil liberties ratings range from 1 to 7, with 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free. The status designation of Free, Partly Free, or Not Free, which is determined by the average of the political rights and civil liberties ratings, indicates the general state of freedom in a country or territory"*

Natural Law

- Natural law theory led to natural rights theory - the theory most closely related to modern human rights. "Natural rights theory makes an important contribution to human rights. It affords an appeal from the realities of naked power to a higher authority that is asserted for the protection of human rights. It identifies with and provides security for human freedoms and equality from which other human rights easily flow. John Locke chief proponent of this theory Social contract theory, individuals retained the natural right of life, liberty, and property, Government was obliged to protect the natural rights of its subject and if the government neglected this right it forefitted its validity and office." - "In short, the principal problem with natural law is that the rights considered can differ from theorist to theorist depending on their conception of nature. " -Rights exist internally as a human being - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,"

Law of coercive responsiveness

- People will be less likely to dissent or join a rebellion if the cost is high -> If the government will punish you harshly - Leaders are also more likely to repress if they have the means to -> When the military is on their side - - "When challenges to the status quo take place, authorities generally employ some form of repressive action to counter or eliminate the behavioral threat; in short, there appears to be a *"Law of Coercive Responsiveness.* (Davenport 2007)

Who Represses?

- Political imprisonment (Imprisoned for political activity/opposition leaders) -Disappearances (People secretly detained, kidnapped, no information) - Torture - Extrajudicial killings

Economic, Social, Cultural Rights Consideration:

- Progressive Realization vs. immediate protections - Obligation to "take steps" - Ensure non-discrimination measures - Non-retrogressive measures - Minimum core obligations - Identifying "duty-bearers" - Negative and positive obligations

CIRI Human Rights Data

- Range: 0 (no respect) to 2 (full respect) Rights included: - Physical integrity rights - Civil liberties - Worker's Rights - Women's rights (including political, economic, and social equal treatment) Humanrightsdata.org - "The CIRI Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for a wide range of internationally-recognized human rights for countries of all regime-types and from all regions of the world." (CIRI Human Rights Data) -

Why do some do different pictures of the same area arise from different human rights reports?

- Reasons for divergence in picture (Amensty international v. US state department) may be becasue of difference between the organziation themselves. -EX: the US government might be concerned more with issues of state sovergntiy than Amensty international would be so it they might have a tendency to treat more lightly so not to interfere unduly in the affairs of toerh govements. Amnesty international has little reason to heed this caution.

Rights (general)

- Rights are *empowerments* and *protections* - Right holders have a claim to the rights - Every right implies a duty -"When a right is genuinley basic, any attempt to enjoy anyother right by sacraficing the basic right would be quite literally self-defeating, cutting the ground from beneath itself. If a right is basic, a non-basic right may be sacraficed to secure the basic right." (Essentials 1.4)

Positive Rights / Obligations

- Rights that provide something to someone - "Postive rights are those rights that require the state to be proactive in the provisoon of something, such as the right to food or healthcare." - Mostly reflected in the International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

United Nations Charter Article 55

- [T]he UN 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."

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

- The first formal recognition of human rights was when the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted UDHR - 30 articles affirming an individuals right, although not legally binding. Talks about economic, regional, and political rights - Theoretically, would be no longer be able to hide behind the veil of sovereignty regarding the treatment of their citizens.

1948 - UN Declaration of Human Rights adopted

- The first formal recognition of human rights was when the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted UDHR - Theoretically, would be no longer be able to hide behind the veil of sovereignty regarding the treatment of their citizens. -

White Savior Complex and Human Rights

- The idea that white people think they can come in and solve anyone's problems, Red Nose day - the day that celeberities go in and help africans, we see africa as victims and when u think of image it is poor starving children, Stop seeing them as victims.

Mutua 2001

- The savages-victims-saviors (SVS)3 construction is a three-dimension- compound metaphor in which each dimension is a metaphor in itself" 1.) "The first dimension of the prism depicts a savage and evokes images of barbarism." "States become savage when they choke off and oust civil society." -"The state only becomes a vampire when "bad" culture overcomes or disallows the development of "good" culture. The real savage, though, is not the state but a cultural deviation from human rights. That savagery inheres in the theory and practice of the one-party state, military junta, controlled or closed state, theocracy, or even cultural practices such as the one popularly known in the West as female genital mutilation (FGM),10 not in the state per se. " 2.)"The second dimension of the prism depicts the face and the fact of a victim as well as the essence and the idea of victimhood." - "The entire human rights structure is both anticatastrophic and reconstructive. It is anti-catastrophic because it is designed to prevent more calamities through the creation of more victims. It is reconstructive because it seeks to re-engineer the state and the society to reduce the number of victims, as it defines them,11 and prevent conditions that give rise to victims." 3. "The third dimension of the prism is the savior or the redeemer, the good angel who protects, vindicates, civilizes, restrains, and safeguards. The savior is the victim's bulwark against tyranny." - The savior is ultimately a set of culturally based norms and practices that inhere in liberal thought and philosophy. "-The human rights movement must abandon the SVS metaphor if there is going to be real hope in a genuine international discourse on rights. The relentless efforts to universalize an essentially European corpus of human rights through Western crusades cannot succeed. Nor will demonizing those who resist these efforts achieve a truly international approach. The critiques of the corpus from Africans, Asians, Muslims, Hindus, and a host of critical thinkers from around the world are the one avenue through which human rights can be redeemed and truly universalized. " Critiques of Universalism housed within the SVS metaphor" 1. "First, the corpus falls within the historical continuum of the Eurocentric colonial project, in which actors are cast into superior and subordinate positions." 2. the SVS metaphor and narrative rejects the cross-contamination 17 of cultures and instead promotes a Eurocentric ideal. T 3. Third, the language and rhetoric of the human rights corpus present significant theoretical problems. The arrogant and biased rhetoric of the human rights movement prevents the movement from gaining cross-cultural legitimacy.20 This curse of the SVS rhetoric has no bearing on the substance of the normative judgment being rendered. 4. Fourth, There is an urgent need for a human rights movement that is multicultural, inclusive, and deeply political. Thus, while it is essential that a new human rights movement overcome Eurocentrism, it is equally important that it also address deeply lopsided power relations among and within cultures, national economies, states, genders, religions, races and ethnic groups, and other societal cleavages. 5. The fifth flaw concerns the role of race in the development of the human rights narrative. The SVS metaphor of human rights carries racial connotations in which the international hierarchy of race and color is reintrenched and revitalized. -" Ultimately, a new theory of internationalism and human rights, one that responds to diverse cultures, must confront the inequities of the international order. In this respect, human rights must break from the historical continuum-expressed in the metaphor and the grand narrative of human rights-that keeps intact the hierarchical relationships between European and non-European populations. " - "Using political democracy as one medium through which the human rights culture is conveyed, one is able to capture the imperial project at work. First, the choice of a political ideology that is necessary for human rights is an exclusionary act. Thus, cultures that fall outside that ideological box immediately wear the label of the savage." - "stepping back from the SVS rhetoric creates a new basis for calculating human dignity and identifies ways and societal structures through which such dignity could be protected or enhanced. Such an approach would not assume, ab initio, that a particular cultural practice was offensive to human rights. " - "The human rights movement should rethink and re-orient its hierarchical, binary view of the world in which the West leads the way and the rest of the globe follows. Human rights can play a role in changing the unjust international order and particularly the imbalances between the West and the Third World. Still, it will not do so unless it stops working within the SVS metaphor. Ultimately, the quest must be for the construction of a human rights movement that wins for all."

Human Rights Pre-WWII

- Today most states recognize a limit to there sovereignty, and at least acknowledge treaties designed to empower human rights, prior to WWII state sovereignty remained the norm of international relations, meaning that states were final arbiters in the treatment of their citizens and other states should refrain intervening in their affairs (Essentials 1.1) - Nazi regime served as a catalyst for the human rights movement, propelling the issue into the international arena. - Concerns over sovereignty - Treaty of Westphalia (1648) - where sovereignty comes from -Traditional view of human rights in international law -Governments can basically do what they want, internal authority, there is non-intervention in place - There was a conflict between rights of state sovereignty and the promotion of individual human rights.

Physical Integrity Rights

- Torture, political imprisonment, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings - Often lumped with civil and political rights

Armenian Massacre

- Turkish government response to concern: it's our internal affairs - The Armenian Genocide (Armenian: Հայոց ցեղասպանություն,[note 3] Hayots tseghaspanutyun), also known as the Armenian Holocaust,[9] was the Ottoman government's systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians,[note 2] mostly citizens within the Ottoman Empire.[10][11] The starting date is conventionally held to be 24 April 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities rounded up, arrested, and deported from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to the region of Ankara 235 to 270 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders, the majority of whom were eventually murdered. - US Ambassador in Turkey, Henry Morgenthau (1915): "It is difficult for me to restrain myself from doing something to stop this attempt to exterminate a race, but I realize that I am here as Ambassador and must abide by the principles of non-interference with the internal affairs of another country."

Measuring Human Rights

- We measure human rights using quantitative measures -"Measuring human rights is part of th eeffort to attain human dignity for all person worldwide." (Essentials 2.3) - "Social science measures (including measures of human rights) are like other measures with which you are already familiar...Social science measures allow researchers to label and classify. The difference is that socials scientists compared to physical scienctists must label and classify rather abstract concepts such as democracy and human development." - Secondarily " a social scientists must often create there own measrument system. Even if that is not the case a single concept may have many different avaliable measure all differing based on how the concept is defined." 1.) Scope - what is the measurment used, to measure poverty you would not analyze torture numbers "There are many different human rights. In order to study and understand all these rights, measures must exist for the full range of human rights." - Cingranelli- RIchards (CIRI) - measures governemtn respect for 14 rights - Political Terror Scale - an index that measure physical integrity rights violations -Human development report - measures basic aspects of human development 2.) Validity - Does the measure capture what it is claiming to capture - "to be valid a measure should measure what it claims to measure." Reasons that a measure might lack validity: 1. incompleteness - the measure does not repersent all (or enough) of the parts of the concept it claims to measure. 2. Conceptual incompatibility - measure may include components that do not directly contribute to measuring the concept of interest "Whether a measure is valid for a particular use can vary with the question being asked" there are many different interpretations of concepts in human rights. 3.) Reliability - if two people read the same measure would they come up with the same result - " A reliable measure is a consistent measure. Consistent means that several perons independently applying the same measure scheme to the same set of observations will produce the same results (value score) in the end. 4.) Aggregation - Are your results useful for what you are attempting to measure An Aggregated Measure "incorporates many particular rights into a single measure." (Essentials 2.3) "Aggregate indices allow researchers to measure original abstract conepts from exisiting data and offer economy in emprically repersenting a rich concept such as democracy or physical integrity rights." "However when an aggrgate index is not made from disaggregaed data, and this is not subject to being deconstructed, it can hide important information (in the form of variation) about what it is purporting to measure.) - "There are several arguments on behalf of creating a disagregatted or disaggreable data rather than compsote indcies that cannot be deconrstcuted. One reason is that a composite index can hide variation in government respect for human rights." (Essentials 2.3)

Economic and Social Rights:

- equality and opportunity - From International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - "right to work, equal remumeration for work, and the right to fair compensation, as well as the right to join trade unions, the right to an education, the right to food, the right to clothing, the right to shelter." (Essentials 1.1)

Why do Some states repress?

- threat, either percieved or real (Limit political dissent to consolidate power) -Willingness - Opportunity

Marx Approach to Human Rights

-"Marx regarded the law of nature approach to human rights as Idealistic and ahistorical. He saw nothing natural or inalienable of human rights. In a society in which capatalist monopolize the means of production, marx regarded the notion of individual rights as a bourgeois illusion." - "In a capatlist society, production is controlled by a few. Consequently, such a society cannot satifsfy those individual needs. Until a state of social collection and communisit society devoid of class conflict is created rights cannot be universal" - " In a capatalist society, production is controlled by a few, As such a society cannot satisfy those individual needs...until society is communisyt and devoid of class conflicts this can;t happen. However, when the stage is reached, the state is a social collectivty and is the vehicle for transofrmation such a conceptualization of the nature of society preculdes the existence of individual rights rooted in the state of nature that are prior to the state. The only rights are those granted by the state, and their excercise is contingent on the fulfilment of obligations to society and to the state." (Essentials 1.5) "The marxist system of rights has often been referred to as 'parental' with the authortarian political body providing the sole guidance in value choice. The creation of such a specie being is a type of paternalism that not only ingores transcendental reason but negates individuality." "In practice pursuti of the prior claims of socieyt as reflected in the intereests of the commonist state has resulted in a systematic supression of individual civil and poltiical rights." (Essentials 1.5)

Utilitarianism

-"Utlitarnism is a maximizing and collectivizing principle that requires governments to maxamize the total net sum of the happiness of all their subjects. This is in contrast to natural rights theory which is a distributive and individualizing principle that assigns a priority to a specif cbasis of interst of each individual subhect." Bentham's Happiness Principal: every action is taken to maximize pleasure and avoid pain, this for governments they were to be judged not by reference to abstract individual rights, but in terms of what tends to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people "The eseential cricitsim is that it fails to recognize individual autonomy, it fails to take rights seriously because no matter how utiltarinism is definied it is designed to maxamize aggregate desire or general welfare." - "Hence despite the egaltarian pretensions of utiltarian doctrine it has a sinsiste side in whciht he well-being of an indvidual can be sacraficed for what are claimed to be aggregate interests, and jsutice, and right have no secure place. This philosphy thus leaves liberty and rights vulnerable to contingencies and therefore risk." -Rights exists to maximize wellbeing for the most amount of people - "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." - "Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to promote the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure" - J.S. Mill

Negative Rights / Obligations

-A right that is given by refraining from an action - "Negative rights, by contrastare those rights that require the government to refrain from soem action, such as torture, or genocide." -Typically articulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Repression Case: Ukraine

-Anti-government protests (November 2013-February 2014) -"Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance." - text sent from the Ukrainian government to individual protesters

2014 Winter Olympics

-Is sexual orientation covered either explicitly or implicitly in the UDHR? -Is the Russian law a violation of human rights? Which rights?

Repression Case: Syria

-Repression-dissent nexus -Civil conflict - prime example of murder in the middle -Non-democracy

Main Critiques of White Savior Complex

-The SVS metaphor - Human rights as western neo-imperialism -Human rights community focus -Hypocrisy - focuses on the global south by the global north that has its own violations -Coercion

Philosophical Approach to Human Rights

-Where do rights originate from? - Does the source of the right influence the nature of the right?

1941 - Atlantic Charter and FDR's Four Freedom Speech

That speech is Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address, commonly known as the "Four Freedoms" speech. In it he articulated a powerful vision for a world in which all people had freedom of speech and of religion, and freedom from want and fear.Jan 6, 2016

Different Kinds of Duties that are Required to make a Human Right

1.) Duty to avoid depriving a person of some necessity 2.) Duty to protect from deprivation 3.) Duty to aid people when deprived All three are required to to secure human rights, whether these people civil and political, economic and social, or Cultural "The difference is not between different categories of right,but between different types of duty necessary to their protection - the attempted division of rights, rather than duties, into forberance and aid, can only breed confusion. It is impossibble for any basic right, however, negative it has come to seem to be fully guaranteed unless all three types of duties are fulfilled."

Challenges to human rights measures

1.) Ethical 2.) Methodological - Access to information 3.) Political

Human Rights Framework for LGBT and sexual orientation and gender identity

Existing international human rights law -Yogyakarta Principles (2007) and YP+10 (2017) - In 2006, in response to well-documented patterns of abuse, a distinguished group of international human rights experts met in Yogyakarta, Indonesia to outline a set of international principles relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. The result was the Yogyakarta Principles: a universal guide to human rights which affirm binding international legal standards with which all States must comply. They promise a different future where all people born free and equal in dignity and rights can fulfil that precious birthright. -2016 UN HRC Resolution 32/2 - Independent Expert - The Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. The mandate holder has been invited to assess the implementation of existing international human rights instruments with regard to ways to overcome violence and discrimination against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and to identify and address the root causes of violence and discrimination.

1945 - UN Charter

The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the Charter. Visit the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library's collection of translations of the UN Charter.

1776 Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence, 1776. By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence.

Has Respect for Human Rights improved?

Fariss (2014): standard of accountability has changed - Cautionary note when dealing with quantitative human rights

Asian Critique of Universiality

For asians, community and family over the individual - Asian values first emerged in 1993 with the Bangkok Declaration which "stakes out a distinctive Asian point of view when it comes to Human Rights" (Essentials 4.2) 3 major observatiosn regarding the nature of the Asian values paradigm 1.) it provides not only a critique, but also an alternative to the Western perspective - Western paradigms are formed with liberal empahsis on the individual, but Asian value proponents say that there economic boom is becasue of the focus away from the individual and on the collective - The concept of Asian values is predicated on the idea that states, as sovereign entity have the right to determine priorities within the state, which can range form a whole host of issues including human rights. - Proponents of Asian values argue that individual human rights proposed by the west simply are not consistent with the Confucius based family oreigneted value system. In the end, leaders in Asia reject any attempts to impose a western philosphy of human rights in the East. 2.) The crux of the asian values argument lies with certain features of the Asian culture, specifically the emphasis on family, hard work, frugality, respect for law, and authority, and finally deference and reverence towards authority that make Asian socieites distinctly different form others - The disticnt charactersitics are often associated with a common infleunce based on confucianism, which pomotes the centrality of the family and also empahsizes individual duties to their amily and to society, individuals should be willing to sacrafice for the benefit of the greater good. "The prevailing attitude is one of individual duty to others that seems to supplant any notion of individual rights." (Essentials 4.2) 3,) Stemming from the cutlural difference that Asian society place a higer value on social and economic rights than on political rights (needs of collective community take precedence over the rights of the individual) -" the desire for law and order leads naturally to an argument that the rights of the group or collective far outweight the civil and political rights of the individual." (Essentials 4.2) - "The prominence of social and economic rights fits nicely into the empahsis on economic development, which often necessitates and justifies the suppression of individual rights." (Essentials 42.) - "The unique features of Asian values, the empahsis on family, hard work, and authrotiy, are drawn upon of in support of the preference for social and economic rights, which in turn justifies the emaphsis on law and order fo the purpose of economic advancment." (Essentials 4.2) Problems with this approach: 1.) the size and diversity of Asia means that this may not be true for all parts of the contintent 2.) The focus on collective good does not equate to blind devotion to the state 3.) Current research proves that the trade off of economic rights for political rights is not consistent with what is actually occuring. 4.) It is the state's attempt to defy western values to instill and justify repression;

Islamic Critique of Universiality

Four distinct responses or themes from within an Islamic discourse may be identified, classifiable as, respectivlely 1.) Assimilation: the argument that there is no problem about reconcilling Islam with theories of human rights 2.) Approporiation: the claim that far from Islam and human rights being incompatable, it isonly under Islam that they can be fully realized 3.) Confrontation: the argument that international human rights doctrines are to be rjected as part of some imperialsist or ehtnocentric project and replaced by shari'a. 4.) incompatibility: the claim that somehow Islam itself is irrecnonilable with human rights or democractic principlaes, a theme present within Islamic socieites - There are over 50 muslim states, there is not one Middle East, it is impossible to speak for the Muslim world However, "if one examines what seslf-proclaimed Islamci states actually argue then much of it can be said to avoid culturally relativist prosition at all, indieed what is striking about so much of the rhethoric is that they are articlating arguments of islam in universal terms" - The underlying princo;ales have not been relativistitc at all and are not compartiable, here on the issue of double standard the criquete emaninting from the muslimg world has considerable validity." -"Hence given that the truths of Islam must be applicable to all humans, believers or not, any position articulated in Islamic terms is itself universalitistc..;if there is a conflict between Western and internationall establised codes of conduct and those of Islamci states it is not one between universalism and particularism, but between two, apparently divergent and contradictory forms of universalism." Human rights have changed a lot from the islamic perspective in America. Great thinkers like Malcom X used to state that a just religoon like islam could cure America's racist identity. But then after 9/11 Americans turned on this idea because they began to question the humannnes of the religon. Now in America: "The atavistic nature of Islam leads to its inability to realistically accomodate the basic elments of Human rights." " The God centric approach to human rights can not be the basis of discourse here int eh west because it lacks the necessary universialtity." "Generaltiries of Islamic human rights discosur will need to be replaced by direct statemtns defineid in legal term so how viable human rights protections will be extended...can't jsut say follow Shria law because there is to many interpretationos and of the vast corpous of subjectivley understaood literature base."

1948 - Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UN) adopted

Genocide Convention. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948 as General Assembly Resolution 260. The Convention entered into force on 12 January 1951.

Yogyakarta Principles

Go to: http://yogyakartaprinciples.org --> Official Versions (PDF) Browse the Principles and the YP+10 (consider the evolution from 2007 to 2017 as suggested by the addition of the YP+10) Pick a few of the principles to read. What is the relationship between the UDHR and the YP? What stands out to you about the YP and YP+10? Any rights included that surprised you? Any absent?

1945 - Nuremburg Trials

Held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, the Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949. The defendants, who included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers along with German industrialists, lawyers and doctors, were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) committed suicide and was never brought to trial. Although the legal justifications for the trials and their procedural innovations were controversial at the time, the Nuremberg trials are now regarded as a milestone toward the establishment of a permanent international court, and an important precedent for dealing with later instances of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Why and How Does Democracy Matter (Fein)

Linear relationship ( as a county becomes more democractic repression goes down) -More Murder in the middle -As a country becomes a democracy, but is not a full democracy yet, repression can peak (partly free) -Opening up, leader now sees threats to power that might not have been visible before -Ex: a playground bully who wants to steal lunch money does not have to beat people up all the time because they are already intimidating (a strong dictator) -They can now express grievances, leader does not like that and has to use more repression - In democracies, there are more opportunities for opposition peacefully -In non-democracies, you must protest and fight

1943 - Raphael Lemkin coins term "genocide"

Raphael Lemkin (June 24, 1900 - August 28, 1959) was a lawyer of Polish-Jewish descent who is best known for coining the word genocide and initiating the Genocide Convention. Lemkin coined the word genocide in 1943 or 1944 from genos (Greek for family, tribe, or race) and -cide (Latin for killing)

Common Determinants of Repression

Regime type (democracy) -Population size, population growth, youth bulge (more young male population more likely to dissent) -Level of economic development -Economic growth International war - Domestic conflict/civil war Military control - British cultural influence/colonial history - Leftist government - Lagged DV

The government has a human rights obligation to:

Respect: refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of a right Protect: Prevent others from interfering with the enjoyment of the right Fulfill: Adopt appropriate measures towards the full realization of the right

Basic Rights

Shue: - "Basic rights are everyone's minimum reasonable demands upon the rest of humanity. They are a rational basis for justified demands the denial of which no self-respecting person can reasonably be expected to accept." 1.) Security Rights: "No one can fully enjoy any right that is supposedly protected by society if someone can credibly threaten him or her with murdder, rape, beating, etc., when he or she tries to enjoy the alleged right." - " right to full physical security is a basic right becasue in its absence it would allow others, including the government, to interfere with or prevent the actual excersie of other rights that were supposedly protected." 2.) Subsistence Rights - "the right to subsitence includes the provision of subsitence at least to thos ewho cannot provide for themselves... social organization to protect miimal cleanliness of air water and to oversee the adequate production or import and proper distribution of minimal food, clothing, shelter, and elementary health care" (Essentials 1.4) -"The enjoyment of security and subsistence is an essential part of the enjoyment of all other rights. To be able to enjoy other rights people must be secure in their security, and in their subsistence." (Essentials 1.4) "The parrallels between these rights to be considered basic for everyone is that without guarantees of security and guarantees of subsitence are necessary to provide the actual excercise of other rights." - They are simultaneous necessities for the excercise of other rights

Universality v. Cultural Relativism

Spectrum: Radical Relativity - Strong Relativity - Weak Relativity - Radical Universalism

1628 - British Petition of Rights

The Petition of Right of 1628 is one of England's most famous Constitutional documents. It was written by Parliament as an objection to an overreach of authority by King Charles I. During his reign, English citizens saw this overreach of authority as a major infringement on their civil rights

1791 - US Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments were proposed by Congress in 1789, at their first session; and, having received the ratification of the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, they became a part of the Constitution December 15, 1791, and are known as the Bill of Rights.

What are Human Rights?

Theoretical and Philosophical Perspective: Human Rights are simply the rights one has because one is human Donnelly 1998: "human rights are held by all humans, irrespective of any rights or duties individuals may (or may not) have as citizens, members of families, workers, or parts of any public or private organization or association" (Essential 1.1) - universally applying definition Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)* and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) make up the *International Bill of Human Rights*

Muta's Recommendation to address critiques?

USE ESSSENTIALS PAGE 134

2016 UN HRC Resolution 32/2 Independent Expert

What does the expert do? - e mandate holder has been invited to assess the implementation of existing international human rights instruments with regard to ways to overcome violence and discrimination against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and to identify and address the root causes of violence and discrimination.

Religious Approach to Human Rights

Who/What Gives us these rights: "In a religious context every human being is considered sacred. Accepting a universal common father gives rise to common humanity, and from this flows a universality of certain rights. Because rights stem from a divine source, they are inalienable by mortal authority. This concept is found not only in the judeo-Christian tradition but also in Islam and other religions with a deistic base." How does religion provide a foundation for human rights - "Equality of humans in the eyes of God would seem a necessary developedment from the common creation by god, but freeedom to live as one prefers is not. For most religions, the empahsis falls on duties rather than rights." "Theology presents the basis for human rights theory, stemming form a law higher than that of the state and whose source is the Supreme being." (Essentials 1.5)

1689 - British Bill of Rights

he English Bill of Rights was an act signed into law in 1689 by William III and Mary II, who became co-rulers in England after the overthrow of King James II. The bill outlined specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave Parliament power over the monarchy