Human Rights Midterm
Property and rights (Aristotle, Rousseau, Locke)
- "Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property." So declares article 17 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Globalization
- A historical process that links distant communities and expands the reach of power relations across regions and continents. It involves a shift in social relations and interaction from more local to more global levels. Popularly the term is often used to describe an integrated world economy and society. - economic globalization can refer generally to an increase in the worldwide flow of goods, services, labour, and capital or specifically to the implementation of neoliberal economic policy reforms (tending to favor free-market capitalism)
Market economy
- A market economy is an economic system where decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution are based on the interplay of supply and demand, which determines the prices of goods and services. - The major defining characteristic of a market economy is that investment decisions, or the allocation of producer good, are primarily made through capital and financial markets. - This is contrasted with a planned economy, where investment and production decisions are embodied in an integrated plan of production established by a state or other organizational body that controls the factors of production. - human rights requires a violator - if someone doesn't get hired, whose fault is it? - A market economy will produce inequality - malnutrition - Colonization, imperialism, neoliberal institutions - history created poverty throughout the world to benefit the west specifically - How can you criticize a developing country for not protecting economic rights when the west was the reason they are poor in the first place - Faceless but violent - A market economy can also create robust jobs for people through ways the government may not be able to provide
Ius cogens
- A peremptory norm is a fundamental principle of international law that is accepted by the international community of states as a norm from which no derogation is permitted. - There is no universal agreement regarding precisely which norms are jus cogens nor how a norm reaches that status, but it is generally accepted that jus cogens includes the prohibition of genocide, maritime piracy, slaving in general (to include slavery as well as the slave trade), torture, refoulement and wars of aggression and territorial aggrandizement.
Generations of rights
- There are three overarching types of human rights norms: civil-political, socio-economic, and collective-developmental - the first two, which represent potential claims of individual persons against the state, are firmly accepted norms identified in international treaties and conventions. The final type, which represents potential claims of peoples and groups against the state, is the most debated and lacks both legal and political recognition. - Civil-political human rights include two subtypes: norms pertaining to physical and civil security (for example, no torture, slavery, inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrest; equality before the law) and norms pertaining to civil-political liberties or empowerments (for example, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom of assembly and voluntary association; political participation in one's society). - Socio-economic human rights similarly include two subtypes: norms pertaining to the provision of goods meeting social needs (for example, nutrition, shelter, health care, education) and norms pertaining to the provision of goods meeting economic needs (for example, work and fair wages, an adequate living standard, a social security net). - Finally, collective-developmental human rights also include two subtypes: the self-determination of peoples (for example, to their political status and their economic, social, and cultural development) and certain special rights of ethnic and religious minorities (for example, to the enjoyment of their own cultures, languages, and religions) - This division of human rights into three generations was introduced in 1979 by Czech jurist Karel Vasak. The three categories align with the three tenets of the French Revolution: liberty, equality, and fraternity.
Labor rights, ILO
- appease more liberal countries - set standard rules for labor conditions - review state practice, examine issues, judiciary body, develop practices/ rules - charter based ILO - international organization established in 1919; now a specialized agency of the united nations, with primary responsibility for addressing issues of workers' rights and social justice - The ILO adopts many treaties and recommendations on labour and related matters
Sanctions
- economic sanctions, typically a ban on trade, possibly limited to certain sectors (such as armaments), or with certain exceptions (such as food and medicine) like sanctions against Iran - international sanctions, coercive measures adopted by a country or a group of countries against another state or individual(s) in order to elicit a change in their behavior - pragmatic sanction, historically, a sovereign's solemn decree which addresses a matter of primary importance and which has the force of fundamental law
International law
- goes beyond a single country - rules and practices that govern relationships between states (trade & commerce, diplomatic relations) - early forms: royal marriages, post-war treaties, interstate customs, international banking modern forms: multi-state regimes & institutions like EU and Interpol - assumptions: a world of states, homogenous units, acting on a rational basis, international security, rational actors, mutual benefits Main fields: - banking, investment, trade & commerce (WTO) - diplomatic relationships --> UN general assembly - international security, armed conflicts, crimes (NATO) -Inter-state travel - Social and culturali
Discrimination, forms, sources
anti-discrimination arguments requires that people already agree that the people being discriminated against are equal in a relevant sense - the problem is one of unequal treatment of equals (this is in regards to womens' rights)
Minority rights
- similar to group rights in that they apply to a subset of group-differentiated people: the rights of women or the rights of native language speakers for example - two features position them in human rights: 1. they are rights which apply to individuals who have a minority status of some form (a feature they share with collective conception of group rights) 2. minority rights may be thought of as human rights because they are URAMs - universal rights applied to minorities - they are the application of universal rights to the specific needs or vulnerabilities of minority populations Ex. right of women to prenatal care - a right men can't share, one that does not apply to all persons and is therefore not a human right - however can be understood as an instance of a universal human right to basic medical care - in its application to pregnant women, a sub specification of a human right
Emancipation
- the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation. - emancipatory cultural politics - encourages anthropological enagement with human rights discourse as a political strategy for the protection of threatened populations
Economic and social rights
- the targets of civil and political rights abuses are also more likely to be living on the economic margins of society and to be suffering social rights violations - poverty is a violation of economic and social rights just as it underlies the abuse of civil and political rights - these rights do not entail direct intentional body harm (one reason as to why they are so often disregarded) - the abuses can't be traced to the state and its agents - makes social mobilization less likely - international actors have emphasized the progressive realization of economic and social rights, with assumption these rights are costly to implement and improve gradually over the long term - central to domestic governance (ex. economic policy making, education, healthcare, employment, housing) - demand for these rights can clash with the interests of both states and 'markets' - governments often emphasize the difficulties in protecting these rights or they reject them all together
Negative and positive rights
-Negative and positive rights are rights that respectively oblige either action (positive rights) or inaction (negative rights). - Under the theory of positive and negative rights, a negative right is a right not to be subjected to an action of another person or group—a government, for example—usually in the form of abuse or coercion. As such, negative rights exist unless someone acts to negate them. A positive right is a right to be subjected to an action of another person or group. In other words, for a positive right to be exercised, someone else's actions must be added to the equation. - Rights considered negative rights may include civil and political rights such as freedom of speech, life, private property, freedom from violent crime, freedom of religion, habeas corpus, a fair trial, freedom from slavery. -Rights considered positive rights may include other civil and political rights such as police protection of person and property and the right to counsel, as well as economic, social and cultural rights such as food, housing, public education, employment, national security, military, health care, social security, internet access, and a minimum standard of living. - In the "three generations" account of human rights, negative rights are often associated with the first generation of rights, while positive rights are associated with the second and third generations.
Human rights
-all depends on what context you are talking about them -the laws that constitute human rights -when people say they aren't real is that they don't carry legal weight -UDHR is not a treaty but it is a declaration signed by states to show they believe in what it says -Treaties - convention that is signed and ratified and implemented in domestic law -These constitute international law - it is hard law, cases, conventions, customary international law (based off of state practice) -Human rights are real because we say so -Reservation changes the legal meaning of the text that a country puts in - reservations, understandings, declarations alter the meaning of a treaty upon ratification -Society is constructed through shared understanding and meaning -It is all about practice - everything is real in so far that we give it the meaning of our shared definition -They are arbitrary - the fact they were deciding shows that they are arbitrary
Constitutional rights
A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. All constitutional rights are expressly stipulated and written in a consolidated national constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, meaning that any other laws which are in contradiction with it are considered unconstitutional and thus regarded as invalid. Usually any constitution defines the structure, functions, powers, and limits of the national government and the individual freedoms, rights, and obligations which will be protected and enforced when needed by the national authorities.
Natural law (Aristotle, Cicero and Aquinas)
A moral law or code that is supposedly objective because it is built into the cosmos. Natural law has pre-christian antecedents, but it was the Christian version that provided the theoretical backdrop to the emergence of the rights of man and modern human rights
War crimes
A violation of the laws or customs of war, including targeting civilians for murder, ill treatment or forced deportation. See Geneva Conventions and Protocols
Helsinki Accords
Accords signed in 1975 by the United States, Canada, the Soviet Union, and most European states including Turkey. It was the Final Acct of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Agreement was seen as a major step in reducing Cold War tensions through the recognition of the territorial integrity of Eastern bloc states; its human rights provisions later became the basis for civil society-based challenges to Soviet rule
Universalism
applicable to everyone, everywhere - human rights being consistently looked at throughout the world as a positive thing - same understanding/definition/application of rights in every country
Women's human rights (CEDAW and Beijing 1995)
CEDAW - comprises all of the UN's prior initiatives for ensuring the equality of women's human rights and re-emphasizes that all human rights are to be enjoyed equally by men and women. It is distinctive in requiring states to enshrine gender equality in their domestic law and to eliminate customs and practices that perpetuate gender bias or reinforce the idea of women's inferiority to men. Beijing 1995 - Fourth world conference on women. The founding United Nations charter (1945) included a provision for equality between men and women (chapter III, article 8). Subsequently, from 1945 to 1975 various female officials within the United Nations and leaders of women's movements on the global stage attempted to turn these principles into action. - assed how women's lives have changed over the past decade and take steps to keep issues of concern to women high on the international agenda.
Conflict among rights
conflict among norms
UN and its charter based agencies (SC, GA, UNHCHR, UNDP, Human Rights Council etc.)
Charter based bodies: human rights council, universal periodic review, commission on human rights (replaced), special procedures of the human rights council, human rights council complaint procedure UN Development Program - global development network, which provides assistance, advice and resources to developing countries. Has a presence of 166 countries and has special programs on democratic governance, poverty reduction, crisis prevention and recovery, environment and energy, and HIV/AIDS UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees The Human Rights Council is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.
Civil and Political Rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society and state without discrimination or repression.
Civil society and social movements
Civil society refers to the arena of un-coerced collective action around shared interests, purposes, and values. Its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market, though in practice the boundaries are often blurred - populated by a network of social institutions and practices that play a role in the functioning of democratic societies - comprised of groups such as: registered charities, community groups, women's organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help groups, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups Social movements - networks of people in civil societies who organize efforts to bring resist or change - today often using the language of human rights - frequently have a significant say in institutionalizing rights
Children's Rights (CRC)
Convention on the rights of the child - human rights treaty adopted by the UN in 1989 - sets out the political, civil, social and economic, health and cultural rights of the child - nations that signed bound by international law -treaty
Cultural diversity, relativity
Cultural relativism - a view that holds that ethics develop within particular social contexts; because social contexts are distinct from one another, there cannot be a moral framework that applies across contexts. Thus all truths are relative (context-specific), so cultures cannot be compared on moral or other normative grounds. - In connection with human rights, it is the idea that human rights standard are western and therefore inapplicable or inappropriate outside the West
Crimes against humanity
Deliberate widespread or systematic attacks on civilians, enslavement, imprisonment, torture, rape, or persecution. On the spectrum of humanitarian offences, it is more extreme than a war crime but less extreme than genocide, which requires the intent to destroy a group in whole or in part
Immunity
Exemption from penalties, payments or legal requirements, granted by authorities or statutes. Generally there are three types of immunity at law: a) a promise not to prosecute for a crime in exchange for information or testimony in a criminal matter, granted by the prosecutors, a judge, a grand jury or an investigating legislative committee; b) public officials' protection from liability for their decisions (like a city manager or member of a public hospital board); c) governmental (or sovereign) immunity, which protects government agencies from lawsuits unless the government agreed to be sued; d) diplomatic immunity which excuses foreign ambassadors from most U.S. criminal laws.
Impunity
Exemption from punishment - often refers specifically to the status of known human rights violators who are not prosecuted or otherwise brought to justice
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Legally constituted, private, not-for-profit organizations that, in the field of human rights, work on advocacy campaigns, develop and set international human rights standards. monitor human rights violations, and provide service delivery primarily in developing countries. Many are active in global civil society
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Intergovernmental organization that sets the rules governing global trade and provides a mechanism for the settlement of trade-related disputes. The WTO was established in 1994; it grew out of the Uruguay round of negotiations under the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The original Bretton Woods institutions were to have included an International Trade Organization, but these plans were never realized. - Critics complain about the WTO's neoliberal agenda
Humanitarian intervention
Originally defined as the provision of vital materials (food, water, shelter, and medical care) to at-risk civilians in conflict areas, it now also includes any international action - economic, diplomatic, or military - motivated primarily by the humanitarian desires to protect civilian targets of violence
Just war: ius ad bellum and ius in bello
International humanitarian law, or jus in bello, is the law that governs the way in which warfare is conducted. IHL is purely humanitarian, seeking to limit the suffering caused. It is independent from questions about the justification or reasons for war, or its prevention, covered by jus ad bellum. - Jus ad bellum refers to the conditions under which States may resort to war or to the use of armed force in general. The prohibition against the use of force amongst States and the exceptions to it (self-defence and UN authorization for the use of force), set out in the United Nations Charter of 1945, are the core ingredients of jus ad bellum - Jus in bello regulates the conduct of parties engaged in an armed conflict. IHL is synonymous with jus in bello; it seeks to minimize suffering in armed conflicts, notably by protecting and assisting all victims of armed conflict to the greatest extent possible.
Human dignity
Moral, ethical, legal, and political discussions use the concept of dignity to express the idea that a being has an innate right to be valued, respected, and to receive ethical treatment. In the modern context dignity can function as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable rights. - main categories of violations are: humiliation, objectificaiton (instrumentalization), degredation, dehumanization - examples include: torture, rape, social exclusion, labor exploitation, bonded labor, and slavery
Religions' contribution to human rights (Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam)
New york - Christian missionary work helps low - income housing Religion and human rights go together because they are centered around a common idea -how do conceptions of religion in practice or in theory contribute to human rights - a declaration on the importance of religion in human rights - cite this -the freedom of religion in ICCPR -in all these texts they recognize and respect the role religion has in society and communities -optimistic vision for how religion and human rights interact - religious freedom between an individual and a state - ACLU fights for distinction between school and strong religious symbols
Norms, their nature and variety of forms
Normative refers to what ought to be. Normative studies address moral, conceptual, and philosophical questions and are concerned with clarifying and justifying concepts and making moral arguments and critiques. Contrast with empirical (what already is)
World Bank
One of the Bretton Woods Institutions established in 1944 to provide economic assistance to the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War. - Today it is the leading public development institution in the world, providing long-term loans to governments for development projects
Ratification
Practice of agreeing to the terms of a treaty (in accordance with constitutional national law) to enable it to be enforced
Corporations and Human Rights, Corporate Social Responsibility
Rather than the group being made up of a collection of individuals, the group itself is thought of as an individual - any right that the group might have is to be thought of as its right, not as the right of its members thought of as individuals - question of whether a group has rights has to do with the way we attribute moral standing to these entities (separate from the moral standing of its members) - a group must be understood as an entity that has an identity of moral significance that is morally prior to the interests and rights it may then be said to possess - nation would be conceptualized as an entity with an identity, a way of life, a self-understanding, a character that should be granted political recognition for its own sake (self-determination) - conversely, a collective conception of group rights would see a nationhood as having value only in that it recognizes and serves the interests and well-being of the individuals who are its citizens
Humanitarian law
Refers to both laws, such as the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, governing the conduct of war and laws concerning the circumstances under which war is justified - "laws of war" - agreements on the conduct of hostilities - have as their goal "civilization" of conflict by ensuring that only enemy agents could be targeted, and that civilians are thus protected - agreements also related to the types of killing to be deployed - Hague 1907 laws of war and The Geneva Conventions and Protocols of 1949/1977 are most famous examples - now - band on land-mines and the Convention on Cluster Munitions (December 2008 opened for signature) - Nuremberg Trial - ICC - International Criminal Court established by a treaty - has the competence to investigate and consider war crimes and violations of humanitarian law when the national courts are unable or unwilling to do so - essentially minimum rights that must be respected during proclaimed emergencies or conflicts - violations of international humanitarian law may result in individual prosecutions, whereas violations of general human rights will not (liability rests with the state)
Natural rights
Rights based on the natural law and justified in the first age of rights through ideas from Christian theology. As this theology lost favor among philosophers, natural rights were argued to emerge out of our basic humanity, rather than our of God's natural law. But philosophers then disagreed about how such rights should be understood to emerge out of our humanity
Self-executing
Self-executing rights in international human rights law are rights that are formulated in such a way that one can deduce that it was the purpose to create international laws that citizens can invoke directly in their national courts.[1] Self-executing rights, or directly applicable rights, are rights which, from the viewpoint of international law, do not require transformation into national law. They are binding as such and national judges can apply them as such, as if they were national rules. From the viewpoint of national law, it may be required that all international law be incorporated into national law before becoming valid - International treaties and their relation to domestic law - International treaties exist but they are only implemented in domestic law when a country creates that law and enforces it - The supreme court said that ICCPR is not self-executing - Does not require further action by congress for it to have a legal force - Freedom of expression is self - executing but employment is not - We can assume the ICCPR is relevant because it is already in the law
State powers, obligations, sovereignty, immunity
Sovereignty - legal or constitutional independence of a territorial state, entailing the right to govern and control the identified territory and legal and political jurisdiction within that territory without external interference. Concept dated to 1648 Peace of Westphalia which established a norm of non-interference that was codified in the 1945 UN Charter and is sacrosanct in international law. Sovereignty today is increasingly understood as the shared exercise of public power and authority between national, regional and global authorities Sovereign immunity - legal principle that a head of government is immune from prosecution for acts committed in his official role as sovereign (as opposed to acts committed in pursuit of his own private interests). It is generally understood that, while a head of state could be prosecuted for such things as personal corruption or murder of a spouse, they could not be prosecuted for the consequences of state policies - each country is able and has a responsibility to run itself - involves respecting and fulfilling the rights of its citizens - we respect territorial sovereignty - every country has an interest in respect another country's sovereignty because they will respect theirs -the international community will never be the group that is realizing these laws -one of the new issues regarding sovereignty is the responsibility to pretext - sovereignty is a responsibility and a privilege - if a state actively abuses its people or fails to protect its borders than he international community can intervene - Libya in 2011, invaded their sovereignty -countries are the basic unit, the center of these things (treaties, HR), they are responsible for protecting these rights, comes from Westphalia 1648, modern idea of western law is based on the modern state, now the new problem is the ability to protect
Declarations
Statements made by a state when agreeing to a treaty, which may or may not have a legal effect - also refers to an instrument adopted by international organizations that indicates or expresses international opinion but, unless otherwise stated in the organization's constituent instrument, is not legally binding.
Disabilities, rights of persons with
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities offers sufficient standards of protection for the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights of persons with disabilities on the basis of inclusion, equality and non-discrimination. It makes clear that persons with disabilities are entitled to live independently in their communities, to make their own choices and to play an active role in society.
Global Compact
The United Nations Global Compact is a United Nations initiative to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. - The UN Global Compact is a principle-based framework for businesses, stating ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. - Under the Global Compact, companies are brought together with UN agencies, labour groups and civil society. - two objectives: "Mainstream the ten principles in business activities around the world" and "Catalyse actions in support of broader UN goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)"
Cultural rights
The objective of these rights is to guarantee that people and communities have an access to culture and can participate in the culture of their election. Cultural rights are human rights that aim at assuring the enjoyment of culture and its components in conditions of equality, human dignity and non-discrimination. They are rights related to themes such as language; cultural and artistic production; participation in cultural life; cultural heritage; intellectual property rights; author's rights; minorities and access to culture, among others.
Human trafficking
The organized transportation of contraband from one country to another for profit - human trafficking involves the recruitment and transportation of people and/ or their exploitation in work and employment. - often involves the use of coercion and/ or deception throughout, or at some stage in, the process
Derogation of rights
The suspension of a state's obligation to respect certain human rights during a time of national emergency; it is an emergency power of limited duration
Justice, distributive, restorative, retributive, transitional
Transitional justice: A process of helping societies deal with the difficult questions of justice that arise as a society moves from war to peace, or form repressive or authoritarian regime to democracy. It focuses particularly on social, political, and economic institutions, and on addressing past wrongs and on roles for former combatants. It may be carried out by means of retributive, restorative or reparative justice. - Truth and reconciliation commission - Courts in Rwanda - Memorial - Not punitive - more often about aspects of the transition that are trying to respect the rights of victims - Amnesty for violators for example Distributive justice concerns the nature of a socially just allocation of goods in a society. A society in which incidental inequalities in outcome do not arise would be considered a society guided by the principles of distributive justice. The concept includes the available quantities of goods, the process by which goods are to be distributed, and the resulting allocation of the goods to the members of the society. Restorative justice: a process whereby both the victim and perpetrator of a crime are brought back into harmony with the community Retributive justice: The dispensing of sanctions (imprisonment, monetary fine) in punishment for a crime committed by an individual Reparative justice: Justice that makes right the things that have gone wrong by provision of a remedy for the suffering and loss that have occurred
Human rights tools
education for example
Rights to life, peace, freedom, security, subsistence, self-determination et al
just know that they exist norms
Violence, use of
many accounts of human rights abuse (esp. those involving massacres and genocide) assume that violence reflects evil in world - violence often attributed to innate differences between social groups
Ethics
moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity. - the difference between rights and ethics - ethics are not legal - distinct from rights because they are not legally bound and specific to personal belief
Equality
the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.
Indigenous rights
three types of rights: right to existence, right to self-determination, and individual human rights - minority who are not dominant and under cultural, economic or physical threat - human rights of indigenous peoples need to be considered in terms of their group rights to existence and self determination as well as individual rights - basic rights inherent in self-determination are: to natural resource management; to ancestral land territories, and resources, as a collective individual right; to exercise control and management of their right to lands, territories, and resources; to self-government by their own institutions and authorities within their lands and territories; to self-development (right to own decision making) on conservation and development options for their lands, territories, and resources; to fair and equitable benefit sharing from conservation and development actions involving their lands, territories, resources and people; to conserve, develop, use and protect their traditional knowledge
Treaties and Treaty-based institutions
treaty based bodies: Human Rights Committee (CCPR) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Committee against Torture (CAT) Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
truth and reconciliation commission is a commission tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state actors also), in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. Truth commissions are, under various names, occasionally set up by states emerging from periods of internal unrest, civil war, or dictatorship.
