pols/hrts 3212 exam 2

internally displaced person

persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized border" (UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, 1998)

Refugee

Someone who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable or — unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” (1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees). Two key components: persecution & border crossing

Economic Migrant

a person who crosses a border in search of improved economic opportunity; may be leaving very dire circumstances – but NOT protected by refugee law

Torture

any act by which severe pain or suffering…whether physical or mental…is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession … when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity” (Convention against Torture, & Other Cruel, Inhuman & Degrading Treatment or Punishment)

Enforced Disappearance

the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance

Who has the oldest regional HR systems?

Europe and the Americas

Who has the newest regional HR systems?

Africa

Who does not have a regional HR system?

Asia

What is the Era of Dictatorship, and when and where did it take place?

-Latin America (1950-1980)
-Entailed dirty wars death squads, and disappearances

Dirty Wars

State-led counter-insurgency efforts aimed at eliminating domestic guerilla movements

Death Squads

Unofficial units within police and/or military, involved in Dirty War crimes

Disappearances

Carried out by state and para-statal actors

What was Latin America's debt crisis in the 1980s?

Region-wide as a result of over-borrowing by states in the 1970s

What were the terms the World Bank and International Monetary Fund had to assist Latin America?

1. Open markets to external investment
2. Balance state accounts
3. Eliminate price controls and institute wage controls
4. Privatize state-owned industries

What was Latin America's "transition to democracy?"

Old regimes lost credibility as the economic crisis deepened. Local NGOs agitate for reforms

What are the Key HR Institutions for Latin America?

Inter-American Commission for HR; American Convention on Human Rights; Inter-American Court for HR

Inter-American Commission for Human Rights

Can hear individual petitions

American Convention on Human Rights

1969; entered into force in 1978. Works for personal liberty and justice

Inter-American Court for Human Rights

Established with American Convention on HR. Rules on state abuse of rights. Inter-American Commission must refer cases to the Court (individuals cannot petition directly)

What are persistent challenges for Latin America?

Balancing civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.

Latin America is the world's most what?

Unequal region - greatest gap between rich and poor, not the greatest number of poor people

When and where were the post-colonial constitutions?

1950s-1960s Africa: draw on UDHR, draws on France's Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen

What happened in Africa during the 1980s?

-HR institution-building, regionally and nationally
-Debt crisis; initiation of structural adjustment

What happened in Africa during the 1990s?

Decade of civil conflicts

What was neoliberal economic adjustment for Africa in the 1980s?

Similar to what happened in Latin America

What were conflicts in Africa during the 1990s?

Rwandan Genocide of 1994, Civil Wars (Angola, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia), Failed and Failing states

What is the irony of Africa during the 1990s conflicts?

Region's natural bounty of oil and minerals fueled internal conflict

What are Africa's key HR institutions?

African Charter of Human and People's Rights, African Commission on Human and People's Rights, African Court of Human and People's Rights

What are persistent challenges in Africa?

Endemic corruption, challenge of building functioning and independent judicial systems, HIV/AIDS crisis, overcoming rural/urban disparities, strengthening vibrant civil society organizations

What are key features of Asia?

Extremely diverse region, two-thirds of the world's population, some of the highest densities of poverty

What countries are in East Asia?

China, Japan, Koreas

What countries are in South East Asia?

Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore

What countries are in Central Asia?

Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan

What does Asia have in terms of regional human rights mechanisms?

No overarching mechanisms, but there is the Arab League Charter of HR (soft law) and the Asian Charter on HR (soft law)

What are persistent challenges for Asia?

Diminishing regional suspicion of outside HR norms, cultivating understanding of integrated nature of HR, balancing economic development/growth with enhanced rights, reducing sub-regional rivalries that give rise to excessive military spending, deepening democratization

What are the two key components of refugee definition?

Persecution and border crossing

What is the CAT?

-Convention Against Torture, & Other Cruel, Inhuman, & Degrading Treatment or Punishment
-Open for signature in 1984, entered into force in 1987
-US signed CAT in 1988 and ratified it in 1994

What international law prohibits torture?

Geneva Conventions, UDHR, ICCPR

Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment

Less severe physical or mental pain, or purpose of ill-treatment is not present. Nevertheless, prohibited under international law (CAT)

American Exceptionalism

the notion that HR don't apply to the USA because:
1. we are special
2.that things are worse elsewhere
3.The Usa has the responsibility to help elsewhere but doesn't need (want) outside help

Key problems in USA

-Persistent racialized inequality

-Asian-Americans and Whites have higher levels of human development than Latinos and African-Americans in EVERY state in the USA

-"While home to some of the world’s richest individuals, Connecticut has seen working-class wages stagnate, and more of its residents live in poverty today than 50 years ago…. Disproportionately, those on the losing end are members of disadvantaged groups: the median incomes of Connecticut’s Hispanics and Blacks are barely half that of Whites.”

-1 in 7 children in CT live in poverty

-Police reform challenges

-Discrimination in rights to housing, health services

-Labor rights violations

-Violence against women and sexual minorities

Flaws in the US criminal justice system

-Highest rate of incarceration globally (2 million)
-Number of women in prison increased 700% from 1980-2016
-Racial disparity in sentencing-Sexual abuse in prisons
-Ill-treatment of incarcerated minors
-Extensive pre-trial detention of poor

Discrimination

As defined in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination:

-“racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference…

-…based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin

-…which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms…

-…in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.

torture

-CAT, Article 1: any act by which severe pain or suffering whether physical or mental- is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession-When such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public-Torture is prohibited in many pieces of international law-geneva conventions-UDHR Article 5-ICCPR Article 7

More key challenges

-Challenge of immigration reform
-Family separations affecting migrants at US border
-Restrictions on ability to claim asylum
-Won't accept claims based on harm by non-state actors
-Claims limited to only those migrants who cross at official ports of entry
-Travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries
-"Temporary protected status" removed for immigrants from Sudan, Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Nepal
-Unclear fate of 800,000 Dreamers protected under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program
-Use of "public charge" statutes to restrict immigrant access to public health & benefit programs

CERD

-Opened for signature 1965; entered into force 1969
-USA signed in 1966; ratified in 1994
-Hence, USA is obliged to report to the treaty monitoring body, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

States that ratify CERD commit:

ARTICLE 2

-not to sponsor, defend or support racial discrimination

-to review governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or nullify any laws and regulations that create or perpetuate discrimination

-to prohibit and bring to an end racial discrimination by any persons, group or organization;

-to encourage…integrationist multiracial organizations and movements and other means of eliminating barriers