Lecture 14 - International Human Rights

What are the two main points from this lecture?

Norms are important

NGOs are important

What is difference between international humanitarian law and international human rights law?

Humanitarian law: armed conflict

Human rights law: applies at all times (in peace and war)

What is the UN international declaration of human rights?

• December 10, 1948 marks International Human Rights Day, when the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights took effect.

• Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the drafting committee, and René Cassin wrote the declaration (known for Cassin’s Portico metaphor).

• It defines rights all people have by birth, has been translated into 500+ languages, and is accepted by every country in the world.

What is Cassin’s Portico?

Cassin’s Portico is a metaphor comparing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to a classical building. The foundation represents basic human dignity, the columns stand for core rights like liberty, equality, and justice, and the roof symbolizes the ideal of universal freedom and peace built upon those principles.

What is the language of human rights?

Classical liberalism

What is classical liberalism?

• Natural law says no one should harm another’s life, health, liberty, or property.

• It exists above states and applies to all people, uniting humanity beyond national borders.

• US Declaration of Independence modeled after Lockean Natural Law and Natural Rights

• French Revolution 1789 Declaration of the rights of man and citizens

What is the conflict of human rights language?

Human rights is all written in western language; is it a western project or a universal project that is just talked about in western language?

What is article one of UN Declaration of Human Rights and what is its importance?

Article 1: all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

• The wording is deliberate: “born” (not created) and “human beings” (not just men) emphasize universality.

• Its language was broad yet affirming, allowing nearly all countries to vote in favor, with only a few abstaining.

• Though not legally binding, it is viewed as a core international norm recognized worldwide.

How is human rights viewed through the realist lens?

States talk about human rights only if it is in their interests.

A tittle of a realist’s work: “A false promise of international institutions”

How is human rights viewed through the cooperation/institutionalist perspective?

States follow human rights norms not just out of morality, but because cooperation brings long-term benefits—such as peace, reputation, and stronger international partnerships.

—> States support these norms because they gain legitimacy and reputation internationally.

Institutions like the UN and international courts create rules and monitoring systems that make cooperation easier and more predictable.

How is human rights viewed through the norms/ideas lens?

Something other than power and institutions make a difference (i.e. norms)

Human rights become powerful when they are internalized—when states and societies start to see them as normal and morally right.

—> These norms influence behavior and identity, not just law or policy.

—> Over time, shared ideas about dignity and equality create expectations for how governments should treat their citizens.

In this view, change happens through persuasion, socialization, and moral legitimacy, not just power or self-interest.

NGOs and transnational advocacy groups MATTER!!! (facilitates the norms)

How does norm-based change work?

• International law: A system of principles, customs, and rules recognized by sovereign states.

  • Hard law = binding obligations.

  • Soft law = non-binding guidelines or norms.

• Global governance: The collection of institutions, policies, and norms that help states and citizens create predictability and order in world affairs.

• International regimes: Shared principles, norms, and decision-making processes that guide how actors behave in specific issue areas.

• All three rely on the power of norms to shape expectations and coordinate international behavior.

What do international regimes use and how effective are human rights?

Both hard and soft law (from the UN all the way to NGOs).

Every state accepts them.

Up until this year every country participated in UN Universal Periodic review

Every state in the world has ratified 4 of the 9 core International human rights treaties.

How does change happen?

NGOs raise visibility of issues and pressure states.

What are translational advocacy networks?

Actors working internationally on an issue, who are bound together by shared values, a common discourse and dense exchanges of information and services.

What is the key strategy of NGOs?

Naming and Shaming (the boomerang model)

“The core of NGOs methodology is our ability to investigate, expose, and shame.”

What is the example of Chile for naming and shaming (boomerang model)?

In 1973, when Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile, many protesters and activists began disappearing under the dictatorship.

Citizens and families worked to raise global awareness by contacting NGOs and using music and art as peaceful protest.

The song “A Woman Has Disappeared in Chile” listed the names of missing women instead of making demands, giving voice to those silenced by the regime.

People also displayed photos and dates of the disappeared in public, turning remembrance into a powerful act of resistance and international awareness.

What is a closer look at the naming and shaming model?

Getting the message out so that the pressure will come back to the human rights abusing government

They do this through:

• Accountability – pressure powerful actors to act on policies/principles they have endorsed

  • “Chile you signed this treaty but you are breaking it”

• Information politics - ability to move usable information

• Symbolic politics - use symbols, stories, actions that help make sense of a situation or increase its resonance with an audience

• Leverage politics - call on stronger actors to act where weaker members of a network are less able

What are some criticisms of the boomerang model?

Countries don’t want to admit they are doing something horrible

Is it harder to use naming and shaming when what is right and wrong is up for debate

What is the example of amnesty international?

• Amnesty International was founded by Peter Benenson after reading about two men jailed for toasting to liberty.

• It defends “prisoners of conscience”—people imprisoned for peaceful political expression.

• Members wrote letters to governments, exposing abuses and applying public pressure through naming and shaming.

• Amnesty values impartiality, accuracy, and persistence, which helped free many prisoners and earned it the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize.

• Over time, its mission expanded to address torture and broader human rights issues.

• NGOs like Amnesty play a key role by keeping human rights on the global agenda, especially when governments stay silent for political reasons.