Human rights- Global politics

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Key concepts:

Human rights: Are basic claims and entitlements that, many argue, one should be able to exercise simply by virtue of being a human being.

Justice: the idea of fairness, with individuals getting what they what they deserve, although what is ment by deserve is also contested

Equality: e that all people or groups of people are seen as having the same intrinsic value

Liberty: having freedom and autonomy. It is often divided into positive and negative liberty, with negative liberty defined as individuals having the freedom from external coercion and positive liberty defined as individuals having the autonomy to carry out their own rational will.

Video notes: - How do people define human rights - trends?

• Many people cannot define

• Often “the rights of human”

• “Its a large debate”

  • People have different opinions

• They are universal

• The right to live

• Right to religion

• All born free and equal

• the UN has 30 human rights - declaration of human rights

• Cyrus the grate (conquer Babylon) - deciding to change human rights declartions

  • The Cyrus cylinder - birth of human rights - spreading form there

• Natural law: “rules” that people naturally follow.

  • Safe from people in power

How have human rights evolved over written history:

• Rights: universal declaration of human rights - UN - Rosevelt 1900 smth

  • doesn’t have the force of law - its optional

  • Still just words on a page…

  • how are these words going to be a reality?

Analyzing the UDHR: Universal Declaration of Human rights

• Similar;

• Many rights surrounding the choices you get to make as a human are similar (and seem basic)

• Rights missing:

• Something specific in protection of women- to rights over autonomy? - I’m not sure if its there yet already.

  • Maybe a specific mention that no one can change or determine the rights deserved to a human…

How have human rights have evolved throughout history:

• The bill of rights and the U.S constitution:

• Setting:

  • 1787 for constitution - Philadelphia

    • pensilvania state house

  • Bill of rights added in 1791

• Rights (from the bill)

  • Bill of rights is the first 10 amendments of the constitution

  • Guaranteed rights

    • Natural law

• Historical significance:

  • The primary law of the U.S federal government

    • Laying out the 3 branches of federal government

      • Checks and balances of each branch against each other

    • Balance between liberty and authority

    • And basic rights

• Main Ideas:

Positives and negatives of human rights:

Video: Ted ed

• Cannot be granted or revoked, and inalienable

  • But complicated when being put into practice

• Define rightfulness, justice and rights (how do we)

• UN strives to reaffirm faith in human rights - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

  • Based on that all human beings are born free and equal to dignity of rights

  • Highlighting both negative and positive freedoms

  • Social economic and cultural rights

• There are no sides, to what rights are most important!

• Not easy to in force the use of human rights- declaration not a law

• Problems are pointed at western worlds - with individual rights over group rights…

Types of human rights (positive HR and Negative HR)

Positive - some type of positive action that is taking place

Negative - Not given these rights, you are protected form this harm or interference

Universal rights: rights that are inherent to all people for simply being born

Indivisible rights: all rights have equal importance nor is there a hierarchy of rights

Interdependent rights: successful protection of on person right helps to protect others, or denial or one human right leads to more denial

Inalienable rights: cannot be taken away - you have these rights for life.

UDHR- The universal declaration of human rights

• the UDHR turned 75 last year (2023)

  • The UN provided a statement that there is work done to protect the rights

Question: What pledges do you want to see to protect human rights?

Key concept review:

Justice - Fairness and with individuals getting what they deserve, rights and what individuals can legitimately expect of one another or of their argument.

Equality - All people, or groups of people, are seen as having the same intrinsic value. It’s argued that justice can only exists if there is equality. Equality is also linked to liberty as different people have differing possibilities to be free and autonomous.

Liberty - Having freedom and autonomy. (Decided into positive and negative)

What does the “claims to human rights” mean:

• A person can make a claim to a human rights, meaning you want to except- but it may not be explicitly stated.

  • Issue - the UDHR does not recognize unique rights of indigenous peoples, with rights to self determination, land, culture and autonomy.

  • The Gap - While some indigenous rights can be inferred form the UDHRs boarder principle, but there are no direct recognition of the collective rights of indigenous peoples, especially with land and territorial rights.

Residential schools in Canada:

• More than 1,000 graves have been found at the residential schools

  • Mostly of children - with more to be found

• Canadian law allowed First Nations children to removed from homes and into residential schools for forced assimilation (this was legal under Canadian law)

  • Banning native languages and traditions and religions

  • Run by Catholic Churches

  • Deaths caused by neglect, injury, sexual violence and runaway.

Notes on article: Survivors call on Canada to criminalize residential school denialism.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yo9BxagyNJD-wiCCfhVOCEBT2IhsWDWX/view

• Denialism: The psychology of human behavior, a persons choice to deny reality as a way to avoid believing in a psychologically uncomfortable truth/

• Survivors of the residential schools are calling for Canada to criminalize residential schools

  • To ensure that the children who died are not silenced

• Schools closed as late as 1996, with more that 150,000 children forced to attend

  • With 6,000 deaths - the number can grow with the recovery of graves

• There is WATCH report, calling for 20 year probe into these missing children

• They call for the government to not participate in the act of denialism.

• Examples of what denialism around residential schools:

  • Comments form politicians about “good deeds” of the residential schools.

  • Overshadowed by the truth and reconciliation commission.

• The unmarked graves led to a “moral panic” - leading a Catholic priest to claim that the children enjoyed their time at the residential schools.

• “This denialism, if unchecked, will become a significant barrier to reconciliation,”

• Bill proposed to criminalize the denialism of residential schools

  • Proposint that anyone who…

    • Promotes hatered against indigenous peoples

    • Misrepresenting facts

    • Or downplaying, justifying or condoning the residential school systems

  • Could face a MAX of 2 years in jail

• There is a previously law enacted in 2022- to combat Holocaust denialism-

  • So far successful (but with no successful prosecutions

• In conclusion - the gov said: needs to review the report and the obligations, deciding wether or not to adopt this bill.

Case study: Guantanamo Bay → Human rights violations (question not if but WHY human rights violations are occurring)

• U.S military deletions center in Cuba

• Opened Jan.2002 - response to 9/11- war on terror

• Total prisoners: 280

  • 750 transfers

  • 30 remain

  • 9 died - some ruled suicide

• How presidents effected this:

• Prez. Bush opened it

• Obama attempted to close-

• Trump kept it opened (an executive Order) -

• Biden releases prisoners

• Massive reports of torture

  • Forced feeding

  • Poor condition

  • Sexual assault

  • Suicide

• Biggest HR arguments

  • many people their have not been charged

    • Many do not have concrete evidence that they committed the crime

Video notes:

• Guantanamo can come back to hurt American citizens - national security threat

• Reputation for censoring journalists

• Possibility that anyone can be picked up… and become a detainee

• Lived in outdoor cells - pipes for toilets - previous location

• Camp 5 - the facility today -

  • 95 sq feet

  • Basic living - follow the rules, get more resources, dont less resources

• Camp 6

  • Nicer camps for well behaved detainees

• Force feeding - security peramiters - covered up

  • Shutting off cameras - trailed

Protecting and Enforcing Human rights:

Law protecting Human rights;

• International: UDHR (universal Declaraiton of Human rights0

• Regional: 9 Covenants and Regional law EX. European HR Law

• National Level: Domestic law

UN Treaty Bodies:

• Committees of experts that monitor the international treaties of Human rights

• The UDHR was first

  • The committees are to continue passing treaties, laws and regulations

    • To maintain the access and implementation of Human rights.

• There are 9 (from the UN treaty Bodies)

  • Children’s education

  • Women’s protection

  • Racial discrimination

  • Migrant workers

  • More

• 9 treaties: - The Monitoring Bodies

  • Convention against tour true and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment

  • International covenant on civil and political rights

  • International Coventry on economic, social and cultural rights

  • Convention on the rights of the child

  • Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women

  • International convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination

  • International convention for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance

  • International convention on the rights of all migrant workers and their family

  • Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities

Non-state actors and Human rights:

• Non-state actors have an effect on diplomacy and global Human rights diplomacy

  • Particularly, NGOS (as a key figure for Human rights)

• Civil Society - public political space - that is not the market or state

  • Civil society actors operate nationally or Transnationally

  • It has the potential for a larger outreach that a state actor - (more red tape)

• What do NGOS do for Human rights?

  • Resources: Information and energy of ordinary people

  • Strategies: ‘name + shame’ - for example a letter writing campaign

    • With an aim to embarrass offending governments and mobilize foreign citizens with the goal to pressure their own governments, acting on behalf of victims

• Civil society advocacy is deeply embedded in the system of sovereign states -

  • Because! = Implementing and enforcing human rights is a state responsibility - NGO’s have to act on or through states

• Examples of NGOS:

  • Amnesty International

    • London based

    • Founded in 1961- with 2 million + members

  • Human rights watch

    • NYC based

  • Federation international de do its de l’omme

    • Umbrella group for the 155 NGOS

  • International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex association

    • Worldwide federation of 1, 700+ LGBTQ human rights organizations

• Assessing NGO’s

  • Important not to idealize human rights NGOS -

  • Some are large ineffective expressions of good intentions

    • Issues of political and finacial accountability

  • lack power in states and diplomatic stature of international organizations

  • Power of public opinion is often limited and hard to pin down

  • No other interests will distract form advocacy

  • There are many developed reputations for accuracy and impartiality → for a resource

  • Important check for the “tendency of states to allow competing national interests and considerations of diplomatic discretion to mute human rights criticism”

  • Key mechanisms for spreading awareness of Human rights (internationally) are through norms and mobilizing opinion.

The International Criminal Court (ICC)

• The Hague, Netherlands

• IGO created in 2002

• 123 member states

• Created to prosecute Individuals for international crimes

  • Rome statute (1998) created the ICC

    • 4 Core international Crimes; Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of aggression

• THe ICC has indicted (accused of a crime) more that 50 people

  • 1 cases before the ICC

  • 21 people have been detained in THe Hague

  • 10 convicted of crimes

  • 12 acquittals or no charges

  • 6 resulted in reparations of imprisonment

Are Human rights politicized?

-Guiding question: Can states and non-state actors act on human rights abuses without self-serving interests?

The Politicization of Human Rights:

• States use Human Rights (through acknowledgement of attacking abuses of) - for Political Gain.

  • Through:

    • Enacting Human rights

    • Humanitarian Intervention

    • Sanctions

    • Power over underdeveloped nations - over labor practices

  • Many address abuses abroad but not on home soil

    • Between 0.333 to 0.5 of US children live below the poverty line

    • China and India claim industrialization that helped - but make no acknowledgment of the effected from industrialization

  • So May countries ignore Human rights in favor of trade etc.

    • So who are human rights for?

      • Spend vast resources correcting abuses abroad

      • NGOS can only do so much

      • Human rights are more of an “idealized” version of the world rather than law

Sanctions - Case study:

UN Security Council sanctions on Iraq 1990

• Iraq invaded Kuwait (over oil disagreements)

• With a Goal to get Saddam Hussein out of power

  • Authoritarian dicatator

  • Thousands killed

  • Suppress social movements and religions that were not his.

Global sanctions on Russia 2014 & 2022:

• Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and in 2022

• Massive corruption, authoritarian rules, attacks on minority groups (like LGBTQIA)

• Democratic institutions are less prevalent in the nation (when the Soviet Union collapsed)

Are economic Sanctions Ethical?

• They are generally considered unethical

  • The economic punishments of entire populations that have no relation to issue on the global stage.