4.4 Human RIghts

Question 1

What is the HRA of 1998?

Answer 1

The HRA incorporates the ECHR into UK law, meaning people can bring cases to UK courts, rather than having to go abroad to Strasburg.
-It requires all bodies carrying out public functions to respect and protect human rights
-Any new laws passed should be compatible with the ECHR

Question 2

What is the ECHR?

Answer 2

Established by the court of Europe, 47 countries have signed and it has 14 articles protecting human rights. This established a court in Strasburg.

Question 3

What is an example of a case being decided under the ECHR?

Answer 3

Dudgeon V UK 1981 made homosexuality legal in Northern Ireland
They continue to rule the blanket ban on prisoners having the right to vote is against the ECHR

Question 4

Why may the government particularly like the rulings of the ECHR?

Answer 4

The government has been glad for it because it can often make controversial decisions for them

Question 5

What are the positives of the ECHR?

Answer 5

-Holds Parliament to account
-Governments can avoid making decisions that may be controversial
-Protects everybody and can be politically embarrassing if they don’t align laws with the court rulings
-HR cases can be heard in the UK
-legally binding

Question 6

How successful/unsuccessful has the UK been in cases under the ECHR?

Answer 6

The UK has been deemed in violation in 60% of cases before the court, compared to 83% from all countries
The UK has the lowest number of applications in Strasburg court, showing few violations

Question 7

Why is the ECHR deemed as controversial by some?

Answer 7

-It threatens British sovereignty and is undemocratic because we are unable to vote for it, making it unaccountable
-Contains a westernised ideology and so may go against some religions, such as Shia Law e.g right to freedom of thought and religion, but arguably this makes it fit for purpose because it’s for westernised countries
-The UK continues to ignore certain rulings such as the blanket ban on prisoners

Question 8

How does the UK respond to rulings under the ECHR?

Answer 8

It’s bound by the convention, but Strasburg cannot force any changes onto the UK. However, this is politically embarrassing so we usually always amend laws to align with the ECHR (e.g. Rwanda Policies ruled to not be legal under the ECHR)

Question 9

What are the arguments against repealing the HRA and replacing it with a British Bill of Human Rights

Answer 9

It would breach the Belfast agreement and it would stop helping us in dealing with criminals.

Question 10

What is the UDHR?

Answer 10

Set up after the atrocities of WW2 and signed it 1948, it set 30 human rights that should be protected by law. It’s not legally binding, but provides a statement of intent and framework for foreign policy statements to explain intervention

Question 11

What have been some of the positives of the UDHR?

Answer 11

-104 countries have now outlawed capital punishment, compared to 9 in 1948
-foreign aid often conditional on human rights
-women have the right to vote in 198 countries compared to 91 in 1948
-Nearly all states have a national parliament, whereas 70 years ago, only 26 did
-Freedom of Information laws have been adopted in 111 countries

Question 12

What are some examples of the downsides of the UDHR?

Answer 12

-1 in 10 are still in child labour
-1 in 3 who are in detention had no trial
- 1 in 4 women are married before 18
-101 journalists killed in 2016
-29% of children under 5 worldwide have not had their births registered

Question 13

Who hasn’t signed up to the UDHR?

Answer 13

The Soviet Union- said it didn’t condemn fascism and Nazism sufficiently
South Africans- they wanted to protect their apartheid system
Saudi Arabi- ‘right to change belief or religion’

Question 14

What happened in 1976 that tried to make the UDHR legally binding?

Answer 14

The declaration was the basis for two further legally binding UN human rights covenants and serve as a legal framework to enforce the UDHR:
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Question 15

What is the evaluation of how successful the UDHR is?

Answer 15

It has failed to achieve its objectives, but it’s better to have it than to have nothing at all - some social progress has been made

Question 16

What’s an example of a country breaking the UDHR?

Answer 16

In Brazil, 1000 are killed every year by police in extra-judicial killings, because courts are slow and underfunded and police are under pressure

Question 17

What is the Geneva Convention?

Answer 17

It sets out rights for those at war including the wounded, sick and prisoners of war. It’s almost universally ratified - 196 countries have signed and is legally enforced, meaning those who break it can be arrested and trialed

Question 18

Who can be convicted under the Geneva Convention?

Answer 18

An individual can be held responsible for the actions of a country or that nation’s soldiers if they are to commit crimes against humanity

Question 19

When is the accusation of a War Crime Valid?

Answer 19

when the extent of collateral damage to civilians, resulting from an attack is excessive compared to the military advantage gained

Question 20

What are the drawbacks of the Geneva Convention?

Answer 20

-Few cases of violation ever come to trial and if they are put on trial, it’s often decades later
-141 countries still engage in torture, including the US who have been charged of waterboarding at Guantanamo Bay
-conviction is rare because the ‘fog of war’ can often obscure crimes e.g. it can be argued people are being forced from their homes for protection
-The ICC doesn’t have its own police force and so cannot go into other countries to arrest people if the country they live in are not willing to
Harder to charge people when they are not in the convention e.g. The Gambia had to take Myanmar to court

Question 21

What’s the evaluation of the Geneva Convention?

Answer 21

Not successful as people justify their actions over the fog of war and it doesn’t act as a strong prevention. This is shown by the fact very recently, Russia has broken it and critics claim Israel are breaking it for war crimes in Gaza. However, it’s better to have than to do nothing

Question 22

Who is currently being accused of breaking the Geneva Convention and why have they not been arrested?

Answer 22

Putin is facing accusations of 400 war crimes including taking 16,221 Children from Ukraine and has an arrest warrant, but they won’t arrest him while he remains in Russia. Russia claimed the children were taken and given to Russian families for humanitarian reasons
Russia also doesn’t recognise jurisdiction of the ICC

Question 23

Which statute established the ICC?

Answer 23

The Rome Statute

Question 24

What’s an example of someone actually being sentenced under the Geneva Convention?

Answer 24

In 2016, Radovan Karadzic - a former Bosnia Serb leader in the Yugoslav wars - was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity at The Hague. He was sentenced for 40 years. Among other charges, he was found guilty of the Srebrenica massacre, which aimed to kill ‘every able-bodied male’ of the Bosnian Population

Question 25

What war crimes occurred in Myanmar?

Answer 25

Attempt of ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim population- by 2017, nearly 650,000 Rohingya had fled the country; The population are seen as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Myanmar troops burnt Rohingya villages and attacked civilians - at least 6,700 died. Myanmar police were also accused of raping Myanmar women and girls. At least 288 villages were partially or totally destroyed

Question 26

How is the Myanmar case being dealt with?

Answer 26

West African country The Gambia bought a case against Myanmar at the ICJ on behalf of other Muslims. The ICC has now approved a full investigation and in the mean time the country must take emergency measures to protect the Rohingya population.
Leader Aung San Sui Kyi rejected all allegations of genocide- she was once a peace icon with a Nobel prize for bringing democracy to Myanmar

Question 27

What is the difference between the ICJ and the ICC?

Answer 27

The ICJ is a civil tribunal that hears disputes between countries, while the ICC is a criminal tribunal that prosecutes individuals for serious international crimes

Question 28

Which is the order of the most to least effective of the conventions on Human Rights?

Answer 28

ECHR - changes the actions of people before they have happened
Geneva Convention - created some convictions, has its own court
UDHR- better to have it than not to have it

Question 29

What war crimes have occurred by Israel?

Answer 29

Israel repeatedly targeted citizens of Gaza since 2008. This has specifically increased since the Israel Gaza war, as Israel targeted the Al Shifa hospital as they believed Hamas was using it as a base. The death toll in Gaza since October 7th surpassed 30,000 as of the end of February 2024

Question 30

What crimes against humanity have occurred in Syria?

Answer 30

The US blitzing of Raqqa left more than 1,600 civilians dead and Russian destruction of infrastructure and lives in Aleppo has forced mass displacement amounting to crimes against humanity. Emergency service relief workers, know for wearing white helmets, where protected under the Geneva convention but countries have been accused of failing to protect these individuals