effectiveness of international responses Flashcards
when was the UN established. what does it consist of
The United Nations was established through the United Nations Charter in 1945. The UN has five principal organs under the Charter of the United Nations (1945) – all of these have some role to play in the promotion or protection of human rights.
UN
what are the 5 principal organs of the UN
-the security council
-office of the high commissioner 4 HR
-General Assembly
-the HR council
-the universal periodic review
UN
what is the security council and why is it relevant
A council of 15 member states which are the chief decision-making arm of the UN. Five of these members are permanent – (UK, France, USA, Russia and China) and the other 10 rotate every 2 years.
- They discuss ways to maintain international peace and security
UN
whats a key example of the security council assisting in HR
their ability to make binding decisions 4 times referred to as (humanitarian interventions). the four times it occured
- Yugoslavia in 1991
- somalia in 1993
- rwanda 1994
- east timor 1999
To stop defined mass atrocities by force, by using international responsibility
UN
what is the office of high comissioner for HR
Offers its support and expertise to the various human rights monitoring bodies and systems within the UN. The OHCHR oversees
-the Human Rights Council
-the Universal Periodic Review
-the eight human rights treaty bodies who monitor the implementation of major human rights treaties
UN
what is the general assembly
Consists of representatives from all member states with equal voting power (in theory, yet veto powers), this is the main forum for international discussions, deliberations, declarations and recommendations.
UN
what is the HR council
Chief purpose is to examine situations in which human rights violations are occurring and make recommendations for action back to the UN General Assembly.
- Established In 2006 as a subsidiary of the UN general assembly
- Consists of 47 member states
UN
what is the universal periodic review
The Human Rights Council runs the Universal Periodic Review. This is a review of the human rights record of all 192 UN member states every four years.
how is the effectiveness expressed in the UN
raises awareness
-accessability : expressed through the tonnen v aus case in which a homosexual man was able to argue that his right to his sexuality was breached in tasmania .
-better cross border protection
compliance : influences international covenants anf treaties, creating symbolic frameworks 4 implementation of HR into domestic law
SIGNATORIES MUST ratify treaties into domestic law
ineffectiveness of UN
reliant on state willingness to promote and protect HR
Enforceability : No global enforceability body, results in countries being able to abuse rights. Trafficking & slavery present throughout Asia, especially concentrated in Thailand.
state sovereignty issue
Effectiveness is hindered because state representatives in UN may be working in their own political interest, thus failing to report human right breaches in their country.
The credibility of the UNHRC is eroded when it fails to address grave human rights violations for primarily politically reasons (veto powers)
what are intergovernmental organisations
an international institution made up of member states. IGOs are created by agreement between states
-each has an international treaty that acts as a charter outlining the organisation’s purpose and operation
name the characteristics of intergovernmental organisations
usually permanent, meet regularly and have international legal ‘personality’, which means they can enter into enforceable agreements and are subject to international law.
how has IGOS developed overtime..
1909: 37 IGOS in world
1960: 154
presently : around 300
examples of existing IGOS
main one : the un itself
-world trade organisation
-international monetary fund
-north atlantic treaty org
-african union
-european union
intergovernmental
wat is the european union and wat does it oblige by
it promote peace, its values and the well-being of its citizens. they oblige by the charter of fundamental rights of european union.
-in article 5, trafficking of human beings is prohibited.
how has the european union been effective in promoting HR
accessability: encourages countries to create domestic measures to reflect international treaties. evident through the council of europe convention on actions against trafficking.
-regional HR treaty of international law- prevents +combat formats of trafficking, protects victims.
responsiveness: 344265,76 EURO also funded as part of treaty to prevent further sexual trafficking in nigerian women
how has the european union been ineffective in promoting HR
responsiveness : not all member states have ratified legal instruments. turkey has not ratified therefore arent responsive to HT.
state sovereignty: Russia have not signed or ratified COATHB which allows for abuse of HR in country. issues of enforabiity rise w this. EU can not force country to sign, only encourage
what is the international criminal court
The permanent international court that hears cases relating to the most serious international crimes and human rights abuses, namely genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- Established in 2002 under Rome statute
whats a case where the ICC has been utilised
the case of thomas lubanga (2012)
was a warlord in Congo, and he was the first person ever to be arrested by the ICC.
- Convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 14 years in prison
- However, ^ this took 5 years.
effectiveness of international criminal court
enforceability : has universal jurisdiction, can prosecute individuals from any state.
responsiveness: ICC responsive to issues where domestic courts or unwilling to exercise jurisdiction over world’s most wanted suspects
ineffectiveness of international criminal court
non compliance: Human Trafficking (as of 2014) is the 3rd largest and profit-making business in the world only after drugs and arms trafficking.
difficult to enforce:Lack of effective cooperation and support from the states means a case cannot be developed. The ICC does not have executive powers and police of its own to investigate cases and thus it is fully dependent on the states
time consuming : thomas lubanga was only convicted after LITERALLY 5 YEARS LOL
costly : 100 million a year to run yet does not even prosecute alot of ppl- only 44 individuals have been indicted
what is the AD HOC international tribunal
various tribunals (known as ad hoc tribunals) established for a particular purpose
(by the UN Security Council or the UN to deal with specific events involving serious international crimes. )
what are the two AD HOC tribunals that have been created before
1 ) international criminal tribunal for the former yoguslavia (1993) - hears cases that breach geneva conventions (war crimes)
2)international criminal tribunal for rwanda (1994)
-hear cases of genocides commited in RWANDA
what are independent statutory bodies and what is their roles
separate from government organisations to perform specialised functions without fear or favour. their role is to:
-States are required to report to these bodies about their treaty compliance
-considering individual complaints
-publishing general comments on treaties and organising discussion on their purposes and themes
