H - 2.1 -> 2,4 Flashcards
Turkey
- Began Accession talks in 2005
- Gradual shift away from secular to Islamic
- 2009 – Challenge to normalise relations with Cyrprus
- 2013 – crackdown on Ankara mass demonstrations
- 2016 – Coup d’etat: 50,000 jailed
- Death Penalty Reinstated, textbooks rewritten curriculum emphasis on religion not science
- Clash with German cartoonist
UNDR
- 1948 -
- everyone is born free and equal
- everyone has the right to an opinion and the freedom to express it
- everyone has the right to marry
- everyone has the right to a nationality and to belong to a country
Countries must adopt all aspects of the universal declaration of human rights.
Doesn’t account for all cultures - only western, so not all countries have signed the deal
ECHR
- 1950/51
- Helped build a united political Europe
- Established a European Court of Human Rights in 1959
- Led to UK Human Rights Acts in 1998
impact of both UNDR and ECHR:
Establishing H-Rights is now a focus for giving DfID aid
controversies of countries intervening
- Erosion of national sovereignty
- Allows difficult ideas, e.g. votes for prisoners, overturning of abortion laws, the right to privacy (vs. surveillance)
Do all countries agree?
- Authoritarian don’t: executions, slavery, women discrimination
- Hypocrisy of Western Europe (who is actually allowed free speech?
- Islamic countries believe UNDR too westernised so created their own - Cairo declaration of human rights in Islam
uzbekistan - significant differences between counties in both their definitions and protection of human rights
- Main cash crop (17% of exports)
- 6th largest exporter in the world
- State-controlled, since USSR – collective farms, with quotas
- Now diversifying to avoid Dutch disease
- Boycotted by M&S, Ikea, Tesco, Adidas
Human Rights?
- It depends on the country’s priorities – how developed it is
- Only a few put human rights first
- Most do security, energy, trade and finance first
how do you measure human rights?
- Freedom House – is there open political competition and climate of respect?
Or are they violated? - The measurements are transparent though
- The % of countries described as ‘totally free’ is going down (2% declined 2005-2015)
how do you tackle it?
- Global communication
- Crowdsourcing
- Pressure on the UN
- Impose sanctions
- R2P (Responsibility to Protect), e.g. Ivory Coast military intervention in 2011
why not?
- Showing independence from colonial rulers
- Political resistance
- Historical loss of civil liberties (e.g. UK Prison)
uzbekistan pt 2
- World’s largest cotton producer
- 2mths/yr – children 17+ adult labour to harvest cotton
- Dangerous: unknown chemicals, unsanitary housing, lack of water
- Consequences: penalties, loss of arm lease, criminal charges, fines, expulsion from school, hobs loss, social security
New President – Shavkat Kirziyoyez (2017)
- 16 political prisoners and journalists released
- 16,000 people removed from security ‘blacklists’
- Call to prayer is allowed
- Promise to remove exit visas
- Protections against arbitrary detention
- Media freedom – and BBC invited to open a bureau
- Less forced labour – but still tight export controls – allowing greater mechanization, along with freer trade and currency floatation
- Border crossing reopened
Democracy Index
Freedom, measured by:
- Electoral process
- Pluralism (Decision making located in the FW of the gov)
- Civil liberties (Laws established only for the good of the community)
- Functioning of government
- Political culture
Changing score up
- Political leaders and political system
- Myanmar, Madagascar, Burkina Faso have moved forward
Changing Score down
(2008-2015: fearful year)
- Transition has slowed
2008 recession led to unrest and less strong governance - More insecurity, more extremism
- More nationalism and populism
- South Africa: more corruption
- MENA: freedom or human rights didn’t change
What about the USA?
- Decline began in the 1960s
- Vietnam War
- Civil rights + Assassination of MLK
- Assassination of Kennedy
- Watergate scandal 1972 (The scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by members of the Nixon administration) - He resigned.
- Clinton affairs
- Wars in the Middle East
- Financial Crisis
democracy trend in america
democracy popularity has decreased severely over the past few decades
kenya
- terrible, persistent corruption rife in the government
- president Kenyatta is corrupt, and as a result there is a lack of unity between the government and the people, as well as an element of mistrust
- sting operation in Ghana caught 27 different judges accepting bribes
- Kenyan troops were brought in to fight terrorists who had taken over a shopping mall, but they battle took extra long as the troops were looting the mall.
problems with Kenyatta in power
- Odinga a bad loser
- No independent Electoral Commission
- Fear for election observers
corruption
erodes public trust in the government, undermines the rule of law and may give rise to political and economic grievances that may fuel violent extremism
- can subvert the rule of law
- can be measured by Corruption Perception Index
why trust is important for good governance
- when crimes are committed, we trust the police - no need for bribe
- if you are accused, you defend yourself in court - trust judicial process
why abuse of commons trust matters:
- if one chooses to act selfishly - the system fails, e.g. law is applied just a bit more strongly to one
- trust is broken down vertically - having seen person above advantage themselves, below seeks to repeat
- trust is broken down horizontally - colleague
overall conclusion on good governance:
good governance serves people
Political corruption can lead to
- limited growth and development - Chad
- unlawful persecutions
- denying individuals of human rights.
Geneva convention
- protect the human right of civilians, wounded soldiers or prisoners of war during war and conflict.
Every country in the world signed it
BUT:
- British broke it in taliban
- ISIS rape and assaulting civillians
- amnesty international estimates 140 countries still torturing.
- 25 still using chemical weapons
_% of global GDP spent corruptly
5%
Uzbek summary
Uzbekistan prioritises economic growth, see this more important than HR. quite poor and cotton makes up export led economy. As a result regulating the industry may cause major damage to economy. As are now dependent on it, are unable to easily wean themselves off child labour. Children only work 2 months a year, reduces scrutiny from other nations
Why is America a flawed democracy?
- opposing views polar
- opposing media
- suppressing views/ truth from each side
- leads to misinterpretation and further division
- corruption
What can be done to reduce corruption
- international standards for elite professions - judiciary
- taxes - adopt tech to automate procedures, which reduces opportunity for bureaucratic discretion (bribery)
- websites to broadcast and embarrass the corrupt
But this will only work with a given attitudinal change, people must be disgusted with corruption, otherwise no change will ensue.
Impact of UDHR
- place political pressure on countries seem to be denying people basic HR
- as a justification for economic sanctions
- justification for military intervention
Not all countries signed the UNDR, e.g.
- Saudi Arabia - everyone has right to change their religion + views on women
- South Africa to maintain apartheid
Criticisms of human rights bills
- too westernised - European and North American thinkers
- doesn’t apply to Islamic or Asian cultures
Countries such as china defend their position by arguing
that once economic development is achieved, human rights can then follow. They would argue that in the UK gender equality, universal suffrage, universal healthcare and education all emerged after the industrial revolution.
India - flawed democracy
Religious freedom - violence between three groups
Freedom of speech - generally upheld, although police violence
Political freedom - 2000 parties in India
Freedom of press - numerous, privately owned media organisation
BUT - Dalits, gay, women
China - authoritarian
Religious freedom - uighurs getting Md, communist party members must be atheist
Freedom of speech - subversion of state power - censorship
Political freedom - CCP is the only party
Freedom of the press - not free, media is directed by the CCP
