Human Rights Midterm Flashcards
The Possession Paradox
“We need human rights principally when they are not effectively guaranteed by national law and practice” (Donelly, p. 23).
Rights become important only when one doesn’t possess them.
The Ten Commandments
Key Concepts of the 10 Commandments:
- Sets limits on behavior
- Regulates society through the articulation of specific moral standards
- Supremacy of God; people need to acknowledge a higher power
- 6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 7you shall have no other gods before me.
- 8 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, 10but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
- 11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
- 12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. … 5Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
- Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
- 17 You shall not murder.
- 18 Neither shall you commit adultery.
- 19 Neither shall you steal.
- 20 Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.
- 21 Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife.
Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Essence of the Law in Deuteronomy
Emphasizes subservience to higher law and adherence to moral code
Concept of Sabbatical year – debts removed every 7 years, and slaves freed – but only for neighbors.
Concept of charity
Justice and equality of all people – within the community
Sabbatical Year
Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts. so a person’s debt is not forever. they cannot be enslaved indefinitely
a yearlong period to be observed by Jews once every seven years, during which the fields were to be left untilled and all agricultural labors were to be suspended. Leviticus 25.
The Book of Jonah
Significance of the story of Jonah:
- Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, Israel’s chief enemy.
- God has compassion for the people of Nineveh and is their God as well.
- God is god to all.
- Introduces concept of more universal humanity
- this story is about compassion. God has modeled forgiveness.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
This parable sends the message that worldly and earthly possessions are of no benefit in the afterlife. Those who have suffered on Earth will receive their reward in Heaven.
Samaritans(The New Testament)
The third selection is the story of a Samaritan woman. Samaritans were considered heretics and ostracized by Jews.
Code of Hammurabi
this is like an actually written code of law that demonstrates that there are consequences and punishments for specific crimes.
1754 BCE - Babylon
1. If a man bring an accusation against a man, and charge him with a (capital) crime, but cannot prove it, he, the accuser, shall be put to death
- If a man steals the property of a god or palace, that man shall be put to death; and he who receives from his hand the stolen property, shall also be put to death.
- If a man steals ox or sheep, ass or pig, or boat—if it be from a god or a palace, he shall restore thirtyfold; if it be from a freeman, he shall render tenfold. If the thief has nothing wherewith to pay, he shall be put to death.
- If a man has stolen a child, he shall be put to death.
- If a man aids a male or female slave of the palace, or a male or female slave of a freeman to escape from the city gate, he shall be put to death.
- If a man has committed highway robbery and been caught, he shall be put to death.
- If a male slave says to his master: “Thou art not my master,” his master shall prove him to be his slave and shall cut off his ear.
Massachusetts Body of Liberties
The colony was set up around Boston by the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1630 (chartered 1628). Business ventures made up mostly of Puritans fleeing persecution under Charles I. Governor John Winthrop described the new colony as “A City on a Hill.”
Compiled by Rev. Nathaniel Ward, adopted by Massachusetts General Court in 1641 as a basic legal framework.
People should be judged only according to the law, through courts, not arbitrarily.
Equality under the law: “Every person within this jurisdiction, whether inhabitant or foreigner, shall enjoy the same justice and law.”
Makes distinctions between social categories, yet each social group has some rights.
The State of Nature
Hobbes:
Develops mental experiment: The State of Nature:
- “The war of every man against every man”
- “The life of man is nasty, poor, brutish, and short.”
Second Treatise on Government (1689):
- Government is needed to ensure contracts and protect our property:
- “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”
The Social Contract
Hobbes:
To protect themselves from one another, people form a social contract, an agreement to give up absolute individual freedom in exchange for security.
Living in society involves giving up individual freedom for peace of mind
Locke:
Social contract promotes idea that government is beholden to the population
Habeas Corpus Act(1679)
- Adopted by the British Parliament in 1679 during the reign of Charles II.
- people cannot be detained indefinitely.
- Included in US Constitution
- Habeas Corpus Act involves the codification of constraints on government
British Bill of Rights(1689)
- Represent a contract between new monarchs and parliament.
- Places limits on monarchs, establishing a constitutional monarchy.
-Lays out what the monarchy can do (opposite of US Bill of Rights, which specifies what the government can’t do).
Civil Society
is any non-profit, voluntary citizens’ group like an NGO which is organized on a local, national, or international level.
civil society is a key player in creating the conditions for the realization of human rights. It promotes human rights discourse that validates rights norms, particularly by including devalued and invisible groups.
“Common Sense”(By Thomas Paine)
(1776) was a pamphlet widely read among rebels. Helped drive support for the Revolution in the US and in the UK.
He argued for two main points: (1) independence from England and (2) the creation of a democratic republic.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Sikkink says that this document was for the French government to protect the rights of their citizens.
This was a human rights document for the french revolution
The basic principle of the Declaration was that all “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”
First Generation Rights
Civil and political rights. UDHR contains both first and second-generation rights.’
ex: the right to life, equality before the law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, property rights, the right to a fair trial, and voting rights.
The Peace of Westphalia
Created the framework for modern international relations.
The concepts of state sovereignty, mediation between nations, and diplomacy.
- National self-determination;
- Precedent for ending wars through diplomatic congresses;
- Peaceful coexistence among sovereign states as the norm;
- Maintained by a balance of power among sovereign states and acceptance of principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other sovereign states.
Sovereignty
- The authority of a state to govern itself.
- “Current norms of states sovereignty prohibit States from acting coercively abroad against virtually all violations of human rights genocide being the exception that proves the rule”(Donnelly, Ch.2).
-sovereignty is kind of a threat to human rights because when a state violates human rights it is difficult for other states to intervene without challenging the sovereignty of the state who is doing the violation. this is why enforcing human rights is so difficult.
Henri Dunant
Dunant published A Memory of Solferino in 1862,
He helped organize Geneva conferences in 1863 and 1864.
Awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
A Memory of Soferino(1862)
by Henri Dunant
Main Appeals:
- Creation of relief societies to care for wounded
- Protection of volunteers through international agreement
Geneva Convention of 1864
The International Committee of the Red Cross in 1864, is the source of the “Geneva
Conventions” which are now universally accepted.
The original Convention inspired the impulsion in International Law towards increasing regulation and, eventually, the restriction and final prohibition – of war itself.
First Geneva Convention of 1949
This one was created to address human rights issues after WW2.
there was an urgent need for a Convention for the protection of civilians particularly during the war
The Geneva Conventions act as a precedent for human rights law
It is based on model of international treaties, so respects state sovereignty
It establishes a precedent of placing limits on what states can do through legally binding documents
it is focused on the treatment of individuals, not just states, which is a major development
It codify protections of human dignity
Second Geneva Convention of 1949
The focus of this convention was wars at sea.
respects state sovereignty
Establishes precedent of placing limits on what states can do through legally binding documents
Is focused on the treatment of individuals, not just states.
codify protections of human dignity
Third Geneva Convention of 1949
The focus of this convention was prisoners of war.
Respects state sovereignty
Establishes precedent of placing limits on what states can do through legally binding documents
Focused on treatment of individuals, not just states,
codify protections of human dignity
Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949
The focus of this convention was the protection of civilians during war time
Respects state sovereignty
Establishes precedent of placing limits on what states can do through legally binding documents
Focused on the treatment of individuals, not just states,
Codify protections of human dignity
Second Protocol to the Geneva Conventions
What is the focus of the Second Protocol?
- Civil Wars – Tries to apply Geneva principles to non-state actors.
The US has not signed on to this protocol.
Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions
During war:
- don’t attack non-combatants
- you must care for the wounded.
- taking hostages is prohibited
the red cross can offer its services to the parties in conflict.
article 3 is a mini-convention because it has so much in it.
Hague Conventions
A recommendation by the First Hague Conference in 1899 raised the question of revising the Geneva Convention.
1899 – Hague Convention added rules for wars at sea and prohibition of bombs from balloons
1907 – Hague Convention expands on naval wars
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross has, from the outset, been the sponsor of the Geneva Convention for the protection of wounded military personnel, and of the humanitarian Conventions which supplement it.