Human rights + R2P Flashcards
significance of the cold war in developing human rights
- When UNGA adopted Universal declaration on human rights bill – the Soviet Union and 5 of its allies (along with Saudi Arabia and South Africa) abstained.
o Already there were sharp differences at the UN concerning human rights after the - During Cold War 1960 – council passed nonbinding resolution on humanitarian law to address the apartheid in South Africa. – they were to initiate measures to being about racial harmony based on equality.
o Although the resolution was non-binding it was a signal that the international community might enact further action.
o 1977 – Council voted for a binding arms embargo on South Africa
o West and the US vote for embargo may have stemmed from strategic concerns about checking on the soviet unions influences as it was viewed supportive of the African national congress
o Inefficient and ineffective – Israel supplied arms to South Africa.
Changed perception after the cold war
After the cold war there was improved relations between west-east and allowed them to capitalise on the making headway with renewed UN activity.
- Conflict was now about human rights violations as seen in south Africa and Rhodesia and not about the deaths of military personnel.
Not the traditional aggression such as the threat of invasion from one state to another.
- Council argued that threats to international peace and security could stem from human rights violations.
Example of changed perception 1991
Iraq 1991 – Saddam Hussain repressed Kurdish population. Council declared that it was a threat to international peace and security, it did not authorise the use of all measures, but 4 western states intervened without consent to create a safe haven for persecuted civilians.
The UNHCR – authorised the protection zone in northern Iraq. The security council was getting deeply involved in matters which were essential to internal iraq and most pressing issue concerned with human security not state security.
importance of Rwanda genocide
The scale back in US intervention in 1993 during the Bill Clinton administration was also followed suit in the UN missions – example Rwanda. US feared the costs to save strangers and to protect the rights of others when there was no national interest.
Syria – it was beyond the will and commitment of key member states to provide effective UNSC enforcement.
examples of human rights
Human and Fundamental Rights – adopted by GA in 1966 although non-binding.
- Human Rights o Life, liberty, security o Work education o Peace and natural environment - Citizen Rights o Form associations o Demonstrate o Choose their occupation - Other rights – protective rights, equality rights, development rights.
Chapter 1 Article 1- The UN is responsible for creating these rights and prompting and encouraging the respect for human rights.
Article 55 – create the conditions for stability and wellbeing and promoting the friendly relations among nation states
o Higher standards of living and employment
o Solutions for international social, economic and health problem
o Universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
the organs which deal with human rights?
Many organs deal with human rights
- GA, SC, Secretariat, ICJ.
- The Security council determine when human rights violations become a matter of international peace and security.
o Up to the council to pass a binding or nonbinding resolution in response.
- 2007 – US and UK government proposed resolution to pressure Myanmar to lessen human rights abuses – vetoed by China and Russia as while human rights abuses were being carried out they did not constitute a matter of international security. Therefore, the council should exercise no jurisdiction on the matter.
- But there has been a trend to accelerate human rights since the Cold War but despite there being a human rights council, it is the UNSC which is the most important UN actor on this subject.
o Most authoritative power.
a power struggle?
Has the council blurred the lines between security issues on the one hand and social and cultural issues like human rights on the other?
Increasing the council’s effort to address human right violations is a highly political process.
Depending on shifting factors of foreign policy goals and domestic political pressure.
Politics within the council determines whether and how the UNSC approaches contemporary human rights violations. – Myanmar (Western call for intervention but blocked by China and Russia).
But China and Russia allowed the SC to undertake military force in Gaddafi regime in order to protect Libyan civilians.
Universal norms of human rights and security and R2P are viewed through the prism of national interest, subjective concept which is defined by different states in different ways.
a north-south divide?
Despite tensions between Russia and the West and China and the West there has been enough cooperation within the UNSC to adopt enforcement actions in Ivory Coast, Mali and CAR. North – South divide with many blue helmets being dispatched in Africa.
- Pressure by various human rights organisations (Human rights watch, International crisis group has put pressure on members to pay attention to international norms designed to protect human dignity).
- News coverage, internet and the media has also helped.
What is R2P?
Primary responsibility lies within the state to maintain security, but it is down to the international community to step in if they fail to fulfil duty.
o Security Council - It is this body which determines whether an act of force, violence or aggression has been used and they can recommend appropriate measures to address the situation.
Peaceful resolutions dealing with R2P
Peaceful Resolutions:
Commissions/inquiries are set up to help deal with the dispute and provide accurate facts from a neutral third party.
Mediation activities
Smart sanctions – directed at leaders / travel bans
The problem is that there is no strict criteria for intervention and only the SC can authorise action. Lack of international consensus on when it can be justified.
devised the notion of sovereignty as responsibility – no state could argue the claim that the state is primary responsible for the wellbeing of its citizens.
Adopting language which focused on the rights of endangered populations rather than focusing on the rights of the intervening powers helped illuminate a broad consensus that sovereignty entailed responsibilities and that international engagement might be legitimate in certain circumstances.
R2P and responsibilities and case studies
Libya - Resolution 1973 is important as it was the first time the security Council authorised military force for human protection purposes against the wishes of a functioning state.
ICISS – shift the debate about the rights of interveners to the responsibilities of various actors to protect. – debates not on whether to act but how to act.
Sudan, Darfur 2004 - overlapping and complex north-east African civil war between the central government and the Sudan’s Peoples liberation Army. Massacres, displacement and famine and death toll exceeding 200,000.
Despite talks of a ceasefire agreement there needed to exist a stronger mandate and initial responses of the UN were seen as ad hoc steps not a systematic or strategic approach.
UNSC failed to monitor and neutralise the armed militia.
Vested hopes that the UN would come and save them
The mismatch between the desired objective and the resources available was met with disappointment.
Little concept of operations and a strategic goal.
Suspicious of what the real US agenda behind the plan might be fears fuelled by US activities elsewhere in the Arab world.
