Week 7 (Global Human Rights Sytem)

Question 1

Human Rights Protections

Answer 1

From things deemed “bad” (torture, slavery, inhumane punishment, suppression of speech, etc)

Question 2

Human Rights Provisions

Answer 2

That facilitate the enjoyment of things deemed “good” (education, housing, health care, water, inclusion, political influence)

Question 3

Human Rights Propositions

Answer 3

When it comes to human rights, there are 8 propositions that can help us define what exactly human rights consist of

Question 4

1.) A product of our deeply rooted primate biology

Answer 4

98.5% of human DNA is identical to that of Chimps and Bonobos. From these ancestors we inherited something called COMMUNITY CONCERN: an interest in the well-being of others in the community. Human mortality is not an independent construct, it is built on primate social tendencies.

Our tendencies for empathy, cooperation and caring for each other are all tendencies of our animal nature; therefore not the product of civilization, they are primate tendencies

Question 5

2.) ideas that are socially constructed

Answer 5

Human rights do not objectively exist in nature, they exist because humans have constructed the idea and convinced others of its importance.
Rights come into existence only when they are recognized but they are only recognized when someone demands them - ex. the right not to be enslaved, the right to vote,
Only came into being when individuals and groups began to demand them and persuade others to take them seriously

Question 6

3.) Revolutionary

Answer 6

For much of human history, the idea that a society ought to protect and promote human rights did not exist, however when the idea of human rights became politically relevant, there were challenges to the existing structures and power dynamics of society with revolutionary effects - ex. revolutions in America and France that sought to overthrow monarchical rule and grant more power to the people were said to be motivated by the rights of man

Question 7

4.) Fluid, Dynamic, Expansive

Answer 7

As social constructs, human rights are not ideas that are permanent and unchanging, but rather ones that can evolve and change over time. Rights claims made by one group can influence other groups - ex. When women advocated for voting rights, it inspired black citizens to advocate as well

Question 8

5.) Rooted in a diverse set of political, cultural and religious traditions

Answer 8

The idea of human rights stem from many historical traditions including;
Ancient Greek ideas about the importance of the individual
Ancient roman ideas about good governance
Muslim ideas on religious tolerance
Hindu ideas about environmental protection
Christian ideas on moral conduct in war

Question 9

6.) Tools designed to achieve specific social and political objectives

Answer 9

Consider freedom of speech - everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. What is the purpose of this?

To prevent violence? To identify ideas that can be useful to society?

Question 10

7.) Contested

Answer 10

Not everyone agrees with what rights others ought to have
Ex;
Right to abortion
Convicted criminals right to vote
Freedom of speech rights for racists

Question 11

8.) An idea used by political actors to weaken political adversaries

Answer 11

In the 1950s and 60s, the Soviet Union routinely criticized the US government for its significant rights violations, notably towards Black communities in the American South

Published articles describing segregation, poll taxes, repression and lynching in the South, underscoring the hypocrisy of the “leader of the free world”

Question 12

Global Human Rights Systems: United Nations Human Rights System
standard setting body

Answer 12

main job is to set the standards of “good” political behaviour, which is laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through a series of documents, resolutions and treaties, it outlines how states ought to behave on a wide variety of policy issues, such as towards minority group, during wartime, and on health and education.

Question 13

Global Human Rights Systems: United Nations Human Rights System monitoring mechanisms

Answer 13

The UN also tracks the extent to which states are complying with their human rights standards.

Three main mechanisms:
1. Monitoring and reporting committees associated with each of the nine core human rights treaties
2. Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review
3. Human rights council’s “special procedures”

Question 14

Global Human Rights Systems: The International Human Rights Movement

Answer 14

Consists of a transnational network of human rights NGOs and activists that gather information on rights abuses, advocate for the protection of rights, medical personnel who care for victims and those that support efforts financially and by spreading information.

Modern ex. Human Rights Watch, prominent Human Rights Campaigns, Jubilee 2000 campaign Goal: Write-off Third world debt Outcome: G8 agreement to write off 40 billion USD in debt. Past ex. 1780s-1860s: campaigns against slavery.

Question 15

What strategies does the Global Human Rights System use to pressure states to comply with international human rights laws?

Answer 15

In military and economic terms, the global human rights the global human rights system is not particularly strong. It cannot force states to comply with human rights treaties and best practices. Unlike domestic laws, international laws have no coercive enforcement mechanism. The UN system relies on the powers of persuasion (NAMING AND SHAMING) to encourage governments to change laws, policy or practices in the direction necessary to promote, protect and fulfill rights

Question 16

Changing Saudi Arabias behaviour

Answer 16

In Yemen, nearly 15,000 civilians have been killed by direct military action, most of them air-strikes led by the Saudi-led Coalition. the UN can try to change their behaviour through;
change their behaviour?

Encourage Saudi activists inside the country to protest their own government

Pressure US and UK governments to make arms sales to the Saudi Government conditional on its human rights practices

Pressure Western governments to stop buying Saudi oil until it complies with international humanitarian law

Tarnish the international reputation of the Saudi leadership through ‘naming and shaming’.

Question 17

Problems with “naming and shaming”

Answer 17

naming and shaming does not always work against states like North Korea, Russia and China, that do not care about international reputations

Question 18

Aryeh Neier provides 3 explainations for the the emergence of the International Human Rights Movement

Answer 18

1.) Events that sparked moral outrage and inspired action

1973 - US-backed coup in Chile

1974 - impeachment of President Nixon

1975 - signing of the Helinski Accords

1976- Apartheid crisis in South Africa

2.) Advancements in communications technology (i.e. the fax machine) allowed activists and NGO around the world to easily share information, ideas, strategies and tactics

3.) Changes to the relationship between Western Journalists and Western Governments, lending to more coverage of human rights issues

Question 19

Counters to Aryeh Neier

Answer 19

What role might economic factors have played in creating the conditions for the emergence of the international human rights movement?

Since states are so central to modern international relations, might they have played a role in the formation of the international human rights movement?

Western democratic states have also been important sponsors of NGOs. The rise of NGOs in industrialized countries, particularly service groups that specialize in the area of international development and humanitarian crises, has paralleled state policies and growing budgets in the area of foreign aid. The explosion in the number of NGOs occurred as the overall level of state funding of NGOs increased in the 70s and 80s

Why would these governments do this? Is it a moral/ethical impulse or a power based one?

What impact might the decline of the west have on international human rights movements?