Digital Commons Network^™

What Is The Future Of Transitional Justice?, Makau W. Mutua

Makau Mutua

This piece explores and critiques the project of transitional justice. It has been more than a quarter of a century since transitional justice burst onto the global stage. Over the years it has come to be billed as a panacea for addressing deeply embedded social and political dysfunction after periods of mass repression and violence. Many theorists and policy makers have argued that it is a key bridge to sustainable peace, democracy and human rights. But the historical record is not clear about a direct causal relationship between transitional justice mechanisms and specific outcomes in post-conflict societies. In some cases, …

Standard Setting In Human Rights: Critique And Prognosis, Makau Mutua

Makau Mutua

This article interrogates the processes and politics of standard setting in human rights. It traces the history of the human rights project and critically explores how the norms of the human rights movement have been created. This article looks at how those norms are made, who makes them, and why. It focuses attention on the deficits of the international order, and how that order - which is defined by multiple asymmetries - determines the norms and the purposes they serve. It identifies areas for further norm development and concludes that norm-creating processes must be inclusive and participatory to garner legitimacy …

Savages, Victims, And Saviors: The Metaphor Of Human Rights, Makau Mutua

Makau Mutua

This article critically looks at the human rights project as a damning three-dimensional metaphor that exposes multiple complexes. It argues that the grand narrative of human rights contains a subtext which depicts an epochal contest pitting savages, on the one hand, against victims and saviors, on the other. The savages-victims-saviors (SVS) construction lays bare some of the hypocrisies of the human rights project and asks human rights thinkers and advocates to become more self-reflective. The piece questions the universality and cultural neutrality of the human rights project. It calls for the construction of a truly universal human rights corpus, one …

The African Human Rights System: A Critical Evaluation, Makau W. Mutua

Makau Mutua

No abstract provided.

Just Back From The Human Rights Council, Makau Mutua

Makau Mutua

The piece critically looks at the transition from the UN Commission on Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council in 2006 and questions whether the change is one of substance or form. It argues that the same paralysis that dogged the Commission will continue to afflict the Council because power politics and regional blocs - fueled by the global asymmetries of power - will not go away. The piece also contends that the charge by the West that the Commission was utterly compromised by the Third World was without merit because it was the one forum where developing could …

African Human Rights Organizations: Questions Of Context And Legitimacy, Makau Mutua

Makau Mutua

Published as Chapter 13 in Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa, Paul Tiyambe Zeleza & Philip J. McConnaughay, eds. The human rights movement is largely the product of the horrors of World War II. The development of its normative content and structure is the direct result of the abominations committed by the Third Reich during that war. Drawing on the Western liberal tradition, the human rights movement arose primarily to control and contain state action against the individual. It is ironic that it was the victors of the war, most of whom held colonies in Africa, …

A Critique Of Rights In Transitional Justice: The African Experience, Makau W. Mutua

Makau Mutua

Published in Rethinking Transitions: Equality and Social Justice in Societies Emerging from Conflict, Gaby Oré Aguilar & Felipe Gómez Isa, eds.

This chapter interrogates the concept and application of transitional justice as a medium for the reclamation of post-conflict states in Africa. While it argues that transitional justice is an important – often indispensable – process in reconstructing post-despotic and battered societies, it nevertheless casts a jaundiced eye at traditionalist human rights approaches. It contends that individualist, non-collective, or non-community, approaches to transitional justice have serious limitations. It posits that the Nuremberg model, on which the ICTR and ICTY were …

Rethinking The "Less As More" Thesis: Supranational Litigation Of Economic, Social And Cultural Rights In The Americas, Tara J. Melish

Tara Melish

In their 2005 law review article Less as More: Rethinking Supranational Litigation of Economic and Social Rights in the Americas, James Cavallaro and Emily Schaffer argue for a "rethinking" of strategies to advance economic, social and cultural rights in the Americas. They posit that to achieve higher rates of real-world protection for such rights, social rights advocates should do two things: first, bring less litigation and, second, frame any marginal litigation that is pursued as violations of classic civil and political rights. According to the authors, this recommended course will increase the "legitimacy" of the litigation and lead to higher …

The Anglo-Latin Divide And The Future Of The Inter-American System Of Human Rights, Paolo G. Carozza

Paolo G. Carozza

A former President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Paolo Carozza draws on his personal experience to identify and propose solutions for a key flaw in the Inter-American Human Rights System: the division between English-language member states and states with Latin-based languages. Terming this division "The Anglo-Latin Divide," Carozza traces the division not only to linguistic difference, but also to differences in legal traditions. He explains how the differences between Anglo tradition of common law and the Latin tradition of civil law manifest in both substantive and procedural divides within the Inter-American Human Rights system, including in sensitive areas …

Understanding "Hostage-Diplomacy": The Release Of Wei Jingsheng And Wang Dan, Hari M. Osofsky

Hari Osofsky

China recently has released two of its most prominent dissidents, Wei Jingsheng and Wang Dan, into exile in the United States. The releases corresponded to major United States-Chinese diplomatic initiatives without broader gains in allowing political dissent, causing a number of commentators to refer to them as "hostage-diplomacy."' This New Development explores what it means to think of the releases in this way and the implications for future strategic engagement with China.

Revisiting The Application Of Section 7 Of The Charter In Immigration And Refugee Protection, Gerald Heckman

Gerald Heckman

New Uri Journal Explores Sexual Exploitation, G. Wayne Miller, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Uri Professor Launches Online Journal About Sexual Exploitation, Violence, Slavery, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Does The Death Penalty Require Death Row? The Harm Of Legislative Silence, Marah S. Mcleod

Marah McLeod

This Article addresses the substantive question, "Does the death penalty require death row?" and the procedural question, "Who should decide? In most capital punishment states, prisoners sentenced to death are held, because of their sentences alone, in far harsher conditions of confinement than other prisoners. Often, this means solitary confinement for the years and even decades until their executions. Despite a growing amount of media attention to the use of solitary confinement, most scholars and courts have continued to assume that the isolation of death-sentenced prisoners on death row is an inevitable administrative aspect of capital punishment. To the extent …

'Listen To What You Say': Rwanda’S Postgenocide Language Policies, Lynne Tirrell

Lynne Tirrell

Freedom of expression is considered a basic human right, and yet most countries have restrictions on speech they deem harmful. Following the genocide of the Tutsi, Rwanda passed a constitution (2003) and laws against hate speech and other forms of divisionist language (2008, 2013). Understanding how language shaped “recognition harms” that both constitute and fuel genocide also helps account for political decisions to limit “divisionist” discourse. When we speak, we make expressive commitments, which are commitments to the viability and value of ways of speaking. This article explores reasons a society would decide to say, “We don’t talk that way …

Joint Submission To The U.N. Committee Against Torture Concerning The United States’ Mistreatment Of Immigrant Detainees In Violation Of The Convention Against Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment In Relation To The United States 5th Periodic Report On The Convention Against Torture (2014), Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak, Steven D. Schwinn, Jennifer Chan

Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

This report relates to the mistreatment and abuse that adult immigrant detainees suffer in United States detention facilities. It is submitted in response to the United States’ periodic report relating to the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and specifically addresses the deplorable conditions of detention, the use of solitary confinement, the problem of sexual violence in detention and the lack of investigation of such acts, the refoulement of detainees who face risk of torture, the enforcement of the non-derogable prohibition of torture, and the prevention of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This report discusses current practices of the U.S. …

Beyond The Destruction Of Syria: Considering A Future In Syria And The Protection Of The Right To Culture, 15 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 522 (2016), Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

Although the right to culture has been widely recognized under international human rights, its reach and practical application has been limited in cultural preservation efforts. Individuals and communities that attempt to be part of the decision-making process in preservation efforts often face barriers to access in that process. The need to re-conceptualize the right to culture is vital for its protection and preservation. This article proposes that the right to self-determination must be utilized as a core fundamental principle that enables a disenfranchised individual or community to have ownership in preservation efforts and decide how to shape their identity. It …

Concerning The Use Of Solitary Confinement In Immigrant Detention Facilities In The United States Of America (2013), Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak, Steven D. Schwinn

Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

This report relates to the situation of immigrant detainees who are held in solitary confinement in detention facilities in the United States. It is submitted in response to the United States’ fourth periodic report and specifically addresses the widespread use of solitary confinement in immigrant detention as it violates immigrant detainees’ rights to due process and judicial remedies, violations of minimum standards of the right to humane treatment, and the right to personal liberty. The report discusses the policies and practices of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that support the use of …

Ice's New Policy On Segregation And The Continuing Use Of Solitary Confinement Within The Context Of International Human Rights, 47 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1433 (2014), Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

The purpose of this essay is to discuss ICE Policy 11065.1 on segregation, its deficiencies and its unlikely full implementation, and emphasize that the current use of solitary confinement in immigration detention is in contravention of international human rights principles.

Amicus Curiae In Support Of The Petitioners, Santa Barbara Campesino Community V. Perú, Inter-American Court Of Human Rights, No. 10.932 (2015), Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak, Steven D. Schwinn

Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

No abstract provided.

On Normative Effects Of Immigration Law.Pdf, Emily Ryo

Emily Ryo

United Nations Against Slavery: Unravelling Concepts, Instiutions And Obligations, Vladislava Stoyanova

Vladislava Stoyanova

When Does Cultural Satire Cross The Line In The Global Human Rights Regime?: The Charlie Hebdo Controversy And Its Implication For Creating A New Paradigm To Assess The Bounds Of Freedom Of Expression, Kwanghyuk Yoo

Dr. Kwanghyuk David Yoo