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Breaking The Shackled Silence: Unheard Voices Of Women From Kandhamal, Saumya Uma Jul 2014

Breaking The Shackled Silence: Unheard Voices Of Women From Kandhamal, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

Six years after the anti-Christian communal violence of 2008 in Kandamal district of Odisha state in India, justice and peace remain illusive to survivors of the violence. The book ‘Breaking the Shackled Silence’ documents and analyses the violence and its aftermath as seen and experienced by women. It examines the present status of women and girls affected by the violence, vis-à-vis their enjoyment of Constitutionally-guaranteed civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights. Drawn from conversations held with over 300 women and girls from Kandhamal and beyond, this report accentuates the hitherto unheard voices of women from Kandhamal.


Reconciling Liberalism And Judaism? Human Rights In Israel, Raphael Cohen-Almagor Jun 2014

Reconciling Liberalism And Judaism? Human Rights In Israel, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

This essay argues that mixing religion in politics is problematic. It becomes destructive when the religion is unyielding and coercive. Whenever religious powers are on the rise, the foundations of liberal democracy are shaken and its protective mechanisms are regressing. Indeed, in Israel egalitarianism is still in the making. Orthodox Judaism and liberal democracy are in conflict. The rise of one comes at the expense of the other in a situation where religion does not encompass the concept of freedom from religion. This essay further argues that Palestinians and Israelis are entitled to the same rights and liberties. Accommodations and …


Battered And Betrayed: A Report Of Visit To Muzaffarnagar Camps, Saumya Uma, Hasina Khan Dec 2013

Battered And Betrayed: A Report Of Visit To Muzaffarnagar Camps, Saumya Uma, Hasina Khan

Dr. Saumya Uma

In September 2013, there were anti-Muslim attacks in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts of Uttar Pradesh - a state in India. This report is based on a visit to relief camps in January 2014, and recounts the present status of victim-survivors of the violence, more particularly women and girls - the challenges they face and the extent to which reparative justice has been rendered.


El Estado Y Los Derechos Fundamentales. Una Guía Mínima Para El Alumno De Derecho, Teresa M. G. Da Cunha Lopes Dec 2013

El Estado Y Los Derechos Fundamentales. Una Guía Mínima Para El Alumno De Derecho, Teresa M. G. Da Cunha Lopes

Teresa M. G. Da Cunha Lopes

Antes de abordar la construcción y la evolución histórico-­doctrinal de los Derechos Fundamentales, nos parece obligatorio hacer una breve delimitación de los conceptos de Estado y de Soberanía, ya que el desarrollo del campo de los Derechos Humanos se hace de forma exterior al Ius propiam civitatis, y por veces contra él, contexto que la Globalización económica y la emergencia de la Sociedad de la Información han agudizado, ya que estas nuevas variables colocan problemas de transcendencia jurídica, funcional y transforman, radicalmente, las visiones tradicionalistas sobre jurisdicciones y competencias.


Smart Power For Hard Problems: The Role Of Special Operation Forces Strengthening The Rule Of Law And Human Rights In Africa, Kevin H. Govern Jan 2013

Smart Power For Hard Problems: The Role Of Special Operation Forces Strengthening The Rule Of Law And Human Rights In Africa, Kevin H. Govern

Kevin H. Govern

This article will assess the roles and responsibilities of Special Operations Forces (SOF) within the newly created U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) as an active proponent of a so-called “smart power” national security strategy. In particular, it will outline the economic, political, and military challenges faced in Africa; specifically, how and why SOCAFRICA is the U.S. force of choice for promoting human rights and rule of law in Africa. With the goals of the U.S. military in mind, questions will necessarily arise as to “what success looks like” for both the U.S. and African nations, and the roles of each in …


Migration And Disaster-Induced Displacement: European Policy, Practice, And Perspective, Michael D. Cooper Oct 2012

Migration And Disaster-Induced Displacement: European Policy, Practice, And Perspective, Michael D. Cooper

Michael D. Cooper, Esq.

Over the last decade, a series of devastating natural disasters have killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and decimated the built environment across wide regions, shocking the public imagination and garnering unprecedented financial support for humanitarian relief efforts. Some suggest that disaster migration must be supported by the international community, first as an adaption strategy in response to climate-change, and second, as a matter of international protection. This study surveys the current state of law as it relates to persons displaced by natural disaster, with a specific focus on the 27 member states of the European Union plus …


Radiography To The Chilean Human Rights Institution: Between Law And Politics, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl, José Francisco Garía Jul 2012

Radiography To The Chilean Human Rights Institution: Between Law And Politics, Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl, José Francisco Garía

Sergio Verdugo R.

The article examines the fundamental recommendations for the national human rights institutions (NHRI) to function with proper autonomy against the state and, also, against NGOs that try to capture the commission´s agenda. The authors analyse the institutional design of the Chilean Human Rights Institution (INDH) and evaluates the profile and the nomination process of its membership. The paper provides evidence that demonstrates that the INDH´s research agenda is associated with a partial political view. Then, the authors suggest certain changes to strengthen the independence of the INDH.


Radiografía Al Sistema Interamericano De Dd.Hh., Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl, José Francisco García Jan 2012

Radiografía Al Sistema Interamericano De Dd.Hh., Sergio Verdugo Sverdugor@Udd.Cl, José Francisco García

Sergio Verdugo R.

Se realiza un análisis crítico al sistema interamericano de DD.HH. Se examina el diseño institucional y los equilibrios políticos existentes al interior de las instituciones más importantes de dicho sistema: la Comisión y la Corte Interamericanas. Se aporta evidencia acerca del funcionamiento de dichas instituciones y se constatan bajos niveles de accountability y de independencia de los jueces.


Apathy In The Face Of Cruelty, Ahmed Souaiaia Dec 2011

Apathy In The Face Of Cruelty, Ahmed Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

No abstract provided.


Ockham's Theory Of Natural Rights, Siegfried Van Duffel, Jonathan Robinson Dec 2009

Ockham's Theory Of Natural Rights, Siegfried Van Duffel, Jonathan Robinson

Siegfried Van Duffel

Ockham's theory may well be the most influential medieval predecessor of contemporary theories of human rights. We suggest that it was also in a better condition than its descendants.


Law's Autonomy, Ashok Agrwaal Sep 2007

Law's Autonomy, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

Like entropy, autonomy exists. As such, the existence of autonomy does not need any law or laws, beyond itself and its nature. Autonomy can, therefore, be said to be an "original" state of human kind; or at least of the individual. Law, which is frequently seen as preserving/ maximising/ conferring autonomy is actually a device to usurp autonomy. The paper looks at a specific example of how the nation-state, the most powerful usurper of autonomies created till date, arrogates autonomy to itself, in the name of ‘public interest’. Needless to say, in the hands of the state, autonomy translates into …


Boyakasha, Fist To Fist: Respect And The Philosophical Link With Reciprocity In International Law And Human Rights, Donald J. Kochan Dec 2005

Boyakasha, Fist To Fist: Respect And The Philosophical Link With Reciprocity In International Law And Human Rights, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

From Grotius to Hobbes to Locke to an unconventional modern pop-culture manifestation in Ali G, the concept of “respect” has always been understood as important in human interaction and human agreements. The concept of mutual understanding and obligation pervades human interaction, and, for purposes of this Article, international relations. Almost all basic principles in English, United States, and other country’s laws that value human and individual rights have based, over time, the development of their laws on the philosophical principle of respect. So much of common and statutory law is designed to enforce respect for others. The principle question in …


Bandipora Redux: A Tale From Two Insurgencies, Ashok Agrwaal Feb 2004

Bandipora Redux: A Tale From Two Insurgencies, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

This artixcle is based upon my work on State impunity in the context of the guaranteed right to life, in Punjab and Kashmir. The Indian state has fought insurgencies almost throughout its independent history: from Nagaland to Punjab, Andhra Pradesh to Kashmir, from the early 1950s to date. Among the many different kinds of human rights violations that the Indian security forces have been charged with, is the recurring charge that they force local people to act as 'human shields' \with a view to minimising uniformed casualties. These reports have been denied by the authorities who routinely provide other reasons, …


The Birth Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Michael Cooper Sep 1998

The Birth Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Michael Cooper

Michael D. Cooper, Esq.

This short article, written for an audience of U.S. based social science teachers, reviews the historical circumstances surrounding the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted on December 10, 1948. The narrative focuses attention on the negotiating process and, in particular, Eleanor Roosevelt’s role as Chair of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which drafted the landmark document.


Rights, Communities, And Tradition, Brian Slattery Dec 1990

Rights, Communities, And Tradition, Brian Slattery

Brian Slattery

This paper argues that there is a close connection between basic human rights and communal bonds.  It criticizes the philosophical views of Alan Gewirth and Alasdair MacIntyre, which in differing ways deny this connection.