Human Rights Law Commons^™

The Refugees We Are: Solidarity, Asylum, And Critique In The European Constitutional Imagination, Paul Linden-Retek

Journal Articles

This Article aims to reimagine post-national legal solidarity. It does so by bringing debates over Habermasian constitutional theory to bear on the evolving use of mutual recognition and mutual trust in the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice (AFSJ), particularly in the context of European asylum law and reforms to the Dublin Regulation. Insofar as critiques of Habermasian “constitutional patriotism” apply to the principle of mutual trust, the Article suggests why post-national solidarity requires fallibilism and dynamic responsiveness that exceed formalized rules of forbearance and respect.

On this revised view, legal solidarity guarantees a particular form of adjudication through …

Broken Promises: The Hollow Dreams Of Human Trafficking, Philip H. Pierre

Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Strength Of Review And Scale Of Response: A Quantitative Analysis Of Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review On China, Junxiang Mao, Xi Sheng

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

The North Korea Human Rights Act: South Korean And International Efforts And The Necessity For The Law, Shinbum Han

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Back To Politics: Lessons From The Crisis Of The Inter-American Commission On Human Rights, Ignacio A. Boulin Victoria

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Genocide Denial And The Law: A Critical Appraisal, Paul Behrens

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

Genocide denial carries particular relevance for international law: it is the negation of international crimes, and it can prepare the ground for new crimes of this kind. But its criminalization raises concerns as well. The danger of a clash with human rights, particularly with the freedom of ex- pression, cannot be dismissed lightly. This article explores reasons for and repercussions of the criminalization of denial. It also investigates alterna- tives, including the use of truth and reconciliation, and evaluates methods that focus on direct confrontation of the deniers.

Aiding Transitional Justice In Solomon Islands, Nicole Dicker

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

Overall in Solomon Islands, foreign aid donors have neither engaged effectively with transitional justice itself nor leveraged transitional justice in support of broader development outcomes. Transitional justice in Solomon Islands responds to the five-year period of violent civil conflict, the Tensions, which devastated the Pacific Island nation of Solomon Islands from 1998 to 2003. The Tensions resulted in the deaths of an estimated 200 people and left some 35,000 people displaced; many suffered abductions, illegal detentions, torture and ill-treatment, sexual violence, and property violations. To remedy past human rights abuses, several transitional justice measures have been implemented in Solomon Islands, …

What Do Human Rights Lawyers Do: Examining Practice And Expertise In The Field, Elizabeth Bruch

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Chaplaincy Exception In International Humanitarian Law: "American-Born Cleric" Anwar Awlaki And The Global War On Terror, K. Benson

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

Anwar al-Awlaki, frequently described by the media as an "Ameri- can-born cleric," was the first American citizen to be targeted for extrajudicial assassination by the Obama administration as part of the Global War on Terror (GWOT). While there have been scholarly works considering the legality of his killing under domestic law, none have examined his status as a chaplain under International Humanita- rian Law (IHL), what this designation could mean for the legality of Anwar al-Alwaki's killing, or what his killing could mean for the GWOT in general. This paper provides a necessarily brief history of Al Qaeda in the …

Stoney Road Out Of Eden: The Struggle To Recover Insurance For Armenian Genocide Deaths And Its Implications For The Future Of State Authority, Contract Rights, And Human Rights, Jeffrey W. Stempel, Sarig Armenian, David Mcclure

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jurisdiction Over American Private Military Contractors: The Illusion Of A Loophole In The Law And The Reality Of No Oversight, Ryan Larose

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Human Trafficking For Begging, Iveta Cherneva

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

Beggars are a part of the street landscape of any major city. However, many of the children and elderly women begging on the streets are forced beggars: victims of trafficking in persons who are part of a beggars ring with an organizational complexity comparable to that of a medium-size business enterprise. The present work focuses on the phenomenon of trafficking in persons for the purpose of begging, arguing for its legal conceptualization under international law. Although it is occasionally mentioned in a limited number of international reports and legal documents as a form of trafficking-related exploitation, forced begging is a …

What Should Organized Human Rights Activism In Africa Become? Contributory Insights From A Comparison Of Ngos And Labor-Led Movements In Nigeria, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

What, if anything, might the significantly greater success of Labor-led human rights movements in Nigeria, as compared to the performance of the self-described human rights NGOs that also operate in that country, tell us about the ways to optimize organized human rights activism in Nigeria, and perhaps in the rest of the African continent? This is the central question that animates this article. After a review of the character of and modes of struggle employed by, both kinds of human rights groups, the article argues that the important institutional and conceptual differences that exist between Labor and the NGOs explain …

Returning Home: The Challenge Of Repatriating Foreign Born Child Victims Of Forced Labor From India, Kathleen Kerr

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Overcoming Collective Action Failure In The Security Council: Would Direct Regional Representation Better Protect Universal Human Rights?, Noah Bialostozky

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rights And Duties Of Minorities In A Context Of Post-Colonial Self-Determination: Basques And Catalans In Contemporary Spain, Jorge Martínez Paoletti

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Power And Cooperation: Understanding The Road Towards A Truth Commission, Ming Zhu

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

Truth commissions, usually described as a softer transitional justice alternative to trials, gained traction in academic circles following the establishment of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Though they are praised for their value in societal reconciliation and widely recognized for their flexibility; little is understood of their causal factors or requirements. This Article turns to this hole in the research and examines the effects of one potential causal variable, the balance of power between the warring parties. Through an in-depth examination of four case studies, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, and East Timor, this Article finds that truth commissions are …

Introductory Note To The Optional Protocol To The International Covenant On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights, Tara J. Melish

Journal Articles

This Introductory Note to the publication in ILM of the newly-adopted Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR) seeks to put the primary source document in proper context by briefly explaining its history, content, and significance in international law. The Note is accompanied by the text of the OP-ICESCR, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on December 10, 2008 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The OP creates an individual complaints procedure for alleged violations of the ICESCR, rectifying a thirty year asymmetry in human rights treaty law.

Towards The Criminalization Of Dictatorship: A Draft Proposal For An International Convention On Dictatorship, Patrick J. Glen

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Illusion Of Transformative Conflict Resolution: Mediating Domestic Violence In Nicaragua, Raquel Aldana, Leticia M. Saucedo

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Just Back From The Human Rights Council, Makau Mutua

Journal Articles

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 …

Human Rights Ngos In East Africa: Defining The Challenges, Makau Wa Mutua

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 1 in Human Rights NGOS in East Africa: Political and Normative Tensions, Makau Mutua, ed.

State Responsibility For Extraterritorial Human Rights Violations, Damira Kamchibekova

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

International Adoption: Thoughts On The Human Rights Issues, Elizabeth Bartholet

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lipstick On A Caterpillar? Assessing The New U.N. Human Rights Council Through Historical Reflection, Balakrishnan Rajagopal

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Japan's Recent Efforts To Reduce Sex Trafficking Can Be Improved Through International Human Rights Enforcement Mechanisms: Fulfilling Japan's Global Legal Obligations, Kerry E. Yun

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

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

Journal Articles

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 …

The U.N. Disability Convention: Historic Process, Strong Prospects And Why The U.S. Should Ratify, Tara J. Melish

Journal Articles

On December 13, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention is historic and path-breaking on several levels, both in protection terms for the world's 650 million persons with disabilities who may now draw upon its provisions in defense of their internationally-protected rights, and in relation to the unprecedented level of civil society input and engagement in the negotiation process. This sustained and constructive engagement has given rise to a dynamic process of dialogue, cooperation, and mutual trust that will fuel monitoring and implementation work, at national and international …

Integrating A Human Rights Perspective Into The European Approach To Combating The Trafficking Of Women For Sexual Exploitation, Alexandra Amiel

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Promises: Resuscitating The State Reporting Procedure Under The African Charter On Human And Peoples' Rights, Takele Soboka Bulto

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.