Human Rights Law Commons^™

“Slippery Slopes: On Why We Need The Icc”, Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Peace, reconciliation, and restorative justice: these are the albatrosses that international criminal law (ICL) must (unfairly) bear. Ian Paisley, MP from Northern Ireland and former United Nations and European Union peace envoy, echoes in a New York Times op-ed contribution the aspirations heaped onto the International Criminal Court (ICC). In March, the ICC convicted Thomas Lubanga for war crimes and the conscription of children as soldiers; justice has been done, Paisley claims. Yet the ICC was "intended as an instrument of peace," and "there is no peace" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). On this ground he concludes, …

“Thinking Through, And Beyond, Triumphalism”, Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The humanitarian crisis in Syria has instigated calls to activate the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine to stop the Assad regime from its murderous rampage. Armed with a failed UN Security Council resolution that would have endorsed an Arab League peace plan, thanks to Russian and Chinese vetoes, David Rieff reproves widespread liberal consensus for intervention in a February 2012 Foreign Policy article.

Who Let The Dogs Out? R, R2p, Christine Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

As a long-time human rights advocate I find myself uncomfortably sharing Rieff's central concern over the link between military intervention and human rights advocacy, forged through the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. This common concern is uncomfortable because I don't share his broader sentiments. However, it is also uncomfortable because it involves me swimming against the human rights tide, which seems to have embraced R2P.

Hard Times For Peace Between Two Internally Divided Societies, Claudia Heiss

Human Rights & Human Welfare

These are not promising days for those who desire peace between Israelis and Palestinians, with two states respected by each other and recognized by the international community, living securely side by side. Richard Falk’s article rightly stresses the negative role played by the US Government in its sharp rejection of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations Security Council. The problem, however, seems to lie deeper in these complex societies and their current political leaderships.

The Right Side Of The Coin: Focus On The Human Rights Of People, Not The Failure Of States, Brooke Ackerly

Human Rights & Human Welfare

US policy toward failed states should focus on strengthening civil society and social movements so that people are better able to hold their leaders accountable.

The language of “failed states” disassociates foreign policy from international dialogue about human rights. Instead, “failed states” is a contemporary sound bite that connotes a lack of sovereignty, suggesting that intervention would not violate national sovereignty because in a failed state, there is none. Of course, we could have a similar cynicism about the use of human rights concerns to justify invasion. Certainly, states have tried to choose when to reference international human rights norms …

Humanitarian Intervention, The Responsibility To Protect, And Confused Legitimacy, Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect: Who Should Intervene? By James Pattison. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. 284 pp.

and

Humanitarian Intervention: An Introduction. By Aidan Hehir. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. 303pp.

The Perils Of Walking Fast And Walking Far, Walter Lotze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

When Haitian President René Préval early in January 2011 lambasted the international community for riding roughshod over his country’s sovereignty and his government, and called for greater Haitian ownership over the aid and recovery effort in his country, he highlighted a frustration which has been noted by so many other nations before: while international aid efforts are welcome and usually do provide critical relief to the targeted populations in the short term, they generally tend to undermine governments (and the faith of the people in their government) over the long term.

Anastasia Tataryn On The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space, And The Freedom Of Movement. Edited By Nicholas Degenova And Nathalie Peutz. Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2010. 520pp., Anastasia Tataryn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space, and the Freedom of Movement. Edited by Nicholas DeGenova and Nathalie Peutz. Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2010. 520pp.

Paul Timmermans On Invisible War: The United States And The Iraq Sanctions. By Joy Gordon. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 2010. 359 Pp., Paul Timmermans

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions. By Joy Gordon. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010. 359 pp.

Bring Back Aristide, Louis Edgar Esparza

Human Rights & Human Welfare

My friend Annie recently had her trip to Haiti postponed because of the political instability surrounding the November elections. Annie totes modest sums of cash, medicine, and clothing collected from sympathetic friends and has a resolute willingness to help. Together with the partner organizations she is working with, she is hiring Haitians to build an orphanage. Another colleague of mine, Tonya, traveled to the country very soon after the earthquake. She described her experience in The Nation, lamenting that the major US airlines, which had agreed to waive baggage fees for relief aid to Haiti, did not do so for …