Law Commons^™

Diamonds On The Souls Of Her Shoes: The Kimberly Process And The Morality Exception To Wto Restrictions, Karen E. Woody

Karen Woody

This Article analyzes the events predicating the Kimberley Process and examines the validity of the Kimberley Process in relation to international trade obligations. Part I describes the background of conflict diamonds and their role in African wars. The section outlines the need for regulation in the diamond industry and examines how other attempted measures at curbing the illicit diamond trade have fallen short. Part II details the Kimberley Process and its guidelines. This section analyzes the relevant U.S. legislation passed in 2003, the Clean Diamond Trade Act. Part II also suggests that because the Kimberley Process ("KP") is predicated upon …

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 …

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, …

Framing The Responsibility To Protect Doctrine As A Means Of Legal And Moral Intervention With Universal Jurisdiction Legal Obligations Of The Responsibility To Protect Doctrine And Universal Civil Jurisdiction In The Syrian Civil War Crisis, David Satnarine

David Satnarine

No abstract provided.

Old Poison In New Bottles: Trafficking And The Extinction Of Respect, Winston P. Nagan, Alvaro De Medeiros

Winston P Nagan

The new form of slavery comes by that relatively innocuous title, “trafficking.” Trafficking is an illustration of the dynamic character of the social and antisocial forces that conspire to undermine the idea of human dignity in the world community. The forms of crime are in fact dynamic. Frequently the institutional forces behind crime have capital, lethal functionaries, technology, and a capacity to advance criminal interests, both within states and across state lines. To the extent that crime itself is dynamic it must as well be acknowledged that human rights violations in general also have a dynamic character. In short, when …

"First, Do No Harm": Human Rights And Efforts To Combat Climate Change, Naomi Roht-Arriaza

Naomi Roht-Arriaza

No abstract provided.

Restoration Of Historical Memory And Dignity For Victims Of The Armenian Genocide: A Human Rights Law Approach To Effective Reparations, Richard J. Wilson

Richard J. Wilson

The United Nations And The Magna Carta For Children, Winston E. Langley

Winston E. Langley

The impulse that invited the preparation of this book is one which is linked to the convergence of a number of factors bearing on my interest in human rights. First, the brutality visited on children during World War II has had an abiding negative effect on my sense of what is possible in human conduct. Second, I am persuaded that children are not simply the means by which human societies are continued, but, as well, the potential source of moral revitalization and transformation for those societies. Third, I recognize that the human rights movement, which followed World War II, holds …

Introduction And Postscript: Partial Progress On Un Reform, Douglass Cassel

Douglass Cassel

No abstract provided.

Report Of The Independent Expert On The Protection Of Human Rights And Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism, Robert K. Goldman

Robert K. Goldman

The Commission on Human Rights, in resolution 2004/87, decided to designate, from within existing resources, for a period of one year, an independent expert to assist the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the fulfillment of the mandate described in the resolution and, “taking fully into account the study requested in General Assembly resolution 58/187, as well as the discussions in the Assembly and the views of States thereon, to submit a report, through the High Commissioner, to the Commission at its sixty-first session on ways and means of strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms …

New Challenges In An Era Of Global Water Scarcity , David Hunter

David B. Hunter

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Jewish Law And The Secular Perspective On International Human Rights (Part Of The Article, “Human Rights In The Bible, An Exchange Of Ideas”)., Richard Klein, Chaim Povarsky

Richard Daniel Klein

No abstract provided.

Women (Under)Development : The Relevance Of The "Right To Development" To Poor Women Of Color In The United States, Hope Lewis

Hope Lewis

This essay, written during a time of Clinton-era welfare reform, was an attempt to reimagine South-North roles. What if "right to development" analysis were applied to poor women of color living in the United States? Some see the right to development as an anachronism in the face of the apparent globalization of market-based economic development. However, “development” in the narrow form of a thriving industrial sector, reliable infrastructure, and steady economic growth, remains beyond the reach of many nations - particularly the poorest African nations. More important, the broader goals of human development - access to basic needs and an …

Middle Eastern And North African Hydropolitics: From Eddies Of Indecision To Emerging International Law, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

The death of Yasser Arafat, removal of Saddam Hussein, passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483, and conflict in Sudan significantly alter the geopolitics of the Middle East and North Africa. International law consists of the accretion of co-aquifer agreements as well as international treaties. Recent codification efforts have provided a framework with which co-aquifer states can address transboundary natural resources through flexible water use provisions, equitable distribution of water benefits, and strong dispute resolution mechanisms. This article applies the multifactor balancing test of the Draft Convention on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and analyzes …

Statement Of Jeanne M. Woods And Hope Lewis Prepared For The Hearings Of The United Nations Special Rapporteur On Extreme Poverty, Dr. Arjun Sengupta On The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, Hope Lewis, Jeanne Woods

Hope Lewis

This Statement was submitted to the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, Dr. Arjun Sengupta in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster on the Gulf Coast of the United States in 2005. The Statement, submitted during the Independent Expert’s fact-finding visit, expresses concern about the extensive and alarming human rights implications of United States federal, state and local government policy and activities before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. The Statement argues that the inadequate response of government officials at all levels reflects the impact of “globalization in miniature” on the poor and other vulnerable and subordinated …

Embracing Complexity : Human Rights In Critical Race Feminist Perspective, Hope Lewis

Hope Lewis

Although the voices of "women of all colors" have furthered the goals and norms of feminist human rights scholarship, the voices of women of color and Third World women have often been rejected, ignored, or otherwise made invisible. Critical Race Feminist and other multicultural approaches to legal scholarship attempt to unite such voices and reveal their experiences and perspectives in feminist human rights discourse. This Article hypothesizes that Critical Race Feminist will make important contributions to the overall international human rights agenda. It identifies four common themes in a feminist multicultural approach to human rights scholarship: (1) the recognition that …

Women (Under)Development : The Relevance Of The "Right To Development" To Poor Women Of Color In The United States, Hope Lewis

Hope Lewis

This essay, written during a time of Clinton-era welfare reform, was an attempt to reimagine South-North roles. What if "right to development" analysis were applied to poor women of color living in the United States? Some see the right to development as an anachronism in the face of the apparent globalization of market-based economic development. However, “development” in the narrow form of a thriving industrial sector, reliable infrastructure, and steady economic growth, remains beyond the reach of many nations - particularly the poorest African nations. More important, the broader goals of human development - access to basic needs and an …

Thirty-Fifth Session Of The Sub-Commission Of Protection Of Minorities, Connie De La Vega, Ellen E. Lutz

Connie de la Vega

This article provides a brief synopsis of the 35th Session of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which took place in Geneva, August 16 - September 10, 1982. At the 35th Session there were advances in several areas, particularly regarding the setting of international standards and the improvement of information-gathering procedures. Also promising for the promotion and protection of human rights was that the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples were allowed to present information to the Sub-Commission. At the same time, several dangerous precedents were set which appeared to make it more difficult for non-governmental organizations …