Human Rights Law Commons^™

#Warcrimes #Postconflictjustice #Balkans: Youth, Performance Activism And The Politics Of Memory, Arnaud Kurze

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

While literature in transitional justice has addressed conventional retributive and restorative justice mechanisms, scholarship focusing on the rise in youth activism to confront war crimes is underdeveloped. This article draws on over two-dozen in-depth interviews with youth activist leaders across the former Yugoslavia, focusing on their performance-based campaigns. I explain why the emergence of transitional justice youth activism in the Balkans falls short of the significant institutional reforms of earlier youth movement mobilizations in the region. I also throw light on why their performance activism is distinct from practices of older, established human rights organizations in the region. Notwithstanding, I …

Editors' Introduction, Melanie O'Brien, Joann Digeorgio-Lutz, Lior Zylberman, Christian Gudehus, Douglas Irvin-Erickson, Randle Defalco, Hilary Earl

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Human Rights In North Korea - The Pump Don't Work Cause The Vandals Took The Handles, Steven Gariepy

International Human Rights Law Journal

Many cynics of the universality of international human rights point to persistent large-scale human-rights abusing regimes, such as the Democratic Republic of North Korea, as proof that there is nothing at all universal about human rights. This essay is an attempt to root out the implications of internal national policies on the suitability of international human rights whilst reinforcing their universality. The author of this essay, a military lawyer, reaches the conclusion that the pump of universal human rights don't work within the North Korea cause the vandals took the handle.

A Proposed Enhancement To Un Treaty Enforcement: Regular Recommendations To Civil Society, Benjamin Bloomer

International Human Rights Law Journal

The UN treaty body system is an imperative component in the enforcement of international human rights law, but it currently does not have the mechanisms sufficient for the effective internalization of international human rights law standards. One of its current mechanisms, namely, concluding observations, are by their nature of being addressed to states insufficient to ensure enforcement in state parties not politically, economically, socially, or culturally inclined to obey the recommendations. This article proposes a new publication that will better foster communication between civil society organizations and treaty bodies, allowing for a more highly coordinated effort of civil society in …

Black Hole In The Rising Sun: Japan And The Hague Convention On Child Abduction, Paul Hanley

International Human Rights Law Journal

Japan has long been criticized for its failure to address the issue of international child abduction. In response to international pressure, Japan adopted the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Abduction in April 2014. Despite its ratification of the treaty, great concern remains whether Japan is willing to comply with the legal obligations imposed by the Convention. This article examines Japan’s struggle with the issue of international child abduction, analyzing its traditional approach to family matters such as its “divorce by conference” system, which permits couples to negotiate issues of child custody and visitation without any judicial …

Breaking The Legacy: Recognizing And Prosecuting Sexual Violence As A Violation Of Human Rights In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Miranda L. Weinstein

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper aims to outline the existing policies aimed at providing protection for sexual abuse survivors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In an attempt to provide justice for the survivors of sexual abuse, an analysis of the 1992-1995 Bosnia and Herzegovina post-conflict reconstruction is included. In particular, prosecution of sexual violence and rape as a weapon of war will be provided in order to weigh the benefits and weaknesses of international criminal law. The conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo witnesses widespread and systematic sexual violence abuses. With over 60 armed groups at any given day, …

Rape And Sexual Violence: Questionable Inevitability And Moral Responsibility In Armed Conflict, Katherine W. Bogen

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Wartime sexual violence is a critical human rights issue that usurps the autonomy of its victims as well as their physical and psychological safety. It occurs in both ethnic and non-ethnic wars, across geographic regions, against both men and women, and regardless of the “official” position of commanders, states, and armed groups on the use of rape as tactic of war. This problem is current, pervasive, and global in spite of the status of wartime sexual violence perpetration as a crime against humanity and the capacity of the international criminal court to indict offenders. Though some scholars have argued that …

The United Nations: The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Zahra R. Syed

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The main objective of this research paper is to analyze the international effects the Syrian Conflict has had to the global community. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has declared this conflict to be the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Millions of Syrians have fled their home country to avoid unjust persecution and are looking to not only neighboring countries, but the European Union for assistance in resettlement.

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, more than 220,000 people have been massacred, leaving fifty percent of the population in unrest due to home displacement. According …

Fawad And Zakeela, Fawad, Zakeela, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Fawad and his wife, Zakeela, have three children. Zakeela was a beautician, and Fawad was a singer in the Baghlan district in Afghanistan. The music he produced was not in accordance with the strict restrictions of the Taliban. They threatened his life and assaulted him many times, so he decided to leave with his family to Kabul. Fawad’s day job was as an FM radio producer; at night, he moonlighted as a singer and musician. He produced music for ceremonies and weddings, often performing for the women’s part, which the Taliban did not accept. Eventually, his life was again threatened, …

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

Corporations And The Limits Of State-Based Models For Protecting Fundamental Rights In International Law, David Bilchitz

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

At the heart of international law lies a central tension. On the one hand, the fundamental rights recognized in international treaties protect the fundamental interests of individuals, obligating all actors who can affect these rights. One the other hand, international law has often been conceived of as a system in which the only legitimate actors are states. In turn, only states can be bound by the fundamental rights obligations in international treaties. To address this tension, two models have been proposed. The first is an "Indirect duty" approach, whereby the state remains the primary duty-bearer and must itself "create" the …

Fractured Territories And Abstracted Terrains: Human Rights Governance Regimes Within And Beyond The State, Larry Catá Backer

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The problem of representation has become a central element for the development of human rights norms, not just within international organizations, but within states as well. The problem has been made acute by two significant changes in the organization of power that became visible after the 1950s. On one hand, the idea of the individual became more abstract. Mass democracy became symptomatic of a general trend toward the dissolution of the individual within a mass population, which was incarnated as the aggregation of its group characteristics, its statistics, and data. On the other hand, states were becoming less solid; the …

Statehood, Power, And The New Face Of Consent, Sheldon Leader

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Individuals and groups are often subjected to power, both public and private, by eliciting their consent. Debate usually focuses on whether or not that consent is freely given or is vitiated by imbalances of strength between the bargaining parties. This essay focuses on a different issue, one that is largely passed over in legal and moral analyses: how far does and should consent bind one to accepting in advance changes in the future? There are signs of a fundamental shift in answering this question-a shift that particularly concerns the control of power in the economy. Industrial democracies may be abandoning …

Some Newly Emergent Geographies Of Injustice: Boundaries And Borders In International Law, Upendra V. Baxi

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This conversation examines the relationship between the boundaries and borders in international law and the production of geographies of injustice through the lens of the colonial epistemologies, especially of private international law in the face of mass social disasters like the archetypal Bhopal catastrophe. I also address the languages and logics of coloniality and postcoloniality, as states of consciousness and social organization, under the complex and contradictory unity of neoliberalism.

Examining The Legality Of The Guantánamo Bay Detention Center According To International Humanitarian Law And International Human Rights Law, Sydney T. Winchester

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this research paper is to examine how international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) are applied to the Guantánamo Bay detention center. This paper was completed through the research of international treaties, court cases, and secondary sources that thoroughly discussed issues pertaining to Guantánamo and international law.

This paper first examines the differences between the two laws by looking at the particular roles each is meant to play in the subject of international law, as well as how the two have been applied thus far to the situation at Guantánamo. Second, the paper discusses …

Trafficking Smuggled Migrants: An Issue Of Vulnerability, Rachel A. Hews

Global Tides

This paper analyzes why the UN’s efforts against the sex trafficking of smuggled migrants, specifically regarding the Palermo and Smuggling Protocols, have been inadequate in preventing migrant smuggling. It concludes that the crime-based focus on prosecution overshadows prevention of the crime and protection of the victims, and that a human rights approach addressing the vulnerability of smuggled migrants would be more effective in reducing migrant smuggling long-term. Proposed solutions include decreasing both the “push” and “pull” factors of migration by ratifying existing legislation regarding basic human rights, implementing national policies that increase migrant rights in destination countries, and shifting further …

Call For Papers 2017: The Social Practice Of Human Rights, University Of Dayton

Content presented at the Social Practice of Human Rights Conference

The University of Dayton Human Rights Center invites proposals from scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and advocates on a broad array of human rights topics. The Center welcomes both theoretical and applied research proposals that capture important trends in human rights scholarship and research. We encourage the submission of individual papers, complete panels, roundtables, workshops, and practitioner presentations, as well as interdisciplinary and scholar-practitioner collaborations.

To submit a paper or proposal, see the conference's section in the repository: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/human_rights/

The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna

Master's Theses

Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21^st century and it affects everyone. By using …

Incentives To Incarcerate: Corporation Involvement In Prison Labor And The Privatization Of The Prison System, Alythea S. Morrell

Master's Projects and Capstones

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the entire world. The United States accounts for approximately 5% of the world’s population, yet it accounts for 25% of the world’s prisoners. Not only does the United States mercilessly incarcerate its own citizens, it disproportionately incarcerates African American and Latino men. This fact on its own is disturbing; however, when it is coupled with the fact that corporations profit from and lobby for an overly aggressive and ineffective criminal justice system, makes these statistics even more horrendous. Private prison companies such as Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group admit …

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled November 13, 2015), United States District Court For The Eastern District Of Kentucky

Media Collection

APRIL MILLER, PH.D., et al. PLAINTIFFS v. KIM DAVIS, INDIVIDUALLY AND IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS ROWAN COUNTY CLERK, et al. DEFENDANTS and RESPONSE OF THIRD-PARTY DEFENDANTS TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO ENFORCE SEPTEMBER 3 AND SEPTEMBER 8 ORDERS KIM DAVIS THIRD-PARTY PLAINTIFF v. STEVEN L. BESHEAR, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY, et al. THIRD-PARTY DEFENDANTS

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled November 9, 2015), United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit

Media Collection

APRIL MILLER, PH.D; KAREN ANN ROBERTS; SHANTEL BURKE; STEPHEN NAPIER; JODY FERNANDEZ; KEVIN HOLLOWAY; L. AARON SKAGGS; AND BARRY SPARTMAN, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. KIM DAVIS, INDIVIDUALLY, Defendant-Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellant, and STEVEN L. BESHEAR, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY, AND WAYNE ONKST, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS STATE LIBRARIAN AND COMMISSIONER, KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT FOR LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES, Third-Party Defendants-Appellees. ON APPEAL FROM U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY, CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-CV-00044, HON. DAVID L. BUNNING BRIEF FOR AMICUS CURIAE EAGLE FORUM EDUCATION & LEGAL DEFENSE FUND IN SUPPORT OF APPELLANT IN SUPPORT OF REVERSAL

What Does Genocide Produce? The Semantic Field Of Genocide, Cultural Genocide, And Ethnocide In Indigenous Rights Discourse, Jeff Benvenuto

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The semantic field of genocide, cultural genocide, and ethnocide overlaps between Indigenous rights discourse and genocide studies. Since the 1970s, such language has been used to express grievances that have stimulated the construction of Indigenous rights in international law. These particular words signify general concerns with the integrity of Indigenous peoples, thereby undergirding a larger framework of normative beliefs, ethical arguments, and legal claims, especially the right to self-determination. Going back to the post-World War II era, this article traces the normative and institutional processes through which this overlapping discourse has emerged. Culminating with the adoption of the …

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled September 2, 2015), United States District Court For The Eastern District Of Kentucky

Media Collection

APRIL MILLER, ET AL., Plaintiffs, v. KIM DAVIS, ET AL., Defendants

DISTRICT JUDGE DAVID L. BUNNING KIM DAVIS, Third-Party Plaintiff, v. STEVEN L. BESHEAR, in his official capacity as Governor of Kentucky, and WAYNE ONKST, in his official capacity as State Librarian and Commissioner, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Third-Party Defendants.

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled September 1, 2015), United States District Court For The Eastern District Of Kentucky

Media Collection

APRIL MILLER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. KIM DAVIS, et al., Defendants.

PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO HOLD DEFENDANT KIM DAVIS IN CONTEMPT OF COURT

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled August 31, 2015), Supreme Court Of The United States

Media Collection

Kim Davis, Individually and in Her Official Capacity as Rowan County Clerk, Applicant v. April Miller, et al. No. 15A250. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 192 L. Ed. 2d 994; 2015 U.S. LEXIS 4659; 84 U.S.L.W. 3099 August 31, 2015, Decided

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled August 28, 2015), Supreme Court Of The United States

Media Collection

Kim Davis, Applicant, v. April Miller, Ph.D, Karen Ann Roberts, Shantel Burke, Stephen Napier, Jody Fernandez, Kevin Holloway, L. Aaron Skaggs, and Barry Spartman, Respondents.

Emergency Application to Stay Preliminary Injunction Pending Appeal DIRECTED TO THE HONORABLE ELENA KAGAN ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES AND CIRCUIT JUSTICE FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled August 25, 2015), United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit

Media Collection

APRIL MILLER, Ph.D; KAREN ANN ROBERTS; SHANTEL BURKE; STEPHEN NAPIER; JODY FERNANDEZ; KEVIN HOLLOWAY; L. AARON SKAGGS; and BARRY SPARTMAN, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. KIM DAVIS, Individually, Defendant-Appellant. On Appeal From The United States District Court For The Eastern District of Kentucky In Case No. 15-cv-00044 Before The Honorable David L. Bunning

APPELLANT KIM DAVIS’ REPLY IN SUPPORT OF EMERGENCY MOTION FOR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION AND MOTION TO STAY DISTRICT COURT’S AUGUST 12, 2015 ORDER PENDING APPEAL

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled August 21, 2015), United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit

Media Collection

APRIL MILLER, PH.D; KAREN ANN ROBERTS; SHANTEL BURKE; STEPHEN NAPIER; JODY FERNANDEZ; KEVIN HOLLOWAY; L. AARON SKAGGS; AND BARRY SPARTMAN, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. KIM DAVIS, INDIVIDUALLY, Defendant-Appellant. ON APPEAL FROM THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY, NO. 15-CV-0044-DLB (HON. DAVID L. BUNNING) MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF OF EAGLE FORUM EDUCATION & LEGAL DEFENSE FUND IN SUPPORT OF APPELLANT’S MOTION TO STAY DISTRICT COURT’S AUGUST 12, 2015 ORDER PENDING APPEAL

Corporate Complicity In Human Rights Violations Under International Criminal Law, Danielle Olson

International Human Rights Law Journal

This paper examines the main legal elements of corporate criminal responsibility for involvement in serious human rights violations, focusing specifically on the mens rea, or mental element requirement of a crime. It analyzes in detail what it means for a business to be complicit, the degree of knowledge corporations and their officials must have to be implicated in accomplice liability, and a case study demonstrating the consequences of such liability on corporations.

April Miller Et Al. Vs. Kim Davis (Date Filled August 19, 2015), United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit

Media Collection

APRIL MILLER, Ph.D; KAREN ANN ROBERTS; SHANTEL BURKE; STEPHEN NAPIER; JODY FERNANDEZ; KEVIN HOLLOWAY; L. AARON SKAGGS; and BARRY SPARTMAN, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. KIM DAVIS, Individually, Defendant-Appellant. On Appeal From The United States District Court For The Eastern District of Kentucky In Case No. 15-cv-00044 Before The Honorable David L. Bunning APPELLANT KIM DAVIS’ EMERGENCY MOTION FOR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION AND MOTION TO STAY DISTRICT COURT’S AUGUST 12, 2015 ORDER PENDING APPEAL