Human Rights Law Commons^™

Foreword, James Holmes

New England Journal of Public Policy

The International Communities Organisation (ICO) is a self-determination research and innovation center and a not-for-profit organization based in London. Guided by its vision of self-determination and the values of development and human rights, ICO aims to empower communities. It strives to foster an environment where organizations within these communities can overcome the barriers they face, allowing them to fulfill their potential and develop and create positive change for their local communities through local action, collaboration, and decision making.

To enhance our vision and our credibility as an international organization that works for peoples, we organized the February 2019 London conference …

Raising Indigenous Women’S Voices For Equal Rights And Self-Determination, Grazia Redolfi, Nikoletta Pikramenou, Rosario Grimà Algora

New England Journal of Public Policy

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that the right to self-determination for Indigenous peoples involves their having the right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development. The implementation of this right is linked to the ability and freedom to participate in any decision making that relates to their development. Current laws and practices are considered “unfair to women,” because they sustain traditional and customary patriarchal attitudes that marginalize Indigenous women and exclude them from decision-making tables and leadership roles. Despite the many challenges Indigenous women face in …

Communicative Justice And Reconciliation In Canada, Alice Neeson

New England Journal of Public Policy

Communicative justice co-exists with other dimensions of justice and emphasizes the importance of fair communicative practices, particularly after periods of direct or structural violence. While intercultural dialogue is often assumed to be a positive, or even necessary, part of reconciliation processes, there are questions to be asked about the ethicality of dialogue when one voice has been silenced, misrepresented, and ignored for decades. This article draws on twelve months of ethnographic research with reconciliation activists and organizations in Canada and considers the potential for communicative flows to help compensate for structural inequalities during processes of reconciliation.

Self-Determination And Psychological Adaptation In Forcibly Displaced People, Numan Turan, Bediha İpekçi, Mehmet Yalçın Yılmaz

New England Journal of Public Policy

According to the UN Refugee Agency, as of 2018 approximately 70 million people were forcibly displaced because of intrastate and interstate conflicts. A majority of those people endured significant hardships, and a consensus is growing among researchers that forcibly displaced people have gone through potentially traumatic experiences that challenge their well-being and health. Consequently, a large amount of research focuses on their mental health concerns, whereas research focusing on their will to normalize their lives and grow after a traumatic migration is scarce. In this article, we highlight the efforts by forcibly displaced people to normalize their lives, pointing out …

Political Scientist Christina Rivers: Restoring The Fundamental Right To Vote, University Marketing And Communications, Christina Rivers

DePaul Download

A democracy that’s truly representative of the people depends on the people to exercise their right to vote. There are some groups of people, however, who regularly don’t vote—because they don’t know they’re eligible. Contrary to popular belief, in Illinois, a convicted felon regains eligibility to vote as soon as he or she leaves a corrections facility. Anyone awaiting trial in jail is eligible to vote, too. DePaul political scientist Christina Rivers, an expert in voting rights and a DePaul Presidential Fellow, helped pass legislation to provide voter education to soon-to-be released inmates. In this episode, she discusses these initiatives, …

Observations Of Professor Gabor Rona On The Pre-Trial Chamber's Conclusion That Events Beyond The Territory Of Afghanistan Lack Sufficient Nexus To The Armed Conflict There For Pruposes Of Application Of Rome Statute War Crimes, Gabor Rona

Amicus Briefs

Prof. Gabor Rona, Director of CLIHHR's Law and Armed Conflict Project, submitted an amicus brief to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with the Prosecutor's request to commence an investigation into international crimes arising out of the situation in Afghanistan. A Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) had rejected the Prosecutor's request to investigate CIA war crimes arising from secret detention and torture of detainees at "black sites" in Poland, a State Party to the ICC Treaty. The PTC held that those events lacked sufficient nexus to the armed conflict in Afghanistan. Rona argues to the Appellate Chamber that both the Geneva …

The Doctrine Of Discovery, Latinxo Theoethics, And Human Rights, Nestor Medina

Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

No abstract provided.

Legal Frameworks & Foreign Investment: A Primer On Governments’ Obligations, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lise Johnson, Sam Szoke-Burke, Rumbidzaii Mawen

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Legal frameworks, and how they interact, are often invisible in the day to day. Yet they are powerful forces that influence government actions and that help to shape who benefits and who loses from foreign investment. Understanding these legal frameworks, and how they interact, is critical for anyone concerned with how foreign investment can be better harnessed to support, rather than weaken, sustainable development and human rights.

This primer provides a brief overview of host government obligations under international investment law, international human rights law, domestic law, and relevant investor-state contracts. It also highlights some of the ways in which …

Lawyers Weekly Newsmaker Reception : November 20, 2019, Roger Williams University School Of Law, Michael M. Bowden

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Toward A Human Rights Framework For The Regulation Of Human Germline Genome Modification, Andrea Boggio, Cesare P. R. Romano, Jessica Almqvist

History and Social Sciences Faculty Book Publications

In the conclusions, the book editors assess the existing national and international regulatory frameworks in the light of the five foundational principles that they identified by reading international bioethics law in conjunction with international human rights standards: (i) freedom of research; (ii) benefit sharing; (iii) solidarity; (iv) respect for dignity; and (v) the obligation to respect and to protect the rights and individual freedoms of others. Their analysis reveals four issues common to most national regulatory frameworks as well as the international framework: (i) The prohibition to create embryos for research embryos cannot be reconciled with the right to science …

Outcome Report On The Climate Crisis, Global Land Use And Human Rights Conference, Mateusz Kasprowicz, Sam Szoke-Burke, Kaitlin Y. Cordes

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

On September 27^th, the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Landesa, the New York City Bar Association International Environmental Law Committee, and Wake Forest Law School hosted a day-long conference on the intersection between land use, the climate crisis and clean energy transition, and human rights.

Held at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, the conference brought together individuals from civil society organizations, governments, and academia, as well as lawyers, climate scientists, land-rights experts, indigenous representatives and other stakeholder groups. The panelists analyzed the critical role that land plays in …

Securing Adequate Legal Defense In Proceedings Under International Investment Agreements: A Scoping Study, Lise Johnson, Brooke Guven

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

CCSI prepared a Scoping Study for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Also available are:

• A summary version of the study (33 pages)
• A webinar (March 24, 2020), hosted by CCSI and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, discussed the Scoping Study and its findings (see also accompanying slides with speaking notes).
• A webinar organized by UNCITRAL (April 21, 2020). CCSI presented the Scoping Study. A video link of the webinar along with CCSI’s slides are available in English (with speaking notes) and French at that link. CCSI Senior Fellow Karl Sauvant also presented his UNCITRAL …

Environmental Injustice: How Treaties Undermine The Right To A Healthy Environment, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise Johnson, Ella Merrill

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Our planet faces unprecedented threats, including irreversible global warming, loss in biodiversity, and water pollution and water scarcity. The impacts of these environmental crises also threaten human rights and exacerbate inequality. Slowing these worsening environmental trends – and addressing the impacts of environmental change on populations – will require cumulative policy responses at the national and international level.

Public Health Research Priorities To Address Female Genital Mutilation Or Cutting In The United States, Holly G. Atkinson, Deborah Ottenheimer, Ranit Mishori

Publications and Research

Female genital mutilation or cut- ting (FGM/C), an age-old tradition that is still widely practiced around the world, is gaining recognition as an important public health issue in the United States. Increasingly, because of migration, women and girls affected by FGM/C have become members of host communities where the practice is not culturally acceptable.

According to recent conservative estimates, more than 513 000 immigrant women and girls living in the United States have undergone or are at risk for FGM/C, a significant increase from the 1990 estimate of 168 000. The arrests of physicians in Michigan in 2017 for performing …

Enter At Your Own Risk: Criminalizing Asylum-Seekers, Thomas M. Mcdonnell, Vanessa H. Merton

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In nearly three years in office, President Donald J. Trump’s war against immigrants and the foreign-born seems only to have intensified. Through a series of Executive Branch actions and policies rather than legislation, the Trump Administration has targeted immigrants and visitors from Muslim-majority countries, imposed quotas on and drastically reduced the independence of Immigration Court Judges, cut the number of refugees admitted by more than 80%, cancelled DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), and stationed Immigration Customs and Enforcement (“ICE”) agents at state courtrooms to arrest unauthorized immigrants, intimidating them from participating as witnesses and litigants. Although initially saying that …

The Governance Of Human (Germline) Genome Modification At The International And Transnational Levels, Cesare P. R. Romano, Andrea Boggio, Jessica Almqvist

History and Social Sciences Faculty Book Publications

In this chapter, we review the key elements of the larger international and transnational framework within which the national legal regimes regulating human germline genome modification exist. Part I is a quick primer to international law and international human rights for the benefit of those who are not familiar with them. Part II presents the relevant norms of international bioethics law, including three main declarations adopted by UNESCO touching on human genome modification. It discusses also the relevant governance activities of the World Health Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and civil society, nationally and transnationally. Part III discusses …

Severing The Connection Between Sex Trafficking And U.S. Military Bases Overseas, Anna Belle Hoots

Articles & Chapters

The sex trafficking of women and girls by US. military men remains an issue plaguing US. military bases overseas. While the US. government has offered several solutions to combat this specific niche of sex trafficking, the legislation and policy put forth are insufficient to eradicate the problem. After assessing the intersection of sex trafficking and overseas US. military bases, this Note both discusses why and proposes how, through the use of Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs), all US. military bases abroad can and must commit to the prevention of this egregious human rights violation. Because SOFAs grant wide latitude to …

Critical Reviews Of Flawed Research On Prostitution, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Indonesian Term Of Address Ustad In Film Utterances: Forms, Functions, And Social Values, Sandy Nugraha, Wiwin Triwinarti

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study analyzes the term of address ustad in Indonesian culture. Indonesia’s religious-themed movies may represent the use of the term of address ustad in daily conversation. In particular, this study aims to describe the patterns of form, the patterns of use, and the social values of the term of address ustad in film utterances. The data of the term of address ustad and its contexts are collected from the utterances in Indonesia’s four Islamic-themed movies. This descriptive qualitative study uses sociopragmatics approach in identifying the functions of the term of address in film discourse. The context of the utterances …

Human Rights, Economic Justice And U.S. Exceptionalism, Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan

Pace International Law Review

On April 5, 2019, PILR held their triennial symposium titled: Revisiting Human Rights: The Universal Declaration at 70. As a reflection of the event, a few panelists composed contribution pieces reflecting on the topic.

Reclaiming Refugee Rights As Human Rights, Roni Amit

Pace International Law Review

On April 5, 2019, PILR held their triennial symposium titled: Revisiting Human Rights: The Universal Declaration at 70. As a reflection of the event, a few panelists composed contribution pieces reflecting on the topic.

Federalism: Necessary Legal Foundation For The Central Middle Eastern States, Issa Al-Aweel

Pace International Law Review

The Central Middle East—comprising of Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan—is in need of a legal foundation defined by a constitutional umbrella that governs it as a whole. This is a proposed broad structure of such legal foundation that serves regional legal and economic needs and includes recognition of human rights.

The need for such restructuring is evident from the persistence of regional conflict and instability. Conflict and instability have been constants in the region in general and certainly in the listed five states. The issues include political instability, terrorism, continuous threats of fundamentalism, and pervasive disregard to human life …

Introduction: Qualitative Methods In Human Rights Research, Lacey Caporale

Societies Without Borders

No abstract provided.

Zero Tolerance And The Impossibilities Of Discipline--Findings From The Field, Anne Scheer Phd

Societies Without Borders

At School James, a high-poverty, high-minority inner-city elementary school in the Midwestern United States, a highly detailed system of rules and punishments is supposed to control students. The official rationale underlying this system of zero-tolerance discipline is to create environments conducive to learning. In practice, however, the meticulous system of rules, rewards, and punishments fails to achieve the desired levels of control and the realities at the school are dominated by disorder. My research sought to explain this failure and explore the consequences it has for this already marginalized student population. The present article outlines how the design of the …

Qualitative Methods In Human Rights Research, Brian K. Gran Phd

Societies Without Borders

No abstract provided.

Living On The Border: Three Generations' Biographies, Ana Kralj Phd, Tanja Rener Phd

Societies Without Borders

Borders of nation states are the embodiment of junction between system and lifeworld. They manifest the translation of social into physical spaces and vice versa. The authors reflect the meaning of distinctions and oppositions (us and them, here and there, safety and danger, included and excluded etc.) in construction, maintenance and disappearance of boundaries in space. In the case of borders of nation states the distinctions are identified within and grounded solely upon the political sphere, the same sphere that needs borders and distinctions in order to constitute itself. A qualitative study about the experience and meaning of Yugoslav-Slovenian-Italian border …

#Reclaimingmytime: Black Women And Femme Movement Actors’ Experiences With Intra-Movement Conflicts And The Case For A Transformative Healing Justice Model, Shaneda Destine Phd

Societies Without Borders

This research utilizes focus groups to evaluate the intra-movement conflicts and political praxis of Black women and femme movement actors in the United States as a case for implementing a Transformational Healing Justice Model (THJM). Black women and femmes are used in this study to explain the gender expressions, identities and sexual orientations presented in this study. This model expands the Consciousness Vision and Strategy Model (CVS) by incorporating the implications of the #Sayhername Policy Booklet, the Movement for Black Lives Platform (2016), and the United States Social Forum Healing Justice Report (2014) -- to outline how Black women and …

Thinking Globall, Acting Locally: Cedaw And Women's Human Rights In San Francisco, Susan Hagood Lee Phd

Societies Without Borders

While the United States has ratified many of the international human rights treaties, some have been left languishing in the Senate including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In response to Senate failure to ratify the women's treaty, the city of San Francisco passed its own CEDAW ordinance in 1998 to implement the principles of women's human rights in its jurisdiction. Several factors contributed to the successful passage of the CEDAW ordinance, including a sturdy base of feminist institutions developed over three decades of women's activism, determined leadership with the commitment, skills, and …

Revisiting The Role Of Education In Global Society: Relevance Of The Concept Of “Value Generalization” In An Educational Context, Matteo Tracchi Phd

Societies Without Borders

Interpreting global society through the morphogenetic approach, the article looks at education as one of the dimensions of social change brought about by the plural process of globalization. The role and vision of education will therefore be questioned to finally claim that education has to be revisited in culturally diverse and complex global societies. Necessary steps include moving from a market- to a human-centred approach to education and taking the paradigm of human rights as the universal point of departure. Indeed, framing the concept of “value generalization” (Joas 2013) within an educational context, the paper argues that human rights should …

Diminishing Global Power, Downgrading Human Rights: Making Sense Of American Foreign Policy Under Donald Trump, Timothy M. Gill Phd

Societies Without Borders

Scholars have remained puzzled about the direction that President Donald Trump might take the U.S. at the global level. Throughout his campaign, Trump often articulated contradictory ideas concerning his foreign policy approach. Trump evidenced warmth towards authoritarian leaders in Eastern Europe, but condemned them in Latin America. The purpose of this paper is to make sense of Trump’s foreign policy approach, and its novelties and continuities, by putting his administration into comparative-historical focus alongside Bush II and Obama. I analyze their foreign policy approach by using Michael Mann’s IEMP model of power to draw out their distinctive qualities. Similar to …