International Law Commons^™

Epistemologies Of The South And Human Rights: Santos And The Quest For Global And Cognitive Justice, Jose-Manuel Barreto

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This article offers an introduction to Boaventura de Sousa Santos's general philosophical orientation, explores the concepts of "abyssal thinking" and "epistemologies of the South," and draws consequences for the theory of human rights, taking into consideration the idea of rewriting the history of rights in the context of colonialism and Santos's proposal of a post-abyssal conception of rights and intercultural dialogue. This piece ends with some considerations on the cultural and political conditions for advancing a new understanding of human rights.

Identifying The Enemy In Counterterrorism Operations: A Comparison Of The Bush And Obama Administrations, Boaz Ganor

International Law Studies

Identifying the enemy plays a crucial role in providing the government with the authority needed to fight terrorism—from the authority to investigate threats to the authority to detain and use lethal force. The two administrations significantly differ in their understanding of the enemy, both at the organizational and individual levels. They also differ in their understanding of the boundaries of the battlefield. Ultimately, contrasting the policies adopted by the Bush and Obama administrations reveals that the early identification of the enemy by decision makers shaped the nature and scope of each administration’s counterterrorism strategies.

Global Rules For Global Health: Why We Need An Independent, Impartial Who, Devi Sridhar, Julio Frenk, Lawrence O. Gostin, Suerie Moon

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Over the past few years the World Health Organization (WHO) has been undergoing a significant reform process. The immediate trigger was a budget crisis in 2010 that spurred massive lay-offs at the global agency. But at a more fundamental level, deeper systematic changes in global health governance have made reform imperative. While WHO reform draws relatively little attention outside diplomatic circles in Geneva, at stake are critical issues that will impact public health everywhere. This article’s key messages are:

• Recent outbreaks of MERS highlight the need for a global response to infectious disease
• The WHO has had a crucial role …

Lausti And Salazar: Are Religious Symbols Legitimate In The Public Square?, Katie A. Croghan

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Great Power Origins Of Human Rights, Seth Mohney

Michigan Journal of International Law

For years, historians depicted the history of human rights as the inexorable triumph of universal norms. This account underestimates both the historical and contemporary uncertainty surrounding many international human rights. As even casual observers must note, the tale of human rights progress is not littered with beneficent heads of state persuaded to pursue progress by the moral charge of universal norms. Instead, this history’s primary scenes feature struggles among great powers, peoples, and movements advancing diverse interests. Recognizing the complexity of human rights history, a new generation of historians has emphasized that human rights progress is not preordained, but rather …

Water In The 21st Century, Grayson Michael Shor

Social Sciences

The aim of this research project is to provide a comprehensive and global analysis of water use in order to provide the reader with a comprehensive grasp of current and impending issues. The included five (5) chapters discuss water distribution, conservation, purification, law, international development, economic debates, ethical consideration, as well as educated estimations of the effects water related issues may cause in the next one-hundred years.

Theories Of State Compliance With International Law: Assessing The African Union's Ability To Ensure State Compliance With The African Charter And Constitutive Act, Stacy-Ann Elvy

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

On The Link Between Conflict, Underdevelopment And The Pursuit Of Basic Needs Satisfaction: A Survey Of Haitian Construction Workers In The Dominican Republic, Joseph W. Alliance

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this study was to explore how conflict and underdevelopment impact Haitian construction workers’ experiences and their basic human needs situation in the Dominican Republic. The Basic Human Needs Theory served as the main theoretical background to approach the topic. Qualitative data were gathered by employing a self- administered, one-time survey and conducting semi-structured interviews with 25 Haitian construction workers in sites located in the Distrito Nacional in the capital city, Santo Domingo and the Consuelo municipality in San Pedro de Macoris. Absence of work in Haiti for the very poor, systematic lack of access to social security, …

Proposal For An International Criminal Court Arrest Procedures Protocol, David Scheffer

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

No abstract provided.

Aiding And Abetting: The Illegality Of Morocco's Nationalist Expansion Into Western Sahara And Their Support From The United States, Rachid H. Yousfi

Master's Theses

This paper will address the illegality of Morocco’s nationalist annexation of Western Sahara and how the United States plays the accommodating role through the selling of arms, economic aid, and diplomatic support. Considered as Africa’s last colony, the Saharawi people have not experienced the basic human right to self-determination and the right for independence. These rights are continued to be withheld for the sake of Moroccan nationalism and their “rightful and ethnic” claims to the territory, disregarding the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s advisory opinion ruling in favor of Saharawi self-determination. It explores the chronology of the Saharawi population from …

Beyond "De-Nile" - The United Nations' Genocide Problem In Darfur, William Reisinger

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Right To Food Under Hugo Chávez, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

Human Rights & Human Welfare

This article investigates the right to food in Venezuela under President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013). It argues that although Chávez respected the right of (especially poor) Venezuelans to food, he failed to protect that right at the same time as he tried to fulfill it. In the short term, he fulfilled the right to food by establishing state-run stores where food could be purchased at a substantial discount, and by imposing price controls on food. At the same time, however, he reduced the supply of food by undermining property rights, expropriating large-scale farms and ranches as well as some wholesale and …

Global Health And The Law, Lawrence O. Gostin, Devi Sridhar

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The last two decades have brought revolutionary changes in global health, driven by popular concern over AIDS, novel influenzas, and maternal mortality. Given the rapid globalization that is a defining feature of today’s world, the need for a robust system of global health law has never been greater. Global health law has been defined as the legal norms, processes, and institutions designed primarily to attain the highest possible standard of physical and mental health for the world’s population. Global health law is not an organized legal system, with a unified treaty monitoring body, such as the World Trade Organization. There …

The Special Tribunal For Lebanon: A Defense Perspective, Charles Chernor Jalloh

Articles

This Article analyzes the absence of organs tasked with guaranteeing the rights of the defense in international criminal law. It explains the historical origins of the problem, tracing it back to the genesis of modern prosecutions at the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal. It then explains how the organizational charts of the UN courts for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone omitted the defense and essentially treated it as a second class citizen before the eyes of the law. This sets the stage for the author to show why the creation of the first full-fledged defense organ in international criminal …

Rights And Responsibilities: What Are The Prospects For The Responsibility To Protect In The International/Transnational Arena?, Carolyn Helen Filteau

PhD Dissertations

The dissertation involves a study of the emerging international norm of ‘The Responsibility to Protect’ which states that citizens must be protected in cases of human atrocities, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide where states have failed or are unable to do so. According to the work of the International Commission on the Responsibility to Protect (ICISS), this response can and should span a continuum involving prevention, a response to the violence, when and if necessary, and ultimately rebuilding shattered societies. The most controversial aspect, however, is that of forceful intervention and much of the thesis focuses on this aspect. …

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 …

“Gate Of The Sun”: Applying Human Rights Law In The Occupied Palestinian Territories In Light Of Non-Violent Resistance And Normalization, Keren Greenblatt

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

No abstract provided.

Denying Genocide Or Denying Free Speech? A Case Study Of The Application Of Rwanda’S Genocide Denial Laws, Yakaré-Oulé (Nani) Jansen

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

No abstract provided.

A Call For Aggressive Media Campaign Regarding Dprk Prison Camps, Hannah Lee

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

No abstract provided.

A Constitution At A Crossroads: A Conversation With The Chief Justice Of The Constitutional Court Of South Africa, Drew F. Cohen

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

No abstract provided.

The European Court Of Human Rights And Intragroup Religious Diversity: A Critical Review, Lourdes Peroni

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Article examines the ways in which one of the most established human rights courts—the European Court of Human Rights—encourages or discourages intragroup religious diversity when dealing with religious freedom claims. In particular, it critically assesses the Court’s attentiveness to internal group diversity by scrutinizing the objective filters that the Court employs to determine whether certain practices “count” as a manifestation of claimants’ religion for legal purposes. The Article argues that, at times, these filters are based on assumptions about religion and religious groups that impede recognition of more lived experiences of religion and internal group diversity. The Article further …

The Invisible Women: Have Conceptions About Femininity Led To The Global Dominance Of The Female Human Trafficker?, 7 Alb. Gov't L. Rev. 143 (2014), Samuel Vincent Jones

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Virtually no academic or media attention has been dedicated to female traffickers, or female delinquency, in general. Human trafficking, like other crimes, has been myopically constructed, marketed, and viewed through news reports, cinema, literature, and criminal statutes as a heinous male-perpetrated offense against women and girls, rendering the female trafficker practically invisible. This essay questions the soundness and viability of continued reliance on the female victim-male culprit paradigm, used by many countries to prevent human trafficking. It confronts contemporary assumptions about femininity, violence, and aggression, calling particular attention to American cultural suppositions about femaleness that have detrimentally influenced our capacity …

An Evaluation Model For Non-Governmental Organizations Engaged In Advocacy, Nathalie Des Rosiers

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The article proposes a model to evaluate the effectiveness of NGOs that engage in advocacy for compliance with international human rights and civil liberties standards or constitutional rules. The model draws on the analysis of social movement effectiveness, ombudsmen’s roles and the literature on the evaluation of human rights NGOs at the international level. It establishes ways to measure the legitimacy and effectiveness of advocacy NGOs. In particular, it suggests that transparency and independence must be constantly demonstrated, that factual accuracy must always be sought and that legal compliance must be shown to have moral and public interest resonance. The …

Gender And Economic, Social, And Cultural Rights, Christine M. Chinkin

Book Chapters

At the time of adoption of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1966, the concept of gender had not entered the international arena. Relations between women and men in the allocation and enjoyment of rights were addressed through the concept of non-discrimination, inter alia on the basis of sex. The term ‘gender’ began to enter the international agenda in the 1980s, first through the global conferences on women. The World Conference on Human Rights at Vienna in 1993 continued this trend, referring to gender-based violence, gender bias, and gender-disaggregated statistics. It also called for ‘the …

Public Sector Labor Policy: A Human Rights Approach, Robert Hebdon

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The U.N. Committee Against Torture And Eradication Of Torture In Health Care Settings, Claudio Grossman

Research Reports & White Papers

This article explains that the United Nations Committee against Torture (hereinafter “the Committee”) has played a significant role in addressing the serious problem of torture in health care settings. In particular, the Committee’s Concluding Observations and Recommendations under Article 19 of the Convention against Torture have been an important tool in this area. The Committee has used these means to remind States parties of their obligation to provide adequate health care for persons held in detention centers and prisons, to address abuses and poor conditions in mental health institutions and psychiatric facilities, and to denounce the practice of punishing or …

Suing Americans For Human Rights Torts Overseas: The Supreme Court Leaves The Door Open, Douglass Cassel

Journal Articles

If American citizens or corporations commit gross violations of human rights against foreign victims on foreign shores, can the victims sue the Americans for damages in United States federal courts? Until recently the answer was clearly yes. However, following the diverse opinions in the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., the question has divided lower courts to date.

This Article argues that, as a matter of both domestic and international law, and under both the majority and minority rationales in Kiobel, federal courts can and should hear tort suits against American nationals for human rights …

Slides: “Human Sustainability” In Natural Resources Industries: The New Frontier In Compliance, Social Responsibility, Disclosure, And Transparency, T. Markus Funk

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: T. Markus Funk, Partner, Perkins Coie

21 slides

No Excuse: The Failure Of The Icc’S Article 31 “Duress” Definition, Benjamin J. Risacher

Notre Dame Law Review

This Note proceeds in four Parts. Part I traces the historical development of “duress” through the common and civil law systems, World War II cases, the Model Penal Code (MPC) and, finally, through an in-depth analysis of the Erdemovic case before the ICTY Appeals Chamber discussed in the introduction. Part II then discusses “duress” under Article 31 of the Rome Statute and includes a survey of the Article’s drafting history, a statutory analysis of Article 31, and an application of the ICC definition of “duress” to the Erdemovic set of facts. This Part highlights the unjust result that inevitably occurs …