Human Rights Debates

1
Human Rights Debates

• Human rights vs. sovereignty
• R2P
• International Coalition for the Responsibility to
  Protect
• Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect

2
IGO Action

• UN Human Rights Council
• International Courts/Tribunals
• International Criminal Tribunal for the former
  Yugoslavia (ICTY)Overview, documents, latest
  news, courtrooms, cases, reports.
• International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
  (ICTR)Overview, documents, latest news, cases,
  judicial database, events.
• Special Court for Sierra LeoneLive coverage,
  cases, press room, documents, news.
• Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia
  Reports, Judicial Officers, organs, press
  statements, outreach.
• Special Tribunal for Lebanon About the Tribunal,
  documents, reports, contacts, defense

3
International Criminal Court

• ICC Home page
• Rome Statute (1998/2002)
• Court Structure
• Situations and Cases

4
What are Human Rights?

• Universal Morality
• vs.
• Cultural Relativism

5
Universal Morality

• Universal Declaration on Human Rights
• Human Rights Watch
• Amnesty International
• Freedom House
• Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
• Human Rights Campaign (working to end
  discrimination against gays and lesbians)
• American Bar Association site on human rights

6
Cultural Relativism

• Iran The Basij
• Pakistan
• Rape laws change (2006)
• Blasphemy Laws
• Saudi Arabia
• Women and Driving
• Singapore Internal Security Act
• Former PM Lee Kuan Yews view of human and civil
  rights
• Uganda Anti-Gay Legislation

7
Where do we stand?Freedom House Report

• Growing Consensus
• Economic freedoms

• Lack of Consensus
• Womens rights
• Political freedoms
• Religious freedoms

8
Arab Spring

• Map from The Economist
• Washington Post, Country-by-Country Guide

9
Freedom House Analysis
10

• Tunisia December 2010 protests begin
• January 14, 2011 Ben Ali falls
• Egypt January 25, 2011 protests in Tahrir
  Square Begin
• February 11, 2011 Mubarak resigns
• Libya February 16, 2011 protests begin becomes
  civil war
• October 20, 2011 Gaddafi killed
• Yemen February 11, 2011 protests begin
• November 23, 2011 Ali Abdullah Saleh resigns

11
Resources

• United Nations Human Rights site
• United Nations Human Rights Law site (reference
  for all treaties and conventions concerning human
  rights)
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• US Department of Health and Human Services site
  on human trafficking and assistance for victims
• Human Trafficking (US State Dept. Annual Report)
• US Department of State Country Human Rights
  Reports
• Human Rights Watch
• Amnesty International
• Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
• Human Rights Campaign (working to end
  discrimination against gays and lesbians)
• UN site on Trafficking in Human Beings (UN Office
  on Crime and Drugs)
• NGO Human Trafficking.Org (established to work
  toward the prevention of human trafficking in the
  Asia-Pacific region)