Human Rights Research

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Human Rights Research
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International Human Rights Law

• treaty-based, amorphous
• treaties can be universal, or
• regional (e.g., OAS, EU, AU)
• topical (e.g., torture, womens rights)
• humanitarian law generally separate (human rights
  aspects of laws of war)

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Challenges of HR research

• Lack of commercial publications (case reporters,
  digests)
• Many possible sources of law
• Language barriers
• Lack of documentation on human rights violations

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HR research strategies

• importance of internet sources
• value of secondary sources (electronic or paper)
• Define your
• topic
• country or region
• time period
• group

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One approach

• Use secondary materials to identify relevant
  treaty or treaties
• Is your country of interest a party?
• Any RUDs?
• What body enforces the treaty?
• What documents does the body produce?

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Alternative approaches

• Search law review articles for a recent treatment
  of your subject
• Find a bibliography on your topic
• Search library catalogs for books on your topic
• Search the web for an NGO that works on your topic

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Asylum law as context for US human rights work

• most likely point of contact with HR law
• many sources of information
• country reports
• news stories
• IGO, NGO documents
• expert witnesses
• foreign laws

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Example Convention against Torture

• US sources of law
• Federal statute and regulations
• Administrative decisions
• Case law
• Best approach Immigration law treatise

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More on CAT research

• Beyond US sources
• CAT
• General comments
• States parties reports to CAT
• CAT jurisprudence (Communications)
• Country reports
• Other NGO documents
• news stories
• experts

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CAT website (part of OHCHR site)
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OHCHR search functions

• basic search works like Google
• categorized search doesnt allow full-text
  searching
• some documents still on old site (unhcr.org) only

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OHCHR categorized search
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Documents by treaty CAT
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CAT jurisprudence
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Country reports
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Council of Europe

• strongest human rights power
• ECHR constitutional court for civil and
  political rights in Europe
• documentation at HUDOC

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Inter-American system

• developed by OAS
• two legal sources
• OAS Charter
• Am. Convention on Human Rights
• two main bodies
• Inter-American Commission
• Inter-American Court

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IACHR jurisprudence
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IACHR documentation