Human Rights

A political dissident is jailed in Myanmar without being given a fair trial. A massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico threatens the livelihood of fisherman on the Atlantic Coast. A child is kidnapped, drugged, and forced to take up arms in the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Young Muslim students are banned from wearing traditional headscarves in French public schools. A man in India without access to clean water dies of a treatable disease. A guard looks on as an inmate is assaulted in a Texas Jail. A woman working at a business firm in New York is paid less than her male counterparts

What are the basic freedoms and entitlements of every human being?

How should we protest these freedoms and entitlements?

What are Human Rights?

• Fundamental rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to simply by the fact that they are human – How governments treat their people – Make government responsible for protecting

individuals from abuse by other individuals

• http://www.choices.edu/resources/scholars_humanrights.php

• What are human rights? [Susan Allee - 2:12]

“Full Spectrum” Human Rights

• Civil Rights • Political Rights:• Social Rights• Economic Rights • Cultural Rights

• Civil and Political Rights – Freedom from slavery, discrimination and

torture – Equal protection under the law – Freedom of movement – Suffrage (the right to vote) – Freedom of thought, opinion, expression,

association, and religion

“Full Spectrum” Human Rights

• Social and Economic Rights – Free basic education – Social security – Employment – Fair wages and equal pay for equal work – An adequate standard of living (including

adequate food, clothing, and housing)

“Full Spectrum” Human Rights

Origins of Human Rights

• Religion – Hinduism: promote the sacredness of life – Buddhism: equality and encourage

compassion towards others – Islam: charity and justice – Judaism: pose guidelines for ethical behavior – Christianity: importance of reducing human

suffering and loving others as one would love oneself

• Secular:– Chinese Philosophers: belief in a belief of

common humanity; respect for others – African societies: well-being of individuals

and communities; shield people from mistreatment

Origins of Human Rights

“Man is born free, but everywhere he is in

chains.”

John-Jacques Rousseau

• Rights grated by God are beyond the reach of government

• Power of the government is not absolute

• Governments job to secure and protect the rights of its citizens

• Individuals should be entitled to elect their leaders

Origins of Human Rights

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights;

that among these are life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights,

governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the

governed; that whenever any form of government because destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it,

and to institute a new government….”

-Introduction to the U.S. Declaration of Independence

Political Change

• The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights (1789-91)

• The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

• New additions by the documents – Civil and political rights

• Freedom of expression, right to vote, protection against arbitrary arrest and punishment

• http://www.choices.edu/resources/scholars_humanrights.php

• How has the human rights movement evolved to include social, economic, and cultural rights? [Dennis Davis - 2:15]

• How did the U.S. Constitution exclude certain groups? [Michael Vorenberg - 2:56]

International Politics

• Treatment of people within a country was a domestic matter

• State Sovereignty took precedence

• Authoritarian regimes ignored abuse of their citizens

• Few moments, prior to WWII that attracted attention

• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – Est. in 1863 – Addressed the troubling brutality of war – Promoted 1st international treaty to protect

victims of armed conflict– AKA: Geneva Convention for the Amelioration

of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field (1864)

International Politics

International Politics

• International Humanitarian Law – Violations = war crimes– Rules in and between states and regulate

• Treatment of prisoners of war • Wounded soldiers• civilians

– 194 countries have agreed by these terms

International Politics

• League of Nations– Promoted nondiscrimination, freedom of

religion, the protection of minorities, and self determination

– Promotion of rights was unbalanced • Focused “on losers” of WWI • Newly independent countries

– Little authority – 1st to successfully bring human rights issues

to the world’s attention

• http://www.choices.edu/resources/scholars_humanrights.php

• What is the relationship between international human rights law and state sovereignty? [Dennis Davis – 2:03]

WW II: A Turning Point in Human Rights

• Nanking, China

• Holocaust

• New media outlets – Photography – Increased communication – Media coverage

• FDR – Peace will be secured in the future by

ensuring four essential human freedoms– What are those freedoms?

WW II: A Turning Point in Human Rights

Freedom of speech and expression

Freedom from want

Freedom of religion

Freedom of from fear

“Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere.

Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or

keep them.”

-President Roosevelt’s State of the Union Address January 6, 1941

• Nuremberg Trials – 24 Nazi criminals were put on trial– Crimes against peace, humanity, and violating

the rules of war – Argue only states not individual could be tried – Sentenced 12 to death and 7 to prison terms;

3 were acquitted

• Allied crimes were “muffled” after the war

WW II: A Turning Point in Human Rights

Crimes against Humanity

“…Odious offense in that they constitutes a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one ore more human beings….Murder, extermination, torture, rape, and political, racial , or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread systematic practice.”

• http://www.choices.edu/resources/scholars_humanrights.php

• Why is the Genocide Convention significant? [David Kennedy - 2:39]

• US, Great Britain, Soviet Union, and China

• Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C.

• Plans for a Global Organization

• Needed to maintain peace and security through international cooperation

• Model for the UNITED NATIONS

United Nations

• 1ST Meeting: San Francisco- 1945• Delegate from Uruguay, Panama, Mexico, and

New Zealand – Insisted the Charter declare the promotion of self

determination and racial equality to be objectives

• NGO’s present – Advocated for more specific provisions of rights

• Colonized people were not present

United Nations

“With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among national

based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, the United Nations shall promote….universal respect for,

and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction

as to race, sex, language, or religion.”

-the Charter of the United Nations, 1945

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Led by Eleanor Roosevelt

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights , 1948

• Basis for subsequent covenants that would hold countries accountable

• Encompass values and rights compatible with diverse range of religions, cultures, and political systems

Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Major Elements

• Life • Liberty • Security • A nationality • Freedom from slavery,

discrimination, and torture • Equal protection under the

law • Presumption of innocence

until proven guilty • Freedom from arbitrary

interference with privacy • Freedom of movement • Free basic education

• Freedom to marry and start a family

• Ownership of property • Freedom of thought, opinion,

expression, association, and religion

• Suffrage • Social security • Work and membership in

trade unions • Fair wages and equal pay for

equal work • Rest and periodic holidays

with pay • An adequate standard living

• Different cultures = different values

• Was the document truly universal?

• Western culture imperialism

Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Controversy

• http://www.choices.edu/resources/scholars_humanrights.php

• How does membership in the UN promote human rights? [Susan Allee - 1:14]

“We must realize that the current human rights represent just one tradition, that of

Europe….it will remain incomplete and illegitimate in non-European societies

unless it is reconstructed to create a truly multicultural mosaic….Ideas do not become universal merely because

powerful interest declare them to be so. Inclusion-not exclusion-is the KEY to

Legitimacy.”

-Makau Mutua, Kenyan-born professor of law and human rights, 202

Influence of Cold War and Decolonization

• US v Soviet Union – US promoted civil rights

• Individualism, liberty

– Soviets promoted social, economic, and cultural rights • Social justice and equality

• Both used Universal Declaration to support their side – US : questions limitations on Freedom of ; free and

fair elections – SU: questioned racial discrimination and inadequate

provisions for public welfare

• UN two new distinct fields of “rights” – Created 20 years after Universal Declaration – Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

(ICCPR) – International Covenant on Economic, Social,

and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – Reluctant to sign new treaties – AKA: International Bill of Human Rights

Influence of Cold War and Decolonization

• Bandung, Indonesia

• Asian-African Conference

• Colonialism was not compatible with human rights; self-rule was a prerequisite for the achievement of other human rights

Influence of Cold War and Decolonization

Influence of Cold War and Decolonization

• Unraveling of colonialism = more developing countries in UN– Strengthening the voting power – Championed the right to Self-determination – Driving force behind: Declaration on the

Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples

– Focused on Economic challenges faced

Vienna World Conference on Human Rights

• Post Cold War

• 171 countries

• 840 NGO’s

• Needed a comprehensive approach to understanding and protecting human rights

All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated….. While the

significance of national and regional particularities and carious historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States, regardless of their political, economic, and cultural systems, to promote and

protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

- Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human

Rights, June 12, 1993