International Human Rights: Readings

Part I: Human Rights: Foundations and Definitions

September 8: Introduction to course aims and expectations; review of syllabus. What are human rights

• Three Gorges Dam, China. "Human Rights Dammed Off at Three Gorges." International Rivers Network Report to the UN Commission on Human Rights (2003). Browse the full report, and the website with photos and video. Be prepared to discuss the question: are there human rights violations involved in the resettlement project? What are they?

First two-page thought paper due on Friday, September 9, 4:00 PM. Is the Three Gorges Dam project the cause of substantial human rights violations? You should email your paper to me in MSWord format at vongeldern@macalester.edu.

What kinds of human rights problems does the world face today? What role do national and international judicial institutions play in addressing them?

• Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe v. Attorney General. Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, 1993. Judgment No. S.C. 73/93 (1993).
• Knight v. Florida (98-9741). U.S. Supreme Court (S.Ct. 1999). Justice Breyer, dissenting. Justice Thomas, concurring. See highlighted sections concerning international law.
• Roper v. Simmons (03-633) (S.Ct. 2005). Syllabus.
• Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Articles 1-4.

What are the legal foundations of human rights? What are the sources of international law?

• The Paquete Habana, 175 U.S. 677, U.S. Supreme Court (1900), highlighted sections.
• Statute of the International Court of Justice, Article 38
• Military and Paramilitary Activities (Nicaragua/United States of America). Merits. J. 27.6.1986. I.C.J. Reports 1986, paragraphs 182-188. For background on the case, see Wikipedia: Nicaragua v. United States.
• Oscar Schachter, International Law in Theory and Practice (1990) (excerpts).

How was international law applied through the end of World War II?

• The Minorities Treaties (1919). The Allies and the Republic of Poland. Minorities Treaty (June 28, 1919). Articles 1-12.
• Minority Schools in Albania. Advisory Opinion, Permanent Court of International Justice, 1935. See highlighted excerpts.
• Nuremberg Trials (1945). Charter of the International Military Tribunal. Read Articles 6-8.
• Judgment at Nuremberg (1946). See shaded excerpts. For full text, see Judgment: The Law of the Charter and Judgment: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
• Debate on Jurisdiction over Crimes against Humanity. 121-125. Start with Note.

Part II: Creating International Human Rights

Which civil and political rights fall under the category of human rights? What international instruments have been created for their protection?

• "From the United Nations Charter to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," Steiner, 136-146.
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966). Articles 1-27.

What economic and social rights fall under the category of human rights? What are the challenges to the legitimacy of these rights?

• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), Read Articles 1-16, 22-25.
• The Bearer and Nature of Duties Under the ICESCR. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. General comment 3 (1990). UN Doc. E/1991/23, Annex III.

• Supreme Court, DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, 489 U.S. 189 (1989). Read syllabus and Blackmun dissent.
• Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996). Read Chapter 1, Section 1; Chapter 2, Sections 7, 10-11, 27, 36.
• Soobramoney v Minister of Health (KwaZulu-Natal) [1997] ICHRL 118 (27 November 1997). Summary

What is the relationship between civil/political and social/economic rights? What role doâ--and shouldâ--the courts play in developing the second set of rights?

• Amartya Sen, Democracy as a Universal Value (1999).
• United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 2000. Read the Overview.
• Cass Sunstein. "Against Positive Rights," 2 Eastern European Constitutional Review (1993).

Second thought paper due at beginning of next class. Issue: Should international human rights conventions defend positive as well as negative rights?

How does the CEDAW define women's human rights? How does it seek to protect them? What questions do international women's rights raise regarding the distinction between the public and private spheres? What role do customary law and UN resolutions play in the definition of international human rights law?

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), Articles 1-6, 16.
• Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (General Assembly, 1993), Articles 1-2, 4.
• UN Human Rights Commission. Preliminary report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy. E/CN.4/1995/42. Read paragraphs 49, 54, 57, 64, 67.
• Reports submitted by States parties under article 18, See initial reports on Laos (read Article 5, pp. 14-18) and Switzerland (read paragraphs 135-153 on Article 6: Trafficking in Women).

Part III: International Human Rights Organizations: the United Nations

What role do international organizations play in developing, monitoring, and enforcing international human rights?

• Covenant of the League of Nations (1924). Examine decision-making and dispute resolution mechanisms.
• UN Charter. Chapter XIV. The International Court of Justice
• Statute of the International Court of Justice. Chapter II: Competence of the Court

What is state sovereignty? What tensions exist between international human rights organizations and state sovereignty?

• Faisal O. Al-Rfouh, Protection of National Sovereign Rights under International Law
• Kofi Annan. Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Decision by Heads of State and Government in September 2005. In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All, 21 March 2005, UN Doc. A/59/2005. Chapter IV: paragraphs 129-135.

How does the United Nations system deal with human rights? What are thematic mechanisms?

• Belgrade Minimum Rules of Procedure for International Human Rights Fact-finding Visits, 75 Am. J. Int'l L. 163 (1981).
• Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Human Rights Bodies. Mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights.
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Articles 28-45.
• ICCPR Optional Protocol, Articles 1-5.
• OHCHR. Individual Complaints.

How did the Human Rights Committee of the ICCPR function? What role did it play in the promotion and enforcement of human rights? How is the Human Rights Council meant to strengthen UN enforcement of human rights?

• Faurisson v. France, Communication No. 550/1993, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/58/D/550/1993 (1996). Views of the Human Rights Committee. See highlighted sections.
• Arutyunyan v. Uzbekistan. Communication No. 917/2000: Uzbekistan. 13/05/2004. CCPR/C/80/D/917/2000.
• Human Rights Committee Requests Explanation from Uzbekistan on Execution of an Uzbek National. 14 April 2005.
• UN Human Rights Council. Established June 2006.

Part IV: Humanitarian Intervention

How does the Security Council use humanitarian interventions and sanctions to protect and enforce human rights? How successfully have these tools been used in recent years? United Nations Charter: Article 2, Chapter VI, Chapter VII and Chapter VIII

• In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All. Annex: For decision by Heads of State and Government. See II. Freedom from fear, para. 6(h)-(k); Section III. Freedom to live in dignity
• Martha. Minow, Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Feminist Responses to Violent Injustice, 32 New Eng. L. Rev. 967 (1998).

How can we respond to massive violations of human rights? What are the principles on which such responses are mounted? What kinds of responses have been attempted in the past?

• Background information: Wikipedia: The Breakup of Yugoslavia (not required, but helpful)

• Report of the Secretary-General under Security Council Resolution 808 (1993) (S/25704). Paragraphs 1-12, 18-49.
• Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadic a/k/a "Dule". Decision on the Defence Motion for Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction (1995). Read highlighted passages.

What has been the international and internal state response to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda? How effective has this response been? What factors complicate an effective response?

• Films: Shooting Dogs (2005). Director Michael Caton-Jones. Hotel Rwanda. Directed by Terry George (2004). Both can be viewed from Moodle (allow time for the movies to load).

• Alison Des Forges, Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda. Chapter 7: Organization (Human Rights Watch, 1999). This is a substantial reading, so leave yourself time.
• Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1994). Articles 1-4.
• Prosecutor v. Akayesu. Case No. ICTR-96-4-T (1998). Read highlighted excerpts (don't print off the entire decision!)
• American Lawyer for Opposition Figure Is Arrested in Rwanda, New York Times, May 28, 2010.

Midterm Assignment

Filming Genocide: Make a critical comparison of Shooting Dogs and Hotel Rwanda. How do they approach the terrible task of filming mass murder. You can choose your own categories for comparison, and should not try to cover all angles of the question. Some criteria you might apply are: how do they depict the crimes committed; how do they portray the victims and murderers; how do they ascribe motives to people; what do they focus on and omit in their accounts. Papers should be emailed to me by noon on October 25.

Part V: Regional Human Rights Organizations

What regional arrangements exist to protect and promote human rights? How do they differ from universal systems? What are their advantages and disadvantages? How does the European system work?

• Commission to Study the Organization of Peace. Regional Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (1980).
• European Social Charter (revised). Strasbourg, 3.V.1996. Read "The Social Charter at a Glance."
• Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by Protocol No. 11 (1994). Rome, 4.XI.1950. See Summary of the Convention system, with particular attention to Protocol 11.
• Council of Europe. Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Rome, 4.XI.1950. Articles 31-36, 44, 46.

What kinds of conflicts does the European Court handle? With what results?

• Lustig-Prean et/and Beckett v. the United Kingdom (1999), nos/nos. 31417/96 et/and 32377/96 (Sect. 3). See highlighted excerpts.
• David Kaye. Khashiyev & Akayeva v. Russia. ECHR, February 24, 2005.The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 99, No. 4. (Oct., 2005), pp. 873-881.

How do the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights go about promoting human rights?

• American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man (1948)
• American Convention on Human Rights (1978). Articles 1-3, 33-34, 41, 44, 52, 61-63.
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Velasquez Rodriguez Judgment, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 4 (1988). See highlighted sections.

How does the African System attempt to enforce human rights? How does it compare with the European and Inter-American systems?

• African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Banjul Charter) (1981)
• African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. Communication 155/96. Concerning violations of the African Charter by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Third thought paper due at beginning of next class. Should to the duty to defend human rights include a duty to intervene by force where massive human rights violations are evident?

Part VI: The Role of States in Protecting and Enforcing Human Rights

What role do the legislative, judicial, and executive actions of states play in the promotion and observance of human rights? How has the spread of liberal constitutionalism helped these efforts?

• Minister of State for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v. Ah Hin Teoh, High Court of Australia,F.C. No. 95/013 (1995). Para. 1-7, 25-28, 34-37. In dissent, see Justice McHugh, paras. 37-39.
• Constitution of the Russian Federation (1993). Articles 15-18.
• Human Rights Violations Fueling Spread of HIV in Former Soviet Union. Open Society Press Release. June 30, 2003

Why has the United States been reluctant to participate in human rights treaties?

• Senate Hearings on International Human Rights Treaties (1979). Excerpts.
• U.S. reservations, declarations, and understandings, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 138 Cong. Rec. S4781-01 (daily ed., April 2, 1992).
• U.S. reservations, declarations, and understandings, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Cong. Rec. S17486-01 (daily ed., Oct. 27, 1990).
• Implementation of Human Rights Treaties. Exec. Order No. 13,107, 61 Fed. Reg. 68,991 (1998).

How and why do countries offer refuge to victims of human rights abuses in other countries?

• Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951). Article 1-5, 10, 12, 15-17, 27-28, 31-34. See in particular 1(A)(2).
• Protocol I relating to the Status of Refugees (1967). Article 1.
• 8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(42). Definition of Refugee.
• 8 U.S.C.A. §1208. Asylum Procedures. See highlighted criteria.

How do courts within one state deal with human rights violations that occurred in foreign countries?

• 28 U.S.C. §1350. Alien Torts Act (1789).
• Filartiga v. Pena-Irena, 630 F.2d 876 (2nd Circuit, 1980). See highlighted sections.
• Torture Victim Protection Act (1991)
• The Pinochet Case: Regina v. Bartle. House of Lords, 24 March 1999 [1999] 2 All ER 97. Read highlighted excerpts; full case also available.
• ACLU Sues Boeing Subsidiary for Participation in CIA Kidnapping and Torture Flights (May 30, 2007). You might want to watch the video linked to the site.
• Robert H. Bork, Judicial Imperialism, Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2003.

Part VII: Are Human Rights Universal? Claims and Challenges

What is the contemporary Western understanding of rights? What is the relationship between rights and duties in different traditions of political thought around the world?

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Human Rights: The Existence of Human Rights
• Declaration of Independence (1776). Paragraphs 1-2.
• Declaration of the Rights of Man (France, 1789)
• The Bill of Rights (U.S., 1791)
• Jomo Kenyatta. Facing Mount Kenya: The Tribal Life of the Gikuyu (1965).
• African Charter on Human and People's Rights (African Union 1981). Articles 18-29.

Are human rights universal, or does their legitimacy depend on their conformity with certain cultures?

• American Anthropological Association, Statement on Human Rights by the Executive Board, 49 Am. Anthropologist 543 (1947)
• Shashi Tharoor, "Are Human Rights Universal?" World Policy Journal, Vol. XVI, No. 4 (Winter 1999/2000)
• Nonkululeko Letta Bhe et al. vs. the Magistrate, Khayelitsha et al. The High Court of South Africa, (September 25, 2003). Read highlighted excerpts; or full text.

What conflicts exist between the traditional gender roles dominant in some cultures and universal human rights norms? What problems exist in developing a feminist perspective on human rights? What reservations have some states made concerning their acceptance of CEDAW?

• Reservations to CEDAW: see Niger, Singapore, France.
• Amnesty International. What Is Female Genital Mutilation?
• From Jomo Kenyatta, Facing Mount Kenya (1938)
• Yael Tamir. Hands Off Clitoridectomy (1996)
• Efforts to Ban Circumcision Gain Traction in California. New York Times, June 4, 2011

What conflicts exist between state sponsorship of particular religious belief or practice and universal human rights norms?

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Re-read Article 18.
• Human Rights Committee, General Comment 22, Article 18 (48th session, 1993). Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI\GEN\1\Rev.1 at 35 (1994).
• Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1979). Articles 1-4, 6-8, 12-14, 19-24, 57-61, 107-110.
• State, Religion and Personal Law in Israel (2000). Steiner, 493-498
• Kaadan v. ILA, P.D 54(1), H.C. 6698/95. Israeli High Court of Justice

According to international agreements, what rights do children have? What objections have been raised to the legitimacy of such rights? What kinds of practices raise serious children's rights issues?

• UNICEF. Guide to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. You might also browse through the treaty language: Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Articles 1-41.
• Human Rights Watch. Kenya Spare the Child: Corporal Punishment in Kenyan Schools. September 1999 (skim).
• Kalashnikov Kids. The Economist; July 10, 1999, Vol. 352 Issue 8127.
• Committee on the Rights of the Child Recommendation, No. 1. On Children in Armed Conflict (1998).

Part VIII: Current Topics in Human Rights

What is the proposed role of the International Criminal Court? What are the United States government's objections to submitting to its jurisdiction? What are the options for the prosecution of alleged criminals in states other than that where their crimes were allegedly committed? What are the advantages and disadvantages of such prosecutions?

• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Articles 5-9, 21.
• The First Case: Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army
• UGANDA: ICC indictments against rebels should stay, says President. Kampala, 21 September 2006 (IRIN)
• Mahmood Mamdani. The New Humanitarian Order (2008.)

How do nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) contribute to the promotion and enforcement of human rights? How effective are they? How has their role changed and developed over time?

• NGO Status at the UN
• UN Economic and Social Council. Resolution 1996/31, Articles 1-17.
• Arundhati Roy. Help that Hinders, Le Monde diplomatique, November 2004.
• Human Rights Watch. Darfur: Aid Workers Under Threat, April 5, 2005

How do truth commissions deal with massive human rights violations? What are the advantages of truth commissions? What challenges do they face, and what problems do they raise?

• Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (1998). Volume 1, Chapter 4: The Mandate, paragraphs 25-30, 34-35, 51-58, 64, 74-79, 121-123, 127-128, 152-155. Volume 5, Chapter 6: Findings and Conclusions, paragraphs 66-75.
• NPR: Speaking of Faith. Interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu (April 29, 2010).
• Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Project. Read project description, view the video.

Is there a right to collective self-determination? Under what circumstances can such a right--if it exists--be legitimately invoked? When has it been invoked in the past, and with what outcomes?

• List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
• Review: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Article 1.
• United Nations General Assembly. Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (1960). Declarations 1-7.
• Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation Among States, UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV). 24 October 1970. Read Article 1 ("1. Solemnly proclaims the following principles ...")
• "Kosovo MPs proclaim independence", BBC News Online, 17 February 2008. For background, see Wikipedia: The Kosovo Status Process (2006)

Through what arrangements may minority groups exercise self-determination or autonomy within a state? Is there a trend within the human rights movement toward recognizing the legitimacy of demands for internal self-determination?

• Review: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Article 27.
• Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. General Assembly Resolution 47/135 (1992). Articles 1-6.
• U.S. Is Appealing to Palestinians to Stall U.N. Vote. New York Times, September 3, 2011.

Course Wrap-up and Evaluations.

Macalester College · 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105  USA · 651-696-6000
Comments and questions to webmaster@macalester.edu