PROMOTING AND ENFORCING HUMAN RIGHTS

WHAT WILL WE LOOK AT?International Community

State Sovereignty

The Roles of UN Intergovernmental Organisations Courts, Tribunals and Independent

statutory authorities NGOs The Media

Australia

Incorporation of Human Rights into Domestic Law

Roles of Constitution

Division of Powers Separation of Powers

Statute Law Common Law Courts and Tribunals NGOs The Media Charter of Rights - arguments for and

agains

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

STATE SOVEREIGNTY Key part of being a nation state

Supreme control over its own territory

Absolute control over its legal system

Right to choose whether or not to recognise other nations or IGOS

Freedom to choose WITHOUT OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE

Each nation must accept and enforce human rights individually – the UN cannot enforce this

ASSESS THE ROLE OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY IN PROMOTING AND ENFORCING HUMAN RIGHTSpros

Nations can choose to adopt covenants and treaties to support human rights – may lead to higher level of compliance than if they were imposed

Promotes equality across nations (no one nation’s values are more important)

States could deal with breaches more efficiently than a global organisation

cons

Not all governments accept and acknowledge human rights

Governments can (and do) justify the mis-treatment of people by claiming “state sovereignty”

Breaches of human rights are difficult to punish – often the UN’s only recourse is to “lecture”

ASSESS THE ROLE OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY IN PROMOTING AND ENFORCING HUMAN RIGHTS “States are simultaneously a threat to human rights and their principal

protector” State Capacity, State Failure, and Human Rights, Journal of Peace Research

INTERNATIONAL ROLES…

THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN General Assembly

Main forum for international discussions, deliberations, declarations and recommendations. Made up of all UN member states (193).

UN Security Council

Responsible for maintenance of international peace and security.Has the power to intervene in the most serious Human Rights abuses by

states.

Economic & Social

Council

Multiple committees which act as a forum to discuss international issues re: economic, social, environmental and humanitarian concerns.

SecretariatProvides information, studies, tasks and facilities needed by the UN.

Comprised of UN Departments and offices. Main administrative body of the UN.

International Court of

Justice

Principal judicial organ; has jurisdiction to deal with international conflicts brought to them by member states and to advise on issues in

International Law.

OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein – current High Commissioner

OHCHR is part of the UN Secretariat, based in Geneva

Established in 1993

Aims to: Promote universal ratification and implementation of UDHR Promote universal enjoyment of human rights and international cooperation Provide support and information for other UN human rights bodies

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (UNHRC) Established in 2006

Responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe

Also aims to address situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them

Works closely with OHCHR

Established to replace the Commission on Human Rights – which was generally agreed to be ineffective

UNHRC has gained the backing of the US, which has strengthened its influence

HOWEVER, some have criticised the UNHRC for being too easily influenced by China and Russia

NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS

NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS Separate & independent from government. 

May take the role of observers at the UN, but others are completely separate

No authority to enforce Human Rights

They do often promote - can push & influence people with authority. 

In the 1990s, the number & strength of NGOs grew significantly. 

NGO ACTIONSDirect action

letters etc, that go directly to people who are able to stop the abuse

Eg:

Indirect action

naming and shaming, eg: reports and press releases

Eg:

NGO EFFECTIVENESS Criticism by NGOs has been found

to be more effective than criticism from IGOs (in Latin America - shame on you 2008)

Different NGOs have different strategies which in turn have different levels of influence.

Eg: if China were to criticise Australia, our government woulld be unlikely to listen because Ti An An Men Square... BUT NGOs are generally not involved in Human Rights Abuses, so governments are more likely to listen to them.

“Human rights criticism does lead governments to reduce repression of subsequent challenges in cases where there are relatively strong economic ties to other countries. However, the duration of this impact is relatively short - less than 6 months. Examination of the source of human rights criticism shows that criticism by NGOs, religious groups, and foreign governments was more effective than criticism from inter-governmental organizations.”

Shame on You: The Impact of Human Rights Criticism on Political

Repression in Latin America 2008

Amnesty International

When was it established?How large is it?Main way of operation?What does it aim to abolish?

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights WatchSince when?Main way of operation?Aims? (Themes)

SO... HOW EFFECTIVE ARE NGOS?LET’S LOOK AT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.Failures

targets larger nations

indirect action has had limited effect

less successful with disappearances & death penalty

target countries according to "donor interest"... Prioritised based on what people care about, not what's actually worst

Successes

admits this( says it focuses on nations where it can make a difference)

direct action has resulted in changes ("urgent action campaigns")

more successful with torture, prisoners of conscience, arbitrary arrest

THE MEDIA

Role - to report human rights abuses to the public by making them part of the news. Human rights are considered "important" when they're "newsworthy“

May act as a deterrent to the government - they make act (refuse to act) for fear of making the news.

Media may be a conscience trigger. Result in people acting after reading a story and then lobby the government of join an NGO etc. 

Supposed to be independent & to report facts. BUT, a media source may be government owned or influenced, or published and influenced by NGOs.

THE GUARDIAN

THE BBC

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ABC AUSTRALIA

Click icon to add picture

Although it is getting increasingly difficult for the ABC to report without fear of reprisals from our government

PROBLEMS Some places won't let journalists

publish freely. Eg: North Korea. 

Some news channels don't want to report negative stories. “Dumbing down of news.”

Proper journalism is harder to find than it used to be. 

Some people aren't allowed to access international news (eg: Myanmar; great firewall of China)

POSITIVESOnline Journalism

Provides access to international stories. 

However, it can still be controlled by the government…

Social Media

Instant and global. 

Has been largely successful

However, it can still be limited – eg: Syria pulled the plug on net

DOMESTIC LAW

How does Australia incorporate Human Rights into Domestic Law?

The difference sources of Human Rights in Australian Domestic

Law

Statute Law

Common Law

Constitution

THE ROLE OF THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION Only contains a few references to Human Rights

s.116 freedom of religion s.24 right to vote s.51(xxxi) right to acquisition of property on just terms s.117 the right not to be discriminated against as a result of residence in one state

Division and Separation of Powers Division of Powers – distribution of legislative rights between The Commonwealth

and the States Separation of Powers – separation of the Commonwealth into 3 arms: legislature

(parliament), executive (government & its departments), judiciary (court system) – all are equal before the law [“rule of law”]

Some rights have been found to be “implied” in the Constitution Roach v Electoral Commissioner (2007)

THE ROLE OF COMMON LAW AND AUSTRALIAN COURTS AND TRIBUNALS Traditionally, common law was the primary source of protection of

individual and collective rights (although this is changing)

Common law is limited in how much it can protect our rights by the fact that parliament can reverse its decisions through legislation – some people say this is a serious limitation, and this makes common law rights insignificant

Common law has also impeded human rights in Australia Right to legal representation Right to appeal Right to silence Discretion to admit evidence unlawfully gained