USSR

1990 ◽  
Vol 30 (S1) ◽  
pp. 71-72

The ICRC travelled to the Soviet Union on several occasions, in particular to Moscow, Vilnius, Minsk, Kiev, Tashkent and Boukhara. The aim of the visits was, on the one hand, to develop contacts with Red Cross and Red Crescent representatives and government officials, and on the other hand, to participate in seminars on international humanitarian law and human rights.

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 193-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Kalmanovitz

In recent debates about the interplay between international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), two broad camps have emerged. On the one hand, defenders of what may be called the convergence thesis have emphasized the inclusion of basic rights protections in the so-called “Geneva instruments” of IHL, as well as the role of human rights bodies in interpreting and amplifying rights protections in IHL through juridical or quasi-juridical interpretation and pronouncements. In armed conflicts, it is said, human rights apply concurrently and in ways that strengthen the protective constraints of IHL. Critics of the convergence thesis, on the other hand, have protested that pressing human rights obligations on state forces misunderstands the nature of both IHL and IHRL, and generates misplaced and impossibly onerous demands on belligerents—ultimately and perversely, the effect of emphasizing convergence may be less, not more, human rights protection.


1980 ◽  
Vol 20 (217) ◽  
pp. 171-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Moreillon

The theme of this paper is not an easy one. The difficulty of our subject is twofold: on the one hand, two of its three facets (peace and human rights) raise conceptual and interpretative problems; on the other hand, to deal with them together would involve finding a common factor, something which is not obvious even—perhaps especially—within the limited framework of the Red Cross movement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (4/2019) ◽  
pp. 193-206
Author(s):  
Darko Simović

The adoption of the Act on Prevention of Domestic Violence was driven by the creation of a more effective legal framework for the protection of victims of domestic violence, and, therefore, also by the alignment of the legal system of the Republic of Serbia with international obligations. The main novelties include multi-sectoral cooperation and primarily preventive nature of the law. However, from its very adoption, it has been pointed to its noticeably repressive character, as well as to provisions with potentially harmful impacts. Hence, this paper represents a contribution to the discussion on the importance and scope of the solutions provided for in the Act on Prevention of Domestic Violence. On the one hand, it points to major novelties intended to contribute to a more effective prevention of domestic violence. On the other hand, it questions the constitutionality and appropriateness of some of the legal solutions, arguing that, in particular respects, the lawmaker had to use a wiser and more subtle approach to conceptualising the provisions of this law.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Clarke

In an attempt to impose limits on the level of acceptable incidental civilian suffering during armed conflict, international humanitarian law (IHL) articulates a proportionality formula as the test to determine whether or not an attack is lawful. Efforts to comply with that formula during the conduct of hostilities can involve a host of legal and operational challenges. These challenges have inspired a growing body of doctrinal and empirical research. A recent international conference in Jerusalem, co-sponsored by the Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, brought together human rights lawyers, military experts and scholars from a variety of disciplines to assess recent developments relating to the proportionality principle in international humanitarian law. This report examines ten conference presentations which offer important insights into: the nature, scope of application and operational requirements of the proportionality principle under IHL; the modalities of investigation and review of proportionality decisions; and the challenges involved in proportionality decision-making.


1994 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
BAOHUI ZHANG

Recent studies of democratization generally emphasize the role of elites and political pacts in transitions to democracy. They usually give little attention to the institutional conditions for elite's successful pact making. This article argues that although choices by elites are important, pact making does require certain institutional conditions. By examining the democratization experiences of Spain, Brazil, the Soviet Union, and China in 1989, this article argues that only some types of authoritarian regimes have the historical possibility of following a pacted transition. Specifically, the author argues that corporatist regimes have unique advantages in following such a path. On the other hand, the totalitarian institutional legacies of once-entrenched communist regimes left democratic oppositions as broadly based social movements and their leaders with strong populist tendencies. These, the author argues, create structural obstacles to democratization through elite's pactmaking for these regimes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio Ferrari

The conflicts between rights of God and human rights are on the rise. On the one hand, there are some rights that are qualified as human rights in the most important international conventions and in many national constitutions. As such, they are to be respected always and everywhere. On the other hand, there are rights that are directly or indirectly attributed to the will of God. Their respect is regarded as a religious obligation to be upheld even when it implies the violation of human rights. These are the terms of the conflict and the fact that they sink their roots in non-negotiable beliefs – rights related to the very nature of man vs. rights dependent on the will of God–makes this conflict particularly serious and complex. This article discusses the structural and historical causes of this conflict and proposes a few strategies to reduce the tensions between these two sets of rights.


2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (887) ◽  
pp. 1125-1134 ◽  

With the globalisation of market economies, business has become an increasingly prominent actor in international relations. It is also increasingly present in situations of armed conflict. On the one hand, companies operating in volatile environments are exposed to violence and the consequences of armed conflicts. On the other hand, some of their conduct in armed conflict may lead to violations of the law.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) engages with the private sector on humanitarian issues, with the aim of ensuring compliance or clarifying the obligations that business actors have under international humanitarian law (IHL) and encouraging them to comply with the commitments they have undertaken under various international initiatives to respect IHL and human rights law.In times of conflict, IHL spells out certain responsibilities and rights for all parties involved. Knowledge of the relevant rules of IHL is therefore critical for local and international businesses operating in volatile contexts. In this Q&A section, Philip Spoerri, ICRC Director for International Law and Cooperation, gives an overview of the rules applicable to business actors in situations of conflict, and discusses some of the ICRC's engagement with business actors.Philip Spoerri began his career with the ICRC in 1994. Following a first assignment in Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, he went on to be based in Kuwait, Yemen, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Geneva, he headed the legal advisers to the Department of Operations. He returned to Afghanistan as head of the ICRC delegation there from 2004 to 2006, when he took up his current position. Before joining the ICRC, he worked as a lawyer in a private firm in Munich. He holds a PhD in law from Bielefeld University and has also studied at the universities of Göttingen, Geneva, and Munich.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-144
Author(s):  
Tomasz Gajownik

The non-aggression pact concluded in November 1932 between France and the Soviet Union was on the one hand the peak achievement of French diplomacy in implementing the plan of strengthening influence in Central and Eastern Europe, and on the other the growing position of Moscow in the international arena. The signed document was the first inter-state agreement concluded by France and the USSR. From the perspective of the Second Polish Republic, the Franco-Soviet rapprochement could have had certain unfavorable consequences. That is why both civilian and military factors closely watched the negotiation process between both parties and tried to determine the actual state of bilateral relations.


Author(s):  
Erasmus Mayr

This comment examines the impact of Buchanan’s and Sreenivasan’s critique of the mirroring view on some established theories of human rights, in particular on ‘political’ accounts like Joseph Raz’s, which consider human rights to be a subclass of moral rights. It is argued that, on the one hand, such theories are not best understood as relying on the mirroring view, and, on the other hand, that they have resources to defend the mirroring view against Buchanan’s and Sreenivasan’s criticisms.


Author(s):  
Yaron Harel

This chapter assesses the appointment and removal of Rabbi Solomon Eli'ezer Mercado Alfandari as ḥakham bashi in Damascus. At the end of October of 1894, Rabbi Alfandari arrived in Damascus, where the community had great hopes of him. But, great as the hopes were, so were the disappointments. Just two weeks after Rabbi Alfandari's arrival in Damascus, complaints were already beginning to be heard regarding his shortcomings and his comprehensive lack of ability in modern community administration. He was not fluent in Arabic, the language of the country, in which most of the community's business was conducted, both internally and between itself and its immediate environment. Nor did he have proper command of Turkish, the language of the senior government officials. Thus from the outset there was a gulf between himself and the community on the one hand, and between himself and the local officials on the other hand. Members of the community were also troubled by the considerable expense involved in the appointment of Rabbi Alfandari. The Damascus community might nevertheless have borne the cost had it not been for the fact that Rabbi Alfandari became embroiled in arguments and disputes with nearly all the groups around him, both within and outside the community. The opposition to Rabbi Alfandari was of course led by Rabbi Yitshak Abulafia.


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