Beyond standards before status: democratic governance and non-state actors

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNE-MARIE GARDNER
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Community ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
International Support ◽  
International Response ◽  
State Actors ◽  
Democratic Norms ◽  
To Receive

AbstractAre international standards of democratic governance applied to sub-state actors as well as to states? By examining the international response to self-determination claims, this article demonstrates that the international community does indeed hold sub-state groups accountable to such standards. Claimant groups that have internalised human rights and democratic norms are more likely to receive international support in the form of empowerment (promoting some form of self-governance). Through a comparison of the Kosovars’ quest for self-determination with the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians’ claim, the article suggests that ‘standards before status’ is neither unique to Kosovo nor a deviation from the pre-1999 international response to that claim.

Can Armed Non-state Actors Exercise Jurisdiction and Thus Become Human Rights Duty-bearers?

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-305
Author(s):  
Amrei Müller
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
State Actors ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Understanding ◽  
Normative Logic

Abstract Recent literature and United Nations documents advocate that most armed non-state actors (ANSAs) should be bound by human rights law. This article takes a more critical stance on this issue. It argues that only a limited number of ANSAs should potentially become human rights duty-bearers: those that exercise de facto (human rights) jurisdiction and thus have considerable institutional and military capacities, as well as particular normative characteristics. It specifies these capacities and characteristics with an analysis of ANSAs’ practice that tentatively indicates that some of these entities may indeed exercise de facto jurisdiction. The argument is justified by highlighting the broader consequences that recognising ANSAs as human rights duty-bearers will entail. It will also endow them with privileges that will legitimise their authority over time. This is grounded in the normative logic of human rights law that emphasises the interrelationship between human rights, equality and democracy that also permeates the notion of jurisdiction and is further supported by a political understanding of the right to self-determination. The article closes with a brief sketch of two complementary ways to develop international law binding ANSAs to be further explored in future research: the so-called ‘responsibilities for human rights’ and an adapted law of occupation.

scholarly journals Entre os Direitos Culturais e a Ecologia Humana / Between Cultural Rights And Human Ecology

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (57) ◽  
pp. 828-851
Author(s):  
Larissa Fernanda De Alencar Souza ◽  
Juracy Marques dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Ecology ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Cultural Ecology ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

Resumo: O trabalho em epígrafe visa discutir as relações que se estendem entre os direitos culturais e a Ecologia Humana. De forma bibliográfica e analítica, apresentamos o percurso que leva da definição de cultura aos direitos culturais. Dentro dessa discussão, analisamos a Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos como primeiro passo de promoção dos direitos culturais, importante para aprofundamento da discussão e extensão no devido debate. Num segundo momento, destacam-se os direitos culturais e políticas públicas culturais no Brasil, apresentando um histórico que passa pela constituição a aplicação de direitos culturais por meio das políticas públicas desenvolvidas. Por conseguinte, se discute a Ecologia humana em seu âmbito de Ecologia Cultural, em favor de analisar a importância de direitos culturais dentro desta matéria. Com base na Declaração de Friburgo, documento internacional que versa sobre a aplicação de direitos culturais, essa análise se dará através de 3 aspectos: a autodeterminação dos povos, o direito a identidade e patrimônio cultural, e os princípios de governança democrática. Assim, compreendemos que a ecologia humana cultural e os direitos culturais possuem uma relação mútua e interdependente para alcançar seus objetivos. Palavras-chave: Ecologia Cultural; Direitos Humanos; Autodeterminação dos Povos; Governança Democrática. Abstract: The above work aims to discuss the relationships that extend between cultural rights and Human Ecology. In a bibliographical and analytical way, we present the path that leads from the definition of culture to cultural rights. Within this discussion, we analyze the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a first step in promoting cultural rights, which is important for deepening the discussion and extending the due debate. In a second moment, cultural rights and cultural public policies in Brazil stand out, presenting a history that goes through the constitution and application of cultural rights through the developed public policies. Therefore, human ecology is discussed in its scope of cultural ecology, in favor of analyzing the importance of cultural rights within this matter. Based on the Friborg Declaration, an international document that deals with the application of cultural rights, this analysis will be carried out through 3 aspects: the self-determination of peoples, the right to identity and cultural heritage, and the principles of democratic governance. Thus, we understand that cultural human ecology and cultural rights have a mutual and interdependent relationship to achieve their goals. Keywords: Cultural Ecology; Human Rights; Self-determination of People; Democratic Governance. 

scholarly journals Constituent Power, the Rights of Nature, and Universal Jurisdiction

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Colón-Ríos
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
International Community ◽  
Universal Jurisdiction ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
The Right

This article provides a justification for the exercise of universal jurisdiction in cases of serious environmental damage. This justification rests in important ways on the theory of constituent power. The theory of constituent power has an intergenerational component that requires the protection of the environmental conditions that allow future generations to engage in constitution-making episodes. This article maintains that, by virtue of the connections between constituent power, the right to self-determination, and state sovereignty, the justification for the exercise of universal jurisdiction for serious environmental damage is at least as compelling as the justification for its exercise with respect to egregious human rights infringements. In those scenarios, courts exercising universal jurisdiction would be acting to protect the ability of present and future peoples to participate in the constitution and reconstitution of the states that make up the international community. Such a jurisdiction would rest on the authority of humanity as a whole rather than on that of any state or people.

scholarly journals RELEVANCE OF RIGHT TO ECONOMIC SELF-DETERMINATION (RESD) PRINCIPLES OF INDONESIAN SOVEREIGNTY IN BILATERAL INVESTMENT TREATY (BIT)

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Mutia Evi Kristhy ◽  
H. Suriansyah Murhaini
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Bilateral Investment Treaty ◽  
Investment Treaty ◽  
Bargaining Position ◽  
Sovereign Authority

The RESD principle is relevant for protecting the sovereignty of the Indonesian state in BIT negotiations, formulations and implementation. This relevance is based on the willingness and ability of the Indonesian state to exercise its sovereign authority responsibly in managing foreign investment. Accountability of sovereignty functions in the context of foreign investment can be proven through the willingness and ability of the functions it carries to ensure the availability of political good and public good to all parties who invest in their jurisdiction. Proving the country can be done through three main principles of the implementation of state sovereignty, namely responsibly, in accordance with good governance, and international standards of civilization. These three principles are manifested in the country's willingness and ability to guarantee political good in carrying out foreign investment relations with foreign investors and partner countries. Political good in this context is democratic governance (rule of law), good governance (anti-corruption). The implication of this legitimacy is that the state is spared or even cannot be interfered by other authorities, because it has a bargaining position. Keywords: Right to Economic Self-Determination (RESD), Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), Sovereignty.

Haile Selassie, the League of Nations, and Human Rights Diplomacy

2020 ◽  
pp. 64-95
Author(s):  
Derrick M. Nault
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Community ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Chemical Weapons ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Awareness

Chapter Three proposes that former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, a figure rarely mentioned in histories of human rights, made significant contributions in the realm of human rights diplomacy in the 1930s. Following Fascist Italy’s invasion of his nation in 1935, he persistently lobbied the League of Nations to uphold Ethiopia’s right to self-determination and punish Italy’s use of chemical weapons and other violations of the Geneva Protocol and Hague Conventions, raising international awareness of Italian war crimes in Africa. As is also shown, he adroitly drew attention to the shortcomings of the League’s Covenant, providing vital lessons for the founding of the United Nations (UN). While Selassie was deposed in the 1970s due to numerous failures as a leader, the chapter demonstrates that for almost three decades he enthralled the international community and prompted rethinking on Europe’s relations with its African colonies that had long-term significance for human rights.

Due Diligence in Cyber Activities

2020 ◽  
pp. 252-270
Author(s):  
Eric Talbot Jensen
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
National Security ◽  
Cyber Security ◽  
International Community ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
State Actors

This chapter analyses the application of the principle of due diligence with regard to cyber activities. Both states and non-state actors have been actively engaged in cyber operations, causing significant transboundary harm. Cyber security has hence become one of the top national security priorities for states across the international community. The chapter argues that the lack of acceptance of a robust due diligence principle with respect to cyber activities is currently creating an extremely dangerous and uncontrolled cyber environment that leaves the international community at risk of significant cyber consequences. The acceptance of a more robust application of cyber due diligence would dramatically decrease the instability of the cyber environment and strengthen international peace and security. The chapter points out that such an acceptance would carry certain risks, including the potential of states using the duty to prevent harm as an authorisation for repression of human rights, but argues that its potential benefits would far outweigh such risks.

Initiative Center for the Decolonization of Estonia

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-229 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Community ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
World War ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Second World

In the twentieth century, and particularly under the influence of the Second World War, the international community, in the interests of normal relations, has considered it necessary to agree on certain fundamental principles, such as the observance of universal human rights, the right of nations to self-determination, the equality of the rights of big and small nations, impermissibility of aggression, and liberation from the yoke of colonialism. These principles are written in international conventions, the UN charter and several of its resolutions, and recognized by the majority of states.

A Human Rights-Based Approach to Humanitarian Assistance

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-293
Author(s):  
Maria Giovanna Pietropaolo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
International Aid ◽  
International Community ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
Human Rights Based Approach ◽  
To Receive

With a view to transcending purely philanthropic or political approaches to disaster relief overlooking the entitlement of victims of a catastrophe to be assisted, this article analyses humanitarian assistance from a human rights perspective. Humanitarian aid operations are presented as the result of the interaction between the human rights of people affected by disasters and the corresponding governmental obligations. A distinction is made between the current scenario of disaster relief in which the relevant rights are the ones to life, food, health and medical services, water, adequate housing and clothing, and a prospective regime in which a human right to receive humanitarian assistance is recognized by the international community. The juxtaposition of the two regimes highlights the differences in the levels of protection they afford. It also proves that, in both cases, the adoption of a human rights-based approach safeguards affected people by empowering them to challenge governmental decisions to refuse international aid and by placing under international scrutiny the measures taken by sovereign States to protect their populations in the aftermath of catastrophes.

The Right of Secession in Public International Law

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 24-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Turp
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Community ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
Right Of Self Determination

SummaryIn light of the numerous secessionist claims witnessed by the international community, it is of great interest to ascertain if international law provides for a right of secessionist self-determination. An analysis of treaty provisions encompassing the right of self-determination of peoples, namely the United Nations Charter and the Human Rights Covenants, suggests that the latter treaties consecrate an authentic right to secede. Such a right appears to be unhindered by any customary norm which would prohibit secession as a means of implementation of the right of self-determination of peoples, seeing that the practice of States is clearly divided on the issue of secession. It is submitted, however, that there is a need for more detached criteria with respect to the right of secession, its beneficiaries and its conditions of exercise and, consequently, for an acknowledgement, to the benefit of the international community as a whole, of the legitimacy of national affirmations and secessionist claims.

scholarly journals Between De Jure and De Facto Statehood: Revisiting the Status Issue for Taiwan

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-128
Author(s):  
Barry Bartmann
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
International Support ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
International Response ◽  
Island State ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Republic

This paper revisits the status prospects for Taiwan in light of recent events in Kosovo and Tibet. In both cases, and certainly in Taiwan itself, the long standing contest between claims for self determination and the tenacious defence of the principle of the territorial integrity of states has emerged once again to dominate the analysis of these cases. This contest is particularly dramatic in the divided international response to the independence of Kosovo. In the case of Tibet, widespread international support for Tibet is in sharp contrast to the furious and determined resistance of China. Taiwan’s anomalous status remains that of a legal sovereign state, the Republic of China, enjoying some measure of recognition and formal diplomacy and a de facto state whose international relations are confined to paradiplomatic channels, extensive though they are. The paper considers the prospects for changes in the current anomalous status of the island state.

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