Human Rights and the State

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Cardenas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
National Human ◽  
The World ◽  
New Institutions ◽  
Human Rights Standards ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions

The modern state’s role vis-à-vis human rights has always been ambiguous. States are the basic guarantors of human rights protections, just as they can be brutal violators of human rights. This basic tension is rooted in the very notion of statehood, and it pervades much of the literature on human rights. As the central organizing principle in international relations, state sovereignty would seem to be antithetical to human rights. Sovereignty, after all, is ultimately about having the last word; it is virtually synonymous with the principle of territorial non-interference. Meanwhile, humanitarian intervention would at first glance seem to be a contravention of state sovereignty. Yet not all observers interpret human rights pressures as a challenge to state sovereignty. Modern states can be highly adaptive, no less so when confronted with human rights demands. One of the principal, if overlooked, ways in which states have adapted to rising global human rights pressures is by creating new institutions. This is reflected in the formation of national human rights institutions (NHRIs): permanent state bodies created to promote and protect human rights domestically. These state institutions are remarkable due to their rapid and widespread proliferation around the world, the extent to which they sometimes represent a strategy of appeasement but nonetheless can be consequential, and their potential for domesticating international human rights standards.

R2P and National Human Rights Institutions

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-341
Author(s):  
Veronika Haász
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Community ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
National Human ◽  
International Human ◽  
Human Rights Standards ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions ◽  
Domestic Level

National Human Rights Institutions (nhris) have rapidly proliferated worldwide in the last twenty years. They play an important role in the implementation of international human rights standards at the domestic level. Examples, especially from the African and Asian regions show that the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) relates to the work of nhris. Some institutions were established as one of the outcomes of peace processes in order to advance reconciliation and prevent future abuses. Where nhris already exist, the institutions may promote and protect human rights in each phase of the R2P. This paper discusses what role nhris can take up in assisting governments, the international community, and people before, during and after crisis situations. Through concrete country examples, it also highlights the challenges that the institutions must face, and summarises the limits of their influence.

Making Human Rights a Reality

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie M. Hafner-Burton
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Population ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
National Human ◽  
The World ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions

In the last six decades, one of the most striking developments in international law is the emergence of a massive body of legal norms and procedures aimed at protecting human rights. In many countries, though, there is little relationship between international law and the actual protection of human rights on the ground. This book takes a fresh look at why it's been so hard for international law to have much impact in parts of the world where human rights are most at risk. The book argues that more progress is possible if human rights promoters work strategically with the group of states that have dedicated resources to human rights protection. These human rights “stewards” can focus their resources on places where the tangible benefits to human rights are greatest. Success will require setting priorities as well as engaging local stakeholders such as nongovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions. To date, promoters of international human rights law have relied too heavily on setting universal goals and procedures and not enough on assessing what actually works and setting priorities. This book illustrates how, with a different strategy, human rights stewards can make international law more effective and also safeguard human rights for more of the world population.

From gatekeepers to GONGOs

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona McGaughey
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
National Human ◽  
Heterogeneous Nature ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions

Despite growing awareness of the importance of the role of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in monitoring international human rights law, there is as yet little analysis of the heterogeneous nature of NGOs and of the relationships between NGOs engaging with the United Nations (UN). This socio-legal analysis was drawn from 26 interviews with key stakeholders across the UN, Governments and NGOs. The article analyses, problematises and maps the NGO role, presenting a taxonomy with six categories of NGOs engaging with UN human rights bodies - international facilitative, gatekeeper, imperialist, domestic self-sufficient, domestic dependent and Governmental Non-governmental Organisations (GONGOs). It also considers the role of National Human Rights Institutions in engaging with the UN, vis-à-vis the NGO role. A preferred NGO model of engagement according to those in the UN receiving NGO reports is presented. The article concludes that NGOs play a pragmatic role in addressing limitations of the UN human rights system, and a normative role in contributing to global democratisation and governance.

Monitoring: The Role of Independent Mechanisms

2021 ◽  
pp. 174-187
Author(s):  
Gauthier de Beco
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
System P ◽  
National Human ◽  
Set Up ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions ◽  
Paris Principles

This chapter concerns the role of independent mechanisms. It explains what national human rights institutions (NHRIs) are as well as the fundamental principles that should guide these institutions as set out in the Paris Principles. It then examines the requirement to set up a ‘framework including one or more independent mechanism’ in accordance with the CRPD as well as the way in which such mechanisms relate to the said Principles and all the possibilities open to States Parties regarding this framework. It finishes by exploring what the reference to the Paris Principles has come to mean for NHRIs and what the Convention reveals in the field of international human rights law through its elaborate monitoring system.

24. Within the state

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Byrnes ◽  
Catherine Renshaw
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Common Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
General Law ◽  
National Human ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Common ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions ◽  
Domestic Law

This chapter examines the state’s role in promoting and protecting human rights, and is organized as follows. Section 2 deals with substantive protections: the nature, status, and scope of human rights protections under national law. These include the incorporation or other use of international human rights norms in domestic law, constitutional guarantees of rights, human rights legislation, protection under the general law, including the concept of the rule of law, and the common law. Section 3 considers institutional protections of human rights. It briefly outlines the types of institutions that commonly play a role in the implementation, monitoring, and protection of human rights, including the courts, the executive, and the legislature, as well as mechanisms such as ombudsmen and national human rights institutions.

Africa's National Human Rights Institutions and the Responsibility to Protect

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 458-478
Author(s):  
Webster Zambara
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
National Human ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
International Human ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
National Human Rights Institutions ◽  
The Cold War

AbstractThe essay argues that one of the greatest shifts in the international humanitarian order heralded by the end of the Cold War has been the concept of holding state sovereignty accountable to an international human rights standard. It argues that while the concept of R2P has generally focused on humanitarian intervention at a macro level, the period since the 1990s has also witnessed an increase of micro-level institutions, in the form of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) that can advance R2P, including 31 such institutions in Africa. NHRIs can potentially bolster R2P and foster peace in countries in which they operate. The general popularity of R2P as an international standard is contrasted with the great suspicion with which it is regarded by a number of governments—particularly in Africa, where sovereignty is guarded with passion as a result of the anticolonial struggles that gave birth to national independence on the continent. The author further argues that NHRIs—when properly institutionalised and functioning optimally—can play an important role in protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, and have the potential to help countries attain international human rights norms and standards without unduly threatening their sovereign independence. The essay examines the role of NHRIs in the four cases of Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa, and assesses the establishment and operation of African NHRIs using measures formulated by the internationally agreed Paris Principles of 1993.

Gender Parity, Legal Pluralism, and Human Rights of Indigenous Women: An Outlook from Mexico

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy Estrada-Tanck
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Indigenous Women ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Gender Parity ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Context Specific

Mexico is one of the world leaders in the move towards parity measures for women’s representation, through its constitutional requirement of equal gender representation in legislative candidacies. Mexico has also been on the frontlines of the trend to constitutionally recognize indigenous rights, including self-government. However, the link between the two movements remains controversial. On the one hand, electoral parity for women in state institutions has not translated into a significant increase in the representation of indigenous women. On the other, indigenous women have often been excluded from participating within indigenous forms of governance. Courts have been inconsistent in their interpretation of parity norms and participation rights. To address this challenge, indigenous women have appealed to gender equality, parity democracy, and international human rights, but also to context-specific goals, including the need to tackle violence against indigenous women as well as the grave poverty and vulnerability affecting indigenous peoples.

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