Methodological considerations

2021 ◽  
pp. 102-106
Author(s):  
William A. Schabas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Periodic Review ◽  
Treaty Ratification ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Universal Periodic Review ◽  
Methodological Considerations

Evidence for the existence of customary law is compiled, using the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a template. The pattern of treaty ratification is examined along with materials from the Universal Periodic Review, especially concerning States that are not parties to relevant treaties. The list is supplemented with rights omitted from the Declaration, such as the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, as well as with so-called peoples’ rights, to development, peace, and self-determination. Particular attention is directed to the customary nature of economic, social, and cultural rights.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 341-346
Author(s):  
William A. Schabas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Periodic Review ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Universal Periodic Review ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Treaty Law ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Review Mechanism ◽  
The Right

Custom poses challenges for its identification but at the same time it offers a potential for dynamism that may often be superior to that of treaty law. Recent developments, most importantly the near-universal ratification of major human rights treaties and the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the Human Rights Council, greatly facilitate the identification of customary law. It is clear that most of the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are unquestionably part of customary international law. Doubts may persist about a few rights, such as the right to property. Customary law also extends to ‘solidarity rights’ or ‘peoples’ rights’, whose reflection in treaty law is not so universal. Recognition of rights does not ensure that there are effective mechanisms for their enforcement and implementation.

scholarly journals Protecting expressions of Folklore within the Right to Culture in Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Enyinna Sodienye Nwauche
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Substantive Content ◽  
Human Rights Regime ◽  
United Nations Declaration ◽  
The Right

This paper explores the protection of expressions of folklore within the right to culture in Africa by considering three issues, which are the increased understanding of the right to culture in national constitutions and the recognition that customary law is a manifestation of the right to culture; an expanded understanding of the substantive content of the article 15(1) of the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as part of the right to culture; and the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples marked significantly by the 2007 United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People. The paper demonstrates how a human rights regime may assist in overcoming some of the deficiencies in the national protection of expressions of folklore in Africa.

Hunting by Indigenous Peoples of Charismatic Mega-Fauna: Does Human Rights Approach Challenge the Way Hunting by Indigenous Peoples is Regulated?

2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamrul Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Underdeveloped Area ◽  
Regulatory Approach ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
The Right

AbstractTwo International Covenants (the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) in common Article 1 highlighted that 'all peoples' have the right to self-determination to freely determine their 'political status' and freely dispose of their 'natural wealth and resources'. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in Article 27 provides protection of the rights belonging to minority cultures, religion and language. The idea of 'indigenous peoples' was apparently an underdeveloped area at the time of the adoption of the Covenants. The concept of indigenous peoples' rights has developed relatively recently. Thus, whether indigenous peoples are 'peoples' within the meaning of the Covenant, and thereby may be capable of enjoying the right to self-determination has been an unsettled case. When in many countries indigenous peoples form a minority, they are, however, identical as distinct from other minority groups in those countries because of their own way of livelihood and preservation of traditional culture and knowledge. Recent normative development pronounced by the Human Rights Committee suggests that indigenous peoples should be treated as 'peoples' within the meaning of Article 1 of the Covenant and as 'people' they have right to enjoy their traditional way of livelihood including right to enjoy their culture. Thus, the main focus of the article is to examine whether a human rights approach to indigenous peoples' rights has evolved to challenge the international regulatory approach currently applicable to the management of Whale and Polar Bear regime and their traditional hunt by the indigenous peoples.

Competing Values in World Culture and the Emergence of Middle Ground

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-50
Author(s):  
Eun young Song
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Rights Issues

AbstractThis paper, focusing on a Botswanan case of Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), illustrates how globalized norms in seeming competition nonetheless reveal a potential middle ground. In Botswana there have been conflicts between regimes of environmentalism and indigenous cultural rights. Environmental protectionism has been based on a concept of “pristine nature” which does not allow for human interaction. Thus, the more protected areas are designated, the more indigenous peoples' lands are claimed as nature reserves. This forces local peoples to abandon cultural practices such as hunting animals and gathering wild plants. In contrast, impelled by the ascention of human rights issues, advocacy groups for the unorganized fourth world and indigenous communities have been struggling to protect indigenous people's cultural rights, thereby giving prominence to human rights issues. NGO advocates for indigenous peoples as well as professionals involved with indigenous groups have found that indigenous people's practices are in fact not harmful to the ecosystem. Rather, their ethno-biological knowledge and customary activities contribute to balancing the local ecosystem. This means that conflicting guidelines can be harmonized in “buffer zones” around protected areas, and the buffering program that has resulted, that by CBNRM, has been widely accepted in Botswana and is likely applicable to other countries in which we find similar value competition.

scholarly journals Evolving Legal Protections for Indigenous Peoples in Africa: Some Post-UNDRIP Reflections

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-365
Author(s):  
Derek Inman ◽  
Dorothée Cambou ◽  
Stefaan Smis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Context ◽  
United Nations Declaration ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
The Right

Prior to the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) many African states held a unified and seemingly hostile position towards the UNDRIP exemplified by the concerns outlined in the African Group's Draft Aide Memoire. In order to gain a better understanding of the protections offered to indigenous peoples on the African continent, it is necessary to examine the concerns raised in the aforementioned Draft Aide Memoire and highlight how these concerns have been addressed at the regional level, effectively changing how the human rights norms contained within the UNDRIP are seen, understood and interpreted in the African context. The purpose of this article is to do just that: to examine in particular how the issue of defining indigenous peoples has been tackled on the African continent, how the right to self-determination has unfolded for indigenous peoples in Africa and how indigenous peoples' right to free, prior and informed consent has been interpreted at the regional level.

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