Evolution of Intersectionality in the UN Treaty Bodies

2021 ◽  
pp. 54-77
Author(s):  
Johanna Bond
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Intersectionality Theory ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

This chapter details the increasing attention to intersectionality theory within the work of the UN human rights treaty bodies, committees of experts who oversee implementation of the human rights treaties. Although scholars and activists have explored and advocated for intersectionality theory in the international human rights context for almost twenty years, the UN has been slow to incorporate and make use of intersectionality’s insights. Since approximately 2000, UN treaty bodies have cautiously begun to explore intersectionality as a theoretical framework for examining rights violations. The results of this trend are encouraging. When the treaty bodies embrace intersectionality, they are better able to reflect and remedy the complexity of human rights violations. Remedies focused only on one axis of discrimination, in contrast, provide only limited relief for victims and stymie a full and nuanced understanding of the violations at issue.

The Fallacy of Effective Human Rights Protection under Relevant Treaty Law when Armed Groups Commit Violations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilman Rodenhäuser
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human

Chapter 5 adds to the contemporary discourse on human rights obligations of non-state armed groups by showing that in many situations, there is a clear legal need for these obligations. This chapter first engages in the debate on whether and to what extent certain human rights treaties address armed groups directly. Second, it shows that under the law of state responsibility, states are generally not responsible for human rights violations committed by non-state entities. Third, it recalls that under international human rights law, states have an obligation to protect human rights against violations committed by armed groups. However, it argues that because this cannot be a strict obligation but is one that depends on states’ capacities and the particular circumstances, often this framework cannot adequately protect individuals against human rights violations by armed groups. The result is a legal and practical need for human rights obligations of non-state armed groups.

Disability in International Human Rights Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gauthier de Beco
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Social Model ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Legal Subject ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
International Instruments

This book examines what international human rights law has gained from the new elements in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons (CRPD). It explores how the CRPD is intricately bound up with other international instruments by studying the relationship between the Convention rights and those protected by other human rights treaties as well as the overall objectives of the UN. Using a social model lens on disability, the book shows how the Convention sheds new light on the very notion of human rights. In order to so, the book provides a theoretical framework which explicitly integrates disability into international human rights law. It explains how the CRPD challenges the legal subject by drawing attention to distinct forms of embodiment, before introducing the idea of the ‘dis-abled subject’ stemming from a recognition that all individuals encounter disability-related issues in the course of their lives. The book also examines how to apply this theoretical framework to a number of rights and highlights the consequences for the implementation of human rights treaties as a whole. It not only builds upon available literature straddling different fields, which include disability studies and legal and political theory, but also draws upon the recommendations of treaty bodies and reports of UN agencies as well as disabled people’s organisations. The book provides an agenda-setting analysis for all human rights experts by inviting them to appreciate the benefits of placing disabled people at the heart of international human rights law.

Part IV The Right to Reparation/Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, A The Right to Reparation, Principle 32 Reparation Procedures

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
d’Argent Pierre ◽  
de Ghellinck Isabelle
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
International Level ◽  
Human Right ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right ◽  
Procedural Aspect

Principle 32 deals with the procedural aspect of the right to reparation, that is, the right for victims of human right violations to access remedial procedures. It addresses three issues: the right to access remedial procedures, procedural requirements of national reparation programmes, and regional and international procedures. While the obligation of states to provide effective remedies is enshrined in most of, if not all, the key international human rights treaties, Principle 32 provides for a right to all victims to access remedies. ‘Reparation’ and ‘remedies’ are both envisioned as victims’ rights, but the distinction between them is vague. After providing a contextual and historical background on Principle 32, this chapter discusses its theoretical framework and how the reparation procedure, judicial or administrative, dealing with gross violations of human rights at national or international level has been implemented.

Early Marriage: A Violation of Girls' Fundamental Human Rights in Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Mutyaba
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Early Marriage ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
African Countries ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
Life Education ◽  
Harmful Cultural Practices

AbstractAlthough African countries have ratified international human rights treaties that recognize girls' fundamental human rights to life, education, non-discrimination, freedom from degrading, inhumane and cruel treatment, and protection from harmful cultural practices, girls' human rights continue to be violated because of the prevalent practice of early marriages in most African countries. Whereas early marriages affect both girls and boys, girls are disproportionally affected by this practice which is rooted in culture and religion. Girls who get married before they are 18 years old are not physically, emotionally and mentally prepared for their roles as mothers and wives. African countries have an important role to play in ending early marriages to stop the human rights violations that girls experience when they get married before they are 18 years.

The Idea of International Human Rights Law

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Wheatley
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Moral Concept ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
Fragmentation Of International Law

International Human Rights Law has emerged as an academic subject in its own right, separate from, but still related to, International Law. This book explains the distinctive nature of the new discipline by examining the influence of the moral concept of human rights on general international law. Rather than make use of moral philosophy or political theory, the work explains the term ‘human rights’ by examining its usage in international law practice, on the understanding that words are given meaning through their use. Relying on complexity theory to make sense of the legal practice in the United Nations, the core human rights treaties, and customary international law, The Idea of International Human Rights Law shows how a moral concept of human rights emerged, and then influenced the international law doctrine and practice on human rights, a fact that explains the fragmentation of international law and the special nature of International Human Rights Law.

The Institutional Future of the Covenants

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felice D Gaer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Body System ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Treaty Monitoring ◽  
Treaty Body ◽  
International Human ◽  
Normative Standards ◽  
Individual Petition

Longstanding proposals to strengthen implementation of the international human rights treaties have often focused on procedural reforms such as harmonizing methods of work or consolidating ten treaty monitoring bodies into one. This article reviews past reform efforts and then considers proposals to create stronger individual petition mechanisms—including a ‘world court’—as a way of strengthening human rights implementation. After discussing these proposals, the author offers additional ways to make the system more effective and efficient. She rejects the oft-suggested proposal to create a ‘world court’ for human rights, noting legal, organizational, logistical, and financial obstacles. Rather than rushing to tear down the current treaty body system, the author offers a proposal for determining how consolidation of petition proceedings might affect normative standards.

The role of international human rights organisations in the context of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-31
Author(s):  
Nina I. Karpachova
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
International Human

The task of this paper is to study the role of international human rights organizations in response to the conflict taking place in eastern Ukraine. The study is based on recent reports from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the OSCE on Ukraine. The relevance of the stated topic is determined by the situation with human rights violations in the armed conflict in Ukraine and the significant role of international human rights organizations, making active efforts to resolve it. The purpose of this study is to determine the main aspects of the role that international organizations play in resolving this range of issues. This will help to identify potential opportunities to tackle the problem with human rights violations in the Ukrainian territories. The study combines quantitative and qualitative research of the entire spectrum of issues brought into the subject. The main results obtained are: analysis of the role and place of international human rights organizations in assessing the situation with the conflict in the Ukrainian territories and obtaining statistical information on the current status of human rights violations in these territories. The value of this paper lies in obtaining practical recommendations for finding ways to peacefully resolve the conflict in the East of Ukraine and implementing comprehensive measures to create conditions for the protection of human rights in this region

Human rights violations during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed R.M. Elshobake
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the most prominent human rights violations during the COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with international human rights law. Design/methodology/approach Through doctrinal and legal study and content analysis, this paper analyses the important relevant legal provisions under International human rights law and applies these provisions to the reality of managing the COVID-19 crisis to identify the most prominent human rights violations during the COVID-19 outbreak. This research paper considered as a review paper in that it provides a review of the most prominent measures taken during the COVID-19 crisis, which constitutes violations of international human rights law. Findings It is concluded that some measures that have been taken by countries to confront the COVID-19 pandemic have constituted violations of human rights and did not comply with the legal conditions to restrict human rights. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the ugly fractures in health-care systems, health inequities, racism and discrimination, Undermining the right to freedom of expression and the right to access information, gross negligence in protecting detainees from COVID-19 infection, all of these constitute clear violations of the principles of international human rights law. Research limitations/implications The spread of COVID-19 has not stopped, and its effects still continue, including human rights violations. Therefore, this paper cannot enumerate all human rights violations that occur during the spread of COVID-19. Practical implications Based on the results in this paper, governments need to be more prepared to face any health crisis at all levels including health care, which would reduce human rights violations. Social implications This research paper reflects positively on the social reality, as the adoption of its recommendations leads to the provision of adequate health care to all members of society in accordance with the principles of human rights, granting them the right to access information, protecting their right to freedom of expression, reducing the phenomenon of racism and discrimination and providing adequate health care to all detainees. Originality/value This paper studies an up-to-date topic that we are still living and seeing its effects. The benefit of this paper is to provide recommendations that protect human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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