Karl Barth’s Christology and Jan Christian Smuts’ Human Rights Rhetoric

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-161
Author(s):  
Michelle Wolff
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
South African ◽  
Natural Theology ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Domestic Policy ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Liberal Politics ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
Alternative Vision

South African statesman Jan Christian Smuts’ (1870–1950) domestic and international politics diverge greatly; his domestic policy has been eschewed as a precursor to apartheid (1948–1994), but his international policy heralded for advancing human rights rhetoric because he authored the charters for both the League of Nations (1920) and United Nations (1945). Scholars struggle to reconcile these seemingly conflicting legacies. WEB du Bois, Peder Anker, and Saul Dubow suggest that Smuts embodies capitalist greed, bad science, and redefined political terms. I argue that Karl Barth’s theology adroitly illuminates the problem of empire for Smuts and present day appeals to human rights rhetoric. Barth’s theology poses a three-fold challenge to Smuts. First, Barth articulates a critique of natural theology found embedded within Smuts’ philosophy of holism; second, Barth critiques liberal politics that Smuts typifies; and, third, Barth’s refusal to side with Eastern or Western empires runs counter to Smuts’ imperial sensibilities. Ultimately, I argue that Barth’s Christology offers a constructive alternative vision for sociality.

scholarly journals Protection of Children’s Human Rights and Health: A Legacy of Julian Kramsztyk, Janusz Korczak, and Ludwik Rajchman

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2333794X1775415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Woltanowski ◽  
Andrzej Wincewicz ◽  
Stanisław Sulkowski
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Medical Doctors ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Emergency Fund ◽  
Pediatric Disorders ◽  
Scientific Achievements

Tutor of generations of Warsaw medical doctors, Julian Kramsztyk (1851-1926) was son of Rabbi Izaak Kramsztyk, Polish patriot and fighter for independent Poland. Julian Kramsztyk graduated in medicine from Warsaw University in 1873 to soon work as a supervisor of the Internal Diseases Department of Bersohns and Baumans Children’s Hospital from 1878 to 1910, and despite of refusing professorship from Imperial Warsaw University, he worked as a lecturer of pediatric disorders from 1880 with strong association of his medical practice with scientific and editorial tasks as well as engaging in charity. This article focuses on selective retrieval of biographical data of social and scientific achievements of followers of Julian Kramsztyk: his student, pioneer of children human rights, and pioneer of healthy patterns of nutrition of children, pediatrician Janusz Korczak (Henryk Goldszmit; 1878 or 1879-1942); and a skilled bacteriologist and a brilliant epidemiologist who was a prominent activist of the League of Nations (later United Nations Organization), cofounder of the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund), and the first chairman of the Organization from 1946 to 1950, which was primarily dedicated to “provide emergency food and health care to children in postwar time,” Ludwik Rajchman (1881-1965). Janusz Korczak works laid foundation for international recognition of children rights to health, respect, education, privacy, and all the other human rights to be included in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In 1989, nutrition and vaccination issues were the main medical interests of these medical doctors and still remain major fields of UNICEF actions.

Les minorités dans la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme, une absence délibérée

2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 557-590
Author(s):  
Fernando Arlettaz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
The United Nations

Summary The League of Nations established, in the interwar period, a legal regime for the protection of minorities which considered them as intermeditate groups between the State and the individuals. On the contrary, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the United Nations, assumed a radically individualistic point of view and did not include any mention to minority rights. The travaux préparatoires of the Universal Declaration suggest that the question of minorities caused strong tension among States and that, for this reason, they avoided its inclusion in the 1948 document.

The Commonwealth and Domestic Jurisdiction

1961 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Howell ◽  
Robert R. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
South African ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
Domestic Jurisdiction ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Racial Policy ◽  
The Government

The United Nations Security Council in a resolution passed on August 9, 1960, reaffirmed that “the United Nations force in the Congo will not be a party to or in any way intervene in or be used to influence the outcome of any internal conflict. …” A Commonwealth state, Ceylon, was a cosponsor of this precedent-making resolution. A few weeks earlier the Government of Malaya had announced a boycott on South African goods in protest against South Africa’s racial policy, another dispute involving a domestic jurisdiction plea. Commonwealth members have been parties to approximately half of the disputes in League of Nations or United Nations history that are fairly classifiable as involving pleas of domestic jurisdiction. These recent actions of Ceylon and Malaya suggest that the newer members of the Commonwealth will be no less active in shaping the domestic jurisdiction concept than the older members have been.

Part I The Human Rights Mandate of the Principal Organs, 3 The Economic and Social Council

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mégret Frédéric
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Social Council ◽  
Central Piece ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Significant Change

This chapter looks at the Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) role in promoting human rights. The ECOSOC, whose origins lie in ambitious proposals drawn up in 1939 within the League of Nations for a ‘Central Committee for Economic and Social questions’, was supposed to be the central piece of that machinery, one that would work for the purpose of achieving ‘international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character’. Yet, ECOSOC has never been as central a body in the United Nations as one might have expected it to be. In every proposal for reform, it is one of the prime candidates for significant change or even elimination. The chapter suggests that this has significantly hampered its potential contribution to human rights over the years.

Lauterpacht in Jerusalem

2021 ◽  
pp. 75-99
Author(s):  
Rotem Giladi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Legal Standing ◽  
National Institutions ◽  
Jewish Experience ◽  
Law Faculty ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Hebrew University ◽  
The Right

This is the first of two chapters to explore the theme voice underscoring Israel’s ambivalence towards the right of petition in the draft Human Rights Covenant: the right of individuals to present grievances before the United Nations. The chapter revisits Hersch Lauterpacht’s Jerusalem lecture, delivered on the occasion of the Hebrew University’s semi-jubilee. Lauterpacht’s ‘reproach’ of Israel’s cool attitude towards the right of petition is assessed against the backdrop of his own investment in Zionism and human rights, and in light of interwar Jewish experience with the right of petition. The chapter traces the involvement of Jacob Robinson and Nathan Feinberg, Dean of the Hebrew University Law Faculty and Lauterpacht’s host, in the Bernheim petition—and their resentment of the need of Jewish national institutions to approach the League of Nations through the confines of individual legal standing. These ideological sensibilities framed Jewish representation politics before and after Israel’s establishment.

Iqbal Masih. Le nuove schiavitů

2009 ◽  
pp. 43-63
Author(s):  
Gabriele Turi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
International Labour Organization ◽  
Chattel Slavery ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Definition Of

- The definition of slavery used by the international organizations - League of Nations, International Labour Organization, United Nations - has acquired an ever broader significance: in place of chattel slavery, it has come to include the different forms of the violent subjection of men, women and children in order to exploit them. The "new forms of slavery" of the contemporary period differ from the traditional ones (which still exist in some countries, such as Mauritania), while still maintaining various elements of continuity with them. The comparison between old and new forms of slavery can deepen our understanding of both at the historiographic level.Key words: Slavery, Contemporary Slavery, Human Trafficking, Human rights.Parole chiave: schiavitů, nuove schiavitů, tratta, diritti umani.

scholarly journals The Limits of Authoritarian International Law

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 247-251
Author(s):  
Chibli Mallat
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
World Federation ◽  
Perpetual Peace ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
The World ◽  
The One

Tom Ginsburg's concept of “authoritarian international law” (AIL) is as important as the one it references, Thomas Franck's “right to democratic governance.” It underlines how the promise carried by Franck was betrayed in the bitter turn of history that ended the emerging hope for democracy ruling all nations in the world after 1989. This hope had developed by fits and starts as the slow fulfilment of the Kantian project for “perpetual peace” amongst a world federation of democratic republics on which the League of Nations and the United Nations were built. To the now-universal acknowledgment of the grave domestic setbacks to human rights and democracy, Ginsburg's article adds an account of the international setbacks which followed. Its chief importance is in raising the question of the emergent authoritarian traits of international law in the wake of these setbacks. With my appreciation of Ginsburg's formidable treatment, including a title that will mark, like Franck's, an important moment in the field, I will challenge some of his conclusions and offer counterpoints in the present essay. In particular, I will (1) suggest the irrelevance of the three “evils of AIL”; (2) highlight the significance of 2006 as the date when AIL started rising; (3) emphasize the importance of U.S. isolationism in the rise of AIL; and (4) argue that the better investment to counter that rise is in nonviolence.

scholarly journals Namibia, After Three Years: Political Independent but Economic Unstable

Afrika Focus ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Willemot
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
South African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Collaboration ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Government

Namibia became independent on the 21st of March 1990, after seventy-five years of South African colonial and racial rule. SWAPO fought a long war for liberation, but the independence was also gained thanks to the diplomatic pressure from the United Nations. The United Nations were actively involved in the organisation of the first free elections which were held on the 7th of November 1989. The SWAPO liberation movement became by far the most important political party in the Namibian Parliament. But from the beginning the SWAPO-leaders explained that the past should be forgotten. They promoted a constructive political and economic collaboration with all Namibians, African and European. Due to this atmosphere of reconciliation Namibia had a successful political independence. One of the world's most progressive constitutions was written. It ends all racial discrimination and guarantees an extensive review of the human rights. The rules for the organisation of the legislative, executive and judiciary power are respected by all political parties. Namibia is without any doubt an example for a lot of African countries, which are now making steps towards democracy and multi-partyism. The Namibian government has still a lot of problems to deal with. The major ones are the social and economic inequalities that still exist between African and European Namibians. The conditions of life of the European Namibians are comparable to these in modern western societies, while African Namibians are living in poverty. The government will have to change this, because in the long term one cannot expect to build democracy on empty stomachs. But in order to realize the necessary economic growth, Namibians are also counting on the support and the investments from abroad. A member of government recently said: "Now we've installed democracy and the human rights are respected, where are the foreign in- vestments and the international aid?" 

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.

Part II Historical and Legal Sources, Ch.13 The Protection of Minorities under the Auspices of the League of Nations

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kovacs Peter
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Protection System ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Specialized Institution

This article examines the protection of minority rights under League of Nations. It explains that the League was created to be a specialized institution for minorities but the mechanism for responding to the grievances of the minorities was developed only after the Versailles peace conference in 1919–20. It discusses the main principles and structures of the League of Nations mechanism and the complaints procedure. This article also explains that the League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations in 1946 but its minority protection system was not included in the responsibilities of the new organization. It also highlights the contribution of the League to the evolution of the doctrine of the international legal protection of human rights.

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