Famine Crimes in International Law

2003 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Marcus
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Major Element ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Ethiopian Government ◽  
The Government

Some of the worst human rights catastrophes of the twentieth century were famines created or manipulated by governments. In 1932 at least five million Ukrainians starved to death, while hunger was largely unknown across the border in Russia.The Soviet government imposed disastrous grain quotas on the Ukraine, then let its own citizens literally collapse in the streets while it exported grain to further its “revolutionary” objectives.The Ethiopian famine of 1983-1985, preserved in popular memory as a natural disaster of biblical proportions, most fiercely struck those parts of the country that harbored irredentist movements. In a stunning, but telling, rejoinder to international pity for the purportedly hapless Ethiopian government, the Ethiopian foreign minister told a U.S. chargé d’affaires that “food is a major element in our strategy against the secessionists.” Since 1994, more than two million out of a population of twenty-two million in North Korea have starved to death, while South Koreans, affected by similar weather patterns, have remained completely untouched by famine. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), trying to distribute aid earmarked for famine victims, have watched helplessly as the government callously interfered and have arrived at the conclusion that “the authorities are deliberately depriving hundreds of thousands of truly needy Koreans of assistance.”

Contributory Fault under International Law: A Gateway for Human Rights in ISDS?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farouk El-Hosseny ◽  
Patrick Devine
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Investment Treaty ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Government ◽  
Bear Creek ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract The intersection between foreign investment and human rights is gaining attention, as is evident from an increasing number of investment treaty awards analysing legal issues relating to human rights. In the recent International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration of Bear Creek v Peru, Philippe Sands QC posited, in a dissenting opinion, that the investor’s contribution to events—ie protests against its allegedly adverse environmental impact and disregard of indigenous rights, namely resulting from its ‘inability to obtain a “social licence”’—which led to the unlawful expropriation of its investment, was ‘significant and material’. He further noted that the investor’s ‘responsibilities are no less than those of the government’ and found that damages should thus be reduced. Last year, the Netherlands adopted a new model bilateral investment treaty (BIT), which allows tribunals to ‘take into account non-compliance by the investor with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises’ when assessing damages. These recent developments shed light on how states and tribunals, as part of their decision-making process, can take into account human rights in practice, and crucially in respect of damages analyses. By first dissecting the concept of contributory fault, then shedding light on the intersection of investment treaty law and human rights, as elucidated in recent jurisprudence, this article questions whether there now exists a gateway for human rights obligations (soft or hard) in the investment treaty arbitration realm through the concept of contributory fault.

Introduction

Veiled Power ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Doreen Lustig
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Private Business ◽  
Business Corporation ◽  
Conceptual Analogy ◽  
Late Nineteenth

Corporations have limited responsibilities in international law but enjoy far-reaching rights and privileges. International legal debates often conceive of this issue as a problem of business accountability for human rights violations. Conceptually, the issue of corporations in international law has focused on whether or not they are, or ought to be, recognized as ‘subjects’ of responsibility in international law and on the adequate conceptual analogy to the corporation. The introduction presents an alternative way of thinking about the role of international law and its relevance to the private business corporation. It traces the emergence of the contemporary legal architecture for corporations in international law and shows how modern international law constitutes a framework within which businesses and governments allocate resources and responsibilities—a framework that began to operate as early as the late-nineteenth century and continued throughout the twentieth century.

Intervention by Invitation

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory H. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Government ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

This chapter examines the debate concerning a state’s intervention in internal armed conflicts based on invitation, either from the government or from a rebel group fighting against the government. It looks at the issues that arise from intervention by invitation, particularly those relating to the territorial integrity of the state, the status of the actors involved, the nature of the consent, and implications for international law in general and for politics and human rights in particular. The chapter first considers the traditional view of intervention by invitation and the recent challenges to that view. It then discusses the negative equality principle as it applies to intervention in civil wars, as well as the link between intervention by invitation and democratic legitimacy. It also analyses the position of the UN Security Council on intervention by invitation.

An Old Judge Remembers

2002 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Lagergren ◽  
George H. Aldrich
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Hague

Gunnar Lagergren has performed many notable functions in the course of the twentieth century, most of which resulted in significant contributions to international law and, in particular, to the settlement of international disputes. As an arbitrator, he handled a number of important cases, including that between India and Pakistan concerning the Rann of Kutch and the Taba boundary arbitration between Egypt and Israel. He served with distinction on a number of important tribunals, including the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg and the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal at The Hague, where he was its first President.

scholarly journals POLITIK HUKUM KESETARAAN KAUM PEREMPUAN DALAM ORGANISASI MASYARAKAT ISLAM DI INDONESIA

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Habib Shulton Asnawi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Trademark Law ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Islamic Society ◽  
Practical Level

In the normative level, generally all agreed to place women are equal to men, that is the position as humans, as well as the servant of Allah. Women are recognized to have a number of rights and freedoms, including the right to engage in politics, especially in the organization of the Islamic society. To strengthen the protection of women's rights, the government of Indonesia to make a policy or legislation (political law), both to improve policies of national legislation and policies ratified international law. However, when the policy (political law) or a pattern of gender relations between men and women drawn into operational a practical level, it appears that a long debate and a serious problem occurs. The rights of women experiencing prolonged discrimination, discrimination and marginalization occurs at the level of political rights and policies in the organization of Islamic society. In Indonesia, the rights of women in Islamic society organization, still have enough depth concerns. The pro and contra related to gender equality in Indonesia, particularly in the field of Islamic society organizations would affect the wheels of government in Indonesia, particularly in relation to the State of trademark law is the protection and freedom of human rights. Therefore, policies need to be related to equality between men and women both fair and legal.

scholarly journals The Perils of Jirga and the Miserable Plight of Women

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-148
Author(s):  
Hamida Bibi ◽  
Surat Khan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Verbal Abuse ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Suicidal Attempts ◽  
The Government ◽  
Forms Of Violence

This study was conducted to critique and asses the institution of Jirga and its practice of Swara. The data was collected through vis-à-vis semi-structured interviews from the Jirgees and Swaras, the two most proximate stakeholders of the institution of Jirga. For the analysis of data, the tool of Thematic Analysis, developed by Braun and Clarke (2015), was used. The findings of the study show that Jirga — besides being unconstitutional — is involved in multifarious inhumane practices and its members are mostly uneducated. Its decisions are completely void of the canon international law and human rights. Jirga is involved in the felonious practice of Swara. Swaras — women atoned by Jirga in reprisal for an offence — are living wretched lives facing multifarious forms of violence, discrimination, humiliation and other forms of inhumane behaviors. Besides, they are suffering from depression, inferiority complexes, suicidal attempts, malnutrition, verbal abuse, etc. The findings also imply that illiteracy, passivity and condonement of the judiciary and law enforcing agencies, and the higher rate of crimes in the area are the factors contributing to the practice of Swara. In the light of the findings, the researcher recommends that the practice of reprisal reiterated by Jirga should be completely extirpated. Education should be disseminated and the government and law enforcing agencies should work in proximity to mitigate the rate of crimes in the area. The government should frame inclusive economic policies in order to promote peace and prosperity in the area.

Domestic Human Rights Adjudication in the Shadow of International Law: The Status of Human Rights Conventions in Israel

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barak Medina
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Government

The quarter-century anniversary of Israel's ratification of the major United Nations (UN) human rights treaties is an opportunity to revisit the formal and informal interaction between domestic and international Bills of Rights in Israel. This study reveals that the human rights conventions lack almost entirely a formal domestic legal status. The study identifies a minor shift in the scope of the Israeli Supreme Court's reference to international law, as the Court now cites international human rights law to justify decisions that a state action is unlawful, and not only to support findings that an action is valid. This shift may be the result of other reasons, for instance, a ‘radiation’ of the Court's relatively extensive use of international humanitarian law in reviewing state actions taken in the Occupied Territories. However, it may also reflect a perception of enhanced legitimacy of referring to international human rights law as a point of reference in human rights adjudication following ratification of the treaties.At the same time, the Court continues to avoid acknowledging incompatibility between domestic law and international law. It refers to the latter only to support its interpretation of Israeli constitutional law, as it did before the ratification. This article critically evaluates this practice. While international human rights law should not be binding at the domestic level, because of its lack of sufficient democratic legitimacy in Israel, it should serve as an essential benchmark. The Court may legitimise a human rights infringement that is unjustified according to international law, but such incompatibility requires an explicit justification. The Court, together with the legislature and the government, are required to engage critically with the non-binding norms set by the ratified UN human rights treaties.

Beneath International Famine Relief in Ethiopia: The United States, Ethiopia, and the Debate over Relief Aid, Development Assistance, and Human Rights

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Kissi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Famine Relief ◽  
Mutual Antagonism ◽  
Ethiopian Government ◽  
The Government

Abstract:This article analyzes the conflicting interpretations of famine, relief aid, development assistance, and human rights by the Ethiopian and American governments, and the complexity of each government's policy and motives. It argues that in the 1970s and 1980s, the Carter and Reagan administrations faced the moral and political dilemma of assisting people in Ethiopia who were in desperate need with-out strengthening the hostile Ethiopian government in the process. And the government of Ethiopia had to make the difficult choice of accepting American aid on American terms at a period in Ethiopian history when doing so was politically suicidal. That America provided the aid and Ethiopia accepted it exemplifies the conduct of international relations in which human dignity compels nations to accommodate one another even within the boundaries of their mutual antagonism.

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