The “Right to Know” or “Know Your Rights”?

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph J. Amon
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Global Organizations ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Grassroots Groups ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
The Right ◽  
Living With Hiv

Human rights abuses fuel vulnerability to HIV infection and act as barriers to universal access to prevention, treatment, and care. This has been recognized in numerous international declarations, and attention to human rights has been incorporated into the mission statements and work plans of grassroots groups and global organizations alike. Yet how recognition of this relationship is translated into action varies. This explores different contexts in which the claim of one particular right, the “right to know,” has emerged, and how this claim relates to the experience of people living with HIV. The “right to know,” defined variously and used to advance competing and controversial agendas, is then contrasted with efforts encouraging individuals to “know their rights.”

scholarly journals Access to Archives in Post-Communist Countries: The Victim’s Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edita Gruodytė ◽  
Silvija Gervienė
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
Repressive Regime ◽  
The Right ◽  
Communist Countries

AbstractThe collapse of the communist regime at the end of the twentieth century resulted in a wave of democratization in Central and Eastern Europe. While trying to establish democracy, many states in this region had to demonstrate their ability to protect human rights and to deal with the past of the repressive regime. As these states decided to join various human rights instruments they also became subject to certain obligations towards their people. One of these obligations is the requirement to provide remedies in case of human rights abuses, and the right to know the truth is recognized as part of it. Therefore the goal of this article is to identify the abilities of the victim of the communist regime to access the files of former secret services in post-communist countries in the light of the right to know the truth. The answer is provided using an analysis of international documents, historic, comparative and systemic methods, providing and evaluating the practice of different states dealing with the files of former secret services or government files of the repressive past and academic literature.

La spinta verso una legislazione europea comune sul diritto di conoscere le proprie origini genetiche / The push towards common European legislation with respect to the right to know one’s genetic origins

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 747-761
Author(s):  
Gianluca Montanari Vergallo ◽  
Natale Mario Di Luca
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Legislation ◽  
Anonymous Birth ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
Genetic Origins ◽  
The Right

A venti anni dalla sua approvazione, la Convenzione di Oviedo necessita di un aggiornamento. Infatti, non affronta la questione del diritto dei bambini nati da fecondazione eterologa di conoscere l’identità dei donatori di gameti. La Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo ha recentemente stabilito che: a) il diritto di conoscere le proprie origini biologiche è tutelato dall’art. 8 della Convenzione dei diritti dell’uomo; b) tale diritto deve essere bilanciato con quello della madre biologica di rimanere anonima (c.d. parto anonimo). Al fine di trovare tale bilanciamento, una possibile soluzione consiste nel richiedere ai giudici di convocare la madre per chiederle se intende revocare l’anonimato. Se la madre ribadisce la propria originaria intenzione di rimanere sconosciuta, il Tribunale non può consentire al figlio di conoscere la sua identità. Gli autori analizzano anche altre due questioni non prese in considerazione dalla Corte europea: a) l’equilibrio tra il diritto di conoscere le proprie origini e quello dei donator di gamete all’anonimato; b) se tale diritto dei bambini nati da fecondazione eterologa vincoli i genitori legali a rivelargli le modalità del concepimento. Tali problemi e l’importanza degli interessi in gioco inducono gli autori a sostenere che la scelta di usare il citato art. 8 come criterio di giudizio non è affatto ottimale. Appare preferibile affrontare queste questioni attraverso un aggiornamento della Convenzione di Oviedo o comunque con modalità tali da arrivare ad una regolamentazione che sia uniforme all’interno dell’Unione europea. ---------- Twenty years since it was opened for signature, the Oviedo Convention needs updating. It does not deal with the issue of the donor-conceived children’s right to know the identity of the gamete donors. The European Court of Human Rights has recently stated that: a) the right to know one’s biological background is protected by article 8 of the Convention on Human Rights; b) such a right must be balanced with the biological mother’s right to anonymity (anonymous birth). In order to find such balancing, a possible solution might be to require judges to summon mothers to ask them whether they would like to reverse their decision to be anonymous. If the mother reaffirms her intention to remain unknown, the court may not allow the child to learn of her identity and contact her. The authors also analyze two other issues not taken into account by the European Court: a) the balancing between the right to know one’s origins and the gamete donors’ right to anonymity; b) whether the donor-conceived children’s right to know would make it mandatory for legal parents to disclose conception procedures. These problems and the importance of the interests at stake induce the authors to argue that the choice to keep using the above mentioned article 8 as yardstick is far from ideal. It appears to be far preferable to deal with these issues while updating the Oviedo Convention or in such a way as to incentivize the enactment of legislation that would be uniform throughout the European Union.

Part II The Right to Know, A General Principles, Principle 2 The Inalienable Right to the Truth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Groome Dermot
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
International Courts ◽  
International Convention ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Instruments

Principle 2 is concerned with the inalienable right to truth, a right that arises from the right to know and obliges governments to establish mechanisms to facilitate the revelation of the truth about serious violations of human rights. The right to truth has been explicitly incorporated into several international instruments and, in 2010, became expressly guaranteed in the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED). In practice, the right to truth is realized through laws enabling requests for state-held information; archives; truth commissions; national and international courts; and human rights commissions. After providing a contextual and historical overview of Principle 2, this chapter describes its normative (legal/ethical) foundation, focusing on how its interpretation is influenced by international law and how it relates to notions of transitional justice. It also analyzes the applications of the Principle in practice.

scholarly journals Role of ombudsman institution in forming a culture of human rights

2021 ◽  
pp. 96-104
Author(s):  
E. M. Pavlenko
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Right

The article considers the formation of a culture of human rights as a guarantee of constitutional norm on the highest value of a person, his/ her rights and freedoms. Considerable attention is paid to the activities of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation in this direction, including those directed to ensuring the right to know one's rights. A number of proposals for the Commissioner's further work in this area have been formulated.

scholarly journals The Right to Know the Truth in the Light of the Right to Privacy: The Case of Victims of the Communist Regime in Europe

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-310
Author(s):  
Edita Gruodytė ◽  
Silvija Gervienė
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Privacy Rights ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
Effective Remedy ◽  
The Right ◽  
Communist Countries

Abstract The right to know the truth is established as one of the rights constituting the right to effective remedy but in post-Communist countries this right is limited to victims of the Communist regime because of failure to access the files of former secret services on two different grounds: certain victim’s information is protected as personal data on the grounds of privacy rights and certain files are still kept as a classified information. Thus, the article analyses if such limitations in post-Communist countries are compatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The answer is provided using mainly an analysis of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Lithuania as a case study was chosen for the analysis in a situation where certain files are kept as classified information.

Part II The Right to Know, C Preservation of and Access to Archives Bearing Witness to Violations, Principle 14 Measures for the Preservation of Archives

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cadelo Valentina ◽  
Peterson Trudy Huskamp
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Bearing Witness ◽  
Public Records ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
State Practice ◽  
The Right ◽  
Technical Measures

Principle 14 outlines measures for the preservation of archives, a fundamental corollary to the right to know the truth. In order to preserve governmental and nongovernmental archives, their destruction must be prevented and active steps need to be taken to prolong the life of the materials. Technical measures and penalties must prevent any removal, destruction, concealment or falsification of archives to ensure that there will be no impunity for perpetrators of violations of human rights and/or humanitarian law. Preserving archives is particularly important during periods of governmental transition and regime change. After providing a contextual and historical background on Principle 14, this chapter discusses its theoretical framework as well as state practice on public records and archives.

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