scholarly journals Aboriginal relationships to the natural world: colonial ‘protection’ of human rights and the environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Watson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Terra Nullius ◽  
The Face ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Colonial Policies

Colonialism has challenged Aboriginal obligations and relationships to the natural world. This article describes the efforts of First Nations on the continent now known as Australia to maintain their authority and existences in the face of neoliberalism and colonialism, which the British initially inflicted and under which we still survive. The colonial policies of Australia denied our existence and at the same time attempted to demolish our languages and cultures, and to assimilate the consequences. This article asks the questions: what underpins state claims to the title to Aboriginal lands? Does Australia renounce terra nullius and the racist principles and beliefs which make up such a doctrine? And finally does Australia acknowledge and support all ‘Peoples’ as having an inherent right to self-determination, and as a component of such a right, that all ‘Peoples’ have a right to collectively care for their country and to benefit from a relationship to the land which sustains future generations of all Peoples? The possibility of a future for all life forms on earth lies in the responses states might deliver to these questions.

The protection and promotion of human-rights

2020 ◽  
pp. 384-398
Author(s):  
Irina Ichim
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
State Repression ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Government Propaganda ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Civic Space ◽  
Recent Government

This chapter explores developments in the protection of human-rights in Kenya post-2002 by examining three interconnected issues: changes in the social and political landscape and how these created or constrained opportunities for activism; changes in the relationship between the state and the human-rights sector, but also within the human-rights sector; and evolving patterns of (non-)state repression of activism. The chapter shows that, against the background of a complex historical experience, and with the help of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution and a reformed judiciary, the human-rights sector in Kenya has grown into a staunch and able defender of civic space in the face of recent government assaults. However, government propaganda and the sector’s institutionalization simultaneously coalesce to disconnect the sector from the public. Coupled with divisions between professional and grassroots defenders, this disconnect risks limiting the sector’s ability to build on the momentum presented by recent achievements.

scholarly journals Constituent Power, the Rights of Nature, and Universal Jurisdiction

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Colón-Ríos
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
International Community ◽  
Universal Jurisdiction ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
The Right

This article provides a justification for the exercise of universal jurisdiction in cases of serious environmental damage. This justification rests in important ways on the theory of constituent power. The theory of constituent power has an intergenerational component that requires the protection of the environmental conditions that allow future generations to engage in constitution-making episodes. This article maintains that, by virtue of the connections between constituent power, the right to self-determination, and state sovereignty, the justification for the exercise of universal jurisdiction for serious environmental damage is at least as compelling as the justification for its exercise with respect to egregious human rights infringements. In those scenarios, courts exercising universal jurisdiction would be acting to protect the ability of present and future peoples to participate in the constitution and reconstitution of the states that make up the international community. Such a jurisdiction would rest on the authority of humanity as a whole rather than on that of any state or people.

Autointerpretation, Competence, and the Continuing Validity of Article 2(7) of the UN Charter

1977 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The United Nations

With the failure of the United Nations to control the use of force by states to the degree that many had wished for, the attention of many commenators shifted to what was hoped would be more fertile ground—the protection of human rights, self-determination, and other areas in which the organization might play a supranational role. In discussing the development of the supranational aspect of the organization, attention is invariably directed to Article 2(7) of the Charter which is, of course, the current symbol of sovereignty. Since most visionaries are frustrated by the concept of sovereignty, it is not surprising that this article has received little sympathy on the part of many who are more concerned with ends than means. Yet it is doubtful whether the concept may be dismissed summarily and, since it plays such a key role in so many of the allegedly developing fields of international law, one would do well to consider how Article 2(7), properly interpreted, affects the legal assumption on which supranationalism is based.

scholarly journals The Principle of Self-Determination in the Context of Human Rights

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 25-36
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Gadkowski
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
International Human

The essay presents the issue of the principle of self-determination from the perspective of international human rights law. The author highlights the close relationship between the principle of self-determination and the principle of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. In practice, the principle of self-determination is a prerequisite for the effective guarantee of human rights, and, at the same time, guaranteed protection of human rights is a prerequisite for implementing the principle of national self determination. The author presents the issue of self-determination in the context of the basic regulations of international human rights law, considering regulations of both a ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ law character.

Policing and Preventing Human Right Abuses in Africa: The OAU, the AU & the NEPAD Peer Review

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 461-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Akokpari
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Failed States ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The Face ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Playing Fields ◽  
United Nations Charter

In spite of being signatories to the United Nations Charter and the African Charter on Rights, human rights abuses are rife in African countries. The democratic wave that swept across Africa in the early 1990s and witnessed the demise of many authoritarian regimes only minimised the practice of human rights violations; it did not abate it. There are still reports of opposition activists being jailed without trial for daring to seek level playing fields in politics; journalists being detained or sometimes forced into exile for daring to expose corruption in high places; academics being threatened with arrests for daring to write about mis-governance; workers being dismissed for attempting to unionise or to ask for better remuneration in the face of currency devaluations and inflation. There are countless instances of gross human right abuses, which cannot be recounted here because of time constraints. In some instances, the state has completely failed to promote peace, welfare and private property. Perhaps it is appropriate to describe these states as “failed states.” They are failed states because in spite of maintaining law and order, they are unable to perform their traditional functions, including the protection of human rights.

scholarly journals The Northern Ireland Peace Agreement: Evolving the Principle of Self-Determination

1999 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-171
Author(s):  
Paul R. Williams ◽  
Sabrineh Ardalan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Way

Central to this article is the evolution of the nature of the principle of self-determination. The main focus will be on the examination of a recent instance of state practice — the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement. In particular, the way in which the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement has given effect to the primary elements of self-determination, including democratic self-government, the protection of human rights, and the protection of minority rights will be discussed.

scholarly journals OS MIGRANTES E REFUGIADOS, OS IMPACTOS DA COVID-19: RESPOSTA, POR MEIO DE PLANOS E DADOS

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 148-162
Author(s):  
Wellington Boigues Corbalan Tebar ◽  
Edinilson Donisete Machado
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Basic Sanitation ◽  
The Face ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Descriptive Method

This paper aimed to analyze, in general, the situation of migrants and refugees in the face of the adversities generated by the pandemic of COVID-19. During this period, the vulnerability of these groups of people was noted, either by the exclusionary behaviors of the society in which they are inserted, or by the measures taken by the governments to contain the impacts of the disease, as well as mitigation of its effects. To this end, data were presented, referring to the main impacts generated by the health crisis, as well as recommendations for National States to develop adequate response plans. It was found that the situation in the refugee camps is also worrying. The confinement of several people, in the same place, whose number often exceeds the occupation capacity, added to the precarious conditions of health, hygiene and basic sanitation, facilitates the spread of the virus, becoming easy targets of the disease. That is why it was concluded that, as the situation of vulnerability worsens, due to the evolution of the pandemic, so much more effective must be the responses to be given by national governments to guarantee human rights to this group of people. The research took, as a reference, official documents prepared by international organizations (global and regional level) for the protection of human rights. And the exploratory-descriptive method was used, with a qualitative approach, as official documents were analyzed, prepared by international organizations (at global and regional level) for the protection of human rights.

Institutions with responsibility for human rights protection under the African Union

2004 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Lloyd ◽  
Rachel Murray
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
African Union ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Organization Of African Unity ◽  
The Face ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Subject

The transformation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) has been the subject of some, albeit limited, debate. The role that the promotion and protection of human rights will play in the AU appears, on the face of the various documents, to be an important consideration, yet which organs will have responsibility in ensuring their implementation is still not clear. This article aims to discuss the framework of and relationship between the institutions established under the auspices of the OAU and how these have changed since the transformation to the AU. It argues that insufficient attention has been paid to ensuring a coherent and integrated approach to human rights across the Union. Organs such as the African Commission and the new African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights, however, have huge potential to influence the way forward.

Human Rights Literacy (HRL) to Promote and Sustain Attitudes and Behaviours Supportive of Social Justice

2022 ◽  
pp. 159-184
Author(s):  
Chaminda Chiran Jayasundara
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Legal Literacy ◽  
The Face ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights

This chapter explores what Human Rights Literacy (HRL) involves and how it establishes and develops improved rights of the citizens supportive to social justice in the society. People with different cultural backgrounds have the fundamental right to be literate members of society. However, due to various cultural influences, this right is somewhat restricted to certain individuals. For example, girls' education has become controversial in some lands. There are still instances in some cultures where people of all walks of life, such as LGBTI, Blacks, Indigenous people, migrants, etc., are helpless in the face of their rights. Thus, legal literacy and its unique component of human rights literacy are essential to ensure the protection of human rights. A theoretical framework is eventually drawn up by summarising the findings of the study.

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