Human Rights Defenders under Pressure

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Kleemann
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
European Context ◽  
The World ◽  
20Th Anniversary

2018 marked both the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 20th anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. However, Human Rights Defenders have quickly become a target for authoritarian and illiberal regimes around the world. To make things worse, in recent years Human Rights Defenders and civil society have also been strong-armed, restricted in their work or even exposed to violence by democratic states increasingly. Steven Kleemann therefore examines this so-called “shrinking spaces” phenomenon in a European context and takes into account the international legal framework.

scholarly journals Kasey McCall-Smith, Jan Wouters and Felipe Gómez Isa (eds). 2019. The Faces of Human Rights, Oxford: Hart Publishing. 356 p.

2020 ◽  
pp. 271-275
Author(s):  
María López Belloso
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International System ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The World ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The One ◽  
Different Parts

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, numerous initiatives were launched for its celebration, including events, conferences and publications, all seeking to commemorate its validity. Many of these publications, such as the one coordinated by Carol Proner, Héctor Olasolo, Carlos Villán Durán, Gisele Ricobom and Charlotth Back (2018), or the book directed by Carla Ferstman, addressed this tribute from the analysis of the evolution of the institutions and the normative body of the international system for the protection of human rights originating from the Declaration. However, among all of these, the publication coordinated by Kasey McCall, Jan Wouters and Felipe Gómez incorporates a different and necessary perspective. It reminds us that the milestone achieved with the Declaration was the result of the effort and struggle of many faces: men and women who, throughout history and from different parts of the world and backgrounds, made their contribution to the struggle for the freedom and dignity of people.Published online: 26 June 2020

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Twenty Years of icc Practice: An International Law Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1057-1080
Author(s):  
Alice Riccardi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
20Th Anniversary

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Rome Statute and the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (udhr), this article ponders on the two instruments intimate and symbiotic relationship. Following the systematisation and analysis of all International Criminal Court (icc) rulings mentioning the udhr, the article argues that the Court has aligned itself with the practice of other international jurisdictions regarding the udhr. Notably, the icc has adhered to the tendency of considering the human rights expressed in the udhr binding irrespective of their formal source, as inherently equipped with authority and persuasiveness. This would originate from the udhr capacity to convey general principles innate in the international order and of such an essential nature that their status under international law does not need to be assessed.

Human Rights, Global Ethics, and the Ordinary Virtues

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ignatieff
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Global Ethics ◽  
Citizen Action ◽  
Individual Person ◽  
The World ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
The Individual

In a 1958 speech at the United Nations, Eleanor Roosevelt took stock of the progress that human rights had made since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ten years before. Mrs. Roosevelt had chaired the UN committee that drafted the Universal Declaration and had hoped that, in time, it would become “the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere.” Her answer to the question of how to measure human rights progress has become one of the most frequently quoted remarks of the former First Lady: Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.

scholarly journals Editorial: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70: African Perspectives on Progress and Prospects

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Felix Dube ◽  
Agbor Avitus A
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Special Edition ◽  
Critical Reflections

This special edition comprises selected papers on critical reflections on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The authors critique the contextual relevance of the UDHR to the implementation of human rights within selected domestic legal systems in Africa.

scholarly journals U-22 Comparison of Common Human Rights with the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Context of the Farewell Sermon

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-350
Author(s):  
Abdul Razaq ◽  
Muhammad Usman Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Member States ◽  
The World ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
United Nation ◽  
As If

The last Hajj performed by the Messenger of Allah is called the Farewell Hajj in two respects. One is that you did the last Hajj and also with reference to the fact that the Holy Prophet himself said in this sermon: O people! By God, I don't know if I will be able to meet you in this place after today. You specifically said, "Ask me questions, learn and ask what you have to ask." I may not be able to meet you like this later this year.It was as if the Holy Prophet himself was saying goodbye. On this occasion, this Hajj is called the Farewell Hajj.The United Nation General Assembly, approved the: "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" on Dec. 1948. Following this historic achievement, the Assembly urged all its member states to make the announcement public and participate in its dissemination. The purpose of this manifesto was to protect basic human rights throughout the world and to find solutions to various problems facing nations. The rights granted to man under the United Nations Charter, established in the twentieth century, were granted to him by Islam fourteen hundred years ago.The 30 articles of the UN Charter define basic human rights in various ways. These provisions relate to social, religious and human rights. When we compare the Farewell Sermon of the Holy Prophet with this Manifesto, where many similarities come to the fore, the differences are also noticeable.

scholarly journals Declaration as Disavowal: The Politics of Race and Empire in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Stone Mackinnon
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Racial Politics ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The World ◽  
Imperial Politics ◽  
Racial Domination ◽  
Politics Of Race ◽  
The Right

This article argues that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), by claiming certain inheritances from eighteenth-century American and French rights declarations, simultaneously disavowed others, reshaping the genre of the rights declaration in ways amenable to forms of imperial and racial domination. I begin by considering the rights declaration as genre, arguing that later participants can both inherit and disavow aspects of what came before. Then, drawing on original archival research, I consider the drafting of the UDHR, using as an entry point the reception of the NAACP’s Appeal to the World petition, edited by W.E.B. DuBois. I reconstruct conversations within the drafting committee about the right to petition, self-determination, and the right to rebellion, and the separation of the Declaration from the rights covenants, to illustrate the allegiances between US racial politics and French imperial politics, and their legacies for our contemporary conceptions of human rights.

Institute of public associations in the system of human rights enforcement in Ukraine: constitutional and legal aspect

2021 ◽  
pp. 84-93
Author(s):  
I. Mahnovskyi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Legal Aspect ◽  
Functional System ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Public Nature ◽  
Political Decision Making

Purpose. The aim of the work is to analyze in the constitutional and legal aspects public associations as a constitutional institution of public nature, to determine its role and importance in the system of human rights enforcement in Ukraine, to clarify the peculiarities of formation and effective activities of this institution. Methodology. The methodology includes a comprehensive analysis and generalization of available scientific and theoretical material and the formulation of relevant conclusions and recommendations. The following methods of scientific reseach have been implemented: terminological, logical-semantic, functional, system-structural, logical-normative. Results. The study states that the driving force of a democratic, legal process is the growth of an active civil position, which is the basis for the formation of public associations, which are a basic component of civil society. The institute of public associations is an important component of the system of constitutional law of Ukraine. Involving citizens in political decision-making is one of the main principles of direct democracy. The focus is on improving the legal framework of the institute of public associations. Scientific novelty. The study has revealed that public associations, as institutions, should be an integral part of civil society in the formation of democracy; to introduce constitutional and legal mechanisms of interaction with the institution of public associations and to identify their real practical effectiveness for ensuring human rights and needs in society. Practical significance. The results of the study can be used in law-making and law enforcement activities during the functioning of the institution of public associations in the system of human rights.

A liberal narrative

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamas Wells
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Future Orientation ◽  
International Aid ◽  
Aid Workers ◽  
Transitional Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Formal Procedure ◽  
International Aid Agencies

This chapter unpacks a liberal narrative of democracy. It grounds and locates the ways that many aid workers in Myanmar understood and communicated about democracy. The chapter outlines three elements of this narrative. First, most international aid workers involved in the research pointed toward the challenge of ethnic and religious divisions in the country. These aid workers described how divisions in Myanmar were perpetuated by a personalised political culture where formal institutions of democracy were insufficiently embedded. Second, aid agency representatives often expressed a vision of a formal procedure-based democracy supported by liberal values of human rights, pluralism and the protection of minorities. This vision also had a future orientation, where proponents of this narrative saw Myanmar’s democratisation as being set within the context of other transitional countries around the world – moving away from traditional systems toward a democratic future. Third, many aid workers emphasised a strategy of government and civil society capacity building led by international aid agencies.

The Missiological Significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Heideman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Fiftieth Anniversary ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, 10 December 1948, is the international affirmation of faith in fundamental human rights. As the most widely officially adopted creed in the world, it is of great significance for persons engaged in cross-cultural and international missions. As we have recently recognized the fiftieth anniversary year of its adoption, missiologists must continue to struggle with issues it raises, such as the relation of Christian liberty to human rights, the relation of “rights” to “duties,” and the theological basis for a doctrine of human rights.

scholarly journals WHO AM I? WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE WE? LAW, RELIGION, AND APPROACHES TO AN ETHIC OF MIGRATION

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-334
Author(s):  
Silas W. Allard
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Political Space ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject

In her essay “The Decline of the Nation-State and the End of the Rights of Man,” Hannah Arendt famously wrote, “Nobody had been aware that mankind, for so long a time considered under the image of a family of nations, had reached the state where whoever was thrown out of one of these tightly organized closed communities found himself thrown out of the family of nations altogether.” Surveying the aftermath of the world wars, the same aftermath that eventually led to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Arendt found that a person had to be emplaced—the subject of a political space—in the state-oriented order of geopolitics to be cognizable as a subject of human rights. The stateless, being displaced, were excluded from such a regime of rights and from the global political community. Bare humanity, Arendt argued, was an insufficiently binding political identity. As she wrote in her arresting language, “The world found nothing sacred in the abstract nakedness of being human.”

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