THE ROLES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Promoting and Enforcing Human Rights

INTERNATIONAL ROLES…

Evaluate the effectiveness of international responses in promoting and enforcing Human Rights

THE UNITED NATIONS

THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN General Assembly

Main forum for international discussions, deliberations, declarations and recommendations. Made up of all UN member states (193).

UN Security Council

Responsible for maintenance of international peace and security.Has the power to intervene in the most serious Human Rights abuses by

states.

Economic & Social

Council

Multiple committees which act as a forum to discuss international issues re: economic, social, environmental and humanitarian concerns.

SecretariatProvides information, studies, tasks and facilities needed by the UN.

Comprised of UN Departments and offices. Main administrative body of the UN.

International Court of

Justice

Principal judicial organ; has jurisdiction to deal with international conflicts brought to them by member states and to advise on issues in

International Law.

INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONSGenerally speaking, IGOs create Human Rights Instruments, which often create Courts, Tribunals and Independent Statutory Authorities

HOW DO THESE ELEMENTS INTERRELATE?

Court, Tribunal or Independent Statutory Authority

Instrument

IGO United Nations

UN Charter

General Assembly

Human Rights Council

ICJ Security Council

ICCPR

Human Rights

Committee

ICESCR

Committee on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights

Rome Statute

ICC

OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein – current

High Commissioner

OHCHR is part of the UN Secretariat, based in Geneva

Established in 1993

Aims to: Promote universal ratification and

implementation of UDHR Promote universal enjoyment of

human rights and international cooperation

Provide support and information for other UN human rights bodies

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (UNHRC) Established in 2006

Responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe

Also aims to address situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them

Works closely with OHCHR

Established to replace the Commission on Human Rights – which was generally agreed to be ineffective

UNHRC has gained the backing of the US, which has strengthened its influence

HOWEVER, some have criticised the UNHRC for being too easily influenced by China and Russia

COURTS & TRIBUNALSInternational Courts and Tribunals are created by International Instruments

The lines between international courts, tribunals and independent statutory authorities are kind of blurred…

INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS

International courts and

tribunals with a role in protecting

human rights

International Court of Justice

(ICJ)

International Criminal Court

(ICC)

International Criminal Tribunals

(ICTR & ICTY)

THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE Can hear cases and deliver advisory opinions

ICJ plays a role in protecting and enforcing human rights because it can defend and interpret Conventions

ICJ cannot hear cases raised by individuals

Example case: Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro (Case No. 91, ICJ Reports 2007) Result of Serbia’s alleged attempt to eliminate Bosnian Muslim population in

Srebrenica during the Bosnian War ICJ upheld the ICTY statement that the Srebrenica Massacre was genocide Serbia was found to have failed to protect the human rights of the Bosnian Serbs.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT Established in response for calls

for a permanent court after genocides in Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

It has jurisdiction over: Persons accused of genocide Crimes against humanity, and War Crimes

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS Before the ICC, Tribunals were set

up on an ad hoc basis to deal with serious widespread breaches of international criminal law.

ICTY and ICTR were the two ad hoc tribunals established.

Tribunals are not permanent; they are to exist only until all charges in the conflict have been heard.

INDEPENDENT STATUTORY AUTHORITIES* Technically, there are no authorities than can create statues at an international level – only treaties… Similar, but different.

COMMITTEES MONITORING HUMAN RIGHTS CONVENTIONS Committees monitoring human rights report to the UN Economic and Social

Council (ECOSOC), which then reports to the General Assembly

Committees include: Human Rights Committee Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee Against Torture Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS

NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS Separate & independent from government. 

May take the role of observers at the UN, but others are completely separate

No authority to enforce Human Rights

They do often promote - can push & influence people with authority. 

In the 1990s, the number & strength of NGOs grew significantly. 

NGO ACTIONSDirect action

letters etc, that go directly to people who are able to stop the abuse

Eg:

Indirect action

naming and shaming, eg: reports and press releases

Eg:

NGO EFFECTIVENESS Criticism by NGOs has been found

to be more effective than criticism from IGOs (in Latin America - shame on you 2008)

Different NGOs have different strategies which in turn have different levels of influence.

Eg: if China were to criticise Australia, our government woulld be unlikely to listen because Ti An An Men Square... BUT NGOs are generally not involved in Human Rights Abuses, so governments are more likely to listen to them.

“Human rights criticism does lead governments to reduce repression of subsequent challenges in cases where there are relatively strong economic ties to other countries. However, the duration of this impact is relatively short - less than 6 months. Examination of the source of human rights criticism shows that criticism by NGOs, religious groups, and foreign governments was more effective than criticism from inter-governmental organizations.”

Shame on You: The Impact of Human Rights Criticism on Political

Repression in Latin America 2008

Amnesty International

Established in 1961

Over 7 million members

Mainly direct action Released 17,000 reports Helped 3341 missions Demanded 44,000 actions from

governments

Main issues it fights for: Political prisoners & “disappearances” Death Penalty Torture

Human Rights Watch

Established in 1978

Mainly indirect action Over 100 reports on the status of

human rights in 90 countries

Research and promote a wide range of human rights

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE NGOS?AMNESTY INTERNATIONALFailures

targets larger nations

indirect action has had limited effect

less successful with disappearances & death penalty

target countries according to "donor interest"... Prioritised based on what people care about, not what's actually worst

Successes

admits this (says it focuses on nations where it can make a difference)

direct action has resulted in changes ("urgent action campaigns")

more successful with torture, prisoners of conscience, arbitrary arrest

THE MEDIA

Role - to report human rights abuses to the public by making them part of the news. Human rights are considered "important" when they're "newsworthy“

May act as a deterrent to the government – a government may act (or refuse to act) for fear of making the news.

Media may be a conscience trigger. Result in people acting after reading a story and then lobby the government of join an NGO etc. 

Supposed to be independent & to report facts. BUT, a media source may be government owned or influenced, or published and influenced by NGOs.

THE GUARDIAN

THE BBC

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AL JEZEERA

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ABC AUSTRALIA

Click icon to add picture

Although it is getting increasingly difficult for the ABC to report without fear of reprisals from our government

PROBLEMS Some places won't let journalists

publish freely. Eg: North Korea. 

Some news channels don't want to report negative stories. “Dumbing down of news.”

Proper journalism is harder to find than it used to be. 

Some people aren't allowed to access international news (eg: Burma; great firewall of China)

POSITIVESOnline Journalism

Fast

Free (or at least cheap)

Provides access to international stories. 

However, it can still be controlled by the government…

Social Media

Instant and global. 

Has been largely successful

However, it can still be limited – eg: Syria pulled the plug on net