Human Rights and SelfGovernance:
Unit 8
Human Rights is a key component of the UN
Chater
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It is mentioned in the preamble
The horrors of World War II convinced the world that it was the
time to take action to see that they weren’t repeated
HUMAN RIGHTS
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HUMAN RIGHTS Are Rights You Have Merely Because You
Are Human
Universal and Inalienable
Human Rights is a Radical Concept; Throughout Most of
History, Only Rulers Had Rights. People were more or less
property of the sovereign.
THE BIG DILEMMA:
STATE SOVEREIGNTY
RIGHTS
VS.
HUMAN RIGHTS
International Norms Have Historically Indicated
that One State Should Not Interfere With Internal
Matters of Another State (since 1648)
--States are solely responsible for internal affairs
1948, UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
A Wide-Ranging Set of Rights Were Spelled Out:
Political Rights (i.e., Voting)
Economic Rights (i.e., Freedom to Work)
Individual Liberties (i.e., Freedom From Torture)
Eleanor Roosevelt, the Mother of the Human
Rights Movement
Difficulty of Enforcement
Direct Punishment is Not a Reality. Public Pressure, publicity are
one route to trying to change state behaviour.
NGOs such as Amnesty International track human rights
violations around the world.
States can apply sanctions and diplomatic pressure
Human Rights as a Political Football
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Countries Continually Use Human Rights for Political Purposes
(ex: USA and China)
You can focus on problems of other countries, and ignore your
own
This is possible because of multiple definitions of human rights
Major Themes
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1. Certain individual and group rights should be immune from
government interference. Achieving this in practice has been
highly problematic.
2. Colonies that were under foreign control should be liberated
(every people has a right to self-government). Decolonization
should be the goal). This goal has largely been achieved.
Self-Governance was initially a focus of the
League of Nations
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It was agreed that acquisition of territory or colonies through war was
wrong
A Mandate System was created to protect former possessions of defeated
powers. Until they were “ready” for independence, they would stay under
the “tutelage” (administration) of an “advanced” country (US, Holland,
UK, etc.) (example: Palestine and Jordan to the British, Western Samoa to
New Zealand, Cameroon to France)
Apply “the principle that the well-being and development” of people is the
“sacred trust” of civilization
A Permanent Mandates Commission was created to provide information
and interview the administering country
Was the system legitimate?
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Some argued that the Mandate system was an effective way of
preparing countries for independent. The Permanent Mandates
Commission did a good job and was “trusted by mandatory and
non-mandatory powers alike”. (p. 386) While not perfect, a
strong step toward ending colonialism.
However, some argued it was thinly veiled colonialism. There was
little difference in practice between the administration of
mandated territories and other territories.
Your book argues that the system worked to a degree—better
than nothing.
Imperialism and Capitalism Ultimately Led
to Independence Movements
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Countries desired to govern themselves. Independence movements (Nehru
in India; Nkrumah in Ghana.
By 1914, the major places that were still colonized were Asian and African
peoples (Latin American countries had been independent since the 1820s).
World War II did not create this independence movement, but it
accelerated it. Vietnam and Indonesia became independent of Dutch and
French Rule; The Indian sub-continent became free of British Rule (India,
Pakistan, etc.).
A global movement (resistance) against colonialism. Not just one country,
but individual peoples cooperated with others.
How to Deal With “Leftover” Territories
“Not Yet Ready” For Independence
Former mandates (territories covered) by the League of Nations
2. Territories lost by the losing sides during World War II
3. Any other territories voluntarily placed under control of UN after World War
II
Creation of the UN Trusteeship Council. Designed to ensure that countries in
charge of mandates would adequately supervise them and ensure they were on
the path toward Independence, that human rights were being protected, etc
In the end…only seven trustees in charge of 11 protectorates every came under
the Trusteeship Council supervision.
In 1994, the last protectorate became independent. The Council now has little to
do.
1.
The Record of Trusteeship
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Ghana—first independent country (1957). Based on a vote by the people to
merge two territories
8 of the 11 territories had gained independence by 1962.
Pressure by the Trusteeship Council on trustee countries to allow for
elections, government institutions, and public participation helped to make
these countries ready for democracy
According to your book, the Trusteeship Council had a successful record, but
many of these territories were “more ready” than the average colony was.
Results “not perfect”, but better than the League of Nations’ record on
trusteeship or the record of countries still administering their own colonies
But What About Territories that Remained
Colonized After World War II?
A lot of pressure for independence. The movement was gaining
strength.
 Colonial powers (France, Britain, etc.) agreed under Article 73 to:
1. Agreed to protect the well-being of inhabitants of their
colonies (economic, social, political), but not to grant
independence
2. Were required to give technical reports on the economic
and educational (not political) status of their territories. But the
UN never acted on or responded to these reports.
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Duties of Colonial Powers to Report their
Affairs
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Theoretically, colonial powers were required to report to the
Committee on Information for Non Self-Governing Territories
For the first few years, some of them did
After a few years, the colonial powers decided they were not
obligated to report because these territories already had local
autnomy (UK) or because they were “integral” parts of the
motherland rather than colonies (Spain and Portugal)
In the end, the colonial powers could only really be influenced by
public opinion…the UN couldn’t make them provide information
1960 and BEYOND: More Pressure for
EMANCIPATION
1955-1958: 12 New States
1960: 17 New States
--Each Time New States were admitted to the UN, there was more
pressure for decolonization
1960: Declaration on the Granting of Independence of Colonial
Countries and Peoples passed the General Assembly on a 90-0 vote.
In short, it asserted that immediate freedom be given to all peoples
regardless of their current level of economic and social
development.
Special Committee of 24
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Much like trusteeship Council, except for it dealt with colonies
instead of mandates
Lacked coercive power, but made a great number of aggressive
demands on colonial powers
Abandoned merely requiring reporting; instead, used petitions and
investigative commissions to pressure powers to act.
Played a major role in shifting global opinion toward
independence of colonies
More than 60 former colonies have been added to UN since 1960.
So we can say this anticolonial pressure had a strong effect.
What About UAE?
The British Ruled by Treaty Agreement Signed by the Emirs:
The British set up a development office that helped in some small
developments in the emirates. The seven sheikhs of the emirates
then decided to form a council to coordinate matters between them
and took over the development office. In 1952, they formed the
Trucial States Council. The council was terminated once the United
Arab Emirates was formed. The tribal nature of society and the lack
of definition of borders between emirates frequently led to disputes,
settled either through mediation or, more rarely, force. The Trucial
Oman Scouts was a small military force used by the British to keep
the peace. In 1971, the UAE became an independent country.
Problems After Independence
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Independence does not solve all problems, despite the fact that
most parts of the world are no longer colonized.
Underdevelopment, political turmoil and violence.
While the developed countries and former colonial powers are
sympathetic to their needs, they are also self-interested—
humanitarian compassion is often outweighed by the desire to
grow the former colonizer’s own economies.
Political consciousness is often lacking. For example, India seems
like more of a collection of peoples than one nation.
Human Rights Since World War II
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While there has been a broad acceptance in some countries of
human rights for more than 200 years, it was only since 1945 that
these rights were internationalized (human rights is not seen as an
national concern, but a concern of everyone). Mass murders and
atrocities of World War II helped to spread this idea.
The UN itself was designed to deal with Human Rights. It is one
of the key pillars of the UN Charter. General Assembly and
ECOCOC are charged with human rights, and ECOSOC was
given the role of setting up commissions that deal with human
rights.
Problem: UN Charter’s language was so
GENERAL on human rights that no one
could tell what it meant
UN Commission on Human Rights’ First
Task was to draft the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights
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UNDHR was designed to provide specific standards for human
rights for the international community to go by
Involved compromise between the Western and Communist
visions of human rights
Civil, economic, political, cultural, and social rights were all
referred to
This document, even today, is the foundation of human rights law
in the world
Significance of the UNDHR
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Technically, as a statement by the General Assembly, it is nonbinding
However, it is commonly seen as the common standard for
conduct of nations
It is the basis, or platform, for all other human rights documents,
including the International Protocol on Civil and Political Rights
and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural
Rights. So all other treaties and conventions are based on the first
document, the UNDHR.
Numerous Treaties Have
Followed, Including Those Related to:
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Refugees
Apartheid
Racial Discrimination
Women’s Rights
Genocide
Refugees
In Addition to the UN itself, a number of
REGIONAL organizations exist
The European System is the Most Advanced
--Commission on Human Rights
--Court of Human Rights
 The Second Most Developed System is that for the Americas
(OAS):
Inter-American Committee on Human Rights investigates
human rights questions
(Asia and Africa Have Less Developed H.R. Systems)
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The United Nations Commission
on Human Rights (1946-2006)
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Many NGOs wee involved
They not only attended meetings, but speak on special topics
(apartheid in South Africa, The Palestinian question, missing
persons in Latin American states)
Amnesty International was one of the most respected; it focuses
on torture and releasing of political prisoners
Others included World Council of Churches, International
League for Human Rights, International Commission of Jurists
History of the UN Commission on Human
Rights (UNHCR)
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First Stage (1946-1967): adhered to state sovereignty principles, so
it promoted human rights and helped to establish treaties, but it
did not investigate violations
Second Stage (1967-2006): actively investigated human rights
violations; and subsequently produced reports about these
violations
Problems: UNHCR was “too politicized” and had too many
members with bad human rights records. It was losing prestige,
and was replaced by the Human Rights Council in 2006.
The Human Rights Council: Supposedly an Improvement on the UN
Commission on Human Rights
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Supposedly less political; focused
Has a formalized complaint procedure
Has a “think tank” (Advisory Committee) made up of human
rights experts from around the world
Has a “Universal Periodic Review” to assess the human rights of
all states on a regular basis
Has a mechanism for kicking “bad” countries off of the Council
Has a complaints procedure (NGOs or groups can appeal to the
HRC), but this process is confidential
Human Rights Council Membership
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47 Countries Overall
13 for Africa, 13 for Asia, six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin
America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), and seven for the
Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Elected to 3 year terms
UN Gen. Assembly can suspend council membership of anyone
found to be conducting “gross violation” of human rights
Problems of HRC
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Bad countries can still get elected?
The confidential complaints procedure means its effectiveness is
unknown and probably limited
USA (and Holland, and others) complained that in the early days
the HRC was obsessed with Israel while its opponents (Hamas)
received no attention: “Israel is the only country on the council's
permanent agenda, while abuses by rogue regimes like Cuba,
China, and Syria are ignored”). Less focus on Israel now.
A Required Process under the HRC is the
Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
*“UPR provides the opportunity for each State to declare what
actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in
their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations. As one
of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure
equal treatment for every country when their human rights
situations are assessed.” (UN Website)
*A 4.5 year cycle from start to finish (report is drawn up, country
responds, then final report). Every country participates (Israel was
cited once for non-cooperation in 2013 but still participates).
Some Questions to UAE from Different
Countries, 2013 Universal Periodic Review
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Mexico: Does the Children's Rights Bill contemplate any initiative
to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility and/or avoid
that the death penalty could be applied to children?
United Kingdom: The recommendation during the UAE’s 2008
UPR to reform the 1980 law on publications and all other related
laws to take into account the evolution of freedom of expression
and opinion was accepted by the UAE. The UK would like to
know, what steps the UAE has taken and plans to take to ensure
that freedom of expression is upheld?
Questions
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Sweden: What efforts are taken by the UAE Government to
ensure that sponsors and employers fully respect the rights of
migrant workers and domestic workers’?
Netherlands: In 2008 the Netherlands recommended considering
the establishment of an NHRI (something like a national human rights
commission) in the UAE. Could you elaborate on the developments
on this matter?
Finally, a report summarizing the country’s
responses, along with more questions and
comments, is created
Example, Pakistan’s note to UAE in the 2013 review:
“Continue to intensify cooperation with civil society organisations
in order to debate on human rights issues and coordinate their
follow-up and implementation on the ground”
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Areas of Human Rights Success
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ILO, European Commission on Human Rights, and a few
NGOs have been successful in monitoring human rights issues.
They succeed where they can use public opinion, publicity, and
persuasion to pressure countries to change
However, the UN is “ill-equipped to enforce uniform standards
of human right on inividual states
At least there is much more dialogue and awareness of human
rights issues, and countries are likely to pay attention to
international opinion
The Role of Human Rights NGOs
Human Rights NGOs had a powerful say in two conferences
organized by ECOSOS:
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Human Rights Conference in Vienna (1993): NGOs achieved victory by
getting human rights to be conceived of as “universal” rather than being
subject to cultural and religious “redefinition”. They won victory over
countries such as China and Iran.
Beijing Women’s Conference (1995): thousands of NGOs attended.
Wrote the CEDAW (Convention on Discrimination Against Women).
Institutionalized that idea that women’s rights were “human rights”, not
“special rights”. Focus on reproductive rights, harassment, trafficking, and
women in development.
The Progressivity of Rights
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Rights documents and treaties are currently not considered to be
fully effective
Rather, they are part of a progressive vision of consistently
improving human rights over time
The UN human rights system is more aspirational than it is
concrete (it is as much based on desires for future cooperation on
human rights than it is on the current strength of human rights
documents and treaties)
Summary
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Human Rights are considered something that is in the process of
being transferred from being considered part of national policy to
part of international policy
These concerns are complicated by the fact that different
countries have different visions of human rights
The UN Charter, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the
HRC, the European Human Rights Commission, etc., are all good
developments
But until major powers endorse more international enforcement,
violations will continue (guarantees of rights not enforced)