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The Human Rights Revolution: The Construction of International Norms Charles Krauthammer, 2003 “Foreign policy is not social work. Acting for purely humanitarian reasons is wanton and self-indulgent. You don’t send U.S. soldiers to die to assuage troubled consciences at home. Their lives should be risked only in defense of their country.” Jimmy Carter, 1977 “All the signatories of the U.N. Charter have pledged themselves to observe and to respect basic human rights. . . . no member can avoid its responsibilities to review and to speak when torture or unwarranted deprivation occurs in any part of the world.” © 2012 Pearson Education

The Human Rights Revolution Reasons for Hesitation Three concerns about pursuing a human rights agenda: The international order argument Could increase conflict as states intervene to protect citizens of other states The national interest argument A focus on rights could distract from other, more vital interests, including security and economic well-being. The cultural relativism argument Different cultures have different perspectives on human rights, challenging idea of universal human rights. Asian values debate (Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew ) Middle ground: acknowledge basic universal rights with some ground for cultural differences For realists, considerations of justice, morality, and human rights have no role in the international context. Constructivists and liberals argue that 1) this view is amoral and 2) realists cannot explain the recent human rights trend. Is this a revolution in our thinking about how the world works? © 2012 Pearson Education

First Steps: Establishing Human Rights Norms In spite of concerns, some human rights abuses are so egregious that they have earned near universal condemnation. Major factors in establishing human rights norms: Nazi Holocaust: horror of the Holocaust helped drive push for human rights Rise of transnational advocacy networks UN Charter – conflicting elements Article 2.7 reaffirms state sovereignty over internal matters. But human rights are mentioned in Preamble and Article 1, and Article 68 calls for creation of a commission to promote human rights. Debate over negative and positive rights (McKinnon, 174-175) Neg – Speech, Religion, Torture; Pos – Education, Health Care International Bill of Human Rights Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) Genocide Convention (1948): first of many treaties to deal with specific area of rights The number of human rights treaties and the number of states that have accepted them suggests human rights norms are placing limits on states. Realists point out that the norms are rarely, if ever, enforced against states which violate them. © 2012 Pearson Education

Table 6. 1 Major International Human Rights Treaties: U. S Table 6.1 Major International Human Rights Treaties: U.S. Ratification and Global Status Treaty Adopted Entry in Force US Signature Ratification Number of States Parties Convention on Genocide 1948 1951 1988 146 Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 1976 1977 No 164 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1992 168 Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination 1965 1969 1994 177 Source: United Nations Treaty Collection, Chapter IV: Human Rights, as of October 2015, https://treaties.un.org/pages/Treaties.

Table 6. 1 Major International Human Rights Treaties: U. S Table 6.1 Major International Human Rights Treaties: U.S. Ratification and Global Status Treaty Adopted Entry in Force US Signature Ratification Number of States Parties Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women 1979 1981 1980 No 189 Convention Against Torture 1984 1987 1988 1994 158 Convention on Rights of the Child 1989 1990 1995 196 Source: United Nations Treaty Collection, Chapter IV: Human Rights, as of October 2015, https://treaties.un.org/pages/Treaties.

Table 6. 1 Major International Human Rights Treaties: U. S Table 6.1 Major International Human Rights Treaties: U.S. Ratification and Global Status Treaty Adopted Entry in Force US Signature Ratification Number of States Parties Convention on Protection of Migrant Workers and Families 1990 2003 No 48 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 2008 2009 159 Source: United Nations Treaty Collection, Chapter IV: Human Rights, as of October 2015, https://treaties.un.org/pages/Treaties.

The Human Rights Revolution Successful completion of that revolution requires: Effective human rights monitoring Effective human rights enforcement Effective prosecution of those who violate human rights standards © 2012 Pearson Education

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Monitoring Human Rights UN Monitoring Commission on Human Rights, 1946 (ECOSOC)- Monitoring-1967. 1503 procedure (monitoring function: black list, made of sovereign state members, could not keep pace. Human Rights Council (HRC): replaced Commission on Human Rights(2005) Human Rights Committee-1966 Civil/Political Rights & Economic, Social and Cultural rights) UN General Assembly > Office of the High Commission for Human Rights-1993 – public face NGO Monitoring (CNN effect) Amnesty International Human Rights Watch National & Regional Monitoring U.S. Dept of State European Commission on Human Rights Inter-American Commission on Human Rights African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights We monitor human rights by gathering information about violations and violators so they can become known to those who can do something about them. In the world today, this monitoring function is carried out via UN-based bodies, NGOs, and national and regional reporting systems. © 2012 Pearson Education

Enforcing Human Rights Economic Sanctions Involve the imposition of limitations or prohibitions on trade, investment, or aid in order to get a country to change its policies Constructive engagement (an alternative) – (maintain EC/Pol relations to exert influence) South Africa/Afghanistan,1979 sanctions Human cost of sanctions Moral ambiguities Smart sanctions (Targeting leaders and not civilians) Military Intervention Humanitarian intervention Kosovo: ethnic cleansing/Libya Case, in contrast to the realist view, where justice trumped power and where state sovereignty took a back seat to human rights Responsibility to protect (R2P)2005UN International community will intervene. Enforcing Human Rights The first and lowest-cost response of concerned states to reports of human rights abuses is noncoercive diplomacy. In many cases such diplomatic pressures succeed only if backed by the threat of measures that can cause the offending government real pain(coercive diplomacy): Economic sanctions Military intervention

Military Intervention Responsibility to protect (R2P) Formally endorsed at 2005 UN World Summit Sought to promote global norm that a state's claim to sovereignty cannot be considered protection from intervention if it is committing or allowing extreme human rights abuses. Glaring failure to defend human rights in Syria and Iraq

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Military Intervention Libya Rebellion against dictator Muammar Qaddafi Anti-regime fighters concentrated around Benghazi were surrounded by a large number of armored vehicles and men. NATO and US intervention Supporters call it a "textbook example" of how R2P should be applied

Prosecuting Human Rights Violators 6-5 Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the alternative ways of prosecuting individuals for human rights crimes. Truth commissions Established in countries where severe human rights abuses occurred Established to investigate but reach and power vary.

Prosecuting Human Rights Violators Three paths to international prosecution Universal jurisdiction Pinochet precedent Geneva convention Ad hoc tribunals Nuremberg Tribunal Yugoslav (93) and Rwanda Tribunal (94)—created by UN Security Council International Criminal Court Rome Statute – Establishing the ICC in 1998 – ability to prosecute individuals Can hear cases in three primary areas Genocide; war crimes; crimes against humanity As of 2017, can start trying cases of aggression under limited conditions Jurisdiction over crimes: Committed by citizens of a state party to the treaty Committed on the territory of a state party Referred by the Security Council; the Security Council can also halt proceedings Principle of complementarity (ICC will not hear a case unless domestic court is unwilling or unable to adjudicate the case in good faith.) © 2012 Pearson Education

Conclusion On one hand, evidence suggests that the idea of human rights has affected how the world works in important ways. But the human rights revolution is incomplete. Some human rights abusers still act with impunity. BUT, in pointing to the revolution’s successes, constructivists and human rights activists note the power of human rights to shape not only the way we think the world should work but also, in some cases, how it actually does work. © 2012 Pearson Education