1. IGOs, International Law/Norms, (and Human Rights)

2. Intergovernmental Organization IGO
established by treaty
is a legal entity w/ int’l legal status - can enter into treaties
probably has a legislative body (of gov’t representatives)
may have a dispute resolution body
may have an executive body (secretariat)
Non-governmental Organization NGO
no international legal status
non-governmental representatives
may serve consultative role to IGOs
some are very influential

3. IGOs Play a Role in Creating International Law:
facilitating and participating in treaty making
producing soft law via non-treaty obligations from resolutions, declarations, etc.

4. The Origins of IGOs Belief in a community of humankind
Developmental stages:
League of Nations
United Nations
Big-power peacekeeping:
UN Security Council
Pragmatic cooperation:
Wide range of specialized agencies: Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (1815) is the oldest

5. Roles of International Organizations
Most international conflicts are not settled by military force.
States generally refrain from...
States work together by following rules they develop to govern their interactions.
Institutions grow up around rules and states tend to work through these institutions.

6. International Governmental Organizations (IGOs)
Although Realists are skeptical of IGOs’ influence, Idealists/Liberals (particularly liberal institutionalists) argue that IGOs can facilitate cooperation through:
Lowering transaction costs
Increasing transparency
Making it easier to enforce international agreements

7. Roles of International Organizations
International Organizations (IOs)
Include intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) such as the UN, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as the International Committee of the Red Cross
Growth of IOs
Global nature of some IOs
Regional IOs
Global IGOs
NGOs – more specialized in function than IGOs

8. Example IGOs

9. International Governmental Organizations (IGOs)
IGOs with important roles in security, human rights, and development
United Nations (UN)
International Criminal Court (ICC)

10. International Governmental Organizations (IGOs)
United Nations (UN)
Key bodies:
Security Council
General Assembly
ECOSOC
International Court of Justice
Trusteeship Council
Secretariat
Broader UN system
Roles in security, environment, health, rights, and development

12. International Governmental Organizations (IGOs)
International Criminal Court (ICC)
Permanent body created to deal with war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity (and vague crime of “aggression”)
Structure: office of prosecutor, 18 judges, assembly of states parties, presidency
Principle of complementary: ICC can only act when national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute
Current cases/indictments
U.S. critique of ICC

13. International Law Sources: Treaties International Customs
General principles of law
Reviewed by: civilized nations, decision of national and lower courts and scholarly writings
Legal scholarship

14. International Law Interpretation
Enforcement: no authoritative body; enforcement typically occurs through reciprocity and international norms
Key example: international humanitarian law (Geneva Conventions, etc.)

15. Enforcement of International Law
Difficult to enforce
Dependent upon
Reciprocity
General or long-term costs that could come from disregarding international law
Collective response by a group of states
Dependent upon:
Reciprocity
General or long-term costs that could come from disregarding international law
Collective response by a group of states
Discussion Question: Remind students that for decades before the 2012 revolution, Libya suffered isolation at the hands of the international community, particularly in the form of sanctions. Libya finally left behind its pariah status in 2003 by admitting its responsibility for past indiscretions. Ask students why similar sanctions have had less successful and more complicated results in the case of North Korea. 15

16. International Cases in National Courts
Advantages
Judgments are enforceable
Private individuals and companies can pursue legal complaints
Choice of jurisdiction
Limits
Authority of national courts stops at state’s borders
Extradition, territoriality
Immigration law

17. International law prohibits attacks on diplomats and embassies.
OUT OF REACH
International law prohibits attacks on diplomats and embassies.
This fundamental principle, like others in international law, is ultimately enforced through reciprocity.
In international law, diplomats have long had special status.
Embassies are considered the territory of their home country.

18. International Norms
Definition: Widely shared expectations about appropriate behavior in specific circumstances
Important emphasis of constructivist scholars
Examples: respect for state sovereignty, prohibition of slavery, genocide, and use of WMD
Evolution of norms over time (e.g., sovereignty, slavery, etc.)

19. Human Rights

20. Individual Rights vs. Sovereignty
Idea of human rights flies in face of sovereignty
Difficult to reach consensus on what are most important human rights
Universal vs. relative
Concept of human rights has at least three sources
No globally agreed-upon definition of essential human rights
Civil-political rights
Economic-social rights
Concept of human rights at least three sources
Religion - dignity and respect
Political and legal philosophy - natural law and natural rights
Political revolutions in 18th century - U.S. and France
Civil-political rights - free speech, freedom of religion, equal protection under the law
Economic-social rights - rights to good living conditions, food, health care, social security, education 20

21. Human Rights Institutions
Universal Declaration of Human rights
Seven treaties to further define protections of human rights
Regional Ios promote protection of human rights
NGOs
Responsibility to protect
Universal Declaration of Human Rights - UN General Assembly, 1948
Seven treaties to further define protections of human rights
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
International Covenant to Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Convention Against Torture
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families
Regional IOs promote protection of human rights - Europe, Latin America, Africa
NGOs - Amnesty International 21

22. War Crimes

23. War Crimes Large-scale abuses of human rights often occur during war
Serious violations of this kind are considered war crimes
Norms of legal conduct in war as well as international treaties
Crimes against humanity
International war crimes tribunals
International Criminal Court
Private military forces
Laws of war, POWs, International Committee of the Red Cross
Changing context of laws of war
Large-scale abuses of human rights often occur during war.
International law is especially difficult to enforce during war.
But extensive norms of legal conduct in war, as well as international treaties, are widely followed.
After war, losers can be punished for violations of the laws of war.
Crimes against humanity
Genocide
International Criminal Court (ICC)
Universal jurisdiction
Limit warfare to combatants
Rules violated in guerrilla warfare
Rise in the use of private military forces
Laws of POWs
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Demise of the conventional war
States rarely issue “declarations” of war
Classroom Activity: In 1995, a U.S. soldier stationed in Germany was court-martialed for refusing to wear a UN insignia on a peacekeeping mission in Macedonia. The soldier, Michael New, argued that he had taken an oath to defend the United States from enemies and to uphold the U.S. Constitution, and that serving under a foreign commander as part of a UN peacekeeping force would violate that oath. He declared himself willing to serve on the mission, but refused to wear the UN insignia on his uniform. Specifically, he said,
“I have a problem with that, because I am not UN. I explained this to my lieutenant, and told him, ‘Sir, I don’t think I should have to wear a UN armband or a UN beret. I’m enlisted in the U.S. Army; I am not a UN soldier. I have taken no vow to the UN; I have taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America from enemies foreign and domestic. I regard the UN as a separate power.... Where does my oath say that I have to wear UN insignia?” (The New American, Oct. 2, 1995, p. 5)
Divide students into two groups, with one group arguing in defense of Michael New’s stance, and the other group arguing against Michael New’s stance, and court-martial. Students should use key concepts and issues covered in the chapter to aid their arguments.
Classroom Activity: In July of 2008, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), indicted the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, with 10 counts of mass crimes, including three for genocide, and to issue a warrant for his arrest. This was the first time that the ICC had ever issued a warrant for a sitting head of state. The implications of this precedent are staggering: Could the ICC be involved in changing government regimes as a result of their prosecution?
Students should read up on this case, as well as on the general purpose and jurisdiction of the ICC itself ( ). In groups, students will then discuss whether or not the ICC has the authority to arrest a head of state, whether it should be allowed to do so, and what the potential consequences for international law and international relations are.
Discussion Question: Ask students to discuss America’s failure to ratify the International Criminal Court agreement, and its pressuring of other states to sign immunity agreements to protect American soldiers serving in those countries from prosecution. Ask them how this whether they agree or disagree with this approach the U.S. has taken, and why. Also ask students if the lack of U.S. participation might weaken the ICC.

24. Human Rights and the Games States Play
Does human rights fit into the International Relations perspective on the world?
IR Realist Perspective: State oriented, unitary actor, national interest, security, state sovereignty. Focus on relative power and conflicts of interest in an anarchical world;
IR Institutionalist/Liberal Perspective: Interdependence, international organisations, international regimes. Focus on rules and procedures, negotiations.
The unlikely path of protective mechanisms for individual rights into inter-state politics. HR=domestic matter vs. universal obligations. A normative revolution as a response to the atrocities of WW II. (WW I: self-determination, religious minorities).