Armed Conflict and Human Rights in Colombia

This article explores the issues of ensuring the safety of human rights defenders and the existing international mechanisms for countering security challenges faced by this category of individuals. It focuses on the provisions of international legal instruments that define the status of human rights defenders and emphasize the current problems related to ensuring their safety. The article highlights the provisions of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1998, which serves as the foundational universal international act for the protection of human rights defenders. It also analyzes resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council (3/2 Promotion and protection of human rights in Nicaragua, 43/28 Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic, 44/20 Promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests, and 44/19 Situation of human rights in Belarus), which express serious concerns regarding unlawful actions against human rights defenders in the respective states. Additionally, the article reviews the reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, which draw attention to the heightened risks faced by those advocating for land rights, the environment, peace, access to justice, sexual diversity, freedom of expression, and gender equality. The article also analyzes the proposals put forward by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding actions to implement the 1998 Declaration and to ensure the safety of human rights defenders. Information is presented on existing negative practices of human rights violations committed against defenders, provided by the international organization Front Line Defenders, which operates to protect human rights defenders at risk. It is emphasized that common violations against human rights defenders include arbitrary detention and arrest of journalists and media workers, restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, criminal prosecution, forced displacement, stigmatization, administrative obstacles, smear campaigns aimed at discrediting defenders, and more. Vulnerable groups of human rights defenders who are at risk in any society are identified, including women human rights defenders, members of national minorities, among others. Relevant conclusions and recommendations are provided.

Introduction by Philip Alston, John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law, New York University School of Law and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, 2004–2010. The least well developed dimension of human rights practice and scholarship is evaluation. Human rights practitioners will often assert that their actions or interventions – ranging from mere advocacy, through attempts to embarrass or shame perpetrators, to major campaigns to ensure that prosecutions are brought and wrongdoers are punished – have been ‘successful’. But two questions always arise in response. The first is how to define success, and the second is how to demonstrate some degree of causal link between the actions of the practitioners and the response on the part of the relevant governmental or other actors who are said to have changed their attitude or conduct. Neither question is easy to answer convincingly, which explains why so few sustained and sophisticated attempts have been made at evaluation. Christian Salazar's study of the impact of the extended and intensive efforts by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Colombia to expose and at least reduce, if not eliminate, extrajudicial executions by the Colombian armed forces stands as a clear and important exception to this reluctance to engage in evaluation. In this case it is self-evaluation, which raises another standard problem in the area. Evaluation is ideally undertaken by objective and impartial external experts. But all too often the outsiders have neither the requisite expertise nor the access to enable them to do other than a superficial assessment. The insiders, for their part, generally do not have the incentive or the necessary degree of detachment, to enable them to undertake a compelling evaluation of the work with which they have been engaged. While there is generally no perfect solution to this dilemma, two principles can assist. The first is that internal and external evaluations both have an important place. Whether they reinforce, complement, or contradict one another, they nonetheless make it easier for observers to arrive at their own conclusions based on the available evidence. The second is that neither an internal nor an external evaluation is guaranteed to be convincing, and the real test lies in the strength of the methodology used, of the research undertaken, and of the degree of persuasiveness of the conclusions reached when measured against all available evidence. Seen in this light, Salazar's study is exemplary. As Director of OHCHR's largest field office in the world from 2009 to 2012 he was uniquely placed to understand and be able to situate what was going on. By adopting a carefully nuanced methodology based around a concept of causality that he describes as ‘plausible attribution’ he provides a deeply insightful analysis of the Office's impact in relation to one of the most troubling episodes in Colombia's long-running internal conflict. Even more importantly, his study arrives at a number of conclusions which must be taken very carefully into account by all those engaged in establishing and maintaining international human rights field presences in the future. Many important stakeholders who participated in the fight against extrajudicial executions in Colombia have repeatedly mentioned that the presence and the interventions of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) were crucial to their reduction. Hence, the question the present study will try to answer is: What role did OHCHR play in the reduction of extrajudicial executions and what was its impact? For the purpose of this study, ‘impact’ was defined as a plausible attribution to the work of OHCHR in Colombia of certain outcomes within the fight against extrajudicial executions. The study tries to establish these ‘plausible attributions’ based on an analysis of OHCHR's relations with the government and references to the influence of other actors. Important sources for this study are 22 interviews with key stakeholders who participated in the fight against extrajudicial executions since 2002. The interviewees were direct witnesses, close observers, or decisive actors. Thus, the words of these insiders are fundamental for the endeavor to establish OHCHR's role and impact in the process.

The Nuremberg tribunal was the expression and the beginning of states' recognition of their duty to prosecute genocide and other gross human rights violations. It was a first step towards fulfillin...

Introduction. The issue of protecting and promoting respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the International Charter is firmly on the international agenda. Although the primary responsibility for ensuring human rights rests with States as key actors in international law, human rights defenders play an important role in this area. The activities of human rights defenders, whose right «individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels» enshrined in United Nations Declaration 53/144 (1998), often involve significant risks. For example, human rights defenders themselves often fall victim to human rights abuses. Such cases not only violate the human rights of human rights defenders, but also pose a threat to a democratic society and the rule of law in general. The existence of such a situation requires an effective and timely response from states and international organizations, in particular at the international regional level. The main results of the study. The article analyzes the provisions of international regional legal acts (African Union, Organization of American States, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe etc.) on the situation of human rights defenders. It is noted that the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (1998) serves as a model act in this area. The article emphasizes the need to develop and adopt within regional organizations acts on the legal status of human rights defenders and guarantees of their activities, which take into account the specifics of the geographical region. It is also noted that at the international regional level there are relevant monitoring bodies (Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Commissioner for Human Rights, Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and Justice Operators etc.), whose functions are to study the legal status of human rights defenders, collect information on violations human best practices in combating such violations. Results. The legal basis for the status of human rights defenders and guarantees of their activities at the international regional level (AU, OAS, OSCE, CoE, etc.) is based on the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (1998). At the same time, the adopted regional acts (resolutions, declarations, guidelines, etc.) enshrine guarantees and measures to protect the rights of human rights defenders, taking into account the specifics of the geographical region, cultural characteristics, traditions, religion. In addition, special monitoring bodies and procedures have been established within regional organizations to investigate human rights violations of the defenders, develop recommendations to states to prevent and eradicate such violations, and generalize and disseminate best practices in this area.

Despite global, regional and national initiatives in protection of human rights defenders which have not proved effectively in the ground reality. There are instances of human rights defenders are humiliated, harassed and victimized globally including in India. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India has reported many cases pertaining to violence against human rights defenders in different parts of the country. Over the years, the Commission has been observing an increasing trend and pattern of human rights violations of defenders. Hence, it is pertinent to assess the situation of human rights defenders in the largest democracy of the world. The present study aims to understand the nature and extent of violence against human rights defenders. A total number of twenty five cases were selected from National Human Rights Commissions (NHRC) and analyzed within case and cross through case study method. The study found that the defenders of human rights were victimized by State and Non-State Actors and perceived as a vital challenge for protection of human rights in India. Finally, the paper suggests synergetic strategy of Governant, corporate and civil society organizations to work together in strengthening special protection for human rights defenders in democracy. Key words: Human rights defenders, violence, victimization, human rights, India.

Masculinity and manhood are prerequisite characteristics desired and demanded from every male individual born in Indian society. They are taught to become an ‘Ideal Indian Man’ from the time they are born. Critical reading of masculine attributes is an important facet of feminist discourse. Men who become a part of this quest and movement as ‘women rights activists’, fighting against gender inequality, are often ridiculed and discouraged. In this context, this paper brings out the narratives and struggles of being a male ‘women human rights defender’ in India. According to the information published on the official website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), women human rights defenders (WHRDs) are people of all genders who work, promote, defend, advance, and advocate for gender equality, and stand for the cause of human rights of women. Hence, going by the definition mentioned above, I argue that a feminist man working relentlessly on women’s issues will surely fall under the category of ‘women human rights defenders’. Their personal experiences and struggles as WHRDs working in their local areas voice varied forms of challenges, stigma, ostracisation, and life risks that otherwise go unnoticed, unspoken, and at times trivialised because of their gender. With an objective to bring out a broader conversation between masculinity studies and feminist scholarship, this paper analyses the challenges of being feminist male WHRDs. To examine this position as a WHRD, the paper will look into the questions of (1) being a man who is always looked upon with suspicion as a person occupying a privileged gender position; (2) a man working on gender-sensitive issues such as human/sex trafficking, child abuse, violence, conflict, and displacement; and (3) his regional location and social class. This paper will structure details of different forms of gender-based lived experiences of selected male WHRDs working in various districts of Assam and West Bengal, through personal interview methods.

In defence of human rights

An analysis of the experience of ombudsmen in foreign countries will identify the most effective methods and approaches in protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as the problems and difficulties faced by these institutions. It is important to note that the functions and powers of an ombudsman may vary significantly from country to country. The work provides an analysis of Russian legislation regulating the constitutional and legal status of The High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, and taking into account the experience of normative regulation of the constitutional and legal status of the Ombudsman abroad, the authors put forward proposals for improving the procedure for interaction between The High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and public authorities. The study and analysis of foreign experience will make it possible to develop recommendations for improving the work of The High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and take into account international standards in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms.The work provides an analysis of Russian legislation regulating the constitutional and legal status of The High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, and taking into account the experience of normative regulation of the constitutional and legal status of the Ombudsman abroad, the authors put forward proposals for improving the procedure for interaction between The High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and public authorities.We will consider these issues using general scientific methods, such as analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, analogy, comparison, abstraction. In addition, the scientific article used specific historical, systemic-structural, functional, comparative legal, formal legal research methods, predetermined by the characteristics of the object and subject of scientific research, its purpose and objectives.Until now, not enough attention has been paid to analyzing the possibility of giving a mandatory character to the institution of The High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation. This means that its decisions and recommendations must be binding on other government bodies. This, in turn, can significantly increase the efficiency of this institution and improve the situation with the protection of human rights in the Russian Federation.

The article describes the institutional mechanism for ensuring the right to development at the international universal level. The functions and mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Working Group on the Right to Development, the High-level Task Force on the Implementation of the Right to Development, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development, the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, etc. are described. It is noted that the right to development is the only human right specifically mentioned in resolution 48/141 of the UN General Assembly, by which it established the position of High Commissioner and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It is highlighted the functions of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in ensuring the right to development. It is described the mandate of the Working Group on the Right to Development, which includes: monitoring and analysis of progress made in the promotion and implementation of the right to development at the national and international levels, making recommendations and further analysis of obstacles to its full implementation; review of reports and any other information submitted by States, UN agencies, other relevant international organisations and non-governmental organisations on the relationship between their activities and the right to development, etc. It is noted that the High-level Task Force on the Implementation of the Right to Development was established within the framework of the Working Group on the Right to Development to assist it in fulfilling its mandate. It is stated that the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development contributes to the realisation of the right to development by developing practical guidance to implement the right and to integrate it within development policies and programmes at local, national, regional and international levels. The functions and mandate of the Special Rapporteur are highlighted. It is described the activities of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, which provides the Human Rights Council with thematic expertise on the right to development in searching for, identifying and sharing best practices with Member States and promotes the implementation of the right to development worldwide.

Climate change has become a prominent issue in world affairs, but is yet to be taken on board by the human rights community. While on the one hand it is clear that climate change will have adverse effects on the enjoyment of human rights, it is less clear whether human rights organizations are best-placed to campaign against it and whether the incorporation of climate change into the mandates of human rights organizations would be a wise and effective move. Taking as its main point of reference the recent report on the relationship between climate change and human rights by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, thus far the most authoritative publication on this question, this note addresses some of the main challenges in approaching climate change as a human rights issue in general, as well as some of the more specific challenges arising from a human rights practice perspective

Recently, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly has recognised the universality of the human right to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment. However, for decades, environmental human rights defenders have struggled for this right and have paid a high price for it: threats, reprisals, penalisation, and even their lives. The strengthening of the environmental rule of law correlates with the reciprocal synergy and interdependence on environmental rights and human rights as highlighted by the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations under the scope of the 1998 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The Escazú Agreement and the Aarhus Convention are among the latest developments of legal and institutional guarantees for environmental defenders: a legal protection clause in the Escazú Agreement for human rights defenders in environmental matters and the setting of a new Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders for the Aarhus parties as a rapid response mechanism, under Article 3(8). The most recent trends on climate litigation have reached the European Court of Human Rights with several pending applications on greenhouse emissions and compliance with the Paris Agreement that merits attention, as well as the protection of human rights defenders in the case-law and the third-party interventions of the Council of Europe (COE) Commissioner for Human Rights.

Reviewed by: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Conscience for the World ed. by Felice D. Gaer & Christen L. Broecker Matheus de Carvalho Hernandez (bio) The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Conscience for the World ( Felice D. Gaer & Christen L. Broecker eds., Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2014), 398 pages (incl. index), ISBN 978-90-04-25424-4. The position of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was created at the end of 1993 by a unanimous vote in the United Nations General Assembly. The creation of this office was preceded by strong lobbying by NGOs (particularly Amnesty International) and state delegations (primarily the United States) during the Second World Conference on Human Rights, known as the Vienna Conference, in June of 1993. Throughout the Cold War, several negotiation attempts to create this office were hampered, on the one hand by the bipolar conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union—and consequently between the so-called “generations” of human rights—and on the other hand by the still incipient institutional strengthening of the international human rights system. The end of the Cold War, the “thawing” of the UN, and the consolidation of NGOs as international political agents established the conditions for the emergence of this position, which from then on assumed primary responsibility for human rights within the entire political-institutional framework of the UN. Despite the centrality of the position for the institutionalization of human rights within the UN and the fact that, bureaucratically, it has the rank of Under-Secretary General, there are very few studies and analyses on the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the office in the international literature. In this respect, this book is an extremely welcome addition to the small number of other titles on the topic, such as the works of Bertrand Ramcharan and the pioneering doctoral thesis by Roger Clark in 1972. As stated above, the book has its merits. The first, doubtlessly, is its originality. The second is the attempt to cover the most varied aspects of the High Commissioner and the office. In addition to the introduction written by the editors, the book is divided into five well balanced parts. The first part discusses the expectations concerning the work of the mandate holder and the office, analyzing its twenty five years of existence and making recommendations for its future. Besides the articles by the current High Commissioner, Navi Pillay, and the former High Commissioner, Ramcharan, the reflections of Michael Ignatieff on the possibilities for increasing the duties of the High Commissioner and of Harold Koh on the personification and institutionalization process contribute to the literature in the area. The second part addresses a recurring theme in the literature on human [End Page 971] rights: universality. The authors in this section, Michael O’Flaherty and Sunila Abeysekera, focus on how the High Commissioner operationalizes and promotes the principle of universality, or fails to do so, in its work, particularly in relation to the committees that monitor compliance with international human rights treaties (known as Treaty Bodies). In the third part, one of the main contributions of the collection starts to emerge: the little known or studied responses of the Office of the High Commissioner to systematic human rights violations. Felice Gaer, who is extremely knowledgeable about the UN human rights system, recommends that there should be more synergy and cooperation and less disputing and rivalry between the work of the High Commissioner and the Special Procedures. Christen Broecker and William O’Neill make a panoramic analysis of the work conducted by the High Commissioner’s national offices, located in several different countries around the world, demonstrating the political-institutional potential and difficulties of giving local significance to international human rights standards. Tseliso Thipanyane wraps up the third part by describing the relationship between the National Human Rights Institutions and the High Commissioner, the leading enthusiast of these institutions within the institutional framework of the UN. The fourth part is interesting in that it responds to the more skeptical literature concerning the political influences of the UN human rights bodies. Suzanne Nossel and Broecker show how the institutional maturity of the position of High Commissioner...

The article is devoted to highlighting the activities of international and national non-governmental organizations for the protection of human rights defenders; defining their place and role in the existing international and national human rights systems. Attention is focused on the activities of such non- governmental human rights organizations as: International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), Observatory For Defenders, Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders (FLD), Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC), etc. It is noted that there is a significant trend towards an increase in the number of non-governmental organisations on the African continent in response to numerous violations of the rights of human rights defenders. These organisations include: Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), West African Human Rights Defenders Network (WAHRDN), AfricanDefenders (Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network), Network of Human Rights Defenders in Central Africa (REDHAC), Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI), DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP)), SouthernDefenders (Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (SAHRDN)). It is concluded that the importance and activities of international and national non-governmental organizations are that they are, first of all, an integral part of the international universal and regional mechanisms for the protection of human rights, since human rights defenders are guaranteed the rights provided for in international human rights instruments, and therefore, in case of their violation, they have the right to apply to the supervisory bodies of these treaties (the Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee against Torture, etc.; secondly, the above mentioned organizations contribute to the protection of the rights and freedoms of human rights defenders, taking into account the specifics of the region and national legislation; focus on respecting gender equality; make significant efforts to improve the existing legal framework for the protection of human rights defenders, expand the rights of this category of persons, taking into account the changing situation in the world with human rights and modern challenges.

Exploring human rights

Flowing from the evolution of international legal obligations for water and sanitation, human rights practice has shifted to address state accountability for a human right to water and sanitation through the development of human rights indicators. This policy note focuses on efforts to develop indicators for state reporting to human rights treaty bodies, with human rights norms framing national reports and treaty bodies employing indicators to monitor the progressive realization of the human right to water and sanitation. In supporting evidence-based treaty monitoring through the United Nations (UN), both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation have sought to develop indicators. This process of developing indicators for the human right to water and sanitation seeks to draw on previous indicator development practices, looking to these practices in framing, identifying and reviewing indicators. As part of a larger drive to facilitate rights-based accountability, there arises an imperative to study the political process of developing indicators, looking to past models in structuring future processes to assess the realization of the right to water and sanitation. Exploring the development of indicators for the human rights to health and education, this policy note analyses the indicator development process, proposing an indicator development process model as a basis for developing indicators that reflect the attributes of the right to water and sanitation, enlist key stakeholders in the policymaking process and have political relevance for state reporting to treaty bodies.