Guarantee Of Human Rights Research Articles

Gender Mainstreaming and Development: A Comparative Analysis of Widowhood Rights Among the Urhobos and Gbagyi People of Nigeria

The study is premised on the violation of the constitutional rights of widows as related to widowhood practice in Nigeria. Women as a group constitute half of the world population, yet women are politically, economically, and socially subordinated. This subordination has led to the unequal treatment that exists in all spheres of life - political representation, professional segregation, education and so on. Nigeria women with their huge number like their counterpart’s in other parts of the world have had a fair share of unequal treatments; unfortunately the Nigerian state responsible for the guarantee of human rights is unable to protect women from subordination. The study empirically documented that these customary widowhood practices in some parts of Nigeria is a form of maltreatment prevalent as a result of the patriarchal structure of Nigerian society. The objective is to examine the contradictions between documented rights and widowhood practices. Questionnaires, interview, focus group and ethnography will be used as primary sources of data to solve the puzzle, why does the intensity of widowhood practices vary? Chi-square will be used to interpret the hypotheses raised. Ethnic group, politics, education, income and occupation will be used as comparative tools. Historical materialism as propounded by Karl mark will be used as framework of analysis. The study concludes that cultural practices are used as a means to maltreat widows who lack the power to modify these practices and this is anti thesis to Development at all levels. Gender mainstreaming is recommended to give women the opportunity needed to mediate on issues that have to do with widows as well as foster development.

SEXISMO Y RACISMO EN LA GESTIÓN NEOLIBERAL DE LAS MIGRACIONES: SUBTEXTOS DEL CONTRATO SOCIAL

Analysis of neoliberal globalization has to be done from a feminist perspective, paying attention to the global reorganization of gender, wich is the solution neoliberalism proposes to solve “care crisis”. This research attempts to diagnose sexism and racism in neoliberal management of migration, particularly in the European context. We argue that under the apparent neutrality of the (neo)liberal social contract there are subtexts of gender and race. We refer to patriarchal institutions such as family emerged in the transition from feudalism to capitalism and the sexual division of labor and racialized institutions such as otherness and immigration laws. We believe that the availability of female precarized immigrant workers plays a fundamental function in the reestructuring of neoliberalism, once revealed the crisis of reproductive model in wich it is based, and because of that, the liberalization of migration in neoliberal way is incompatible with the guarantee of human rights

Liberal Laws Juxtaposed with Rigid Control: an Analysis of the Logics of Governing Sex Work in Germany

Three ways of governing sex work dominate the international debate: Prohibition, Non-Regulation, and Regulation. The German tradition has been long been regulatory. Sex work is permissible under certain conditions depending on the location (vicinity to schools and churches must be avoided), the registration (for taxation purposes), and the migratory status of the sex worker (illegal immigrants or tourists ought not to ply the streets). In addition, one has to be of a certain age, compos mentis, and engage in sex work using a certain amount of discretion. Otherwise, one moves into the realm of illegality. The regulatory measures traditionally aim at maintaining three public goods: public mores, public health, and public order. To these desiderata, the prostitution law of 2002 added a new public objective: labor rights for sex workers. The legislators’ intent was to remove stigma and improve working conditions. This law remains without much effect in practice. In this paper, I try to show why. First, the governments of the Lander refuse (or fail) to pass implementation guidelines. Second, the old logics of interference prevail at an institutional level. And third, individual administrators focus on paternalistic or punitive logics rather than on the guaranteeing of human rights.

Reclaiming Afghanistan

Reclaiming Afghanistan

Plan estratégico de salud en cárceles federales de Argentina

In the last five years, medical care policies for prisons in the Argentine Federal Penitentiary Service were developed by the previous Medical Care Assistance Office of this Institution to improve primary medical healthcare. Policies were applied with heterogeneous criteria in comparison to the ones established by the Ministry of Health. This may be why I am interested in taking a deeper look at the Argentine experience in order to guarantee human rights, especially access to health for inmates based in the Federal Penitentiary Service. These changes could only be brought about by penal reforms such as reductions in overpopulation, the increase of the number of workers and students among inmates, including socio - cultural activities, the creation of penitentiary treatment programmes for first time inmates, adults, and mental disabilities programmes for inmates with a background of drug abuse, which have represented a great step forward towards the fulfilment of the duties of the state. This novel, integrated approach to medical care policies for imprisoned people is based on the assumed responsibility of the Ministry of Justice together with the Health Ministry, enabling equal access to community health assistance in a closed environment like prison. The reform of medical care policies in federal prisons, leads us to us reflect on the revolutionary changes in public policy management that had not been presented up till now, and that now show a change in direction that the Argentine State has taken towards effective guarantees of human rights for prison inmates.

Toward Human Rights in the Local Community: Multiple Approaches for Implementation

This paper attempts to show the significance of the implementation of human rights in the local community. Along with the international and national schemes for the collective guarantee of human rights, the local community should be a significant arena for the carrying out of social efforts to protect and promote human rights in practice. For improving the human rights situation at the local level, multiple approaches are suggested: the widespread promotion of a human rights culture in the community, the offering of human rights education in local schools for children and workplaces for adults, the collective efforts for implementing human rights by members of the local community such as agents of the local government and activists of nongovernmental organizations, and the introduction of local regulations for human rights. These multiple approaches aim to establish a social system for the collective guarantee of human rights at the level of the local community.

Efectos del Bloque de Constitucionalidad en materia de prescripción de la acción penal en Colombia

En Colombia, los artículos 93, 94 y 214 de la Carta Constitucional crean un puente de implementación a través del cual el Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos y el Derecho Internacional Humanitario se integran en el Derecho colombiano en virtud de la figura del Bloque de Constitucionalidad. El efecto principal de ello es la adaptación del derecho interno a los compromisos internacionales del Estado, y por consecuencia, la evolución en materia de protección y garantía de los Derechos Humanos en el ámbito interno. Sin embargo, el proceso de implementación puede generar problemas complejos que se derivan, por ejemplo, de las contradicciones entre normas de derecho interno que se fundamentan en principios jurídicos arraigados en el país y las reglas del bloque de constitucionalidad. El caso de la prescripción de la acción penal en Colombia es un caso complejo, pero la normatividad internacional es clara en la existencia de una regla sobre la imprescriptibilidad de la acción penal de los crímenes de guerra y de lesa humanidad. El presente artículo es la conclusión sobre el examen de ponderación de los principios que allí se encuentran.

The politics of constitutional amendment in postcommunist Europe

This paper analyzes the causes and consequences of constitutional amendments in Eastern Europe. Its results challenge the conventional wisdom that constitutional change is a consequence of institutions and that major changes will increase executive powers and limit rights. It finds that the political and social context rather than institutions is the main cause of amendments. These amendments moreover tend to reduce the power of executives and strengthen guarantees of human rights. The paper attributes these results to the particular circumstances of the postcommunist transition.

Council of Europe in the field of bioethics: the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and other legal instruments

The Council of Europe was established in 1949 and currently comprises 47 Member States (Council of Europe: http://www. coe.int). Its aim is the strengthening of unity among its members, specifically by maintaining and enhancing guarantees of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordancewith its “Convention for the Protection of Human and Fundamental Freedoms” from 4 November 1950. Advances in the fields of medicine and of biology in recent decades has made the protection of these rights and freedoms in these fields increasingly important to the Council of Europe. The “Comite ad hoc d’experts pour la bioethique” was initially set up to consider issues associated with in vitro fertilization. As these issues involve only specific aspects, the Council transformed this committee into its Steering Committee on Bioethics, or “Comite Directeur pour la Bioethique” (CDBI). Its brief is summarized in the title of its first product: “Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine” (ETS no. 164), also known as the “Convention of Oviedo,” and this contains the basic principles for any application of medical or biological methods on human beings, including those of biomedical research. The Convention and its additional protocols comprise legal instruments in the realm of international law. Such legal instruments of the European Union and of Council of Europe are addressed to the governments of the Member States, and it is the responsibility of governments to harmonize domestic law with the specification of European regulations. The citizens of Member States are bound exclusively by national laws. The Convention and the protocols become legally binding upon a Member State’s ratification. Ratification requires that such instruments be in conformity with preexisting domestic law, including those regulating legal instruments of the European Union. In preparing the documents, the CDBI pays attention to avoiding contradiction. Article 36 stipulates that should such a contradiction arise, the Member State and the EU may specify reservations regarding particular provisions of the Convention. A reservation must be based on existing domestic law or binding regulations of the EU.

Procedural Guarantees of Human Rights in Arbitration Proceedings—A Still Unsettled Problem?

A presistent question exists about whether human rights guarantees should be applied to voluntary arbitration. Opponents give no dogmatic grounds for non-applicability of Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) to voluntary arbitration. Moreover, recent developments in case law in various jurisdictions demonstrate a clear departure from the so-called waiver theory. The conclusion of an arbitration agreement does not signify a waiver from the procedural guarantees enshrined in Article 6(1) of ECHR. The direct appplicability of Convention’s provisions in arbitration proceedings does not harm the arbitral process, however. On the contrary, it appears to be useful, because it removes the respect for procedural guarantees from the phase of control over the arbitral award to the very stage of conducting the arbitration proceedings.

O direito à prevenção e os desafios da redução da vulnerabilidade ao HIV no Brasil

The study evaluates the Brazilian response to the targets established by UNGASS for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. The analysis was based on national research, documents and information from the National Program STD/AIDS and on state-level action plans and targets. Brazil relies on various prevention policies to attain the UNGASS targets proposed for 2005. These include: addressing discrimination issues, promotion of HIV testing, distribution of condoms, needle exchange programs, discussion of sexuality in schools, prevention initiatives for sex workers and homosexuals and prevention in the workplace. These have resulted in increases in testing and condom use. Various challenges are discussed, including: overcoming discontinuity in action plans (particularly with more vulnerable groups), training prevention teams, increasing monitoring of quantity and quality of preventative actions and overcoming regional, racial and gender inequalities. It is concluded that the right to prevention is not a public priority, nor is it on the social movement agendas. This contrasts with the right to better HIV treatment. In order to increase the efficacy of these programs, it is suggested that they be understood and incorporated based on the promotion and guarantee of human rights, thereby advancing the ethical/political debate at local and national levels.

Maya Perspectives on the 1999 Referendum in Guatemala

Guatemala is a multiethnic country whose population of about 11 million is made up of Ladinos,1 Maya, Garffuna, and Xinka peoples. Guatemala's 36-year civil war (1960-1996) ended when the government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity-URNG) insurgency forces signed the Peace Accords on December 29, 1996. Among the goals of the Accords were the official recognition of Guatemala as a pluriethnic, multicultural, and multilingual country and the strengthening of guarantees of human rights, particularly for Maya. Unfortunately, few of its provisions were implemented in the aftermath of the ceasefire, and on May 16, 1999, the Guatemalan populace rejected a referendum or consulta popular (hereafter CP) that proposed (among other aims) indigenous equality. As a result, Maya maintained their status as second-class citizens in the eyes of the state. According to many scholars and activistsMaya, Ladino, and foreign-this repudiation of the indigenous population was a serious setback for the peace process in Guatemala. Paradoxically, however, the Maya themselves did not necessarily view it as a permanent barrier to peaceful and egalitarian relations in Guatemala. In fact, many objected to both the logic and process, if not the goals, of the CP. This article uses oral

Freedom, Equality and Justice in Islam

Modern Muslim thinkers who try to locate and construct constitutional tenets based on the Islamic tradition face various difficulties, for they have to address a segment of an audience that expects an exposition comparable to the West's in terms of terminologies, institutions, and remedies, as well as to draw from the best practices of Islamic history and modern Muslim societies. It is always fustrating to learn that Islam's constitutional history, despite its richness in individual constitutional tenets, loses some of its utility in modern Muslim societies due to systemic changes caused by glob­ alization and pervasive international institutions, both of which have had far-reaching consequences on domestic sociopolitical settings. Given the contemporary nation-state's overarching authority, one known guarantee of the people's social, legal, or political rights is a con ­stitutional framework under a credible rule of law system. Mohammad Hashim Kamali's Freedom, Equality and Justice in Islam identifies the three themes in the title of his book as the fundamental bases upon which all other constitutional guarantees of human rights depend. The book is divided into three chapters, each dedicated to one of the main themes. The first chapter, which discusses freedom, presents a con­ceptual analysis of the term and how it is expressed in Islam's theological and sociopolitical contexts. However, unlike various guarantees provided for realizing other values, such as justice (discussed in chapter 3), there is little discussion of such practical guarantees for personal liberty and free­dom. The author acknowledges that Muslims have given scant attention to constitutional guarantees of freedom, citing the prevalence of despotic gov­ernments throughout much of Islamic history. Nevertheless, the only way he offers out of this situation is to observe that Muslims should change the language of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) to reflect the challenging times confronting the ummah. This may not be surprising, given the identified problems, as mentioned above, that have to be faced squarely. The second chapter, which analyzes equality, reviews authoritative Islamic sources and argues that although there is conclusive evidence that Islam envisages equality in basic rights and duties among all Muslims, the evidence is somewhat inconclusive on whether all members of the human race enjoy such equality. This inconclusiveness is due to sources that leave room for different interpretations and to prevailing circum­stances during the formative period of Islamic law. Kamali pays particu­lar attention to the duties and rights of women and non-Muslims, for there are different opinions on women's political and family-law rights and on equal opportunity for non-Muslims. He states that even if differential treatments of the two categories are maintained in certain circumstances, such differences do not negate equality, because Islam's positive equality ...

The Force, Frailty, and Future of Human Rights under Globalization

The author makes the claim that human rights have become an important institution of international relations, their inherent powerlessness notwithstanding. In the first step of the analysis, the author discusses the positive correlation between a nationâs socioeconomic well-being and the safe guarantee of human rights. However, the social and political disembeddedness of human rights and their universalist character actually constitute their inherent weakness, which is analyzed in the second part. In the third part, which deals with the future development of human rights, the author makes the claim that the process of globalization does not only create the functional networks of economic, political, and military power elites, but also offers hope for the emergence of a global moral community in which the idea of human rights may become an essential institutional pillar.

The Moral Status of Fetuses in Russia

Starting bioethics in Russia we were motivated with the idea of the democratization of our society on a basic micro-social level. The country was swift enough to take several important steps in this direction on the macro-social level, i.e., to adopt a new constitution with guarantees of human rights and rights of ownership of private property, to elect the parliament and the president. But these modernizations in the Russian political facade did not sufficiently change the internal structure of the society–the net of everyday relationships in the home, at work, at school, in hospitals and other places. One of the most brilliant philosophers of the Russian “silver age,” L.S. Frank, wrote in the beginning of the century that a tyrannical state (at his time the czarist state) grows out of tyrannical interpersonal relationships. Political revolution not grounded in a social evolution on the basic level of satisfying “simple” human economic, physical, and psychological needs could reproduce only the same totalitarian pattern under a new ideological label. Events resulting from the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 proved the wisdom of his statement. Russia could suffer the same fate today.

Grotius, Vattel, and Locke: An Older View of Liberalism and Nationality

Liberalism is now thought to be particularly inclined toward internationalism, so that international guarantees of human rights are regarded as a quintessentially liberal project. Classical liberal thought had a different view. So Vattel's mid-eighteenth-century Law of Nations, which is much more insistent on individual rights, is also much more sympathetic to national claims than the pre-liberal doctrines of Grotius. Even John Locke's classical liberalism is quite attentive to the claims of nationality. The national element in classical liberal thought remains evident in the thought of the American Founders and in nineteenth-century liberalism.

The Future of Inter-State Dispute Settlement Within the Council of Europe

The original philosophy behind the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention) was accurately summarized by Lord Layton when, in opening the first debates of the Parliamentary Assembly in 1949, he underlined “the great importance” of the guarantee of human rights: first for the sake of the individual European citizens who may benefit from it; secondly, as a means of strengthening the resistance in all our countries against insidious attempts to undermine our democratic way of life from within or without, and thus to give to western Europe as a whole greater political stability; and thirdly, as the acid test of whether countries should be admitted to this Council of Europe.

The Bill of Rights as the First Ten Amendments

Needless to say, the Bill of Rights plays a significant role in the American Constitution of today as the stronghold for the guarantee of human rights. However, the Bill of Rights was not contained in the original Constitution of 1787; it was later added to the Constitution after its effectuation.To begin with, the United States of America after her Independence actually meant to be a confederation of thirteen independent States. In the Federal Convention of 1787 its leading delegates attempted to transform the United States of America from this loose form of confederation to the single consolidated central state. Which is to say, they wanted to create a single extended republic instead of having thirteen small republics. They also attempted to rectify“the excess of democracy”frequently seen in the postrevolutionary period so as to make possible a governance by some qualified and competent leaders.But, they did not forget the general sentiment of the contemporary Americans who often entertained apprehensions of strong centralized power and aristocracy as well; so they, instead of adhering to the consolidated state, drafted the Constitution which aimed at having the constitution of the federal republic. In its ratification procedures by several States, however, the proposed Constitution was criticized as oriented toward consolidation and aristocracy as well. Though these issues were fraught with ambiguities, the absence of a bill of rights in the original Constitution was conspicuous. To be sure, the Federalists argued that since the federal government was a limited government and could use only certain powers enumerated in the Constitution, a bill of rights was unnecessary. They also maintained that the proposed Constitution as a whole was nothing less than“a bill of rights”. But they later conceded to counter-opinion in the last phase of negotiation and guaranteed that after the effectuation of the Constitution a bill of rights would be surely added to it. Thus, as a matter of fact, the so-called“Bill of Rights”was stipulated in the Constitution as the First Ten Amendments in 1791.Considered in the historical context, the Bill of Rights was established not only to keep individual rights, human rights and civil rights from the encroachment of the central government but also to protect states' rights vis-a-vis the power of the central government. For, as it was clearly shown in the Tenth Amendment, the Bill of Rights included many provisions to make sure the federal character of the constitution of America's body politic. For instance, while the First Amendment stipulated the separation of church and state, it did not prohibit several States from maintaining the established church. Moreover, the Second Amendment guaranteed a State right to keep militia and a personal right to keep and bear arms. Because the republic basically meant to be but a small republic to most of Americans living in the end of the 18th century, as Montesqueu as an authority, upon whom they often fell back, had earlier described, it was natural for the Bill of Rights to have come to possess as well a role to protect the right of each State from the central government. But, it is a well-known fact today that the Bill of Rights has come to obtain a protective role to keep human rights within each State under the Court interpretation of the“due process”clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Ideology as Constraint

The debate between the Critical Legal Studies movement and its critics has often seemed little more than a collection of arbitrary dismissals from both sides. For this reason, few books can be more welcome than the philosopher Andrew Altman's recent study of the Critical Legal Studies movement. Altman discusses and critiques CLS writings from the standpoint of a scholar deeply committed to liberal political theory. But there is nothing dismissive about Altman's work; if Altman's is a criticism of CLS, it is a very sympathetic criticism. Altman is a liberal who nevertheless recognizes the potential failings of liberal legal theory. He agrees with Morton Horwitz that the Rule of Law is not an unqualified human good, despite its obvious importance in preserving human liberty.' He accepts the claim that social rules and practices affect the justice of the legal system as much as do legal rules, and argues that without a culture of tolerance and respect for freedom, legal guarantees of human rights will not be sufficient to prevent oppression.2 Thus, Altman has much in common with the CLS thinkers he purports to criticize. Nevertheless, he has an abiding faith in liberalism as a political theory that can adapt to changes in human affairs and reform itself in order better to protect human rights and human values.3 In his view, the soundest versions of liberalism have nothing to fear from CLS critiques, and much to gain. His book is not an apology for liberalism but rather a call for an invigorated version of it.

The Economic Dimensions of 1997

Hong Hong Kong's projected surrender to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997 has resulted in much debate as to the future of the Crown Colony under Communist rule. This debate, however, has been dominated by concerns for Hong Kong's political future. Although this debate has been interesting and politically stimulating, it has done little to address the foremost concern of most Hong Kong Chinese: whether or not they will be able to make a good living in post-1997 Hong Kong under Communist rule. Political and environmental changes are important and relevant to all Hong Kong Chinese to the extent that these changes impinge on the population's livelihood. Ironclad guarantees of human rights and democratic institutions will be meaningless, however, should Hong Kong become impoverished after 1997. In this article, I will first assess Hong Kong's future by outlining the structural factors that made Hong Kong's economic prosperity possible; I will then examine how Hong Kong Chinese have taken advantage of these factors in commerce; finally, I will project how these factors may change after 1997, thereby affecting the economic future of Hong Kong. All Hong Kong Chinese are concerned about human rights. However, as long as no demonstrators are massacred by PLA armored divisions on Hong Kong streets, the human rights and freedoms promised and supposedly guaranteed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the Basic Law, and the Bill of Rights are peripheral to the livelihood of a majority of the population.' The primary concern of Hong Kong's population is to retain the economic freedom and private property rights necessary to maintain a high standard of living in a society that offers a degree of tranquility. Even democracy is but an abstract issue and a peripheral concern to the majority. If Hong Kong Chinese were given a choice between living in a dictatorship with economic