Institutionalization Of Human Rights Research Articles

Human Rights and Equality Institutions in Europe

National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are state bodies mandated to protect and promote human rights. Their mission is to identify and tackle systemic problems while raising fundamental rights awareness in countries in which they have been established. Human rights institutions at the national level include Ombudsman (some specialising in particularly vulnerable groups), Equality Bodies, National Preventive Mechanisms, National Monitoring Mechanisms, Data Protection Agencies, and more. In this article, we analyse the strengths and weaknesses of both centralised and fragmented systems of human rights institutions. Using examples from several European countries, we particularly examine how the fragmentation of institutions affects their resilience to pressures which can adversely impact the promotion and protection of human rights and equality at the national level. We argue that opting for a certain NHRIs’ system might exert significant influence on the independence and effectiveness of individual institutions, as well as on the overall comprehensiveness of a nation’s human rights infrastructure.

Human Rights and Transitional Justice in the Maldives: Closing the Door, Once and For All?

AbstractIn 2020, the Maldives instituted a transitional justice process to address decades of systematic human rights abuses including the widespread use of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and the forced depopulation of entire island communities. While the country’s decision to confront its violent past is not unusual, the institution it has established to undertake that task is. Rather than institute a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC), refer cases to its Human Rights Commission, or undertake criminal trials in its domestic judicial system, the Maldives has taken the unprecedented step of establishing a temporary Ombudsperson’s Office for Transitional Justice (OTJ). Comparing the OTJ to national human rights institutions and TRCs, this article examines how and why the Maldives’ transitional justice process has taken this unusual form. It suggests that the OTJ represents a new attempt to address the full range of human rights abuses, including violations of social and economic rights, perpetrated by repressive regimes.

Human Information Rights in Digital Space: To the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

An important milestone in the development of the institute of human rights is the adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which for the first time in history comprehensively enshrined the basic human rights and freedoms, taking into account the natural, political and social needs and interests of the person (individual). The adoption of this very document declared the man, his fundamental rights and freedoms to be the main value. The international community sought to cover all possible spheres of public relations (public and private) that are necessary for a person to function normally, consolidating basic rights and freedoms. It is impossible to deny the importance of this international legal act for the «human family» and each individual. At the same time, we may state that this document was adopted three quarters of a century ago and it does not fully reflect reality, does not take into account the dynamics of the development of public relations, in particular, does not define human rights in the emerging information society, in particular the digital space. After all, even the approach to individualization and identification of the person himself is changing, digital profiles of citizens appear, digital passports and other identification documents are issued, moreover, «cybermen» appear   — individuals with subcutaneously implanted microchips (capsules) with NFC technologies (Near Field Communication), containing information, in particular, about personal and banking data.

The Nature of The Relationship Between Palestinian Human Rights Institutions and Media

This study aims to reveal the nature of the relationship between Palestinian human rights institutions and the media, to understand the relationships between these institutions and the media. This study used the descriptive analytical approach, which seeks to describe, monitor and analyze the nature of the relationship between Palestinian human rights institutions and the media, by collecting data using the quantitative approach represented by the questionnaire tool that was distributed to 83 Palestinian human rights institutions. The study concluded that the nature of the relationship between Palestinian human rights institutions and media was dominated by participatory and their interest in disseminating their news via media, by making information available to media, there are 49% of the institutions, In addition to 43% of them allowing the media to access information freely, and 38% of them shares with media various topics that to cover. On the other hand, there was a weakness in media relations in terms of interaction with the media. The relationship focused on the institutions’ interest in publishing their news only, as 40% of human rights institutions are not keen on holding meetings with media institutions, and 39% of them do not participate in media Organizations activities.
 Originality/value: The study contributed to understanding the nature of the relationship of human rights institutions with the media, in light of the lack of studies that studied this subject, in addition to helping those working in public relations in human rights institutions to improve their communication performance.

The military ombudsman as an institutional guarantee for the protection of military personnel rights (based on foreign experience)

The article draws attention to the fact that today, in the conditions of Russian aggression, the state of compliance with the rights of domestic servicemen has significantly deteriorated, which requires the improvement of the constitutional and legal tools for their protection. The foreign experience of developed democratic countries in solving the problem of effectively ensuring the rights of the military through the introduction of specialized ombudsmen in the affairs of the armed forces is analyzed. The legal nature of military ombudsmen as specialized human rights institutions that have proven themselves positively in a number of states, the history of their introduction, and the positive consequences of their functioning are studied. Considerable attention in the work is devoted to the models of specialized ombudsmen in the affairs of the armed forces: a) regarding their legislative recognition and regulation of legal status (at the level of the country’s constitution, law or by-law); b) places in the structure of state power (parliamentary and executive); c) models that are structurally part of the armed forces; are not part of the armed forces, but are authorized to deal exclusively with military issues and ombudsmen of general competence, in which the function of protecting the rights of military personnel is provided for by law; d) individual ombudsmen and collegial ombudsman services; e) various models of ombudsmen in the affairs of the armed forces, depending on the scope and specificity of their powers. It was concluded that for Ukraine in the conditions of war, the introduction of the institute of the military ombudsman is not just timely, it is extremely necessary. The emergence of this institution, on the one hand, will complement the existing means of protecting the constitutional rights and freedoms of the military, on the other hand, it will contribute to the maintenance of their faith in justice, which will generally neutralize the wary attitude of military personnel towards the authorities, and mitigate conflicts between the state, its bodies, and the military. The military ombudsman, exercising his supervisory and human rights powers, will not only contribute to the effective protection of the rights of the military, but also mitigate the contradictions between the state and civil spheres, promote the democratization of the national military sphere, which under his influence should become more responsive to needs and requests of military personnel, which will ultimately guarantee the “democratization” of the military bureaucracy, which, thanks to his activities, will show more attention, sympathy and concern for military personnel.

Cost of Expulsion, Dissent and Human Rights in Russia

Abstract With Russia outside the Council of Europe, the possibilities for successful litigation against the state by Russian citizens have become limited. In more ways than one, Russians made the Strasbourg court their own. Russia was among the states with the most applications against it. At the same time, victims of Russia’s abuses, dissenters, and human rights defenders were among the ECtHR’s main beneficiaries. Despite Russia’s mixed record of compliance, the Court provided a singular avenue for accountability, and served as a catalyst for domestic mobilization. Expulsion appears to have accelerated authoritarian decline. Although it is hard to know how much stronger respect for human rights would have been had Russia remained, in the absence of European Court, human rights in Russia face massive challenges. The cost of expulsion raises questions about how human rights institutions should balance institutional legitimacy and condemnation of states with responsibility to the people living within them.

Institutionalizing human rights in the United States: Advocacy for a national human rights institution

National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) have been part of the infrastructure of international law since 1946, two years before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was completed. Globally, more than 120 nations have established independent NHRIs. Two-thirds of these have been accredited by the Global Association of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) after passing a rigorous review to assess their compliance with the Paris Principles, a set of minimum standards for NHRIs. The United States does not have an NHRI and the federal government has resisted calls from both domestic NGOs and the international community to establish such an institution. Domestic advocates nevertheless continue to pursue creative approaches to promote human rights monitoring and implementation in the United States. U.S. civil society submissions to treaty bodies regularly draw attention to the need for a U.S. NHRI. On the domestic stage, advocates likewise urge the federal government to take a greater role in human rights monitoring, implementation, and coordination. However, as a global power and a key actor in the UN system, the U.S. government experiences few consequences for failing to establish an NHRI. In sum, the absence of a U.S. NHRI is a challenge not only for domestic advocates, but for the international system as well.

SIM Peter Baehr lecture 2023: Human rights and the International Court of Justice

The annual SIM Peter Baehr lecture celebrates the founding of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) in 1981 and commemorates the late Peter Baehr, one of SIM's former directors and an eminent human rights scholar. The 2023 lecture was delivered at Utrecht University on 30 November by Hilary Charlesworth, judge at the International Court of Justice and renowned scholar of international law and human rights.

법제화 이후 대학 인권센터의 과제와 전망

How are Human Rights Centers at the universities acting after the amendment of the Higher Education Act and the enforcement of it?This research reviewed some principles relating to the status of human rights centers in order to play the proper role to protect the human rights in the universities. Those principles are composed of norms, independence, diversity, strengthening of proper authority to protect victims of human rights violation.
 Several problems are found to improve the key functions (investigation of human rights abuses, human rights education, and policy development on human rights) such as ambiguous definitions of the jurisdiction and authority, necessity of separation of investigation and dicision, the defficiency of working staffs and instability of their employment, absence of policy development of human rights.
 There are five suggestions to solve these difficulties. Firstly, human rights centers need to strengthen the function of education and policy development of human rights. Secondly, independence of human rights centers are guaranteed through the process of substantive management even though it is very hard to secure the legal and formal independence in the universities. Thirdly, stronger power should be given to the human rights institutions. Fourthly, instruction and manuals should be made to deal with the power harassment at working places properly. Fifthly, the government (the Ministry of Education) may have the national organizations to assist the human right centers established in the middle of financial predicaments. Newly opened human rights centers need more sophisticated design to have the expertise and efficiency as a human rights institution so that they can play the right role protecting the human rights in the universities.

Dissecting Stakeholder Participation in UN Human Rights Treaty Body Activities with Normative and Empirical Approaches: A Comparison of NGO and NHRI Participation

Abstract By addressing the question “Are the roles and values of stakeholder participation qualitatively different for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national human rights institutions (NHRIs), and if so, how?” this article dissects stakeholder participation in UN human rights treaty body activities. First, it normatively posits that stakeholder participation in treaty body activities carries three values, which weigh differently based on the actor and the treaty body activity concerned: facilitating “bounded” national deliberations, promoting international deliberations on human rights treaty standards, and supplementing the treaty bodies’ fact-finding capacity. It offers concrete normative guidance for treaty bodies on their engagement with NGO and NHRI participation to maximize the benefits of these values. It then empirically analyzes their current practice in light of the above-mentioned normative guidance. This article contributes, first, to the theorization of stakeholder participation in treaty body activities, which has been discussed but only in generalized or fragmented ways in previous studies. Second, it supports the effectiveness and legitimacy of treaty bodies by endorsing their practice that is consistent with the guidance and finding space for improvement. Finally, it provides a rationale for establishing and strengthening NHRIs by showing that NHRI participation has unique roles distinct from those of NGOs.

Transitional justice at the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal: challenging legitimacy, credibility, and effectiveness

ABSTRACT In the past three decades, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have becoming an increasingly common feature of transitional and post-conflict justice processes. As institutions designed to promote and protect human rights, they have been afforded a range of responsibilities, including investigating conflict-related human rights violations, assisting with the establishment and functioning of ad hoc mechanisms like truth and reconciliation commissions, and contributing to accountability. Drawing on evidence from the case of Nepal, however, this article demonstrates that engaging in transitional justice processes places NHRIs at considerable risk. It argues, in particular, that the political nature of transitional justice and compromises it inevitably entails can serve to jeopardise the legitimacy, credibility, and effectiveness of NHRIs. The article thus concludes that far greater consideration of the impact that transitional justice has on NHRIs and development of measures to protect their integrity in highly fraught political contexts is required.

Neurotechnologies and human rights: restating and reaffirming the multi-layered protection of the person

ABSTRACT International human rights institutions and scholars are debating whether established human rights suffice to address challenges raised by neurotechnologies which measure or alter brain activity; UNESCO intends developing a novel standard-setting instrument for neurotechnologies. This paper analyses how core human rights pertain to neurotechnologies and might be interpreted in this context. Contrary to claims about gaps in the law, several rights, especially the underexplored rights to mental integrity and freedom of thought, as well as some features of human dignity provide resources to protect persons against reading their minds or tampering with their brains against their will. Proposals for the construction of these rights are submitted. They specify and actualise the multi-layered protection of the person that core human rights provide.

Uqubat Ta'zir Jarimah Murtad; Konversi Agama untuk Kepentingan Politik

Although restrictions on religious freedom are stipulated in the Qanun, However, judging from modern legal science, both state law and international law, there is no formal law that regulates the sanction of converting, namely apostate fingers. Unlike Aceh, as an Islamic sharia region, Aceh has its own qanun where apostates will be subject to sanctions in the form of flogging, fines, imprisonment, and coaching to re-embrace Islam. This regulation is certainly a serious topic both from the perspective of Islamic and national legal authorities, especially how human rights institutions both locally and nationally respond to it. This article is classified as literature research with a qualitative approach. The methodology used is a comparative study of law, especially between conventional law and Aceh Qanun. The results of the study concluded that sociologically, regarding freedom of religion in Aceh Province, it does not conflict with international human rights because the uqubat ta'zir given to perpetrators is approved by all levels of Acehnese society. Precisely if uqubat ta'zir is not given to the perpetrators of apostate jarimah, then the stability of security and religious order in the province is shaken, and minorities, namely people of religions other than Islam, do not feel oppressed by the sociological impact of the law applied by the people of Aceh.

Türkiye İnsan Hakları Ve Eşitlik Kurumuna Yapılan Şikayet Başvurularında Kabul Edilebilirlik Koşulları

Ulusal insan hakları kurumları (UİHK), insanların temel haklarının ulusal düzeyde korunması ve geliştirilmesi için önemli mekanizmalar olarak kabul edilmektedir. 2016 yılında 6701 sayılı Kanun ile kurulan Türkiye İnsan Hakları ve Eşitlik Kurumu (TİHEK) 24.11.2017 tarihinden itibaren bazı konularda şikâyet başvurusu almaya başlamıştır. TİHEK’e ayrımcılığa maruz kalan kişiler ile ulusal önleme mekanizması çerçevesinde özgürlüklerinden yoksun bırakılan kişiler başvuru yapabilmektedir. TİHEK, insan hakları ihlallerine karşı resen araştırma yapmak, suç niteliği taşıyan eylem varsa ilgililer hakkında suç duyurusunda bulunmak, bu ihlallerin sona erdirilmesi için gerekli girişimlerde bulunmak yetkisine de sahiptir. Bu makale, TİHEK’e yapılan bireysel başvurularda kişi yönünden yetki (ratione personae), konu yönünden yetki (ratione materiae), zaman bakımından yetki (ratione temporis) ve yer bakımından yetkiye (ratione loci) ilişkin kabul edilebilirlik koşullarına odaklanmaktadır. Kabul edilirlik koşulları TİHEK kararları ışığı altında incelenmiş ve TİHEK’e başvurunun niteliği ile Kamu Denetçiliği Kurumu ve Anayasa Mahkemesinin temel hakların korunması hakkındaki başvuruların niteliği bakımından karşılaştırma yapılmıştır.

A Love Triangle? Mapping Interactions between International Human Rights Institutions, Meta and Its Oversight Board

Abstract Three years ago, the Oversight Board commenced its work ‘to make principled, independent, and binding decisions … based on respect for freedom of expression and human rights’ for Meta’s platforms Facebook and Instagram. From the very beginning, the vocabulary employed to talk about the Oversight Board was laden with court metaphors. Wary that these metaphors have stirred legal analysis into a specific direction, we move away from trying to fit the Oversight Board within established institutional categories. Instead, we shift the focus from institutions to interactions – that is, to the ‘in-between’. Rather than continuing to debate what the Oversight Board is, we focus on what the Oversight Board does. Our study maps different stages and modes of interaction between Meta, the Oversight Board and international human rights institutions. We show how different actors carefully craft entry points for constructing their respective semantic authority and what kind of strategies they pursue to contest semantic authority of others. Thereby, we uncover the first traces of emerging conversations between Meta, the Oversight Board and international human rights institutions and highlight who is included and excluded and who refuses to participate or to respond. With our intervention, we intend to offer empirically grounded insights into the dynamics at play and paint a more detailed picture of the various roles that novel actors, such as Meta and the Oversight Board, are beginning to assume in the protection of international human rights online.

CIVILIAN HOSTAGE LEGAL PROTECTION IN TIMES OF WAR: PURSUING EFFECTIVE TOOLS TO ENSURE THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

This article explores the issue of legal protection for civilian hostages in times of war. The authors of the article set out to answer the question of whether effective instruments for safeguarding the rights and freedoms of this specific category of citizens can exist. The study delves into the procedural differences and challenges inherent in the legal protection of civilian hostages, which deviates significantly from the conventional mechanisms of citizen legal protection. In the article, the authors present arguments suggesting that the establishment of specialized legal clinics is one of the effective instruments to ensure the constitutional rights and freedoms of civilian hostages. However, such initiatives should be undertaken in collaboration with civil organizations specializing in matters related to this category. Furthermore, another crucial tool for their protection lies in seeking assistance from international human rights institutions and actively working towards their release from captivity. The authors conclude that this comprehensive approach constitutes an effective system for the legal protection of civilian hostages in times of war.

Human Rights: From the Origins of Philosophical and Legal Thought to Modern Geopolitical Reality

The paper presents the author’s understanding of the unity of the logical and historical connection between the processes of formation of the institution of human rights and the formation of the idea of human rights in philosophical and legal concepts. The idea of human rights has historically been formed and put into practice as a result of several mutually dependent processes: firstly, the confrontation of social actors, the human struggle for the normative establishment of acceptable, decent standards and quality of life; secondly, the formation of the concept of «social justice» in the public consciousness on ethical and moral grounds that have developed in society; thirdly, the conceptualization of the worldview, philosophical, theoretical, ideological justification of human rights based on their understanding as natural, inalienable; fourthly, the international institutionalization of human rights; fifthly, the recognition of the institution of human rights in national legal systems. The significance of the social conflict that existed throughout the history of mankind as a source and driving force for the emergence of the idea of human rights is shown. The genesis of philosophical and legal ideas, starting from the period of Ancient Greece, expressing various aspects of the concepts of «justice», «freedom», «equality», «law», is investigated. The impossibility of formation is shown the formalized concepts of human rights before the formation of the theory of natural law. It is noted that the decisive factor in the beginning of the formation of the institution of human rights was the formation of natural law, the assertion of its influence on public consciousness. The importance of the bourgeois revolutions in Europe, which led to the formation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789, is emphasized. The paper shows the fundamental difference between the socialist understanding of rights and freedoms from their understanding, which developed in the depths of bourgeois societies; the historical conditionality of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 after the Second World War is shown. The importance of the ideological foundations of human rights, the philosophical and legal explanation of the need for this institution is emphasized. A clash of worldviews in the understanding of human rights in the context of modern geopolitical reality is stated and an assumption is made about the possibility of forming a new concept (model of human rights).

Protection of the Rights of Russian Citizens at the Supranational Level: in Search of Alternatives

Recently, international relations have deteriorated sharply, provoking the erosion of supranational human rights institutions. Against this background, Russia withdrew from the Council of Europe and, accordingly, from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. Federal legislation has introduced norms on the protection of Russian citizens from international bodies whose decisions contradict national legislation. However, this does not solve the overall task of protecting the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens at the supranational level. The article concludes that it is necessary to make more active use of the remaining opportunities to protect the rights of Russian citizens at the supranational level, as well as to create new alternative institutions for the protection of human rights within the framework of international associations friendly to Russia, such as the CIS, the SCO and the EAEU.

From human rights to “righteous humans”: Brazilian foreign policy in the Bolsonaro era

This article questions the widely accepted belief that the institutionalization of human rights norms automatically results in their advancement and safeguarding. Instead, it proposes an alternative view, suggesting that the international human rights framework is intricately entangled with politicization. Focusing on the case of Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency in Brazil, we argue that human rights bodies may serve antihuman-rights policies and propaganda. The article is divided into three sections, analyzing Bolsonaro’s and Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo’s rhetoric on human rights, its direct echo in Brazil’s votes in the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the resistance to Bolsonaro’s policies by various actors in the international arena of human rights. We draw on existing scholarship, extensive corpus of speeches, reports, and media coverage to examine the Bolsonaro phenomenon and the limits and fragility of the international human rights regime and diplomacy in responding to it.

Reconciling the Dual-Faceted Mandates of Quasi-Judicial Human Rights Bodies: The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s Prima Facie Approach to Evidence

Abstract Focusing on evidentiary approaches, this article examines the burdens and standards of proof applied at United Nations quasi-judicial international human rights bodies. These bodies have dual-faceted mandates, combining legal and human rights traditions and imperatives. However, they diverge in their approach to evidence. This article argues that the prima facie approach developed over the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's 30 years of jurisprudence provides an appropriately flexible and conceptually coherent means of accommodating combined human rights and the judicial mandates. Nonetheless, this approach requires lexiconic and taxonomical tightening, and clarification of its standard of proof. Comparing the approaches taken by other quasi-judicial bodies, this article builds the impetus towards inter-institutional consistency. It reviews proposals such as wholesale reversal of the burden of proof onto Governments. It highlights the drawbacks of that unilateral type of burden and the risks that it would introduce further uncertainty for parties to proceedings, may cause onerous difficulties for claimants, and would potentially flood the human rights institutions with unsubstantiated claims.