Community Rights Research Articles

Freedom of religion in Ukraine: challenges during the russian-ukrainian war

The article is updated by several circumstances, which the authors reflect on. In their opinion, there are 1) obvious and external threats — violations of freedom of conscience in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea, which arose as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and 2) internally hidden and potential dangers for freedom of religions of Ukrainian citizens. The well-known examples of discrimination of believers of certain faiths in the so-called DPR-LPR and Crimea given by the authors are constantly updated. Relevant monitoring and analytical reports are prepared by both Ukrainian and international experts. They submitted these reports to international human rights organizations, including the rights for Freedom of Religion and Belief. Despite such convincing documented materials, separate accusations have recently appeared against Ukraine, which allegedly violates freedom of religion in the territory under its control. Some are trying to prove that Ukraine, taking advantage of the war situation and referring to the spiritual dangers for Ukraine from those religious organizations whose centers are in the aggressor country, threatens some churches, thereby violating the Constitution and the Law on Freedom of Conscience, which guarantee for all citizens, regardless of from their religious affiliation, freedom of religion. The authors refute these narratives lashed out by Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church. Such negative conclusions, which express concern about the situation in Ukraine regarding freedom of conscience and religion, influence on the world public, experts on issues of freedom of conscience, religious organizations, spoil the image of Ukraine as a country with high level of freedom of conscience even among European countries. Religious freedom, as the authors conclude, needs protection today, but they call for separating real threats from imaginary ones and clearly defining who persecutes, whom he/she persecutes and where persecutes. Ukraine is consistent in its intentions to protect the rights of people and communities, to protect the freedoms of believers and their organizations.

Reflections on the Nicaragua v. Colombia case (2022): From the perspective of traditional fishing rights

With respect to theNicaragua v. Colombiacase in 2022, whether Colombian fishermen in the San Andrés Archipelago, particularly the Raizales, have traditional fishing rights in the Nicaraguan Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is one of controversial issues. Since Colombia is not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the International Court of Justice (the Court or the ICJ) embodied customary international law as applicable law. It adopted a two-step method to examine Colombian claims and found that their fishermen did not enjoy traditional fishing rights. The Court found that affidavits of Colombian fishermen as major evidence were too sparse to prove the existence of a long-standing fishing practice. In light of a series of statements from the Nicaraguan President, there was a neither express nor implied recognition of traditional fishing rights of Colombian fishermen. This study reviews the ICJ’s judgment from three aspects. First, the paper will evaluate the Court’s (in)flexibility about the time requirement when examining the spanning period of a long-standing practice relating to traditional fishing activities. Second, concerning whether or in which circumstances the traditional fishing rights of a particular community can survive the establishment of the EEZ of another State, the Court found it unnecessary to examine this issue, the paper will also appraise potential legal impacts at this regard. Third, the Court did not identify Colombian claims of traditional fishing rights as indigenous rights, particularly for the Raizales. An increasing number of scholars of the law of the sea call for applying human rights norms to UNCLOS provisions, but the Court takes a cautious attitude in this regard. The paper will make more comments on the interaction between human rights law and the law of the sea.

La Révolution tranquille 60 ans après par Stéphane Paquin, et X. Hubert Rioux

Reviewed by: La Révolution tranquille 60 ans après par Stéphane Paquin, et X. Hubert Rioux Gavin M. Furrey Paquin, Stéphane, et X. Hubert Rioux. La Révolution tranquille 60 ans après. PUM, 2022. ISBN 978-2-7606-4513-4. Pp. 274 The model of Quebec, as Paquin presents it in the opening chapter, is a particular political, economic, cultural, and social organization relying on both formal and informal mechanisms structuring relationships between the state, interest groups, civil society actors, enterprises, and financial milieux; the contributors to this collective work ultimately support Quebec's unique arrangements of these relations (22). Arguments that the Révolution tranquille ushered Quebec into modernity are rejected by Paquin, for these hypotheses rely on the now-discredited conception of social evolution, measuring societies against a reified and fictious ideal-type (20). Paquin asserts that we can rather understand the Révolution tranquille as "le fruit d'un sursaut nationaliste au Québec, dont l'une des trames centrales était de lutter contre la discrimination des francophones" (23). The analysis of Quebec's state capacities and capabilities advanced by Bernier and Latouche in chapter two largely supports the success of the Québecois model, thanks to close relationships between state and society, in transforming these capacities in favor of increased autonomy. Chapter three by Pierre Fortin offers an optimistic portrait of the social and economic progress of Quebec in the last sixty years across twelve indicators. Fortin concludes that the Québecois model was not thought a priori to catch up to a Canadian standard, but was rather constructed "a posteriori par accumulation d'expériences dont le succès et les échecs ont été reconnus et peu à peu pris en considération" (80). Fortin celebrates a pragmatic mix of conservative and social-democratic measures (versus adhesion to a particular model of development) that avoid political polarization, as well as a collective "nous historique" where the antagonisms of class and ethnicity are limited (80). There is irony in his statement that "[la] cohésion sociale restera toujours la clé de la réussite, et un défi permanent" (81), in that the rest of this collective work celebrates successes in managing public finances, administrating territories, and investing, and poses suggestions for the future oriented around renewable energy, housing, and the labor market without engaging in much analysis or dialog with Pascale Dufour's conclusion that the homogenous historical "nous" of the Révolution tranquille will need to be refounded (244). For example, the analysis of Quebec's territorial development in chapter five, and that of Hydro-Québec in chapter nine, make no mention of how these factors of Quebec's state capacity are influenced by the rights of Inuit and First Nation communities. Dufour may have the last word, yet the true conclusion of this work is that the Révolution tranquille brought about a rapid development Quebec's statehood, and that strengthening these state capacities differently from the rest of North America was successful in combating discrimination against francophones. This work is useful for understanding these transformations. However, it offers no analysis of how the Québecois model may develop to fight different discriminations, notably at a time when some might argue it is engendering them. [End Page 303] Gavin M. Furrey Chercheur indépendant Copyright © 2023 American Association of Teachers of French

Sui generis system: GI protection for the herbal product in Indonesia as communal property right

Geographical Indications in Indonesia are also one of the communal property rights regulated in the TRIPs Agreement in addition to communal rights regulated in the Indonesian legal system such as genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions. This is by the provisions that can be categorized as geographical indication applicants, namely institutions that represent communities in certain geographical areas that cultivate goods and/or products from natural resources, handicrafts, and industrial products. Provincial or district/city governments can also be applicants for Geographical Indications. Herbal products are one of the commodities that have the potential to be protected through the Geographical Indication system in Indonesia, not only because of the geographical conditions and tropical climate that enrich the natural resources of herbal products but also because traditional knowledge about herbal products has been used for generations since their ancestors. The Indonesian people already have knowledge of ethnomedicine which is used by various ethnic groups that are spread across tribes in various regions in Indonesia. This extraordinary potential is essentially an asset of the nation or state that must be protected and preserved for its existence and development so that it can be of positive benefit to the community. Especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, which cannot be determined with certainty, the diagnosis and treatment of it, and some recent findings on children suffering from acute kidney failure due to prolonged consumption of chemical drug products.

The community participation on infrastructures and facilities updating data of Teratak Village, Rumbio Jaya

Village Information System (SID) is an implementation of e-government by the village government. The right of village communities to get real-time information can be hampered due to the skills and abilities of human resources and out-of-date information. The activity is focused on updating Village data and facilities through survey primary data collection. The results of the survey are up-to-date data, are integrated, and can be accessed online. The process of entering data into the SID will be continued by the Village Government Officials who manage the SID, for this reason, there is a need for a special briefing for Village Government Officials in a training activity in updating data on village facilities and infrastructure. Workshops in the form of training, practice and question and answer were carried out with feedback in the form of questionnaires before and after the workshop to assess the success of the program. The survey data that is input to the SID includes health facilities, religious facilities, agriculture, animal husbandry, plantations, educational facilities, village tourism potential, and potential disasters along with their evacuation points. This updated data is expected to be a reference for compiling the Teratak Village Development and workshop activities have been able to improve the ability of village government.

Forests Communities’ “Bundles of Rights” in Cameroon: A Forgone Aspiration towards Sustainable Management of Industrial Forestry

Forests ecosystem englobes abundant natural resources in which the world population highly depends on for their existence. Internationally, the 1992 Rio Declaration and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity amongst others, has categorically prescribed universal legal standards for the protection of the rights of forests communities. In Cameroon, forests with its natural resource endowments (timbers and non-timbers) has been considered by many as the cultural heritage of most local communities and a source of government revenue. Without mincing words, the forestry law and other related laws have given local communities bundles of rights to sustainably use and manage forest resources. However, these rights remain wanting due to ineffective implementation. As a result, local communities are prone to abject poverty, misery and paradox of plenty or rather put it “Tragedy of the Commons”. In this vein, the paper therefore, seeks to address the following worries: What type of rights do these forests communities exercise? Are the provisions of the law with regard to local communities’ rights and interests in the sustainable management of industrial forestry respected and if so, to what extent? What difficulties do local communities encounter in exercising these bundles of rights? Legally, the methodology employed in this article is purely doctrinal which is based on both primary and secondary data. The paper therefore, concludes with some robust recommendations which if effectively implemented and enforced will go a long way to guaranteed the rights of forest communities and thus, enhance sustainable industrial forestry management.

Rural cadastral implementation and its effect on women’s landholding use rights in Amhara region, Ethiopia

For the last several years, access to and control over land has been one of the major problems encountered by women in many developing countries. As part of the effort to ensure the land right of the rural community, the Ethiopian government has been carrying out the preparation of rural land cadastre and provision of landholding certificates. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of rural cadastre to ensuring women's land rights and economic empowerment. The research employed mixed research method to generate quantitative and qualitative data and the data was subject to descriptive analysis. The finding of this research revealed that the practice of the rural cadastre has enabled women to get their land registered and certified and issuance of second-level land certificates has helped them develop a great sense of security on their landholding rights. This, in turn, has given them the opportunity to exercise land transactions with confidence to improve their livelihoods. This study also indicated that rural cadastral practice has immensely reduced women's land right disputes which occurred due to deceptive practices of men. Despite the positive outcomes, this study also realized gaps in the cadastral law provisions related to administering rural cadastral practice and enhancing the efficiency of land registration and certification. The participation of women in the process of rural cadastral practice was minimal. The incident was more visible in married women whose husbands claimed that they took responsibility for handling the case. Therefore, to ensure robust landholding use rights for women, this study suggests the need for providing continuous training for women on clarifying interests on land and rural cadastral practice. And, the training should be supported with a simple and easily understandable communication strategies that enable them identify and clear errors in cadastral maps showing parcels registered in their names. Further, rural cadastral law must be formulated to govern interests on land and cadastral practice properly. Public institutions such as courts and justice offices are essential partners that need to exhibit strong coordination to ensure women's land rights, to enforce laws and sustain good land governance in the region. These interventions need commitment of the government and active support from non-government organizations.

Status quo and predictors of Weibo users' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in 31 provinces in the Chinese mainland: Analysis based on supervised machine learning and provincial panel data.

Public attitudes toward consensual same-sex relations are crucial to lesbians' and gay men's rights and society's well-being, but research addressing this topic in China is limited. We comprehensively explored the current status and predictors of Weibo users' attitudes toward individuals who are lesbian or gay (IWLG) at the provincial level in the Chinese mainland. Natural language processing and machine learning techniques were incorporated to analyze 1,934,008 Weibo posts from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2020, to evaluate Weibo users' expressed attitudes toward IWLG in 31 provinces in the Chinese mainland guided by the ABC Model of attitude. Although the general attitudes, feelings, and support for the rights of Weibo users toward IWLG among different provinces were relatively positive, knowledge about IWLG was noticeably inaccurate. Economic development and educational level positively predicted certain aspects of attitudes at the provincial level. Weibo users from different provinces are generally supportive and accepting of people who are gay and the rights of the gay community. However, considerable misconceptions and inaccurate knowledge of IWLG surfaced in Weibo users' posts. Economic development and educational level were important predictors of specific attitudes toward IWLG at the provincial level. Increased efforts to address the unbalanced and insufficient development between different provinces could help reduce the public's prejudice, stigma, and discrimination toward IWLG. Policies that facilitate greater implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education sequentially and effectively are suggested as well.

Konsep Kepemilikan Tanah Adat Suku Tolaki Mekongga Serta Hak Atas Tanah Ulayatnya

Ulayat rights are the rights of customary law communities which in essence are the authority possessed by certain customary law communities. The customary land law of the Tolaki Mekongga tribe is land that is controlled or owned by a family, either because the family has directly cultivated it, or because the land has been inherited from generation to generation. The main objective of this research is to find out the concept of customary land ownership of the Tolaki Mekongga tribe and its relation to inheritance and customary rights. The type of research used in this study is normative legal research (doctrinal legal research), namely research on law as a norm and reality (behavior) or as something to aspire to and as a living reality or law. The Tolaki Mekongga indigenous people still exist today and occupy certain areas, but until now there are no regional regulations regarding customary rights over these areas, so efforts are needed to obtain legal certainty and justice for customary law communities in managing their customary rights.

Addressing violence against transgender people in Bangladesh: A call for policy intervention.

Violence, oppression, and cruelty are as old as human civilization itself. Human identity is multi-layered, and deviation from a specific identity may elicit violence, deprivation, and prejudice in various settings. In many countries and societies, the transgender community is one of the most vulnerable groups due to their gender incongruence. Deeply ingrained cultural norms, beliefs, social ignorance, and practices have transferred violence against transgender people over generations, preventing them from enjoying their fundamental human rights. Key objectives of this article are 2-fold: first, this article focuses on violence against transgender people and rights violation in Bangladesh; and second, the report examines the types of violence against the transgender population and the actors who must be involved in providing a solution. Moreover, this article unravels the current organizational and institutional advances in supporting the welfare and rights of the transgender community in Bangladesh. This article concludes that the absence of a dedicated national policy for the protection and welfare of the transgender population impedes the implementation of necessary measures, which should be facilitated by formulation of an appropriate policy, followed by effective implementation.

Legal and political intervention on language issues in Bangladesh: A sociolinguistic perspective

The article outlined the legal and political intervention on language issues in Bangladesh from a historical sociolinguistic perspective. More specifically, it chronologically criticised the constitution and laws issued regarding language for the time being by state holders. In his article, the author tried to present the current issue and the question of language policy and planning in Bangladesh. Furthermore, it showed the drawbacks of previous language acts in Bangladesh. Consequently, the article illustrates the contextual interplay between language policy and linguistic rights in Bangladesh. This article used data from primary sources (constitution and government orders, ordinances, and circulations, etc.) to draw some preliminary conclusions about the challenges involved in the language controversy. One of its central themes was the linguistic rights of ethnic people, minor communities, and indigenous language speakers respectively. This article investigated how state politics and language historically affected each other. The analytical framework of the article is built on Language Education Policy (LEP) as a conceptual framework of Baldauf and Ingram (2003) which is one of the most widely researched theoretical perspectives in language policy and planning. The findings confirmed linguistic hegemony and dominance in Bangladesh by constitution and law. The most important contribution of the article was the sociolinguistic overview of the significant language laws of Bangladesh chronologically. It provided recommendations on the development of democratic language policy in Bangladesh.Keywords: Language in the Mughal period; Language in the British period; Language in the Pakistan period; Language in the Bangladesh period; Language rights for indigenous people; Language debate; Linguistic rights.

Seeing like a smartphone: The co-production of landscape-scale and rights-based conservation

Landscape approaches are heralded as ways to advance more effective and equitable social-ecological governance by working across economic sectors and stakeholder groups. There remains a need, however, to understand how they are enacted in particular contexts, how rights-based efforts are pursued within them, and what this means for the protection of community rights. Developed in partnership by The Nature Conservancy and the Berau district government, the Berau Forest Carbon Program (BFCP) uses a landscape approach to advance REDD+ policy in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Drawing on 26 months of ethnographic research across international, national, subnational, and village governance levels, I find the BFCP aligns with Indonesia’s national vision of green growth. Focusing on the BFCP’s rights-based instrument known as SIGAP, I find that it enacts and facilitates that green growth vision both through forest governance policy and as a malleable Foucauldian “technology of power.” Tracing how SIGAP has expanded over time from a community engagement protocol to become a multi-stakeholder platform and social media app, this work empirically documents how landscape-scale and rights-based conservation agendas recursively influence each other and that this dynamic co-production illuminates important tensions between rights-based agendas and projects of environmental governance. One example of such a tension is how the development and use of the SIGAP app is shown to preclude the recognition and discussion of stakeholder conflict and in so doing undermine community rights. Ultimately, this article presents a valuable case study for thinking through the diverse kinds of work rights-based instruments can do and centers the need for conservationists to recognize rights-based approaches not as technical toolkits but rather governance mechanisms to be considered and navigated appropriately.

Data Cooperative: Enabling Meaningful Collective Negotiation of Data Rights for Communities

Data Cooperative: Enabling Meaningful Collective Negotiation of Data Rights for Communities

Reconciling Freedom and Equality for Peaceful Coexistence: On the Need to Reframe the Religious Exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act

In this article I evaluate the capacity for the religious exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act (Cth) to provide peaceful coexistence through reconciling freedom and discrimination. The exemptions provide that religious educational institutions can directly discriminate against staff and students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity if they do so in good faith and in accordance with their religion to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents to that religion. The exemptions fail to provide peaceful coexistence through reconciling freedom and discrimination for two reasons. First, the exemptions are offensively and irrelevantly targeted at sexual minorities, undermining the dignity of diverse staff and students. Second, in their form as exemptions, they frame the communal rights of people of faith as a grudging exception to a general prohibition against discrimination, positioning religious institutions as seeking a special privilege to maliciously make decisions based on prejudice. Reframing the exemptions as positive associational rights simultaneously addresses these twin failures by 1) removing the stigmatic focus on sexual minorities, 2) supporting equality, and 3) providing a necessary and robust legal protection for religious educational institutions to select and regulate members of their community to maintain a religious ethos, thus supporting religious freedom. The recognition of positive rights for religious institutions contributes to peaceful coexistence by promoting diverse approaches to the public good while avoiding the hostile targeting of sexual minorities.

Concept of Illegal Fishing for Indonesian Regulations and UNCLOS

Illegal fishing is a transnational crime that needs special attention in its eradication to safeguard national sovereignty. Illegal fishing law enforcement and the protection of marine assets in Indonesia are based on the Shipping Law, Fisheries Law, Ministerial Regulations, and UNCLOS. Must be protected by any actions related to opportunities for crime to occur. There is no legal protection for potential geographical indications as a communal right of the people in Indonesia. This paper adopted the normative method with data sources drawn from primary and secondary legal materials. In addition, control practices are important in the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. From here, the sinking of the ship became one of the control programmes. The current perspective on the problem of sinking or destroying fishing vessels is not from a legal aspect but from a standard or guideline for implementing procedures that have not been regulated, even though the Indonesian government is the subject of comparison with applicable laws.

INDIAN FOREST ACT AND IT'S RELEVANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES

The role of forests in providing ecological, economic, and social benefits is well-established. In India, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, has been a key legislation for forest management, but it has faced challenges in recognizing tribal rights, promoting community participation, and aligning with contemporary conservation principles. The act's future relevance and effectiveness can be enhanced through modifications that reinforce community rights, promote sustainable forest management, and integrate climate change considerations. Forests in the Indian Himalayan Region are particularly important for their environmental benefits, and there is a need for a paradigm shift in forestry research to address stakeholder needs. Forests in India play a vital role in the socio-economic development of the country, and their conservation and management are essential. Forest management is crucial for maintaining conservation values, and the ecosystem services provided by forests are diverse and essential.

A comparative analysis of community rights in Malawi’s old and new Mines and Minerals Act of 1983 and 2019

A comparative analysis of community rights in Malawi’s old and new Mines and Minerals Act of 1983 and 2019

INDIAN FOREST ACT AND IT'S RELEVANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES

The role of forests in providing ecological, economic, and social benefits is well-established. In India, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, has been a key legislation for forest management, but it has faced challenges in recognizing tribal rights, promoting community participation, and aligning with contemporary conservation principles. The act's future relevance and effectiveness can be enhanced through modifications that reinforce community rights, promote sustainable forest management, and integrate climate change considerations. Forests in the Indian Himalayan Region are particularly important for their environmental benefits, and there is a need for a paradigm shift in forestry research to address stakeholder needs. Forests in India play a vital role in the socio-economic development of the country, and their conservation and management are essential. Forest management is crucial for maintaining conservation values, and the ecosystem services provided by forests are diverse and essential.

NAVIGATING THE COMPLEXITIES OF IP IN AGRICULTURE: MILESTONES AND CHALLENGES

The adoption of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS,) by the World Trade Organization (WTO) propelled the member countries towards the realization of the need to maintain certain minimum standards of protection for intellectual properties. Today, Intellectual Property (IP) has suffused through all spheres of our lives. It holds immense significance in boosting the economies of several nations. There is hardly any sector that has remained untouched by it. IP protection was not given much recognition in the agricultural sector. But, with time, considering the varied aspects of this dynamic and vast sector, IP has also yielded new tones from time to time. The protection mechanisms under the IP regime have taken different shapes for providing suitable protection to the various aspects of the agricultural sector. At present, we have several IP rights recognized in the sphere of agriculture, including, Farmers’ Rights, Breeders’ Rights, Community Rights, right over the protection of Traditional Knowledge, Right to Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), etc. With this paper, the authors seek to delve into all the IP protection mechanisms traversing the wide-ranging dimensions of the agricultural sector. This article is an attempt at investigating: (i) the milestones which led up to the current scenario of IP protection in agriculture; (ii) the role that is played by Intellectual Property in strengthening & fortifying the agricultural sector, and (iii) the issues related to IP in Agriculture. An attempt has also been made to explore all the initiatives taken up globally to protect IP in Agriculture, along with the prospective measures that can be taken to address the prevailing issues.

Collaborative Management to support sustainable Community Forest

The current state of social forestry, including community forestry (HKm) in Indonesia, is practically stagnant. Many factors cause stagnation in HKm management, including the main one being the interaction with the Forest Management Unit (FMU) as forest manager at the site level. This study aims to build an institutional model for sustainable forest management through analysis of the arena of action, community attributes, and forest management rules at the Nambo Community Forest, Central Sulawesi. The results of this research found that the collaborative management model between the government and the community is suitable to be applied in Community Forest management, because it provides greater opportunities for recognizing the rights of local communities to forest resources, as well as increasing the empowerment of rural communities.