Human Rights Situation Research Articles

Citizens’ Political Security in Ethiopia

This article seeks to examine the situation of human rights by emphasizing the civil and political rights of citizens, the state of freedom of association and assembly, political parties, and media freedom. The article has come up with four major findings. The first is the lack of commitment to human rights obligations on the part of the incumbent regimes in Ethiopia. This had been manifested by the failure of the state party to carry out its human rights responsibilities or obligations that are included in three different dimensions to ‘respect’, ‘protect’, and ‘fulfill’. The second is political intolerance that the refutation of freedom of association, assembly, and press particularly for critical political dissidents and opposition groups is the norm in Ethiopia. The existing regime did not demonstrate the will to respect these rights. The third feature is the drift towards narrow political space. This trend was manifested by government repressive measures against organized groups and civil society organizations. The last finding is that the regime engaged in the obstruction of the activities of independent media. There had been a stringent press law and the phenomena of intimidation and detention of journalists are common practices. Keywords : Political security; citizens; human rights; freedom of association and assembly; political parties and media freedom DOI: 10.7176/DCS/11-7-01 Publication date: July 31 st 2021

Human rights sanctions and the role of black knights: Evidence from the EU’s post-Soviet neighbours

ABSTRACT Respect for human rights is one of the main conditions for European Union (EU) cooperation with third countries. When human rights are gravely violated, the EU can apply a variety of restrictive measures ranging from issuing sanctions threats to imposing economic sanctions. However, can such measures impact the subsequent human rights situation in the target country, and under what conditions? Using time-series cross-sectional data accounting for eleven post-Soviet states over a period of twenty-six years (1991–2016), this article demonstrates that the impact of sanctions on the target’s human rights situation depends on two factors – the type of sanction applied and the extent of the target’s linkage with alternative regional powers. In the absence of regional alternative support, sanctions in the form of arms embargoes and aid suspension demonstrate a positive effect on the human rights situation.

Human Rights Protection in UN Peace Operations: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Despite the presence of UN peace operations for more than two decades, the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still dire. This article illustrates the types of violations of human rights and hindrances to protect human rights in MONUSCO. Methodologically being a qualitative study, it is based on existing literature and key informant interviews. Killings of civilians, sexual and gender-based violence, child soldiers, war crimes and crimes against humanity are major types of human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study argues that due to structural challenges, like the bureaucratic structure of MONUSCO, inadequacy of budget and juristic limitation of the Peacekeeping Force, and operational challenges, like challenges in the protection of civilians and UN personnel, the paucity of logistics and manpower and also gender-based violence by some UN personnel and peacekeepers in MONUSCO, the UN forces failed to maintain and defend human rights properly.

La Covid-19 y el vacío de la postpolítica. Hacia un Estado más allá de la nación

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>¿Hay una esfera pública postnacional en formación? Este artículo responde a esta pregunta tomando como punto de observación la pandemia por la Covid-19 y la presión que induce en el orden global y en el Estado-nación. A partir de una descripción del uso errático y fragmentario del poder para el manejo de la pandemia se examina la transformación de la soberanía en la historia de Estado nacional, se replantea la situación de los derechos humanos y la “brecha de la justicia” en este proceso y se ofrece una apreciación de las probables alternativas que se </span>juegan en las tendencias globales del poder público en la postpandemia.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

Factors Affecting Human Rights in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the situation of human rights is comparatively worse. Factors affecting human rightsin thisprovinceincludefailure to guarantee good governance,growingpoverty, illiteracy, violence, terrorism, worseningsecurity, social injustice, political instability, and economic turmoil. These factors have been affecting adversely the human rights.To ensure human rights in the province, theexecutionof international human rights laws needs to be implemented.It is required to ensure good governance, peace and stability to ensure viable environment, provision of sustainable and quality education and reduce poverty. Unless the favourable environment beprovided to the people at large, human rights violations may be continued. This paper attempts to know about the factors affecting human rights in the province and present some solid recommendations and policy options.

Ensuring children’s rights in the family culture institution in Vietnam

Approaching theoretical issues and reflecting the real situation of human rights, civil rights in general and children's rights in particular, is a topic of great interest in legal science in Vietnam recently. The article deals with theoretical issues about human rights, civil rights, in which the child is the direct subject; the current situation of ensuring the rights and some solutions to ensure childen’s rights within the family culture institution in Vietnam. In this article, the authors used the interdisciplinary methodology, including statistics, empirical surveys, analysis and review. The research results contribute the theoritical values to the current literature and provide the Party and the State more evidence to build the regulation, and to increase the legal awareness of the citizens in ensuring the children’s rights, protecting and promoting the great cultural values in the Vietnamese families in the new context.

Media Framing of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Human Rights Abuses: a Study of The Punch, Vanguard, The Nation and Daily Trust Newspapers

This study explores how four Nigerian newspapers framed President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and its human rights campaign. Using newspaper editorials published in The Punch, The Nation, Daily Trust, and Vanguard newspapers of December 2019 as the object of analysis, the paper draws on the methodological context of such framing to investigate how the selected newspapers framed the human rights situation in Nigeria. This study asserts that those newspapers’ editorials used varieties of framing methods, namely: “unrepentant dictator frame”, “resistance frame”, “indifference frame”, “warning frame”, and “sympathetic” frame to portray the government’s disposition to human rights issues. Furthermore, the paper reveals that the Nigerian media is partisan when it comes to the struggle against human rights while their positions on national issues like the fight against human rights abuse are subject to ethnic and political influences, as evident in the Daily Trust editorial. The study also revealed that editorials can be used as essential tools to curtail the excess of government, precisely, to fight against the abuse of human rights. Finally, the paper recommends that newspaper publishers should limit their editorial influences in day-to-day administration of news outlet to engender objectivity, news balance and accuracy in order not to exacerbate the socio-political situation in a multi-ethnic society such as Nigeria.

Compliance of Territorially Fragile States with International Human Rights Law

Fragile States are defined as states incapable of fully implementing their international obligations in a part of the territory falling under their jurisdiction. The fragile State's compliance with its international law obligations is then reduced due to objective factors, which also has a major impact on international human rights law (IHRL). However, doctrine has ignored that fragile states can and sometimes do implement their positive obligations in areas beyond their effective control by virtue of the evolving interpretation of IHRL, based on effectiveness. The article argues that each of the dominant conformity theories can only partially explain the factors that influence compliance with IHRL by fragile States: instead of limiting conformity to a monocausal model, rational choices and internal socialization processes should be taken into account to enhance compliance of fragile States. The two main schools of doctrine, rational and constructivist theories, provide complementary explanations to the questions of why and how fragile States can comply with their positive obligations under the IHRL. Rational theories explain that the respect, by fragile States, of their positive obligations in IHRL has direct advantages, especially in terms of monitoring the human rights situation, the well-being of the population of the region and international cooperation. Rational interests do not, however, explain why public bodies act in such a way as to promote the protection of human rights in the area beyond the effective control of the State, especially if their national behavior is not reported in international human rights mechanisms. In these cases, constructivism can provide a complementary explanation: repeated models of norms play an essential role in the creation of a common identity, in particular the belief of national actors in an ideal and active State.

Commonwealth Proposals for the Depoliticization of Human Rights in the UN System

"Violation of human rights" appears over and over again in the statements of Western countries accompanying the latest sanctions against the "regime" in Minsk. On 13 July, the UN HRC adopted another resolution on the human rights situation in Belarus, but the Belarusian Foreign Ministry stressed that if decisions were made objectively, "almost all Western countries should have received separate resolutions. Minsk suggests taking measures against the politicization of this topic at the UN. The purpose of this article is to show some proposals for depoliticizing human rights in the UN system.

The constitutional human rights in Uzbekistan: positivism, traditionalism, and a cautious shift towards international legal standards

Until recently, unofficial interpretations of the situation with human rights had remained as an unspoken taboo in Uzbekistan, whereas foreign observers harshly criticized the country, pointing out systematic violations and restrictions of rights by the state. Indeed, not many could predict that the new President Shavkat Mirziyoev, who was elected in 2016, would initiate steps towards improving the human rights situation and, simultaneously, face specific challenges. The 1992 Constitution was developed within the complex transition process from socialism to market economy. This Constitution devotes an entire chapter to human and citizens’ rights. Initially, some authors expected that the Constitution would integrate rights in the context of natural-legal ideas. However, Uzbekistan has largely preserved and strengthened the positivist approach towards constitutional rights, designating the state to grant and limit those rights. The paradox of this situation is that Uzbekistan’s tendencies conflict with the general trends of the post-socialist constitutionalism since the country practically did not change constitutional provisions’ evolutionary development. On the other hand, in the post-socialist Eastern European countries and some former USSR republics, the collapse of socialism led to a constitutional revolution. The author applies historical analysis and cognitive constitutionalism methods to explain a paradox of impossibility to root natural-legal ideas within the (1) deeply-rooted Soviet positivism and (2) revived pre-Soviet traditionalism. On the other hand, the historical 1992 Constitution preparatory process, guided by the special Working group and headed by Islam Karimov, and the theory of human rights in Uzbekistan inherited a strong influence from the doctrine of the Soviet constitutionalism; its positivism, dogmatism and normativism. On the one hand, the author focuses on the impact of traditionalism revived after 1991 in national customs, behavioural attitudes, or social values; and paternalism that had transformed into a “super-presidentialism”, which widely continued a principle of the state’s priority above the individual. In conclusion, the author points to the existing legal imperfections of the constitutional text, and offers approaches to shorten the gap between the supporters of positivism in the 1992 Constitution and the natural right theory’s followers.

Barriers to fulfilling reporting obligations in Africa under the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

SUMMARY The state reporting process is one of the important means through which human rights compliance is monitored. Pursuant to article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and article 26(1) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, state parties are required to provide a detailed report on the human rights situation in their respective countries to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. The state report should be submitted every two years, and should outline the steps, the progress made, and challenges encountered in realising the rights provided for in the African Women's Protocol. Unfortunately, only a handful ofstates have fulfilled this reporting obligation. Consequently, this article identifies and investigates barriers to fulfilling reporting obligations under the African Women's Protocol. Specifically, it interrogates why some African governments have failed to fulfil their reporting obligations after showing significant commitment by their ratification of this instrument. It is acknowledged that while there might be a myriad of barriers that could be advanced, the article identifies specific barriers to non-reporting on the African Women's Protocol. It concludes with some form of optimism, arguing that the difficulties to fulfilling the reporting obligations on the African Women's Protocol notwithstanding, African governments should be held accountable and made to see the value that could be derived from reporting on human rights compliance. The African Commission's need to take up proactive steps to facilitate increased seriousness to the reporting process itself, which would then encourage and compel state parties to begin to take their reporting obligations seriously and fulfil the obligations therein, is underscored. Finally, to overcome these barriers, recommendations are proffered to critical stakeholders such as the African Commission, African governments and civil society organisations. Key words: African Charter; African Women's Protocol; women's rights; state reporting; African Commission

Вопросы реформирования уголовно-исполнительной системы Республики Казахстан

The article is devoted to the experience of the Republic of Kazakhstan in reforming the penal system by transferring it from the law enforcement to the civil block. Taking into account the world experience, the transfer of the penal system to a non-law enforcement structure, including one based on public-private partnership, seemed to be the most promising direction of the planned reform to humanize the domestic penal legislation. The main idea was that a Civil Agency, not associated with the tasks of protecting public order and fighting crime, will be able to ensure the planned implementation of the state policy on reforming the penal system. In 2002, correctional facilities were fully transferred to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan. But the events that took place further (a number of armed escapes with human victims) actually showed that the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan did not cope with the task assigned to it, and the goal of reforming the penitentiary system was not achieved. By decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (adopted on 26.07.2011) “On the penitentiary system”, the penal system was again transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Today, the penal system in Kazakhstan actually operates autonomously in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not subordinate to other services and departments. At the same time, according to the author, the transfer of the penal system to a Civil Agency will make it possible to increase the openness of this institution. In addition, this step will provide access to the real situation of human rights in places of detention for the public and supervisory authorities. However, domestic and foreign experience shows that the transfer of the penal system to civil departments, its isolation as a separate body does not guarantee its deep humanization and effective system reforms. Being inside the civil department, it actually continues to work on previously established practices, limiting it with cosmetic changes. Therefore, if the purpose of transferring the penal system or its divisions to other bodies is to comply with international standards and reduce criticism of human rights organizations, then this should not be done without a high-quality study. Based on the research, the author comes to the conclusion that in order to implement reforms in the penal system of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is necessary to: 1) to develop a single comprehensive scientific and practical approach when reforming the penal system; 2) to conduct a qualitative study of the risks that may be associated with decisions taken within the framework of the reform; 3) implementation of foreign and international experience should be carried out only taking into account the specifics of national legislation and the structure of the state’s law enforcement system.

ZIMBABWE BETWEEN THE REFERENDUM AND THE ELECTIONS

Has any Zimbabwean election ever solved anything? problem is not the constitution but who counts the votes. (Local voices) (1)) 1. Introduction The recent overwhelming 'Yes' vote in the constitutional referendum on 16 March has led to two seemingly contradictory developments. The way has opened up for elections later in the year (the date has to be announced by 29 June), but it is unlikely that these will occur in a free and fair environment as demanded by the regional body, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and by international donors who may provide the funding. By law Zimbabwe has to have set an election date by the end of June 2013 and before such elections the regional body SADC insisted that there be a referendum on a new constitution as agreed in inter-party negotiations after 2008. This took place peacefully, although amid a wider climate of intimidation and arrests, (2)) and the electorate voted overwhelmingly in favour. (3)) The negotiations over the latter in the Parliamentary Constitutional Select Committee (COPAC) have dragged on since 2009. Finally a draft constitution was agreed in mid-January 2013 with all parties making concessions at the last minute. The sticking points were choosing presidential running mates (a big problem for both Mugabe and Tsvangirai given faction fighting), devolution, a Constitutional Court, a National Prosecuting Authority separate from the partisan Attorney General, and reducing the powers of the executive. Many see the draft as very flawed but with little choice but to accept it. As things stand, if elections are not called in the first half of 2013 the government becomes ultra vires. (4)) There has always been a tendency in ZANU-PF to maintain the semblance of legality (even if post-hoc on occasion) despite its methods. There has been no significant progress towards security reforms/governance to prevent the violence of the 2008 elections being repeated or other reforms to ensure a free(ish) and fair(ish) election such as a truly autonomous electoral commission (ZEC) and reform of the degraded voters roll. Legislation to establish a Human Rights Commission passed through Parliament but its provisions on impunity for abuses until recently attracted much civil society criticism. Western donors seem very keen to re-engage Harare despite the volatile human rights situation. In February 2013 we had four years of the 'Inclusive (or Unified) Government' (IG/GNU) following the signing in September 2008 of the 'Global Political Agreement' (GPA) between the former sole ruling party ZANU-PF and its challengers, the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Many activists see that ZANU-PF has used the space of the GPA better to consolidate its previously shaky rule, even if its support base is low. Its control of the major organisations of state with the exception of the Ministry of Finance remains firm especially with the additional, largely undeclared revenues from the diamond mines. Its ideological stance of indigenisation, sovereignty and empowerment is at least clearly understood while that of the MDC is unclear, including its Jobs, Upliftment, Capital Investment and Ecology (JUICE) programme for growth. It remains susceptible to the charge repeated endlessly by its coalition 'partner' and the state-controlled media of being Western puppets. There is, however, an alternative scenario that both MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and President Mugabe fear more the enemy within (that is, in their own parties) than that without. This might lead to possible realignments according to some. While some are sceptical about this, proponents point out that no-one is posing a way to unlock the process whereby a yes vote leads to the elections with little having changed and the supposedly democratic elements of the constitution have had no chance to bed in. The alternative therefore is an elite pact avoiding ructions within the parties giving that few actually really want elections anyway. …

Heteroerotic Failure and “Afro-queer Futurity” in Mohamed Camara’s Dakan

ABSTRACT The year 1997 marked the release of Mohamed Camara’s film Dakan, which centers on two young men entangled in a homoerotic affair. Africa’s first LGBT film produced by an African filmmaker, Dakan featured explicit scenes of homoerotic love on the cinematic screen. While the film, upon its release, invited negative criticisms from Guinea where the plot of the film was set, it was paradoxically heralded in Europe and the United States as marking Africa’s triumphant entry into the liberal LGBT world. I pose the following questions: How does the film’s renunciation of heterosexual permanence valorize homoerotic possibility? How do the attempts by the young men’s parents’ to constrain them, through ritual practices, forced marriage, and the promise of wealth, create an archive of homosexual panic and enforce a postcolonial heteronationalist disorder? I argue that the film, unlike consequent documentaries on the situation of LGBT human rights in Africa, foregrounds a uniquely resilient queer African agency that nevertheless envisions a future of uncertainty.

Direitos humanos e segurança internacional: uma análise sobre o conflito do Saara Ocidental

O regime internacional de proteção e promoção de Direitos Humanos foi ampliado e se consolidou no âmbito das Nações Unidas (ONU) desde a metade do século XX até os dias atuais. Após a Guerra Fria, as questões de Direitos Humanos passaram a integrar a agenda da Segurança Internacional, como competência do Conselho de Segurança (CS) – o qual é responsável pela resolução de conflitos, como é o caso do Saara Ocidental. Durante o processo de ampliação da agenda da Segurança Internacional, foram cunhados dois princípios, distintos, porém que conversam bem entre si: segurança humana e responsabilidade de proteger. Ambos ajudaram a trazer os Direitos Humanos para o topo da agenda internacional. Este trabalho analisa a situação de direitos humanos no caso do Saara Ocidental, focando nestes princípios, em dois momentos específicos: antes e depois da ampliação da agenda da Segurança Internacional, equivalentes ao período durante o conflito armado (de 1975 a 1991) e ao período após o cessar-fogo (de 1991 até o momento). Utilizaremos como recursos metodológicos a pesquisa documental e revisão bibliográfica, tendo como base artigos acadêmicos, livros, documentos oficiais da ONU e relatórios de ONGs.

Is Voting Patterns at the United Nations General Assembly a Useful Way to Understand a Country’s Policy Inclinations: Bangladesh’s Voting Records at the United Nations General Assembly

This article explores Bangladesh’s voting coincidences at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with China, India, Russia, and the United States for the period 2001–2017 to draw inferences about country’s political proximity and policy preferences on global issues. Although Bangladesh’s voting coincidence shifted from China toward India since 2013, country’s “opposite” votes with India remained 3 times higher compared with that of China, suggesting that the post-2013 change in voting coincidence is more about the types and content of the resolutions and not fundamental. Bangladesh maintained a principled position on disarmament, conventional arms control, nuclear nonproliferation, and prohibition of chemical weapons resolutions, which are greatly at odds with India and China. Such voting coherency suggests that the small developing countries can maintain a higher level of voting consistency on issues that are of great interest to them. However, Bangladesh’s voting inconstancy in the country-specific human rights resolutions reflects a selective adherence to the policy of non-interference, particularly with respect to neighbors. Bangladesh’s voting records on the human rights situation in Myanmar, reveals that it joined the majority member states condemning Myanmar only when the resolutions started mentioning Bangladesh as an affected country. Although the voting coincidence alone may not capture the whole dynamics of a state’s leanings, this article has revealed that systematic research of UNGA voting records has the capacity to add to the knowledge of political proximity and policy preferences of states in terms of the way they weigh their choices and chart their path through idealism and opportunism.

Prosecution Past Due: Holding Human Rights Violators Accountable in Kashmir

The international community considers human rights abuses as grave violations of international law. Nonetheless, the international community has done nothing to hold criminals and offenders accountable for committing grave violations of international law in India-administered Kashmir (“Kashmir”) and Pakistan-administered Kashmir (“Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir” or “POK” or “Azad Kashmir”). Since 1947, India and Pakistan have been at war over the disputed territory of Kashmir. The collateral damage to Kashmiri locals has been high; citizens of Kashmir have been assaulted, tortured, and killed. In 2018, the United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (“OHCHR”) published the first-ever report on the human rights situation in India-Administered Kashmir and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir. With the publication of this report and the Indian Prime Minister’s revocation of Article 370, which granted Kashmir special status to create its own constitution and citizenship, the international spotlight has been put on Kashmir. However, for seventy years, and even now, there has been no accountability or prosecution of the offenders who have committed these crimes against citizens of Kashmir. Now, more than ever, while the spotlight is on India and Pakistan, the international community should push both countries to hold their citizens accountable for the gross violations of human rights committed in Kashmir and Azad Kashmir. However, as observed by the second report published by the OHCHR, India and Pakistan have done nothing to acknowledge these human rights violations or prosecute offenders. This Note explores whether current international legal forums provide an adequate route for the citizens of Kashmir to hold Indian and Pakistani offenders accountable and proposes that, in light of the lack of India and Pakistan’s initiative to hold offenders accountable, the United Nations establish a tribunal for the purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Kashmir and Azad Kashmir.

THE UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW: A DEVICE FOR BUILDING UP COOPERATION WITH HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS IN BRAZIL AND MIGRATION PROTECTION

This presentation is part of a research project developed within the scope of the international academic cooperation program between Estacio de Sa University, the Fluminense Federal University and Birmingham City University, under the Erasmus + program, electing as its motive theme the Universal Periodical Review- UPR, adopted by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations. One of the objectives of this UPR mechanism is to assure that human rights obligations and commitments are fulfilled by the States in order to promote the universality and indivisibility of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights as well as the right to development. In this sense, one of the axes of relevance for improvement of the human rights situation in every country with significant consequences for people all around the globe focuses on building up a legal framework (with international legal sources or roots) that could be articulated locally as a shield for those who (legally bound to the State) find themselves in situations of human rights violations. This shield makes the State internationally accountable for violating its duty to comply with international norms. Even though this spectrum of legal normativity is not enough to assure human rights full effectiveness in all the levels and complexities of human life and existence, it brings the symbolic weight of the idea of the rule of law. In this opportunity, we intend to present the legal framework for the promotion and protection of human rights in Brazil, taking into account Brazil´s constitutional order and its relation with international legal instruments. Then considering Brazil´s performance within the UPR 3rd Cycle, 2017, 27th Session, we will discuss Brazil’s compliance with this international environment of instruments for protecting human rights taking the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families recommendation as an example to be studied.

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967, U.N. Doc. A/71/554

Summary The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, hereby submits his first report to the General Assembly. The report is based primarily on information provided by victims, witnesses, civil society representatives, United Nations representatives and Palestinian officials in Amman, in connection with the mission of the Special Rapporteur to the region in July 2016. The report addresses a number of concerns pertaining to the situation of human rights in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Gaza.

Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, Report of the Secretary-General, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/31/44

Summary The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 28/27 on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. It presents the human rights situation through an analysis of how the occupation and associated measures restrict freedom of movement, and examines the impact of those restrictions on Palestinians’ enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights.