Universal Human Rights Research Articles

Community perceptions and practices on quality and safety of drinking water in Mbarara city, south western Uganda

Availability of clean drinking water is a universal human right. The quality of water differs across communities. When the quality is good, community members are the primary beneficiaries but they are also the first ones to experience the consequences of deteriorating quality of water. In most communities, the inhabitants are able to tell if their drinking water is safe and of quality basing on organoleptic properties. The community perceptions and practices about safety and quality of drinking water are informed by their attitudes and levels of knowledge about water quality. This study aimed to assess community perceptions and practices on quality and safety of drinking water in Mbarara city, south western Uganda. A qualitative study was conducted between May and July 2022. Six focus group discussions among community members and four Key informant interviews with stakeholders in the water service were conducted. Data was analysed basing on predetermined themes of: 1) perceived quality of water 2) perceived factors associated with water quality 3) practices related to water quality and 4) perceived solutions for improving water safety and quality. Drinking water safety and quality in Mbarara city is perceived as not good, dirty, salty and limited in supply and the water sources are shared with animals. The poor quality of drinking water is due to poor waste disposal, poor treatment, poor maintenance of systems, flooding, political interference, deficiency in city planning, increase in population growth and water hyacinth. Sensitizing the communities, community participation, proper water treatment and surveillance and monitoring are solutions to ensuring provision, use and maintenance of safe and quality drinking water in Mbarara city.

International legal standards of national regulation of human rights

The essence of international legal standards as a legal category of international law, the principles of their formation have been considered. The principles of international regulation of limitations of the national legal regime of human rights have been studied. The general principles of the implementation of the tool for limiting national obligations in the field of observing and ensuring human rights during emergency situations have been reviewed. The minimum requirements for the application of national legal restrictions have been analyzed. The basic principles of international legal standards for regulating the establishment of restrictions on universal human rights have been formulated.

Identity Politics and the Decolonization of the Western Mind: The Intellectual Resilience of Alain de Benoist and the Nouvelle Droite

Abstract This article argues that parallel to and accompanying the populist backlash tormenting Western democratic societies, a new discourse has emerged to compete with liberal pluralism, progressive multiculturalism, and the ideology of universal human rights. It is a discourse running contrary to the positions expected of the exclusionist right. Rather than originating in a vulgar national-populist reaction against liberal democracy and minority rights, this competing perspective comes from an almost paradoxical synthesis of prefascist ideas developed in the early 20th century and current pro-diversity and anticolonialist theories. In attempting to understand this perplexing ideological conjuncture, it can help to follow the ideological evolution of the French writer and ideologue of the French and European new right, Alain de Benoist. The ideas he developed in the 1980s and 1990s, and expanded in recent years, have contributed to synthesizing an ideological trend that is becoming central in the current debate on the populist backlash in Western democratic societies – right-wing postcolonialism. While de Benoist was not alone in this, he was one of the first to introduce and weaponize the discourse of the Weimar Conservative Revolution as a theory of emancipation for both Western repressed identities as for Third-World ones.

Bioethics of childbirth for another (surrogate motherhood) in the Civil Code of Kosovo

Transformations in the biological, medical and legal processes of infertility, substantial modifications in family structure and the advancement of methods and techniques of reproductive technology will affect the next step in both legal and medical terms to address the regulation of bioethics and law in Kosovo. There is a need to establish perspectives in both ethical and professional terms, since the Republic of Kosovo is in the process of drafting a Civil Code. Many of these issues have been raised and addressed during the review and evaluation of family law in the context of harmonisation and inclusion of this law in the Civil Code of the Republic of Kosovo. During the several meetings of official members with different interest groups regarding family law, the need has been raised to regulate family law to be included in the Civil Code for motherhood and fatherhood in the case of reproduction with biomedical assistance, as well as for the birth contract as a donation for another person (so-called surrogate motherhood). These bioethical and legal issues indicate the urgent need for legal harmonisation of a multidimensional platform specifically based on the principles of public health and universal human rights Conclusion. These bio-ethical and legal interferences indicate the urgent need for legal harmonization of a multidimensional platform specifically designed based on the principles of public health and universal human rights.

A Human Right to What Kind of Medicine?

The human right to health, insofar as it is widely recognized, is typically thought to include the right to fair access to adequate healthcare, but the operating conception of healthcare in this context has been under-defined. This lack of conceptual clarity has often led in practice to largely Western cultural assumptions about what validly constitutes "healthcare" and "medicine." Ethnocentric and parochial assumptions ought to be avoided, lest they give justification to the accusation that universal human rights are mere tools for Western imperial agendas. At the same time, a right to healthcare that is not also explicitly the right to effective healthcare rapidly loses meaning. This paper strives to provide an account of medicine with the flexibility to accommodate cultural difference in forms of practice, while also aiding in the articulation of a minimum for medical systems to meet the standards set out in a human right.

The Past as Prologue: Slavery, Colonialism and Modern Human Rights

The article reflects on slavery and colonialism and how both historical crimes affect Africa and its peoples. It argues that the struggle against slavery laid the foundation for the modern human rights movement. The desire to recover the losses suffered from the depredations and plunder of colonialism, in part, shaped the evolution of the right to development. The article calls for reparation for Africa for the damages the continent and its peoples suffered from slavery and colonialism. It argues that the concept of universal human rights is meaningless without some form of atonement for universal human wrongs.

민법상 근친간 금혼 규정에 대한 헌법적 고찰

On October 27, 2022, the Constitutional Court made a constitutional decision on the Prohibition of marriage within 8th degree blood relative. But, the provision that regards incestuous marriages as uniformly invalid was decided as unconstitutional. This latest decision marks the first major change. However, since the prohibition of marriage between close relatives within the 8th degree of relationship is still valid, the scope is defined according to the scope of kinship under the civil law without reflecting social and temporal changes or international norms. Of course, I think it is fortunate that the provision that regards incestuous marriages that violate the Civil Act as uniformly invalid is decided as unconstitutional. Perhaps the recent decision of the Constitutional Court is in line with the international trend and is the beginning of a change that can faithfully implement the basic rights of the people. Therefore, this study analyzes the recent Constitutional Court decision to examine the legal and institutional meaning of the prohibition of incest marriage and marriage, and grasps implications through comparison and consideration with foreign legislative examples. And the decision of the Constitutional Court is reviewed in terms of the possibility of violating personality rights and the right to pursue happiness as universal human rights, and the possibility of violating the free marriage partner choice. In addition, including a review of the civil law amendment bill currently pending in the National Assembly, opinions are presented on the direction in which the provisions of the civil law for which the Constitutional Court has issued an order to urge legislation can be reasonably amended.

From Individuality to Universality: A Critical Exposition of ‘Self’ of Women in Dalit Movement and Literature in India

This scholarly research article delves into the conceptualization of ‘Self’ of women in the Dalit movement and literature in India, providing a critical analysis that bridges the gap between individuality and universality. It initiates a discourse on the often-overlooked narrative of Dalit women in a predominantly patriarchal and caste-dominated society, underscoring the experiences they encapsulate, extending from personal narratives to shared universality. Through the examination of an assortment of primary sources, including autobiographies, literary texts, speeches, and interviews of Dalit women, this study unveils the complexities in their identities, informed by the intersection of caste, gender, and class. It further explores how these experiences, entrenched in oppression and resistance, shape the ‘Self’ and communal identity of Dalit women. The article advances a unique theoretical framework that combines intersectional feminism and subaltern studies to decipher the nuances of Dalit women’s selfhood. The framework enables a systematic exploration of the convergences and divergences in the perception of ‘Self’ amongst Dalit women, aiding in the understanding of their position within the wider socio-political discourse. In unearthing the shared collective consciousness arising from individual struggles, the research sheds light on the universality of Dalit women’s experiences. Simultaneously, it exposes the evolution of the Dalit women’s movement from a regional force to a global voice, forging an essential link between local experiences and universal human rights discourses. This study conclusively asserts the need for broader recognition and comprehension of Dalit women’s narratives, not as a marginal story but as a central one that intersects with various global feminist and human rights movements. It proposes that the understanding of Dalit women’s ‘Self’ is pivotal in moving towards an inclusive and equitable society, thereby contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of social justice in India and beyond.

On Making “Universal Human Rights” Universal: The Intelligibility of Human Rights in Jacques Maritain’s Natural Law Theory

This article examines the thought and influence of Jacques Maritain, specifically his application of Traditional Natural Law (TNL) theory to the vexing challenge of what makes universal human rights universal. The author shows how TNL satisfies the preconditions for the “universality factor” needed for making human rights truly universal where rival theories such as legal positivism, New Natural Law, and Empirical Natural Law fall short.

International origin and development of nationalism: Generational transformation of East Timorese nationalism under Indonesia's occupation (1975–1999)

AbstractEast Timorese nationalism experienced a unique generational transition during Indonesia's occupation hinging onto internationalism in the changing world. In contrast to the existing literature on nationalism, which is overwhelmingly focused on earlier construction of nationalism and post‐independence nation building, this article offers a theoretical account of the transformation of nationalism from an older to newer generation through a socio‐historical analysis. In light of interactions between nationalism and internationalism, it argues that while the older generation relied on a Lusophone cosmology of anti‐colonialism derived from counterparts in Portuguese colonies in Africa in the 1960s, the younger generation took advantage of universal human rights advocacy in the 1990s in its aspiration for independence. In doing so, this study demonstrates both generational continuity and change in the construction, development and transformation of East Timorese nationalism.

Inalienable Dignity: Writing Counterhegemonic Universal Human Rights Histories

Abstract Human rights doctrine is founded on a notion of universality and inalienability. However, critics of the dominant formulation of “universal” human rights claim that it privileges Western epistemology and does not adequately reflect the histories and lived experiences of Indigenous communities. This has prompted calls for a more inclusive conceptualization and theorization of human rights that takes equal account of Indigenous histories and rights traditions. This article makes a case for reconceptualizing universal human rights to reflect the epistemologies of historically marginalized communities. Drawing on debates in African history, it calls for a counterhegemonic approach to human rights that goes beyond possessive individualism and the neoliberal, state-centered rights model. To be truly universal, international human rights must take equal account of the communal and collectivist ethos that underpins Indigenous notions of human dignity.

Harmonizing Islam and Human Rights Through the Reconstruction of Classical Islamic Tradition

As international human rights norms are increasingly ratified by many nation-states, including in the Muslim world. There has been an increasing debate among Muslims on the universality of human rights and their compatibility with Islam. Like any religious tradition, however, Islam is open to various and frequently conflicting interpretations about its inherent normative demands. This research is a normative legal research using a legal philosophy approach. Sources of data come from literature in the form of articles, books and all materials related to the discussion. This study concludes that there are various interpretations among Muslims regarding human rights issues. On the one hand, due to the fact that the modern discourse of human rights emerged from the West, which historically closely associated with imperialism and colonialism, certain Muslim groups maintain hostile views towards human rights. On the other, there are also Muslims who, because of their intensive engagement with the West, have produced views and thoughts that tend to be accommodating or even imitative towards everything from the West including human rights issues. The article argues that philosophically harmonization between Islam and human rights is quite possible to be carried out through the reconstruction of classical Islamic traditions, so that a dialectic occurs that builds and complements one another in the future.

HUMAN RIGHTS´ PHILOSOPHY: UNIVERSALISM AND CULTURAL LOCALISM

The research analyzes the clash between universalism and cultural localisms, aiming to carry out an epistemological analysis of the discursive foundation of human rights. We problematize the existence of an apparent dichotomy between universalism and cultural localism. Methodologically, it uses discourse analysis, with an emphasis on deconstructivism. At the discursive level, the research points there is no contrast between universal human rights and different cultural localism. Understanding human rights as a universalized Western culturalism, there is no opposition between them and other cultural localism that contribute to different dimensions of dignity. The research contributes to the field by presenting the discursive element of universal human rights, manifesting its philosophical foundations.

A ‘Uniform’ for All States?

A ‘Uniform’ for All States?

Vernacular rights cultures

Vernacular rights cultures tells a different story of human rights. The book moves away from the dominant narrative of universal human rights, based on western history and epistemology, pointing readers towards ‘vernacular rights cultures’. Sumi Madhok complicates the unidirectional account instead, narrating a subaltern story of rights that is foregrounded in ‘struggles and contestations over rights’ in the south Asian context. This attentiveness to the ‘vernacular’ refers to the ways marginalized groups articulate rights claims, and to the political imaginaries and subjectivities that their articulations engender. In the first three chapters, Madhok critically engages with the multiple literatures on human rights and presents her conceptual framework. The author takes on board the robust and growing critique of the racialized basis underpinning the prevailing human rights law and discourse. Then, Madhok goes further and presents an alternative genealogy, embedded in the local notions of haq. According to the author, the word haq translates to ‘right’, but ‘in the course of its travels, it has gathered complex meanings and iterations that inform political imaginaries, subjectivities and political cultures of rights and rights claim-making’ (p. 1). This transregional term appears in multiple languages across the subcontinent, and the book conveys its historical roots and contemporary usage not only in south Asia, but also in the Middle East and North Africa. The fact that haq is transregional allows the author to traverse borders and trace power struggles over rights across states and institutions in India and Pakistan. This is particularly important in a postcolonial context of contestation over state borders and associated citizenship rights.

Traffic in Asian Women

Traffic in Asian Women

Understanding the psychopathology of political ideologies

The main focus of this article is to determine what psychoanalysis adds to the understanding of modern liberal democracy and the political ideologies that counter universal human rights. I will begin with outlining the five competing ideologies that structure our political world today. One of my main arguments is that each of these political positions is shaped by a different psychopathology. Moreover, it is vital to understand the differences among these modes of ideology in order to avoid polarization and move to a more effective mode of governance. By equating political ideologies with individual psychopathologies, I hope to show how particular political movements recruit people with specific mental structures, and one of the reasons for this match between social belief systems and individuals is that political formations rely on shared irrational, unconscious psychological processes.

Methodology of scientific knowledge of processes of globalization and transformations as factors of development and universalization of human rights of new generations

Globalization processes and transformations are revealed as an objective trend of internationalization of various branches of today’s life at the international level, the formation of new legal relations at the level of national and international rights in thisirreversible process and their close interconnection and complementarity, the formation of the rights of a new generation.The understanding of these processes and their consequences is facilitated by the methodology of scientific knowledge as a paradigm of the historical development of human civilization.It has been established that globalization processes and the emergence of new human rights are dialectically interconnected, complementary and interdependent in the development of human civilization, the formation of new sociolegal institutions of peaceful coexistence and development without any discrimination. It has been determined that globalization is a drivingdominant factor in the evolution of human rights in the direction of: 1. Transformation of existing rights. 2. Development of new rights with expanded content. 3. Recognition and consolidation of new rights. 4. Universalization of new and transformedrights at the international level. 5. Innovative approaches to improving the mechanism of rights implementation and their protection at the international level. 6. The formation of new legal institutions based on the principle of partnership and parity with the aim of coexistence/coexistence and the development of human civilization without various types of discrimination and solving problems that have signs of a global level and planetary challenges.Thus, the theory of globalism/globalization has taken a significant place in modern science and politics. The understanding of globalization should be carried out with the same understanding of its significance for world development in the 21stcentury as capitalism for the 19th century and imperialism for the 20th century. These are deep processes transforming the world of law.

Han Fei and conceptions of universal and Chinese human rights

ABSTRACT Han Fei (around 280 to 233 B.C.) advocates a strong and orderly state based on the absolute authority of the state and the law. Han Fei is usually not associated with human rights. His philosophy is difficult to reconcile with civil and political human rights, even if some of his political concepts support the realization of certain human rights. However, Han Fei’s ideas help us to gain a better understanding of the People’s Republic of China’s official human rights narrative. The PRC emphasizes collective social and economic human rights, views the authority of the Communist Party as a prerequisite for the realization of human rights, and advocates rule by law, i.e. using the law as a tool of governance. This largely conforms to Han Fei‘s views on the role of the authority of the state and the law, and the relationship between the government and its citizens.

Nepali Communist and Their Internalized Cultural Values

The communist political leadership in Nepal is the subject of this article, which focuses on their ideology and practices. Despite the fact that they identify as communists and support ideal political systems that feature equality, freedom, citizenry, the rule of the working class, and universal human rights, their internalized cultural values are centered on the hegemonic domination of one cultural group, gender, kinship, religion, area, and also serve the interests of power and wealth. The main features of communist political leadership are factionalism, opportunism, anarchy, individualism, petty bourgeoisie egoism, ultra leftism, double roles like right and leftist, reactionary and revisionist, as well as double roles like right and left. They declared themselves to be radical anarchist individualists who supported the monarchy in addition to adhering to Marxist, Leninist, and Maoist ideologies. The paper's foundation for this is scientific work in the areas of anthropology, sociology, political science, history, and other subjects by authors from Nepal and abroad. This study's major objective is to close the gap between communist leadership theory and practice in Nepal. Which of their internalized traditional cultural ideas have an impact on their leadership responsibilities? In order to analyze social scientists who are based on the communist leadership of Nepal and other nations, the paper uses empirical research with a primary focus on the study.