Violations Of Human Rights Law Research Articles

Enhancing Human Development in Nigeria Through Constitutional Reform via the Human-Rights-Based Approach to Development

Development indexes and scholarship portray Nigeria as non-developed. Non-development is acutely felt in the sphere of human development. This article interrogated the state of Nigeria’s human development by showing that the violation of human rights law is at the heart of Nigeria’s lack of human development. It offered some constitutional reform proposals that could potentially cure the country’s perceived human development weaknesses. It also utilised the human-rights-based approach to development. Consequently, the article answered the following research question: Is it possible to realise human development in Nigeria using the human-rights-based approach to development by way of constitutional reform? While acknowledging the weakness in the often argued importance of making chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution justiciable, it made a case for the introduction of suo motu intervention by the judiciary in order to boost the realisation of rights that enhance human development: Right to health, right to education and right to a decent standard of living. It also argued for the relaxation of the rigidity of dualism in the 1999 Constitution in order for Nigerians to benefit from certain doctrines, like the principle of progressive realisation, which favour the aforementioned rights that enhance human development. To buttress this point, the paper then cited the innovative section 254(c)(2) of the 1999 Constitution which, to promote the plight of the Nigerian worker, did something similar with regard to the accommodation of international law instruments related to industrial relations.

Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia di Indonesia

Protection related to human rights (Human Rights) is one of the principles that must be owned by the Indonesian state. Constitutional protection of human rights with legal guarantees for demands for enforcement through a fair process. A true rule of law is a country that upholds justice in the legal process such as the occurrence of human rights violations. The purpose of this research is to examine human rights violations in Indonesia and their enforcement. The research method used is a qualitative method. This research is library research so the sources come from books, scientific articles, and other relevant sources. The results of the research show that human rights are rights that are indeed owned by all people. However, there are still violations of human rights law. The punishments received by human rights violations have not fully had a deterrent effect. Therefore, law and human rights in Indonesia must coexist to uphold the fairest law against perpetrators of human rights violations.

Sanctions for Rejection of Covid-19 Vaccines seen from the Perspective of the Human Rights Act and the Health Quarantine Act

Presidential Regulation Number 99 of 2020 concerning Vaccine Procurement and Vaccination Implementation in the Context of Combating the 2019 Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic. The method used is normative using a statute approach, which is carried out by reviewing all laws and regulations related to this research. Collecting data from this study through primary legal materials consisting of legislation, official records or minutes in the making of legislation and judges' decisions. Meanwhile, secondary legal materials are in the form of textbooks, legal dictionaries, legal journals, and comments on court decisions. Is the refusal of a Covid-19 vaccine a violation of human rights law? And is refusing the Covid-19 vaccine a violation of the Health Quarantine Act? From this study, it can be concluded that the application of sanctions for the rejection of the COVID-19 vaccine is a form of legal protection for the community, as a form of effort to prevent the spread of the corona virus. Where the government has an obligation to protect the public from the risk of transmission of the covid-19 disease outbreak. Keywords - rejection sanctions, covid-19 vaccine, protection.

Kesadaran Hukum Masyarakat Menghadapi Sengketa Hukum dan HAM di Nagari Barung Barung Belantai

The objectives of the Community Services (PKM) in Nagari Barung Barung Belantai, Koto XI Tarusan District, Pesisir Selatan Regency are: (1) to increase knowledge of legal and human rights to the community and the Nagari government especially land issues and other civil cases. (2) to improve the quality of the skills of the community and the Nagari government to understand the flow of reporters/complaints and the operational resolution of cases of violations of human rights law in accordance with applicable procedures, and (3) to improve the capabilities and skills of the community and the Nagari government how to complain and where they complain the violations of human right. The method used is counselling, consultation, and case resolution according to the conditions faced and equipped with a reflective communicative method. The results achieved were that 85% of the participants had the knowledge, skills and attitudes towards legal and human rights settlements, especially in resolving cases of communal, tribal, and communal land and other legal cases.

Preventing immigration detention of children: a comparative study of laws in 150 countries

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has shined a spotlight on the fundamental incompatibility of immigration detention with health. Yet immigration detention's threats to human rights did not begin with COVID-19. International treaties are clear that detaining children based on citizenship is a violation of human rights law. However, for international treaties and agreements to be fulfilled, most individual countries must enact domestic laws and policies to implement their commitments. In this study, we examine how many countries have laws to limit the detention of children. To assess the legislative protections for migrant and refugee children from detention, we created quantitatively comparable data on legal provisions across the 150 most populous UN member states. Our primary sources consisted of national-level laws, regulations, ministerial decisions, and executive decrees pertaining to asylum-seekers, refugees, and immigration. Globally, less than a quarter of countries legally protect unaccompanied asylum-seekers from detention and only 11% do so for accompanied minor migrants. Among countries that permit detention in at least some circumstances, only a minority address basic rights such as separation from adult strangers, family unity, access to education, and access to health care. Yet effective and human rights-respecting alternatives to detention exist; the evidence on these is provided.

Strengthening Human Rights in Global Health Law: Lessons from the COVID-19 Response

This column addresses the need to strengthen human rights in global health, looking to violations of human rights law in the pandemic response to recommend rights-based reforms in global health law. The column opens by examining the fundamental importance of human rights, recognizing the centrality of human rights in global health governance. Notwithstanding the evolution of health-related human rights under international law, the COVID-19 pandemic response has posed sweeping implications for the realization of human rights, with state responses failing to comply with their domestic and international human rights obligations. Raising an imperative to strengthen human rights in global health law, this column presents recommendations to advance health through the United Nations (UN) human rights system, extend human rights in revisions of the International Health Regulations (IHR), and mainstream human rights in WHO governance.

The Manus Island Regional Processing Centre: A Legal Taxonomy

Abstract This article considers the controversial cooperative migration control approach of extraterritorial asylum through a case study of the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (RPC), in operation between 2012 and 2017. Rather than operating in a ‘legal black hole’, the RPC was the site of legal contestation, as refugees and their lawyers turned to various legal fora in an attempt to hold Australia, Papua New Guinea and private contractors responsible for violations of human rights law. The recent closure of the RPC, as a result of litigation in the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court, shows that just as States employ a broad range of deterrence policies, refugee lawyers have an emerging ‘toolbox’ at their disposal to challenge extraterritorial asylum policies. The Manus Island RPC experience holds lessons for future litigation on policies of extraterritorial asylum, presenting both opportunities and risks for policymakers and refugee lawyers alike.

Drones, state terrorism and international law

ABSTRACTThe conventional wisdom among US foreign policymakers is that drones enable precise strikes, and therefore limit collateral damage. In contrast, critics point out that many civilian casualties have ensued, and they variously cite poor intelligence and imprecision of the strikes as reasons for this. Critics have also raised concerns that the US and its allies are engaging in “lawfare” to legitimise violations of human rights law. As such, some have questioned whether academic engagement with the legal questions surrounding targeted killings amount to collusion with state attempts to legitimise human rights violations. This article will argue that by conceptualising the targeted killings programme as a form of state terrorism, we are better equipped to provide a critical analysis of the drones programme within the context of a long history of violence and terrorism which has underpinned the imperial and neo-imperial projects of the UK and US. The article will then argue that there are important similarities between the targeted killings programme, and previous UK and US counterinsurgency operations, including prior uses of air power, and operations involving the internment of terror suspects, and the targeting of specific individuals for interrogation and torture or disappearance. Common to these programmes is that they are forms of policing aimed at crushing rebellions, stifling disorder and constructing or maintaining particular political economies, through terror. Also common to these programmes are the attempts made either to conceal illicit actions, or in the event they are exposed, to shroud them in a veil of legitimacy. The article concludes by offering some brief reflections on why we should not abandon the quest to resolve the thorny legal questions around the targeted killings programme.

Kenya Entangled in Proscribed Crimes of Terrorism and Violations of Human Rights Law

The Republic of Kenya is one of the youngest African States emerging from British Colonial power since 1963. Since then it has been caught up in series of terrorist attacks claiming damages and harms to civilians. As the State tends to comply with its international law obligations a number of issues are being raised especially from human rights law whether the government has acted within the law and in good faith. This research investigates the legality of terrorism and counter reactions emerging from the State authority. serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a Government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act. Later that year, the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change described terrorism as any action that is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, when the purpose of such an act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act and identified a number of key elements, with further reference to the definitions contained in the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and Security

The Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya – An Assessment

The conflict in Libya 2011 has been closely monitored by an International Commission of Inquiry. As mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council, the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya presented its report on violations of human rights law in Libya’s civil war. Allthough the report is very thourough, some remarks must be made. This analysis assesses the achievements and flaws of the report.The ICIL-Report is a thouroughly researched analysis of the situation in Libya. In an almost flawless manner it addresses the various legal issues of the conflict. Not surprisingly, it fulfills its mandate in an exemplary fashion.However, the Commission missed some opportunities to clarify matters in legal and factual terms. Most importantly, it did not take stand on legal obligations of non-state-actors, extraterritorial application of human rights law and the exact dates of the armed conflicts’ commencement and ceasation.Nevertheless, the report sets the standard for future investigations. It clearly shows which issues must be addressed within the next months, it provides basic facts and basic legal analysis for the international community’s involvement in the reconstruction of the Libyan state. In addition, it provides the ICC with valuable informations to conduct further criminal investigations. The ICIL has shown that the Libyan conflict of 2011 is far away from being resolved.

What Does Kosovo Teach Us about Using Human Rights Law to Prosecute Corruption Offences?

If a patient must pay a bribe to obtain life-saving surgery, does the doctor’s solicitation of a bribe represent a violation of the victim’s human rights? This paper explores the ways in which anti-corruption practitioners can look to various provisions in human rights law in order to prevent or prosecute corruption-related offences. We use Kosovo as a case study because its constitution gives direct effect to the major international human rights conventions. We find - using Kosovo as a case study - that some types of corruption lead to separately prosecutable human rights offences. We also find that pre-existing violations of human rights law create strong incentives for individuals to engage in corruption. We offer concrete suggestions to lawyers and prosecutors for using human rights provisions to encourage the prosecution corruption offences in highly corrupt countries like Kosovo. We also present a method of prosecuting human rights offences leading to - or resulting from - corruption as administrative offences and offer pricing models for assessing the optimal fine for the human rights offences occurring concomitant with cases of corruption.

Civil Liability of Bush, Cheney, Et Al, for Torture, Cruel, Inhumane, and Degrading Treatment and Forced Disappearance

This article addresses treaty-based and customary international laws that provide the right to compensation regarding forced disappearance, human rights violations, and violations of the laws of war authorized and abetted by Bush, Cheney, and others from 2001-2008. The Geneva Conventions expressly recognize private rights and contemplate compensation in courts of law. Federal statutes execute the Geneva Conventions and other international laws for civil sanction purposes, and several U.S. cases have recognized personal liability for violations of human rights law and the laws of war. Also identified are various reasons why no federal statute should be interpreted contrary to international law to obviate civil liability and, under the last in time rule, some seemingly limiting statutes regarding substitution of the United States for individual defendants are prior in time to relevant treaties and must not prevail.

EU Operations and Private Military Contractors: Issues of Corporate and Institutional Responsibility

The European Union has developed its security competence since 1992, thus putting pressure on its Member States to provide troops for the increasing number of EU peace operations being deployed to different areas of the globe. But with national militaries being rationalized and contracted the EU will inevitably follow the lead of the US, the UK, and the UN and start to use Private Military Contractors to undertake some of the functions of peace operations. This article explores the consequences of this trend from the perspective of the accountability and responsibility of both the corporation and the institution when the employees of PMCs commit violations of human rights law and, if applicable, international humanitarian law.

Can Victims Sue State Officials for Torture?: Reflections on Rasul v. Myers from the Perspective of International Law

In Rasul v. Myers the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed on 11 January 2008 appeals against decisions of the US District Court for the District of Columbia of 6 February 2006 and 8 May 2006, respectively. The original lawsuit was brought on behalf of four former Guantanamo detainees, citizens and residents of the United Kingdom, against the then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior military officers. The plaintiffs sought damages for their alleged maltreatment and torture at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in violation of international law and US constitutional and statutory law. The case raises important questions of international law which are addressed in this article. It puts to the test the assumption that post-World War II international law is characterized by a steady increase in the status and role of the individual. But is today an individual entitled to get his or her international human rights recognized by a foreign domestic court, and to be awarded damages if those rights have been violated? After briefly recalling those facts of the case and the arguments of the Court which are important for its evaluation from the perspective of international law, the article first examines the issue of a civil liability of a state, or state officials individually, for violations of human rights law and humanitarian law. The author then turns to the issue of enforcement of such a liability by a right of a victim to have access to the judicial system of the respective state. Thirdly, the article draws attention to the similarity of criminal punishment and punitive damages, arguing that a general exclusion of individual civil liability for acts of torture runs counter to the obligation of states to prosecute and punish individuals responsible for acts of torture. Subsequently, the issue of a personal immunity of state officials in civil proceedings is discussed. As a last important question of international law raised by the case, the author identifies the debatable compliance of the United States with Article 14(1) of the Convention against Torture, which obliges states parties to ensure in their legal systems that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation. The author concludes that, although the advanced process of a humanization' of international law suggests civil liability of state officials for violations of international law, so far states have not been ready to agree on it.

Violations of Human Rights During Military Operations in Chechnya

The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning violations of human rights law during armed conflict has been extended after the first decisions on cases arose from violations committed during the war in Chechnya between 1999 and 2000. In the words of the Court, at that time the situation called for exceptional measures, in order to regain control over the Republic and suppress an illegal armed insurgency. This brief paper focuses on the means and methods employed. It aims firstly at illustrating the core of the Court's decisions, in order to identify the key aspects of the protection granted by the system of the European Convention in situations requiring the use of military force. Then it clarifies the approach of the Court to the law of armed conflict.

Can domestic violence be considered a violation of human rights law?

Steiner ' Alston (2000) claim that domestic violence exists “in all regions classes and cultures” and that “domestic violence is a common and serious problem in developed and developing countries alike”.

Restricting Discretion: Judicial Review of Diplomatic Protection

AbstractIn the last 30 years, individuals have increasingly filed complaints against their national governments for failure to exercise diplomatic protection on their behalf, in particular in cases of serious violations of international human rights law. Despite the fact that diplomatic protection has traditionally been regarded as a discretionary right of states, the national courts have invariably decided to enter into the merits of the case and to review the exercise of diplomatic protection by the executive. Initially, a draft article on this subject was not accepted by the International Law Commission in the Draft Articles on first reading, but an encouraging provision was included in the Draft Articles adopted on second reading. The development discussed in this article shows support for an obligation to exercise diplomatic protection in case of serious violations of human rights law.

Policing and Human Rights in the Post‐Holocaust 21st Century

In recent years, violations of human rights law have increasingly been perceived in a new light as perpetrators of war crimes and genocide are more often held accountable for their crimes. Influenced by precedents set at the Nuremberg trials, the development of International Criminal Tribunals, and by the recent approval of the International Criminal Court, law enforcement officials are under increasing pressure to identify and arrest human rights violators. This is an important development since the success of these recent international initiatives depends upon the ability to effectively enforce these statutes. International human rights law will ultimately fail unless appropriate and effective means of apprehending violators are implemented. Given the fact that law enforcement agencies have often been the worst perpetrators of genocide and other violations, it is increasingly clear that police are crucial to the success or failure of many post‐Holocaust legal developments. This paper explores historical, legal, and ethical issues behind some of the important changes in the process and practice of human rights law and the role that law enforcement officers play in this changing legal landscape.

WTO Dispute Settlement and Human Rights

The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system could be seized of a dispute carrying human rights claims or arguments in support of either a complaint or a defence. How would WTO adjudicating bodies address this issue? It is suggested that WTO law must evolve and be interpreted consistently with international law, including human rights law. Thus, a good faith interpretation of the provisions of the WTO, including its exception provisions, should lead to a reading and application of WTO law consistent with human rights. The recent Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health is a good example of such a possible coherent reading of WTO provisions taking into account potentially relevant human rights law. WTO adjudicating bodies cannot formally interpret other treaties and customs and thus cannot apply or enforce other treaties or customs or determine the legal consequences of rights and obligations that WTO Members may have under other treaties or by custom; these may be examined only when necessary for the interpretation of WTO law and/or as a factual determination. WTO Members do not appear to have granted WTO remedies for the enforcement of rights and obligations other than those under the ‘covered agreements’. Since states are bound simultaneously by all their international rights and obligations, WTO Members in violation of human rights law may be liable, but this responsibility cannot be enforced by WTO adjudicating bodies. Yet human rights can be respected through good interpretation and application of WTO provisions.

The Proposed Expatriation Tax—A Human Rights Violation?

Income tax law and human rights law operate in quite separate worlds, but a proposal recently presented to Congress brings them together. The Clinton administration has advocated a tax on certain unrealized capital gains of expatriates and some of its opponents have claimed that it constitutes a violation of human rights law. They evoke the hardships visited on those who fled from Nazi Germany in the 1930s and from the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic more recently. They assert that a similar wrong would be inflicted by this proposed tax on those who surrender United States citizenship. The reaction of this writer is that of Justice Cardozo to the charge that twentieth-century administrative practices are “Star Chamber” procedures: “Historians may find hyperbole in the sanguinary simile.”