Human rights

• International law, the rules that govern relations between states. States generally accept the binding authority of international law.
• Nuremberg trials was Westphalian principles of states sovereignty have traditionally enshrined human rights. Derived from Hobbesian belief that the rulers of a nation state must be obeyed irrespective of whether they act morally.
• UN charter 1945 was established to sough to banish the scrooge of war. It is also an international forum.
• UDHR - 1948 was established for the absolute civil, political and social freedoms. The equal and inalienable rights of all members of human family.
• Some NGOs consists of pressure groups like Amnesty International, Human rights Watch, Save the children.
• Global pressure groups use the Internet to its full potential - ensuring coverage of humanitarian crises.
• Examples of Pressure groups - 2020 Human rights watch published annual world reports - China increasingly blatant disregard for human rights.

  2021 - Investigation in pro-trump supporters to storm congress - hold trump account as he undermined the democratic process and the rule of law.
• ICJ is made up of 15 judges who represent the main form of civilisation and the principal legal system of the world

  submitted by states and provides advisory opinions
• Article 94 - All members of the UN should comply with the decision of the court in any case to which it is a party.

  Liberals regard ICJ as vital as it is more rules based approach - cases submitted for arbitration which shows they are a strong moral authority.
• Successes of the ICJ:

  2019: India V Pakistan - Allowing India to have access to their naval officer who was convicted of spying.

  2022: Greece V Turkey on the sea continental shelf case where the ICJ upheld its jurisdiction over the dispute.

  2020: Tunisia V Libya ICJ delimited the maritime border
• ICJ isn't successful because power maximiser states will often put their sovereign interests above that of international.
• ICJ is undermined because:

  Liberal principle conflict with realist egoism

  Cannot initiate cases

  States can choose whether or not to be subject of ICJ decision.
• In 2018, the US withdrew from the UNHRC claiming it had become a "cesspool of political bias" against Israel. In response, other countries like Germany and Norway left the HRC in protest.
• Failures of the ICJ:

  • 2020 Myanmar
  • 2010 Kosovo legitimately claim independence but ignored by Serbia and backed by Russia
  • Israel building a wall to separate them from Palestinians - "One sided and politically motivated"
• UN special tribunals aim to:

  • Punish and bring justice
  • Develop the liberal principles
  • Establish the legal principles
  • Make public the extent and horror of crimes against humanity
• Former Yugoslavia UN tribunal was for Sebrenica Massacre
• Cambodia Tribunal is for Kiev Samphan - life imprisonment

  The courts has offered internships to educate those in international law
• Rwanda Tribunal - 800,000 Tutsi murdered , 61 convicted and set precedent that rape is a form or backing a genocide
• Limitations of the Tribunal is that American watched Japan go on trial, but they didn't for bombing Hiroshima - "victors justice"

  Mary Robinson criticised Nato air bombing - invalidated the claim that is was for humanitarian intervention - Human Rights Watch and Amnesty condemn this as 16 civilians are killed

  Rwanda genocide only convicted the Hutus, Tutsi also committed acts of genocide.
• ICC was established by the Rome statute
• ICC successes:

  2012 - Congolese warlord sentenced to 12 years

  2020 - Omar Al-Bashir face ICC charges in Darfur

  2019 - Israeli defence force under investigation for breaching human rights
• ICC not successful :

  China, Russia and the US do not accept ICC jurisdiction - US has signed many bilateral agreements which require 0 co-operation wit the courts

  Unwillingness undermined ICC scope and authority - 2021 - 123 states had ratified the Rome statute only.

  2007 Kenyan president was indicted but due to lack of co-operation by Kenyan government ICC dropped charges

  President Putin withdrew from Rome statute due to courts criticism of Russian Annexation of Crimea.
• Why is the ICC not effective: Para 1

  The ICC interferes with state sovereignty. Nation - states have responsibility to protect their citizens. The international community has no mandate to intervene within states and the court therefore lacks legitimacy.
• Why is the ICC not effective: Para 2

  
  

  Article 2 of the UN charter lays down the principle of sovereign equality of all member states and that nothing continued in the present charter shall authorise the united nation to intervene in matters which are essentially in the domestic jurisdiction of any state
• Why is the ICC not effective: Para 3

  Its authority is undermined by the refusal of three members of the UNSC - to accept its jurisdiction. With so many powerful countries absent, the ICC only provides 'partial' justice and cannot claim to provide international justice.
• Why is the ICC not effective: other points

  By 2021, the ICC had only secured eight convictions - critics thus claim that the ICC is costly, very slow moving and has achieved little

  So far, the only people to have been incited by the court are africans. Given the global extent of human rights abuses, this indicated an inbuilt bias against Africa. This is why Burundi has withdrawn from the court
• Why is the ICC effective: Para 1

  Since the ICC is in permanent session, unlike ad hoc tribunals, it provides a constant standard of international justice to which government should aspire
• Why is the ICC effective: Para 2

  By convicting human rights abusers before an international court, it establishes precedents for the development of the international human rights - based law. This includes the crime of cultural terrorism, for example.
• Why is the ICC effective: Para 3

  By delivering retribution and punishment within countries, future human rights abuses may be deterred, as war criminals realise they cannot hide from justice behind borders.
• Why is the ICC effective: others

  It has recorded and made public evidence of atrocious so making subsequent denial more difficult

  It is able to provided justice in cases where nation states might not be able to, either because of prejudice or lack of governance.
• Why is the ICC effective: evaluation

  After twenty years, the liberal ambitions of the ICC seem to have been stalled by the realist self-interest of nation states more concerned with protecting their sovereignty than with advancing a global standard of legal accountability.
• ECHR purpose:

  It is responsible for promoting human rights and the rule of law. The court has 47 judges, one for each member of the European council. European states and individuals can apply to the court in cases where they feel that human rights have been abused
• ECHR successes:

  2020 Beizaras and Levickas V Lithuania : When two gay men posted ap ic of them kissing on Facebook this unleashed a storm of criticism and violence. Goes against the ECHR Article 14 (Freedom from discrimination)

  2020 Buturuga V Romania : Defiance of article 3 - Right not be subject to torture and Article 8 - Right to privacy

  2020 - Azerbaijan SC quashed the 2014 convictions - ECHR had declared that his conviction is based on his criticism of the government.
• The ECHR supporters argue that its provides all European states with a moral code to emulate and , by its judgements, is continually holding European nation-states accountable for their observance of human rights.
• ECHR failures:

  2021 ECHR has declarad that Russia had committed war crimes during its war with Georgia in 2008 and that its annexation of Crimea in 2014 was illegal

  2020, The council of Europe expressed 'profound concern' that the UK government had not complied with ECHR judgments that it should reopen case involving killing carried out by the SS in NI

  2017 - ECHR ruled that Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, arrested for fraud was arbitrary and unfair.
• Conclusion for ECHR - Although they have achieve some successes and have also developed the principle that the international community can try crimes committed within states, international courts and tribunals do still find it difficult to enforce a universal standard of human rights due to a lack of Universal human rights hard law global jurisdiction to which all states are equally accountable enforcement tools.
• UN R2P - states could now no longer claim absolute authority over their citizens instead, a state's sovereignty was 'conditional' upon its ability to protect its citizens human rights. This represented a dramatic assault on Westphalian principle , since it suggested that state sovereignty involved responsibilities aswell as rights.
• Successful interventions

  Balkans - The fact that UN peacekeepers were not mandated to take offensive military action undermined initial UN involvement in the conflict In former Yugoslavia - Peacekeeprs were operating in a war zone. Nato launched operations for lasting peace. An active participation in a nation - states reconstruction is vital if it to be successful.
• Successful interventions

  East Timor - result of concerning international pressure, UN resolution 1264 authorised a multinational force, led Australia, to enter East Timor, with a robust mandate to defeat and disarm military.
• Successful interventions

  Côte d'Ivoire (2011)

  UNSC mandated the destruction of Gbagbo military capability. The legitimacy of the intervention was never in doubt, especially since UN osbservers were unequivocal that Gbagbo has lost the election.