Final Exam for PSCI 102

Pre-WWII period: individuals had rights and obligations arising only under national lawsPost-WWII period: individuals had rights and obligations arising under International Law (e.g. Nuremburg and Tokyo war crimes tribunals)

Rule: only states or international orgs have the capacity to pursue claims in international proceedingsHome state may purse a claim on behalf of an individual via diplomacy or by filing suit in an international tribunal (e.g. U.S. secretary of state on behalf of U.S. citizens)

Saddam was going to continue to murder and imprison his own people to stay in power as long as he couldHe was going to continue to violate human rights

Rwanda: at least 500,000 tutsis and tutsi sympathizers were killed by hutu gov'tBosnia: ethnic cleansing of Bosnian croats by serb army took place during Bosnian WarDarfur:Janjaweed militia killing hundreds of thousands of african darfurians

Protecting against serious human rights violations against individualsThe individual has rights/obligations to seek protectionNow individuals have all sorts of rights to bring legal actionEx: Chile, during tough times when people lost jobs, Pinochet and his army was there to throw them into prison/make them disappear so there were no people against him. Asked for England to extradite him to spain and then to Chile to be tried for his crimes, 30 years after his crimesEx: Bosnia and Milosevich tried for crimes against humanity by international criminal tribunal

State Sovereignty v. Protection of Human Rights-Article 2(7) of the UN Charter: prohibits meddling in "matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state"-Article 55(c) of the UN Charter: to promote "universal respect for...human rights and fundamental freedoms for all"-State discretion: the enforcement of human rights are reserved exclusively to States for implementationex: Saudi Arabia, Cuba, North Korea, Nigeria, Myanmar, Indonesia, U.S.A.

Definition: Those fundamental rights inherently possessed by individuals that cannot be withheld/withdrawn by a State-1st Generation - Political and Civil Rights ("negative")•right to life, liberty, and property•due process of law, arbitrary arrest•nondiscrimination (race, gender, ethnicity, etc.)•freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly-2nd Generation - Economic & Social Rights ("positive")•ex: health care bill•right to food, shelter and a decent standard of living•right to work, health care, education, social security-3rd Generation - Solidarity Rights (wishywashy new modern human rights)•rights to self-determination and development•right to environment•right to be free from occupation•right to humanitarian assistance•ex: right of haitians to relief from the earthquake

-War, poverty, hunger, and disease•1/3 of world lives on less than $2 a day•1/6 live on less than $1 a day-Oppressive/corrupt governments are often to blame for the lack of aid/progress in these countries-"Life is poor, nasty, brutish, and short" - thomas hobbs

-a broad statement of principles and objectives-non-self-executing•e.g. South Africa (apartheid), U.S. (racial segregation), China and USSR (forced labor camps)

1. Europe-European convention for the Protection of Human Rights (ECHR): deals w/ civil and political rights-European Social Charter: economic & social rights-European Court of Human Rights•compulsory jurisdiction•states and individuals can sue and be sued-Turkey is trying to join EU and they're doing everything right economically & politically, but they don't have the same human rights as most EU countries so they need to clean up their human rights-If you want to join EU, you have to give women the right to choose an abortion. The irish gov't has a law that prevents abortion. A girl tried ot get an abortion and couldn't so she went to england and ireland stepped in and said she couldn't. She took it to Irish supreme court and they said she couldn't have it, but she appealed to European court of human rights and they said Ireland had to let her have the right to choose

Reluctant to Adopt Human Rights Treaties-history of racial segregation-support for the death penalty-First Amendment concerns-post 9/11 anti-terrorism & national security concerns

1. NGOs (Amnesty International, ICRC)-publicize human rights violations-major NGOs have consultative status in international organizations (UNESCO, OAS, Council of Europe)2. Private Corporations-a business entity created for the purpose of limiting liability beyond that which is available to a person-Corporations possess nationality (like persons) - may be sued in U.S. courts for HR violations in foreign countries (Doe v. Unocal: burmese villagers filed suit against Unocal, Union oil company of california, for human rights violations including forced labor and the construction of a gas pipeline in myanmar. unocal final just settled)

(1789): allows civil suit in US court between foreign citizens for human rights violations committed abroad•Defendant must be served in the US•parties must be aliens•must be a violation of "well-established, universally recognized norms of international law," such as piracy, slave trading, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, extrajudicial killing and airplane hijacking

-War on Terror-Iraq-War on Drugs-Taiwan-UN-ABM/ Missile Defense-Iran-Russia-Venezuela-Israel/ Middle East-India

-Guantanamo Bay-Sudan -ICC (international criminal court)-China-Weapons trafficking