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2. Cuba’s voting pattern during its 12 years at the UN Human Rights Council
- Author:
- Brian Schapira and Roxana Perel
- Publication Date:
- 09-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- Over the twelve years during which Cuba had a seat at the UN Human Rights Council, the regime has been systematically complicit in the grave human rights violations perpetrated in other parts of the world. This can be inferred from the recorded votes, opposing to resolutions condemning dire human rights violations and calling the world into action. They have been constantly abetting and siding with autocratic governments across the world. In the bid to join the Human Rights Council during the 2021-2023 term, the one-party system stated that «should Cuba be elected to the Human Rights Council, it would continue to support its long-standing initiatives». Global democracies, especially those in Latin America who strive to consolidate the respect for human rights, shall oppose to the candidacy of Cuba and any other autocracies to the Human Rights Council, and they must do so publicly and actively in order to avoid the weakening of the International system for human rights protection.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, United Nations, UN Human Rights Council (HRC), and Human Rights Violations
- Political Geography:
- Cuba and Global Focus
3. China: A hard-line autocracy that loses credibility at an international level
- Author:
- Dorothea Krueger
- Publication Date:
- 08-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- The country report of China in the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) 2020 shows little change for the continent-sized Asian country since the last report of 2018. Structural challenges continued to intensify and the CCP’s single-party leadership does not consider democratic transformation as an objective to be pursued. On the contrary, the administration of President Xi Jinping continued to oppress opponents and dissidents while intensifying ideological indoctrination and surveillance. The deprivation of civil liberties, the concentration of power and the lack of political participation are the main reasons for classifying China in the BTI as a hard-line autocracy. At the same time, the BTI warns that China is becoming increasingly isolated from the world’s liberal democracies and loses their confidence. Human rights violations in so-called “re-education camps”, where it is estimated that more than one million Uyghurs are held, caused widespread criticism among Western democracies and lead to even more concern over China’s candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council elections in October this year.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, United Nations, Authoritarianism, UN Human Rights Council (HRC), Illiberal Democracy, Democratic Decline, and Human Rights Violations
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Global Focus
4. Russia: an increasingly repressive autocracy seeking a place on the UN Human Rights Council
- Author:
- Lara María Kovandova
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- The Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) 2020 cautiously points to Vladimir Putin’s forging of an authoritarian-bureaucratic nomenklatura. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have denounced the deteriorating human rights situation in Russia, with freedom of speech and assembly systematically undermined and violated. The recent plebiscite to reform the constitution is the epitome of Mr Putin masquerading the authoritarian regime as a democracy.
- Topic:
- United Nations, Authoritarianism, Democracy, Vladimir Putin, Human Rights Violations, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Latin America, and Global Focus
5. BTI and Cuba: the State of democratic denial
- Author:
- Manuel Cuesta Morúa
- Publication Date:
- 06-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- Compared with other reports on Cuba, the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) has several noticeable advantages. The first is that it is a comprehensive report, embedded in three pillars: economics, politics and governance. The second is that it captures trends, whereas more reports are static. The third is that it considers themes through indicators, which most reports ignore. And as it is issued every two years it makes it possible to know the consistency (or lack, thereof) of the transformation and its rhythm. The following up. Has Cuba been transformed in 14 years (2006-2020)? Reading the report, it can be concluded that it has, whilst a new concept is introduced: that of static transformation –a sample of changes that leave the structures of a society intact.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Governance, Authoritarianism, Democracy, Society, and Human Rights Violations
- Political Geography:
- Cuba, Latin America, and Global Focus
6. Human Rights from the International Relations
- Author:
- Alejandro Anaya Muñoz
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- Human rights are a very important area in contemporary international relations. The doctrine of human rights was concretized after a process of development of more than three centuries after the end of the Second World War and has changed the institutional panorama and the relations between actors at the international level. On the other hand, regardless of its «lack of teeth», the international regime on the subject has transformed the way states relate to international bodies, transnational civil society organizations and other governments.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Civil Society, Human Rights, International Political Economy, International Affairs, and Norms
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7. Global Development: Democracy, Market and Transparency 2012: Editor's note
- Author:
- Gabriel C. Salvia and Hernán Alberro
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- In order to appear in the ranking, the counties must qualify in the three indices from which the scores are drawn from. For the first time, North Korea is being included in this ranking. The totalitarian dictatorship is the most closed in the world and comfortably occupies the last position.
- Topic:
- Development, Markets, Democracy, and Transparency
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
8. A Democracy Assembly to Face the New Authoritarian Challenges
- Author:
- Ladan Boroumand
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- Sixteen years after the first World Movement Assembly, the situation has dramatically changed. We no longer have the strong wind of triumphant democracy in our sails. Instead, we are facing a reinvigorated wind of authoritarianism that defies us not only in practice but also ideologically and tests our understanding of our own values, our consistency, and our commitment. During the last wave of democratization, civil society emerged as a recognized and legitimate actor on the international stage. If as civil society actors we are being silenced and made irrelevant in our countries, with the help of democratic governments and the global human-rights community we can use the virtual and international stage to reemerge as strong, relevant actors and impose ourselves as our governments’ interlocutors.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Human Rights, Authoritarianism, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Global Focus
9. Conclusions of the 17th Forum 2000 Conference
- Author:
- Gareth Evans
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- A constantly recurring theme in our discussions has been the extent to which a country’s, or group of countries’, distinctive history and culture impacts on what can be done and how quickly it can be done when it comes to both initiating and sustaining transitions from authoritarianism to democracy, and in particular whether revolutions are likely to consolidate or collapse.
- Topic:
- Authoritarianism, Democracy, Conference, Transition, and Society
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
10. A crisis in the human rights concept in the begining of the 21st century
- Author:
- Yevgeniy Zhovtis
- Publication Date:
- 10-2012
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- Essential human rights principles say that for citizens ‘everything which is not forbidden is allowed’ while for the government ‘everything which is not allowed is forbidden’. But authoritarian states manage to turn these principles upside down both in law and it practice.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Law, Authoritarianism, and Citizenship
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus