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91. Law in Times of War: the Case of Chechnya

Author:
Federico Sperotto
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
In October 1999 “the second Chechen war” broke out. In December the Russian federal army started an operation to take control of Grozny. During the confrontation between the Federal forces and the Chechen separatists, serious human rights violations occurred. Several cases concerning violations of fundamental rights, in and around the city, have been brought before the European Court of Human Rights against Russia. The lawsuits concerned in particular physical integrity issues. This study provides some insights on the jurisprudence of the European Court on Human Rights in order to ascertain the adequacy of the mechanism of protection provided by the European Convention of 1950 in situations of armed conflict.
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, and War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, and Chechnya

92. AsiaSource Interview with Mohini Giri

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
Gender Issues and Human Rights
Political Geography:
India and Asia

93. Sovereignties, the World Conference against Racism 2001 and the Formation of a Dalit Human Rights Campaign

Author:
Dag Erik Berg
Publication Date:
04-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
This paper examines how the World Conference against Racism in Durban 2001 intensified an old debate in India about caste and race. The controversy arose after the 'National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights' wanted to present caste discrimination in Durban as equivalent to racial discrimination. The Indian government protested, and distinguished sociologists entered the fray by claiming that race is a western concept which cannot be compared to caste, strengthening the official position. Conceptual logic became central to the debate. First, the position represents conventional knowledge, which reflects the anti-colonial attempt to define race as being irrelevant to India. But, secondly, the scholarly discourse acted to exclude oppression from the debate in clear contrast to the Durban agenda on racism and intolerance. The debate showed, broadly, how Durban represented a transformative potential by connecting global racism discourse to the moral status of an embedded postcolonial state. Further, the paper argues that the dominating conceptual focus reflects a paradigmatic individualism, which informs the scholarly approach to modern caste formations. While individualist approaches exclude Dalit rhetoric as subjective, they do not sufficiently acknowledge that the exclusionary logics inflicted on Dalits in modern bureaucratic institutions is a racial dynamic. To shed light on the Durban controversy, the paper outlines the larger background to caste in India and provides examples of Dalit discourse. It also presents the formation of the hum an rights network and controversial issues regarding the way they define themselves as NGOs, Dalits and Christians. These attributed properties were fundamental for the debate(s). Durban cannot be seen as an episode with tangible empirical impact. Rather, the debate was an intense moment in an ongoing historical argument about hierarchical practices and equality in India as well as about its moral status in the global community. In December 2006, however, at an international conference in New Delhi, the Prime Minister of India compared the Dalit situation to apartheid.
Topic:
Human Rights, Poverty, and Race
Political Geography:
India, East Asia, Asia, New Delhi, Kurdistan, and Durban

94. Uzbekistan: Stagnation and Uncertainty

Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Uzbekistan remains a serious risk to itself and its region. While 69-year-old President Islom Karimov shows no signs of relinquishing power, despite the end of his legal term of office more than half a year ago, his eventual departure may lead to a violent power struggle. The economy remains tightly controlled, with regime stalwarts, including the security services and Karimov's daughter Gulnora, exerting excessive influence, which drives away investors and exacerbates poverty. The human rights situation is grave, and those who seek to flee abroad live in constant danger of attempts to return them forcibly. While the government cites the "war on terror" to justify many policies, its repression may in fact be creating greater future danger. Efforts at international engagement have been stymied by its refusal to reform and to allow an independent investigation of the May 2005 Andijon uprising. Little can be done presently to influence Tashkent but it is important to help ordinary Uzbeks as much as possible and to assist the country's neighbours build their capacity to cope with the instability that is likely to develop when Karimov goes.
Topic:
Corruption and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Central Asia, Asia, and Uzbekistan

95. Rights-based Approach to Development: Lessons from the Right to Food Movement in India

Author:
Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis and S. Vivek
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
In April 2001 the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) approached the Supreme Court of India arguing that the government has a duty to provide greater relief in the context of mass hunger. The litigation has now become the best known precedent on the right to food internationally. This paper reviews the litigation with a view to understand various strategies used by the litigants to create and enforce far-reaching entitlements in a near legal vacuum on the right to food. This is followed by a discussion on the lessons from this case for a rights-based approach to development at large.
Topic:
Development, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
India and Asia

96. Human rights cooperation between Russia and European intergovernmental organisations: a one-way transference of norms or a mutual process of adaptation?

Author:
Sinikukka Saari
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The European intergovernmental organisations such as the Council of Europe, OSCE and the EU have taken up the task to promote actively human rights in Russia. The organisations differ in methods, instrument s and over-all strategies but the goal of socialising Russia to common European human rights norms is the same for all these organisations. Socialisation means a process through which norms are transmitted from one party to another and they become firmly established domestic practices.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

97. Human Security on Foreign Policy Agendas. Changes, Concepts and Cases, INEF-Report 80

Author:
Tobias Debiel and Sascha Werthes
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Development and Peace
Abstract:
When the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published its 1994 report, nobody expected that the human security concept outlined within it would attract so much attention from politicians and academics alike. This is all the more astonishing as the concept has provoked a lot of criticism ever since its first appearance due to its excoriated analytical ambiguity and its disputed political appropriateness.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Human Rights, International Political Economy, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Europe, and Asia

98. Child Recruitment in South Asian Conflicts: A comparative Analysis of Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh

Author:
Charu Lata Hogg
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
The causes and trajectories of existing conflicts in Sri Lanka and Nepal demonstrate the failure of states to seriously address the underlying causes of social unrest. The idea that the state is prejudiced against a particular ethnic group, as in Sri Lanka, or against a particular class, as in Nepal, is used by non-state actors to justify the continuation of conflict in which children are inevitably targeted. The primary fault line in Bangladesh relates to the notion of Bangladeshi identity and the role of Islam, but although outbreaks of religious terrorism have taken place in Bangladesh, there has been no outbreak of full-scale conflict.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and War
Political Geography:
Bangladesh, South Asia, Asia, Sri Lanka, and Nepal

99. Losing Ground: Human Rights Defenders and Counterterrorism in Thailand

Author:
Eric Biel, Neil Hicks, and Michael McClintock
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights First
Abstract:
In the 1990s, Thailand led the way in democracy and human rights in Southeast Asia. The military largely withdrew from politics, allowing a stable democracy to develop in place of a succession of coups and military governments. The government strengthened its commitment to human rights through a new constitution in 1997 and ratification of four key international human rights instruments.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Democratization, Human Rights, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:
Asia, Thailand, and Southeast Asia

100. North Korea and the Politics of Famine

Author:
Jeff Feffer
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
This paper was produced under the auspices of a research project sponsored by the Sejong Institute. It will be published in book form later this year. The author would like to thank the following people for their helpful suggestions on earlier drafts: Ruediger Frank, Sang-jin Han, Chuck Hosking, Karin Lee, Wonhyuk Lim, Marcus Noland, and Kie-duck Park. He would also like to thank Randy Ireson, Erica Kang, Rajiv Narayan, Richard Ragan, and Sun-song Park for agreeing to be interviewed.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Asia and North Korea