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2. Engendering Haiti's Reconstruction: The Legal and Economic Case for Mainstreaming Women in Post-Disaster Programming
- Author:
- Jennifer S. Rosenberg
- Publication Date:
- 12-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- On January 12, 2010, an earthquake of devastating magnitude shook Haiti, killing over 250,000, reducing much of the country's infrastructure to rubble—including its government—and leaving millions of people without homes and livelihoods. As Haiti lurches toward an era of rebuilding and renewal, the ways in which priorities are set and resources spent can either accelerate the rate at which Haitians are able to emerge from poverty and achieve economic development—or they can substantially inhibit the country's path toward recovery. One of the most critical factors that will determine which path Haiti takes is the extent to which gender concerns are brought to the fore in the reconstruction process. Gender mainstreaming, as a technical term in the development field, involves ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities, from policy development to legislative drafting. Such a women-focused approach is not only imperative from a moral justice and human rights perspective, but also a vital component of a successful economic development strategy.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Gender Issues, Health, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Natural Disasters
3. Women in Afghanistan: A Human Rights Tragedy Ten Years after 9/11
- Author:
- Hayat Alvi
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- Ten years after the September 11th attacks in the United States and the military campaign in Afghanistan, there is some good news, but unfortunately still much bad news pertaining to women in Afghanistan. The patterns of politics, security/military operations, religious fanaticism, heavily patriarchal structures and practices, and ongoing insurgent violence continue to threaten girls and women in the most insidious ways. Although women's rights and freedoms in Afghanistan have finally entered the radar screen of the international community's consciousness, they still linger in the margins in many respects.
- Topic:
- Security, Gender Issues, Human Rights, Human Welfare, War, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and United States
4. European Union accession to the European Convention on Human Rights: an institutional "marriage"
- Author:
- Konstantinos G. Margaritis
- Publication Date:
- 08-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- A possible accession of European Union (hereinafter: EU/the Union) to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR/the Convention) has been discussed in legal society for more than thirty years. The topic had widely opened after the 1979 Commission Memorandum where the major pros and cons were underlined and practical problems were addressed. This discussion led to an official request to the European Court of Justice (ECJ/the Court) in relation to the legality of such accession; the outcome was included in opinion 2/94 that found such accession incompatible with the European Community (EC/the Community) Treaty. However, the whole argumentation regarding EU accession to ECHR had originated earlier, the first approach of the sensitive issue of fundamental rights. Technical problems arose from the other part as well. The ECHR was constructed for States to participate in so the accession of an organization such as the EU would demand significant amendments. A relevant proposal from the Council of Europe's point of view was manifested in the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) Document DG-II 2002. protection at an EU level was directed by the ECJ that had envisaged the conceptual influence of the Convention to the EU and developed the doctrine of Community protection of fundamental rights.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5. Human Security: Undermining Human Rights?
- Author:
- Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- This paper warns that the human security discourse and agenda could inadvertently undermine the international human rights regime. It argues that in so far as human security identifies new threats to well-being, new victims of those threats, new duties of states, and/or new mechanisms of dealing with threats at the inter-state level, it adds to the established human rights regime. In so far as it simply rephrases human rights principles without identifying new threats, victims, duty-bearers, or mechanisms, at best it complements human rights and at worst it could undermine them. The narrow view of human security, as defined below, is a valuable addition to the international normative regime requiring state and international action against severe threats to human beings. By contrast, the broader view of human security at best repeats, and possibly undermines, the already extant human rights regime, especially by converting state obligations to respect individuals' inalienable human rights into policy decisions regarding which aspects of human security to protect under which circumstances. The two may be competing discourses, despite arguments by some scholars (Tadjbakhsh and Chenoy 2007, 12) that they are not.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Sovereignty
6. Human Rights, Health Sector Abuse and Corruption
- Author:
- Brigit Toebes
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- Research indicates that health sectors in both poor and rich nations are vulnerable to abuse and corruption. This paper discusses the character and scope of health sector abuse and corruption. It suggests that human rights law can play an important role in enhancing the transparency and integrity of health systems. Based on the existing human rights framework, some tools are provided and examples are given of how this can be done.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Health, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Law
7. The Principled Case for Employing Private Military and Security Companies in Humanitarian Interventions and Peacekeeping
- Author:
- James Pattison and Deane-Peter Baker
- Publication Date:
- 02-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- The possibility of using private military and security companies to bolster the capacity to undertake humanitarian intervention has been increasingly debated. The focus of such discussions has, however, largely been on practical issues and the contingent problems posed by private force. By contrast, this paper considers the principled case for privatising humanitarian intervention. It focuses on two central issues. First, is there a case for preferring these firms to other, state-based agents of humanitarian intervention? In particular, given a state's duties to their own military personnel, should the use of private military and security contractors be preferred to regular soldiers for humanitarian intervention? Second, on the other hand, does outsourcing humanitarian intervention to private military and security companies pose some fundamental, deeper problems in this context, such as an abdication of a state's duties?
- Topic:
- Security, Political Violence, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and War
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
8. In Search of an "Action Principle"
- Author:
- Patrick J. Glen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- In his seminal work on the history of scientific development, Thomas Kuhn described the structure of that development as revolutionary in nature, occurring at that point in time “in which an older paradigm is replaced in whole or in part by an incompatible one.” The impetus for this paradigm shift is malfunction—“scientific revolutions are inaugurated by a growing sense … that an existing paradigm has ceased to function adequately in the exploration of an aspect of nature to which that paradigm itself had previously led the way…. [T]he sense of malfunction that can lead to crisis is prerequisite to revolution.” Kuhn himself analogized his conception of the theory and operation of scientific revolutions to political revolutions, drawing out parallels in genesis, form and function between the two. The notion of revolutionary change, or paradigm shifts, itself provides a useful framework to judge the evolution, current state, and potential future of international human rights and criminal law. Although the analogy must necessarily be incomplete, as is the analogy between scientific and political revolutions, it does go a long way in explaining how the current system of international justice has reached its present state, and what may need to occur before that system can develop further.
- Topic:
- Crime, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, and Political Theory
9. Teaching Notes: Rights and Rebuilding in El Salvador
- Author:
- Susan Waltz and Elaine K. Denny
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- We have prepared this two-part case study with two pedagogical purposes in mind: (1) To develop an understanding of the concept (and political meaning) of human rights. (2) To facilitate discussion about processes of reconciliation and reconstruction and the importance of holistic conceptions of rights and security for future stability. Instructor notes are organized around these two themes. For each theme, we have provided some background commentary and discussion questions that can accompany both parts of the case study.
- Topic:
- Civil War, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and War
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
10. Tunisia–The Imprisonment of Fahem Boukadous (Part One of a series)
- Author:
- Rob Prince
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- To most Americans with the exception of those few who, for whatever reason, have an attachment to the North African country of Tunisia, the name Fahem Boukadous, foreign to American ears, means nothing. It means a good deal more to "Reporters Without Borders” and to the US State Department that actually issued a statement (half way down the page) on his behalf, to the US intelligence agencies and military that have carefully followed the Spring, 2008 uprising in the Tunisian region of Gafsa–deemed the most extensive and militant social protest in that country's history in the past quarter century.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Torture
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, America, Arabia, North Africa, and Tunisia
11. Human Rights Education in Peace-building: A Look at Where the Practice Has Come from, and Where It Needs to Head
- Author:
- Tracey Holland
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- The world's peace-building and development organizations increasingly are incorporating human-rights frameworks into the myriad of activities now under their purview. Slower to develop, however, are the capacity-building programs designed to impart knowledge about human rights to citizens and communities. Field-workers throughout the world indicate that the lack of such guidance-giving education hinders them when it comes to monitoring activities, helping to rebuild public institutions, setting up and organizing electoral politics, building an unfettered media, protecting human security, setting up transitional justice mechanisms, and the myriad of other peace-building activities and democratization challenges they face in post-conflict situations. This paper not only explores this emerging field of the study and practice of human-rights education within the cross-national peace-building sphere by sharing the perspectives of educators around the world, but also considers a host of ideas that should help to advance the human-rights agendas of present and future post-conflict planners.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, Peace Studies, and Peacekeeping
12. Repression and Punishment in North Korea: Survey Evidence of Prison Camp Experiences
- Author:
- Stephan Haggard
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- The penal system has played a central role in the North Korean government's response to the country's profound economic and social changes. Two refugee surveys—one conducted in China, one in South Korea—document its changing role. The regime disproportionately targets politically suspect groups, particularly those involved in market-oriented economic activities. Levels of violence and deprivation do not appear to differ substantially between the infamous political prison camps, penitentiaries for felons, and labor camps used to incarcerate individuals for misdemeanors, including economic crimes. Substantial numbers of those incarcerated report experiencing deprivation with respect to food as well as public executions and other forms of violence. This repression appears to work; despite substantial cynicism about the North Korean system, refugees do not report signs of collective action aimed at confronting the regime.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- China, South Korea, and North Korea
13. A Human Rights-Oriented Approach to Military Operations
- Author:
- Federico Sperotto
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- Counterinsurgency is the dominant aspect of US operations in Afghanistan, and since ISAF—the NATO-led security and assistance force—has assumed growing security responsibility throughout the country, it is also a mission for the Europeans. The frame in which military operations are conducted is irregular warfare, a form of conflict which differs from conventional operations in two main aspects. First, it is warfare among and within the people. Second, it is warfare in which insurgents avoid a direct military confrontation, using instead unconventional methods and terrorist tactics.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Human Welfare, War, and Counterinsurgency
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Asia
14. Darfur: In Search of Peace
- Author:
- George Shepherd and Peter Van Arsdale
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- Darfur is located in the Western part of Sudan and borders Libya to the north, and Chad and CentralAfrican Republic to the West. It had an estimated population of seven million (prior to refugee and IDPdisplacements), representing more than 70 tribes, and is potentially rich in natural resources includingoil, copper, and uranium, as well as reservoirs of subsurface "Pleistocene water."
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and War
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Libya
15. Customary Law and Human Rights in Botswana
- Author:
- Rekha A. Kumar
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- The right of indigenous people to have customary law accommodated within the communities they live is an integral part of Botswana legal system. How far traditional cultures protect the well-being of their people would illuminate the foundation of human dignity on which human rights protection stands in a country. The revelations may not be affirmative always, however. In Botswana the Constitution places a prominent status on custom in a range of contexts. The core of personal law is very much the domain of customary law. It is of particular significance for women's rights. In its application it reinforces the social order by determining the obligations of men, women and children, their entitlement to resources, property ownership, marriage and divorce. It formulates such matters as the status of widows, child custody and inheritance. In the absence of a guarantee that equality between men and women takes precedence over custom, traditional practices that discriminate against women may be lawful in some circumstances. There are a number of regional and international human rights instruments ratified by Botswana. The Government has assumed an obligation to ensure that at all its levels of administration basic rights of the people will be respected and protected. How far these legally bind Botswana in its domestic application of customary law is a legitimate question not clearly settled so far.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Law
- Political Geography:
- Africa
16. A Holistic Approach for Promoting the Rule of Law
- Author:
- Josef Bucher
- Publication Date:
- 09-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- The world has become smaller as a result of globalization tendencies, making the establishment of a global order more important than ever. Nations have become closer. Hence, the intensive relations between countries must be increasingly protected by legal security. In order to stabilise this global order, also intra-state relations must be subjected to the protection of the law. The rule of law has thus become a central element of successful globalisation on two different levels.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Civil Society, Globalization, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Asia
17. The International Security Presence in Kosovo and the Protection of Human Rights
- Author:
- Federico Sperotto
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- On March 11th, 2000, two children who were playing in the neighborhoods of Mitrovica, Kosovo, got hurt by an “unexploded ordnance”. One of them died in the explosion, the other was severely injured. An inquire clarified that the ordnance was a “bomblet”, a part of a cluster bomb dropped during the 1999 NATO air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- Topic:
- Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Cooperation, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Balkans
18. Can Historical Institutionalism Resolve the Limits of the 'Many Hands' Dilemma?: Institutional Accountability through the EU's and the IMF's Codes of Conduct
- Author:
- Sarah Bania-Dobyns
- Publication Date:
- 08-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- This paper argues that because institutions are different from individuals, we need different ethics in order to address the unique ethical risks associated with them. In particular, institutions run into unique ethical problems when no one individual is clearly responsible for an institutional outcome, what many scholars have called the “many hands” dilemma. The traditional approach to resolving such dilemmas has nevertheless been to attribute responsibility to individuals, either as persons or as agents. Since the traditional approach sets limits on the kinds of institutional ethical dilemmas that can be resolved, I turn to historical institutionalism (HI) in order to focus instead on the level of the institution as a step towards the case for holding international institutions accountable as institutions. HI can draw attention away from the detailed actions of individuals inside an institution, instead focusing attention on the evolutionary nature of the institution, making it difficult to change institutional practices. Based on this claim, in the second part I discuss two examples of institutions' accountability structures and guidelines, the EU Code of Good Administrative Behaviour and the IMF Code of Conduct for Staff. By considering three different factors (location of the Code within the governance structure of the institution, relations with a public according to the Codes and language in the Codes), my objective is to show how these Codes illustrate the limitations of the traditional approach to the “many hands” dilemma. I close with a discussion of how this argument makes space for further research on institutional accountability.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Organization
19. Violations of Human Rights during Military Operations in Chechnya
- Author:
- Federico Sperotto
- Publication Date:
- 02-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- 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. The Court has been ready to admit those measures, including the deployment of army units equipped with heavy combat weapons, military aviation and artillery, were necessary to counter the aggressiveness of the separatists, but in such a way as to avoid or minimize, to the greatest extent possible, damage to civilians. 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.
- Topic:
- Human Rights and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, and Chechnya
20. Human Rights Education: The Third Leg of Post-Conflict/Transitional Justice
- Author:
- David E. Guinn
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- Emerging out of the same foment of war and violence that led to the recognition of international human rights, post-conflict or transitional justice represents one of the most important political developments in efforts to advance human civilization to arise during the course of the twentieth century. As more and more countries undergo the trauma of civil war or revolutions against repressive regimes, they and the international community must confront the problems of transforming these situations of violent conflict into healthy, functional democratic states. The guiding principle behind post-conflict or transitional justice is that complying with the demands of justice is a necessary prerequisite to peace and stability.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Peace Studies
21. US Policy on Small Arms Transfers: A Human Rights Perspective
- Author:
- Susan Waltz
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- From Somalia and Afghanistan to Bosnia, Haiti, Colombia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Congo, small arms and light weapons were a common feature of the human rights calamities of the 1990's. More than a hundred low-intensity conflicts flared across the globe in that final decade of the bloodiest century, and virtually all of them were fought with small arms and light weaponry. Hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and bazookas, mortars, machine guns, and shoulder-fired missiles were the common weapons of warfare, along with the ubiquitous AK- 47--as readily slung over the shoulder of a 14 year old boy as a 40 year old man. Human rights and humanitarian organizations pondered the evidence: there was an inescapable linkage between the abuses they sought to curb, and the prevalence of these easy to handle, durable, and imminently portable weapons. In many instances the weapons were used as direct instruments of repression and devastation. In others, armed groups and government-sponsored militia used them to facilitate assaults with cruder weapons, spread fear, and create insecurity that effectively deprived people of their livelihood. Ironically, none of the countries in turmoil produced their own small arms. Behind the plethora of weapons lurked shadowy arms dealers looking for a profit, indifferent to the public's moral outrage and UN-imposed arms embargoes.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Bosnia, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Somalia
22. Accommodating Indigenous Peoples within the Human Rights Regime:The Case of Awas Tingni v. Nicaragua
- Author:
- Amy E. Eckert
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- Some critics allege that the human rights regime is based upon the values of liberal individualism and therefore inappropriate for communities that do not share a commitment to these values (Pollis and Schwab 1979). Such critics characterize human rights as being either irrelevant because of the lack of fit between liberal individualism and more community-based cultures or, even worse, as an imperialist tool in the hands of the West. However, the individual rights that are secured by the international human rights regime can be used for a variety of different purposes, including both liberal and non-liberal ends. A person, or a group of persons, may use the individual freedoms secured by international human rights treaties to express opinions that are entirely inconsistent with, or even in certain respects contrary to, liberal political ideals. To restrict the rights of this individual to the expression of liberal ideals would be, ultimately, inconsistent with the idea of freedom underlying these rights. Because liberalism values the autonomy of the individual (and, arguably, the autonomy of the community) above that individual's willingness to embrace any particular ideas, a liberal approach to human rights enables individuals and communities to utilize their rights and freedoms in a broad manner of ways. Recent progress in the area of indigenous rights underscores the extent to which the rights secured by the international human rights regime, though expressed in liberal individualistic terms, can nevertheless be used to secure non-liberal communitarian goals.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Central America and Nicaragua
23. Who Intervenes and Why it Matters: The Problem of Agency in Humanitarian Intervention
- Author:
- Eric A. Heinze
- Publication Date:
- 08-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- The debate over humanitarian intervention has tended to focus on the conditions under which the resort to armed intervention is permissible while paying less attention to which actors are best suited to engage in such a complicated and demanding undertaking. The purpose of this paper is to explore characteristics that affect the ability of potential agents of humanitarian intervention to effectively undertake this operationally and politically demanding task. While the military wherewithal of the intervener is fundamental, I argue that a potential intervener's legitimacy as an agent or enforcer of humanitarian norms is also crucial in determining whether and the extent to which it is a suitable agent. In other words, the efficacy of a potential intervener depends not only on its military wherewithal, but also on certain non-material factors than can affect its ability to effectively exercise this power. Using a consequentialist ethical framework, this paper examines the various material and non-material factors that can militate either for or against the suitability of certain actors undertaking humanitarian intervention in various parts of the world. I ultimately use this framework to examine the suitability of various possible agents of a potential humanitarian intervention in Darfur, Sudan.
- Topic:
- Genocide, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sudan
24. 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
25. Escaping the Cultural Context of Human Rights
- Author:
- Andrew Fagan
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- The contemporary age appears beset and driven by moral and political disputes, disagreements, fundamental misunderstandings, and mutual incomprehension. Secularists and religious believers systematically argue past one another. Doctrinal differences across and within religious communities persist despite, in many cases, centuries of dialogue and debate. Many of these disputes are neither trivial nor banal, but go to the heart of some of the most enduring and fundamental political questions and concerns. Foremost among them is the question: how can we co-exist in a peaceful and harmonious manner that does not entail a wholesale renunciation of those constitutive beliefs and practices that make us who we are? How can we be and let be? The search for a sufficiently robust common ground is increasingly urgent and appears increasingly difficult to achieve at regional, national, and international levels. Some readers might balk at this particular characterization of the world “out there,†for some, a solution may appear readily at hand, requiring only sufficient political will and courage to be realized. On this view, the moral and legal doctrine of human rights provides the normative cement capable of overcoming conflict and holding the world together. For many advocates of human rights the doctrine and its core principles are neither partial nor contingent. Human rights, it is argued, address a global community of morally equal individuals. The right to life and the right to be free from torture are absolute and immutable. Simplifying a very complicated series of philosophical arguments, no rational individual, however powerful, is considered rationally capable of rejecting the universal application of such core principles. The doctrine of human rights is a necessary and sufficient means for resolving the phenomenon of moral and political conflict and offers a sustainable answer to the question of how we might live together despite our deep differences.
- Topic:
- Development, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Politics
26. In Plain Sight? Human Trafficking and Research Challenges
- Author:
- Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- The recently released exploratory work, In Modern Bondage: Sex Trafficking in the Americas, edited by David E. Guinn and Elissa Steglich, is a helpful analysis of the state of trafficking for sexual exploitation in Central America and the Caribbean. The book makes two things clear: how far researchers have been able to come given the scarcity of reliable data; and how much work remains to be done before a clear picture of the nature and magnitude of trafficking and the best means for its eradication is obtained.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Central America and Caribbean