Human rights & IRs

1. JOU103
(Revised on April 17, 2008)
Topic 6: Human Rights and
International Relations

2. State sovereignty
Peace of Westphalia 威斯特法倫和約 (1648)
1. Territoriality
2. The exclusion of external actors from domestic
authority structures/right of states to noninterference
in their internal affairs
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong2

3. 2 Views on the role of HR in IR [1]
1. Communitarian/statist perspective:
 A tendency to accord significant moral status to political
communities (i.e., government)
 Respect for state sovereignty: states’ independence and
territorial integrity
 Communitarian ethics derive from the belief that justice,
welfare, rights and responsibilities emerge from the historical,
cultural, and religious experiences that the members of a
political community share
 Such shared experiences is the moral basis upon which states
refrain from interference in the domestic affairs of other states
 Interference is justified when a political community faces a
serious threat–one emanating from its own government, or one
that its government is unable or unwilling to counter
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong3

4. 2 Views on the role of HR in IR [2]
2. Cosmopolitan/universal perspective
 States do not acquire moral standard
 States’ rights to autonomy and non-interference
derive from their willingness and capacity to respect
and defend the security and welfare of their citizens
 Individuals are members of the community of
humankind having an inherent moral standing, not
states
 Morality of states is contingent on their relationships
with their citizens
 Less inclined to respect sovereignty as a bar to
interference in the domestic affairs of states when the
conditions of their citizens seem to warrant it
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong4

5. Human rights > Sovereignty? [i]
Rights to possessed by individuals because they
are human, not because they are citizens of one
or another state – represents an expansion of the
domain of international law and a real erosion of
state sovereignty
Universal human rights:
included in international declarations and treaties, deny
states the prerogative [ 特權 ] to withhold [ 扣押 ] those
rights from their own citizens
Individuals are considered to be legal entitles separate
from their state of national origin
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong5

6. Human rights > Sovereignty? [ii]
Become the basis for intrusion by IGOs and NGOs into
the domestic affairs of states – striking at the relation
of the state to its citizens
E.g., Amnesty International 國際特赦組織 or Human
Right Watch 人權觀察 monitor and criticize human
right violations for deterring or restraining violators
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong6

7. International conventions
1. 1948: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UN) 聯合國人權宣言
2. 1966: Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 公民及
政治權利公約
3. 1976: Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural
Rights 經濟、社會及文化權利公約
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong7

8. Right [i,1 &2]
1. Life
2. Liberty and security of person
3. Protection against slavery
4. Protection against torture and inhumane punishment
5. Recognition as a person before the law
6. Equal protection under the law
7. Access to legal remedies for rights violations
8. Protection against arbitrary arrest or detention
9. Hearing before an independent and impartial
judiciary
10. Presumption of innocence
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong8

9. Right [ii,1 & 2]
11. Protection against ex post facto laws
12. Protection of privacy, family, and home
13. Freedom of movement and residence
14. Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
15. Freedom of opinion, expression, and the press
16. Freedom of assembly and association
17. Political participation
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong9

10. Right [iii, 1 only]
1. Own property
2. Seek asylum from persecution
3. nationality
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong10

11. Right [iv, 2 only]
1. Protection against debtor’s imprisonment
2. Protection against arbitrary expulsion as an alien
3. Protection against advocacy of racial or religious
hatred
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong11

12. Right [v, 1,2&3]
1. Free trade unions
2. Marry and found a family
3. Special protections for children
[2&3]
1. Self-determination
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong12

13. Right [vi, 1&3]
1. Social security
2. Work, under favorable conditions
3. Rest and leisure
4. Food, clothing and housing
5. Health care and social services
6. Education
7. Participation in cultural life
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong13

14. Negative & positive rights
Negative rights: freedoms from the arbitrary exercise
of government power, unequal application of the law,
and limits on political participation
Positive rights: entitlements to certain economic
amenities and social welfare
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15. Limits
Ignores the women’s rights:
Despite the popularity of
international campaigns against
rape, prostitution and sexual
harassment, organizations and
non-Western cultural traditions,
norms or rituals seem to accept
or encourage the mistreatment
of women
E.g., female genital cutting, widow
burning (sati), female infanticide (kill
girl babies), forced veiling (wear over
female heads)
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong15

16. Humanitarian intervention [i]
Key question: How to enforce the above conventions?
Armed humanitarian intervention: use of military
force to interfere in the domestic affairs of an
independent state without the consent of that state’s
government, aiming to relieve human suffering and
stop ethnic cleansing ( 種族清洗 )
2 views on the act of intervention:
1. Realists: use of military force aims to maintain regional
stability and defend the national interests
2. Liberals: as the remaining means to rescue the people from
being abused physically and even massacred
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong16

17. Humanitarian intervention [ii]
E.g.,
1979: Vietnam invaded Cambodia (Kampuchea) that
overthrew Pol Pot and terminated the mass killing
resulting from a forced collectivization campaign
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ6dB0lw8Fg
1990-91: After the Gulf War, the UN Security Council set
up safe havens in northern Iraq for Kurds who had fled
Iraqi repression
To stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, the NATO members
bombed Yugoslavia (Serbs were misled by Milošević to
kill Albanians and raped the women)
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=9a0zrB_8YY8
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong17

18. JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong18

19. Pol Pot
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong19

20. Humanitarian intervention [iii]
Reflections:
1. HI was used to save human or an excuse to
intervene the sovereignty of a state?
2. Do you think HI has been used thoroughly, or
selectively, to save humans from being abused
or killed?
3. Do you think which of these is most important
in stopping the tragedy: sovereignty or human?
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong20

21. References
Genocide Watch: http://www.genocidewatch.org/
Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org
Amnesty Int’l HK: http://www.amnesty.org.hk/html/
Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org
JOU103|T6|Dr. Wong21