Minor in Human Rights & International Law
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Introduction to Human Rights and International Law 9105101
The course will examine and discuss some basic concepts related to human rights and public international law including the role and functioning of the international organizations. It will discuss the sources of international law such as customs, treaties, general principles of law and jus cogens norms. Furthermore, it will examine who are the subjects of human rights and international law focusing on states, international organizations, non-state actors’, corporations and individuals. In this section of the course some time and focus will be dedicated to examine the role, composition and functioning of the international organizations. Once this is accomplished the course will turn to more substantive debates on human rights focusing on what human rights are, the distinction of public and private sphere in relation to rights and their derogations, restrictions and limitations. Challenges such as application of human rights during an armed conflict and military occupation will be discussed as well. The consequences to human rights from the global war on terror will be discussed, and some substantive rights as enshrined in the legal documents (universal and regional covenants and conventions)
History and Philosophy of Human Rights and Human Rights Law 9105102
The course will offer re-examination of the philosophical basis and the historical periods related to the development of human rights. The course will also examine the following philosophical and historical texts and perspectives but not limited to: French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens (1789), American Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Charter of the United Nations (1945), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Turning historical periods: as abolition of slavery, industrialization, from empires to nation-states, de-colonization, liberation movements, and civil, feminist’s movements and etc. In addition, the course will turn to the recent Arab revolutions in the wake of so-called “democratization” of the Middle East and the quest for liberal ideas of human rights.
Human Rights and Global Politics 9105202
What are human rights, what is global politics? Are human rights and global politics, yet another binary or are they closely interwoven? The course will offer some answers to these questions by simultaneously focusing on the meaning of human rights and global politics, and their interrelationship and/or juxtaposition. It will re-examine the concepts which are on the one hand, paradoxical to human rights and on the other side, both human rights and global politics could not persist without. Those concepts are: sovereignty, borders and nation state. Hence, the course will discuss the critiques of human rights, and contextualize them through the rising challenges both on global (climate change, technology and artificial intelligence) and local level (nationalism, xenophobia/islamophobia and right-wing populism). Furthermore, the course will discuss the global politics in the world divided among economic and political lines that move past the Cold War divisions of bi-polar world. For that purpose, the course will examine US unilateralism on the one hand, and on the other the ideal of multilateralism in global politics and whether the system of collective security established with the United Nations actually functions and will seek alternatives to the global politics representations in the unipolar and highly divided world.
Culture, Human Rights and International Law 9105203
The course will attempt to unpack the complex interrelation between culture, power and human rights. It will examine among others the rising trend of globalization which on the one side disintegrates the cultural differences and particularities, and on the other the cultural relativism as a critique of human rights. It will also discuss the question of minorities and multiculturalism. Furthermore, the course will examine how culture is regulated through human rights and international law starting from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Article 27 to the question of why drafters of the Genocide Convention were reluctant in including “cultural genocide” within its legal definition. In that direction, the course will talk about cultural appropriation on the one hand and cultural heritage on the other as protected by the international
humanitarian law which has many times throughout recent history been a target to unlawful warfare.
Transitional Justice 9105212
The growing field of transitional justice has attracted a lot of interest among scholars and practitioners recently, producing a vast amount of writings on the subject. Various approaches with different definitions of transitional justice have been offered so far. Therefore, conceptual clarity is necessary in order one to be able to understand this growing field which consists of comprehensive legal and non-legal measures. On the one hand, there are numerous truth and reconciliation commissions established with an aim to deal with the past mass human rights violations as context specific based bodies (in case of dictatorships or authoritarian regimes), and on the other hand there is a great need of understanding the notions of truth, justice and reconciliation per se. The course will explore the difference between international criminal law and truth and reconciliation commissions and how in some contexts they are separated and/or complementary, depending on the roles of the truth and reconciliation commissions. International criminal law was developed by Nuremberg and until the establishment of the International Criminal Court, whose role is punishment of the perpetrators, and transitional justice that focuses mainly on the victims and their reparations.
Quantitative Research Methods 9105224
International Criminal Justice and Tribunals 9105217
This course discusses the development of the international criminal law incepting from the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials up to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (2000). It will discuss the elements of the crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes and their
development through examining the work particularly of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia and Rwanda including the practice of the hybrid tribunals such as Sierra Leone and East Timor. It will also examine the elements of both individual criminal responsibility, and state responsibility along with their differences including the notions of amnesty and immunities in cases of mass violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflict 9105205
This course offers an introduction to the law of armed conflict, known as international humanitarian law. It critically examines the role of law in guiding the conduct of hostilities and the relevance of its ultimate objective of protecting civilians. It reviews situations of (prolonged) occupation and the impact of terrorism on the law of armed conflict, particularly the invocation of the “state of emergency” paradigm. The ways in which international tribunals, regional and national courts have applied human rights law to complement international humanitarian law in times of armed conflict, along with the traditional legal foundations of the convergence between human rights and the law of war, will be examined. The use of the human rights discourse in times of armed conflict will be examined through a number of case studies looking at practical sources such as NGO and IGO reports, amongst others.
Indigenous, Women and Minorities’ Rights 9105304
This course addresses the challenges of achieving the international legal protection of the human rights of indigenous people, women, and minority groups. It analyzes core themes and issues of rights through various theories of rights and law, engaging in a comparative cultural, national, and historical study of various movements. It explores the ways in which international and regional human rights conventions define such rights to prevent, punish and remedy their violation in different legal and political contexts, and how these legal definitions have been utilized to promote the interests and agendas of rights movements and groups in different countries. In doing so,
the course also interrogates the way in which that law responds to and creates gender inequalities and relations, the place of rights theories within other critiques of law and the significance of different rights theories for equality theory and law reform strategies, as well as the possibilities and limitations of law as a strategy for social transformation. The course also explores the evolution of the concepts of minority rights from the nineteenth century to the present, by exploring the protection of the rights of ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities and the articulation of the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as the relevance of the principle and right of self- determination of peoples.
Prisoners, Torture, and the Disappeared 9105308
Under the various human rights treaties, and the Geneva conventions, prisoners have established rights. The use of torture, which has been widely used by many governments around the world, is prohibited under international law. How did the rights of prisoners become so important and why? Is this a new idea or were the rights of prisoners held in the past by other nations? Why is torture prohibited under the Geneva conventions? Is torture ever allowed to be used to seek confessions or to discover terrorist plots that aim to harm civilians? August 30th marks the day of the Disappeared. August 30th marks the International Day of the Disappeared. It is a day that calls to attention the fate of those who have disappeared as a result of conflict and whose fate is unknown to their families, legal representatives, or communities. Various local and international organizations have been involved in uncovering the fates of those who have been subject to torture and who have disappeared as a result of violent conflict. This course will deal with the literature, mechanisms of dealing with the issues related to prisoners, torture and the disappeared. Additionally, the course will deal with how governments have been involved in these human rights violations and how they seek to address such violations.
Documentation and Reporting of Human Rights 9105301
This course focuses on the development of practical professional skills. It seeks to equip students with tools required for professional documentation and reporting on human rights and international law violations for a variety of purposes and for different types of institutions. Students would become familiar with the basic elements needed for any proper human rights document and be able to structure and plan the research for the documentation of human rights violations. The course will explore the differences between a range of institution reports – regional and UN bodies, including national and international judicial bodies – and the role of fact-finding missions in accountability for human rights violations. Technical documentation methodology and tools for specific types of violations will be examined, considering the materiality of forensic evidence and documentation; for example, the type of evidence that needs to be submitted in cases of torture and violence, or the analysis that needs to be undertaken in cases of destruction and targeting in time of armed conflict.
Colonialism and Human Rights 9105311
Modern debates about the discourse, philosophy, and origins of modern human rights argue that it is highly related to colonial history. A history that was demonstrated by a suppression of the colonized by major colonial powers. Human Rights activists from the South, argue that a re- examination of the current standards and applications of human rights should be carried out and even challenged. This course will expose the students to the current debates and issues that are taking place and which might be affecting the way the issues of human rights are being dealt with.
Religion and Human Rights 9105316
The course aims to examine the interaction between religion and theories of human rights. Students will be exposed and will deal with the various approaches that religion has played in both opposing modern theories and approaches to Human Rights, and in promoting the various
approaches to human rights. Do religion and human rights conflict? Are the two in continuous conflict? Could religion and human rights co-exist to improve conditions of the dispossessed and the disadvantaged? This course will address how various world religions have dealt with the current laws, regulations, and trends in human rights from around the globe.
Public Health and Human Rights in Pandemic 9105225
The responses of the states to the current pandemics have been through adopting many restrictive measures. For combating the pandemic, they have resorted to the extensive declarations of state of emergency/state of exception therefore the question is to what extent the rule of law can be restricted for protecting health, while simultaneously extending the competences of the executive power. For that purpose, the course will be looking at the right to health as enshrined in human rights, the declaration of state of emergency for protecting of public health as enshrined by the different human rights documents and treaties in correlation with some thinkers such as Schmitt, Arendt, Foucault and Agamben. Finally, the course will attempt to ask the following question: should we think about global access to health in case of pandemics?
Human Rights and Technology in 21st century 9105208
The course aims at providing the students critical insight of how human rights and technology interact in the 21st century, of both the advances and threats of this complex relationship. On the one hand, what it means to be human, especially in the 21st century, and on the other hand there is the inextricable relationship with the machine and the algorithms. When referring to technology it is relevant to point out that the focus will be on IT technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning along the question of algorithms. Especially of how data science and scientists had influenced politics in the recent examples of Cambridge Analytica and Brexit, and on the increased use of technology in politics and justice (case management, criminal justice, human rights abuse Forensic Architectures). Of how judges think in light of technology, and what
technology means for objectivity and impartiality necessary for delivering justice. Furthermore, the course will examine the link between artificial intelligence and freedom of speech, including the right to privacy and state surveillance measures.
Right to Development and Climate Change 9105216
The United Nations 2030 Agenda “Transforming Our World” is a successor of Millennium Development Goals (2015). It represents a blueprint for governments in addressing climate change, poverty, promotion of human rights and gender equality for ultimately achieving universal prosperity and peace. However, the 2030 Agenda is not only a political document adopted by representatives – heads of states and governments but a roadmap of the current political questions. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deal with a variety of issues. SDG 13 particularly discusses the question of climate change. While some scholars as Kanade (2017) consider that the 2030 Agenda offers the right to development. Therefore, the course will aim at exploring first how sustainability and SDG are related to globalization and how the right to development fits within it. Secondly, it will discuss the interrelationship between sustainability and climate change, and thirdly, the governmental and non-governmental responses to climate change especially focusing on environment and land defenders around the world, who according to the latest UN reports are under persistent threats.
Public Diplomacy and UN 9105235
The course will commence by examining the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) by discussing the main principles of diplomatic relations. The course will revolve around bilateral and multilateral diplomacy by mainly focusing within forums such as the UN and other human rights bodies. The students will be familiarized with negotiation, good offices and mediation as forms of multilateral diplomacy. Of how resolutions, declarations and treaties are negotiated and adopted in various bodies such as the UN Security Council, General Assembly and Human Rights
Council. How states represent their own national interest and how countries make regional and interest groups within the global forums in pursuing certain interests: climate change, human rights abuses, interventions, etc. Furthermore, the course will discuss the immunities and extraterritoriality in diplomatic relations especially in some controversial cases (Pinochet, Julian Asange, Khashhogi and other examples).
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship 9105204
Political upheaval throughout the world has made problems of asylum, refugees and immigration far more visible and controversial issues, leading in turn to a constantly-evolving body of policies. Since refugee and immigration issues emanate from the relationship between the individual and the state and the regulatory system in these fields is premised on the preservation of state sovereignty and socio-cultural integrity, they give rise to countless debates and political conflicts both locally and regionally. This course examines the various international attempts to meet the problem of forced migration due to persecution, armed conflict and great economic instability. The course introduces the history of the international protection of refugees and examines the definition of refugee status in international and regional instruments. The discussions will consider the role of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other UN agencies in protecting and assisting refugees, immigrants and non-nationals. The concept of open borders is also addressed and contextualized to the present-day global demographic reality of immigration control policies and the growing influence of the human rights discourse.
Palestine-Israel Conflict 9105206
The framing and definition of the Palestine-Israel conflict on both the international and regional levels is one of the greatest challenges of this time. The course surveys the historical developments of the use of various legal, political and historical narratives and substantive terminology in the conceptualization of the conflict. For instance, it normatively assesses both
the benefits and detriments of framing the conflict in terms of international humanitarian law whilst acknowledging the relevance and significance of the apartheid and colonialism frameworks in international law. Students will evaluate the availability of different legal and political mechanisms for reparation and reconciliation of historical wrongs and their prospective application to the conflict, assessing their efficiency and effectiveness. Being a trans-substantive course, students will consider various aspects of the conflict – including the right of return and the status of Palestinian refugees, the right to self- determination and the rights that flow from statehood status in international law, including the people’s right to sovereignty and control over their natural resources – from a legal, historical, political and spatial (urban studies) perspective. The material for the course includes a selection of historical primary documents and a variety of secondary political and legal texts.
Human Rights and the Media 9105209
What role does the media play in documenting and reporting on human rights violations? How can the media influence policies and shape public opinion on human rights situations? Why do different news agencies cover the same human rights cases differently? How can politics, power, interests and ideologies influence the way human rights events are covered? Why do some news agencies extensively cover certain human rights situations while ignoring sometimes equally serious human rights situations in other regions? This course will allow students to research and critically analyze human rights situations through the eyes of the media in order to understand the ways in which different media networks – national, regional and international – cover these cases. By considering the role of the media in historical developments, wars and consequential political transitions, students will evaluate the power politics involved in the news industry as well as the overall level of authenticity found in the daily news.
The Law and Politics of State Violence 9105226
The course examines the use of force within the internal context and especially the use of violence and force by the state actors. It will critically examine the state mechanism for violence (police and institutional violence), but not only limited to it as will tackle upon discrimination as an indirect form of state violence. The course will discuss the questions of death penalty and euthanasia as well in various contexts and their regulation and interrelationship with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).