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International Human Rights Law
Professor Hope Lewis
Spring 2004
Assignments for First Week of Class
Required Text: Steiner & Alston, International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals (2d ed. 2001)
Call the bookstore
(617/373-2286) or Gnomon Copy (617/536-4600) to determine if the course
materials are available in advance.
For Wednesday,
March 10, 2004:
Assignment 1: Global
Snapshots: Human Rights Violations in
the Eye of the Beholder
Read 1-17; 1376-1380 (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
Look over and download (no more than one or two printed pages from) the homepage from the Human Rights Watch website (www.hrw.org) to get a quick overview of the wide variety of human rights issues currently being monitored by that organization.
Come to class prepared to discuss the following:
Why study human rights law? What harms constitute “human rights violations”? Is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights complete? Are there other kinds of crimes, bad acts, or failures to act that should be added? What are they? Is the Universal Declaration truly “universal”? Why, or why not? What difference does an international human rights legal framework make, and to whom?
For Friday, March
12, 2004:
Assignment 2: Theoretical Foundations of the Human Rights Idea
Read 180-185; 324-342 (questions 1 & 2)
Come to class prepared to discuss the following:
What are the possibilities and limitations of the international human rights legal framework? Which critiques and defenses of rights-based approaches seem most attractive or significant to you at this point? Why? Does it make a difference to your analysis whether those approaches are used domestically or internationally? Whose interests do human rights serve?
The Course Outline is included below, and is also available
in bins outside Room 31 Cargill and at first class meeting. See you there!!
International Human Rights Law
Course Outline
Spring 2004
Professor Hope Lewis
20 Cargill
Office Hours: Mondays, 10-12, or by appointment.
(617) 373-8961
h.lewis@neu.edu
Administrative Assistant: Ms. Jan McNew
(617) 373-3943
j.mcnew@neu.edu
This course surveys
core issues in the theory and practice of international human rights law. We explore how human rights organizations,
lawyers, activists, and theorists respond to emerging theoretical and practical
challenges for the human rights movement.
You can expect to gain a working knowledge of the United Nations human
rights system, the instruments comprising the International Bill of Rights, an
introduction to other treaties that address certain specific rights violations
(such as racial discrimination and discrimination against women), the operation
of human rights law on the domestic level, and the implications of
globalization for human rights. There is
no pre-requisite for this course. Three credit hours.
Required Course Materials:
¨ Text: Steiner & Alston, International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals (2d ed. 2001)
¨ Handouts distributed periodically
Recommended for Additional Research:
¨ The NUSL library resources webpage has links to guides on international human rights research and research in international law in general. The Human Rights Watch website (www.hrw.org) is also a good place to start to get an overview of many human rights issues.
¨ Weissbrodt, Fitzpatrick, Newman, Hoffman, & Ramsey, Selected International Human Rights Instruments and bibliography for Research on International Law (3rd ed. 2001) (on library reserve). No document supplement is required for this course. However, this supplement will be placed on library reserve as a reference tool since it contains a useful bibliography and research guide.
¨ Cook, The Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives (1994) (on library reserve). Collection of essays on various women’s human rights issues with helpful bibliography and NGO contact list.
¨ Wing, Global Critical Race Feminism: An International Reader (2000) (on library reserve). Collection of short essays by critical race theorists on international issues. Includes bibliography.
¨ Janis, An Introduction to International Law (4th ed. 2003) (on library reserve). Useful overview of the doctrine and theory of international law.
Course Requirements:
Reading Assignments (Dates
are approximate and assignments are subject to change as events warrant.)
Assignment 1:
Global Snapshots: Human Rights
Violations in the Eye of the Beholder
(Wednesday, March 10)
Text 1-17; 1376-1380; Download and skim (one or two printed pages from) the Human Rights Watch homepage (www.hrw.org) to get a quick overview of the variety of human rights issues currently being monitored by that organization.
Why study human rights law? What harms should constitute “human rights violations”? Is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights complete? Are there other kinds of crimes, bad acts, or failures to act that should be added? What are they? Is the Universal Declaration truly “universal”? Why, or why not? What difference does an international human rights legal framework make, and to whom?
Assignment 2:
Theoretical Foundations of the Human Rights Idea
(Friday, March 12)
Text 180-185; 324-342 (questions 1 & 2)
What are the possibilities and limitations of the international human rights legal framework? Which critiques and defenses of rights-based approaches seem most attractive or significant to you at this point? Why? Does it make a difference to your analysis whether those approaches are used domestically or internationally? Whose interests do human rights serve?
Assignment 3: The
Traditions of International Law and the Historical Foundation of the Human
Rights Idea
Text 56-80 (questions 1 & 2); 81-92; 224-236
(Wednesday, March 17)
What are the traditional sources of international law? How have historical events and conflicts influenced the contemporary international human rights movement? What is the relationship between "humanitarian law" and "human rights law"? Can they co-exist? Sources of International Law. The Paquete Habana. Humanitarian Law and other early influences on the contemporary human rights movement. State Responsibility.
Assignment 4:
Judgment at
(Friday, March 19)
Text 112-135; Handout—International Crimes/International Human Rights
How and why
did the Nuremberg Tribunal influence the development of humanitarian and
international human rights law? Was the
Tribunal a defining moment in the progressive development of international law,
or was it an example of “victor’s justice”?
Why does it matter today? What is
“genocide”? Historical
and political context of the post-WW II international human rights legal system
and international criminal courts.
Assignment 5:
Overview of the United Nations Human Rights System: Charter Organs
(Wednesday, March 24)
Text 136-142; 592-602; skim 611-623; skim 1365-1375
How was the
United Nations intended to be different from earlier efforts to secure world
peace? To what extent does the UN Charter promote the protection of human
rights? What do the mechanisms
established for the protection of international human rights imply about the
international community’s commitment to human rights? Overview of UN human rights structures under
the Charter of the United Nations.
Assignment 6:
Civil and Political Rights: The
ICCPR
(Friday, March 26)
Text 142-158; 25-26; 28-31; 1381-1394; skim 1393-1394;
Handout—
Are some civil and political rights more fundamental than others? Which ones? Can any such rights be said to be absolute? A case study on how states implement (or fail to implement) civil and political rights. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.
Assignment 7:
Treaty Organs—The Human Rights Committee
Text 705-717; 725-727; 738-745; 773-778; Handout—Case Study: The Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(Wednesday, March 31)
How are human rights implemented by
treaty? What roles are assigned to the Human Rights Committee under the ICCPR? A look at treaty-based human
rights implementation. Reporting requirements, General
Comments, and individual complaint procedures. Exploration of the
indivisibility and interdependence of rights through case study on the human
rights of persons with disabilities.
Special Event (No new assignment):
11th Annual Valerie Gordon Human Rights
Lecture
Professor Gerard Quinn,
“Disability Rights—An American Intervention, A Global Challenge: The Drafting of an International Treaty on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”
Why are specialized human rights treaties necessary, given the broad protection of rights under the International Bill of Rights? What is involved in the drafting and implementation of a new international human rights treaty? How do activists, lawyers, and NGOs influence the process?
Text 237-268; 1395-1401
(Friday, April 2)
Can
rights-based approaches address economic and social problems like poverty,
homelessness, labor abuses, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other health crises? Are
civil and political rights more fundamental than economic and social rights?
What specific duties are imposed on states that ratify the International
Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights? Should the
Assignment 9: The Justiciability of Economic and Social Rights
Text 268-300; Handout—Economic and Social Rights
(Wednesday, April 7)
How have domestic
courts in
Assignment 10: Treaty Organs—The
ICESCR Committee
Text: 300-320
(Friday, April 9)
Why do the
procedures and strategies used by the ESC Committee seem different from those
used by the Human Rights Committee? Are
the strategies adopted by the ESC Committee effective? How should violations of economic and social
rights be monitored? Implementation
of economic, social, and cultural rights at the international level.
Assignment 11: The
Security Council as Human Rights Actor
Text 648-672; Review 1365-1375
(Wednesday, April 14)
Is the Security Council a legitimate and effective human rights actor? Is it the only effective UN human rights organ? By what criteria? By what authority does the Security Council act in the area of human rights? A look at the debates raised by humanitarian intervention and international economic sanctions.
Assignment 12. The
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women
Text 158-188; 1402-1409
(Friday, April 16)
Why were the
instruments in the International Bill of Rights and other early efforts to
protect the rights of women not sufficient? The political and social
context in which violations of women's rights occur. The
development of a gender-focus in international law. The Women’s Convention.
Assignment 13. Treaty
Organs—CEDAW
Text 188-202; 439-445; Handout—The intersection of race and gender discrimination.
(Wednesday, April 21)
What role
has the CEDAW Committee played in implementing the human rights of women? Why do so many states ratify CEDAW, and why
do so many states make substantive reservations to it? Is race missing from the Women’s Convention? What should be the relationship, if any,
between other forms of identity-based discrimination and discrimination against
women? Implementation
of CEDAW. Reservations
to CEDAW. Critical Race Theory and the human rights of
women.
Special Event: (No
additional assignment)
“Women’s Rights and the Nigerian Constitution”
Nigerian Attorney Hauwa Ibrahim
Attorney Ibrahim was lead defense
counsel for cases of women sentenced to death by stoning under Islamic Law in
What roles should international human rights activists play in addressing cross-cultural violations? How should apparent conflicts between religious law, domestic secular law, and international human rights law be addressed? What roles do gender, ethnicity, and culture play? (Co-sponsored by the ILS, BLSA, and other organizations)
Assignment 14. NGO Strategies, the United Nations, and the
movement to end Violence Against Women
Text 203-224; Web research: locate and skim Equality Now! website.
(Friday, April 23)
What is the
significance of the public-private distinction in international law? Are there implications beyond the gender
rights movement? What legal and
political strategies do NGOs use to define, promote, and protect human rights
internationally? Origins and Politics of
the Violence Against Women movement. The impact of the
public/private divide in theory and practice.
Assignment 15. The International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Web Research: Locate and download the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Handout—Race and Human Rights
(Wednesday, April 28)
Given
Part
IV. Global to Local and Back Again
Assignment 16. Regional and Alternative Approaches to Human
Rights and Social Justice
Text 342-366; 868-879; 1449-1457; Handout—Poor Peoples’ Economic Human Rights Campaign (communication to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights)
(Friday, April 30)
Why not a
human duties framework rather than a human rights framework? What conflicts and tensions might arise? Are there alternative visions for the
promotion of social justice? What do you
think of the strategies used by the Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the
Poor Peoples’ Economic Human Rights campaign?
Rights vs. duties. Individual
rights vs. group rights. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Introduction to the Inter-American human rights system.
Assignment 17. Universalism and Cultural Relativism: African and Asian Perspectives
Text 366-402; 538-553
(Wednesday, May 5)
Are human
rights truly universal? Are the rights
listed in the International Bill of Rights a western liberal construct with
limited applicability to non-western peoples? How can “Asian values” and
“African values” be defined, if at all?
How are "peoples’" rights"
different from "human rights"? Views from African
and Asian sources on the universal or relative nature of human rights.
Assignment 18:
Cultural Relativism, Tradition, and the Body
Text 403-439; Handout—Cultural Relativism and Appearance Regulation
(Friday, May 7)
Case study of traditions and religious practices that have become the focus of international human rights attention. How should such conflicts be decided, and by whom? Why is the physical appearance of women often at the center of such controversies?
Assignment 19. Overview:
International Human Rights Law in the
Text 999-1001; 1004-1005; 1019-1057; 1463 (art. 2, sec 2);
(Wednesday, May 12)
What legal
and political strategies do human rights lawyers and activists use to promote
the recognition and implementation of human rights by the
Assignment 20. Overview: Globalization, Development, and
Human Rights
Text 1306-1361; 1420-1422
(Friday, May 14)
What is the
content of the right to development? To whom does it belong? Against whom should it be enforced and
how? Is the human rights framework still effective
under conditions of contemporary globalization?
Can global crises like the AIDS pandemic be addressed partially, or at
all, by means of the human rights framework?
Is the importance of state sovereignty in decline due to the increasing
influence of non-state actors? Challenges facing the human rights framework from transnational
corporations, international financial institutions, regional and international
trade regimes, terrorist groups, international economic policies, and
cross-border labor migration/trafficking.
Additional Instructions for Final Exam Essay:
Please send me an e-mail with a
one-page description of your paper topic and preliminary bibliography by
Your final paper should be in the form of a 12-15 page (before
endnotes) research paper or memorandum. If
you choose the research paper option, the paper should include at least the
following: 1) a factual overview of the
nature and scope of a clearly and narrowly defined human rights issue (based on
your research of course materials, UN or regional human rights instruments,
reliable NGO reports, law review articles and books, reliable media reports,
and other documented sources); 2) a brief background of the historical, social,
or political context of the issue; 3) an analysis of the issue from a
theoretical or practical legal perspective that includes analysis of how
specific human rights instruments apply to the issues discussed.
In the alternative, you may choose to draft your paper in the form of a
memorandum proposing a new project to the board of a hypothetical human rights
non-governmental organization (NGO). The
memo should provide at least the following: 1) a factual overview of the nature and scope
of the human rights problem (based on your research of course materials, UN or
regional human rights instruments, reliable NGO reports, law review articles
and books, reliable media reports, and other documented sources); 2) suggestions
for additional fact-finding and monitoring; 3) a legal analysis of the issue
under the International Bill of Rights and other relevant instruments; and 4) a
discussion of strategies for developing public awareness about the
problem.
The paper or memo may involve a deeper exploration of a specific issue raised by one of the following broad themes covered in the course:
¨ The Implementation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (focus on a specific right in a specific country);
¨
Human Rights in the
¨ Identity and Human Rights (race, gender, culture, sexual orientation, religion, disability, etc.) (focus on a specific country; you may choose to focus on combined discrimination (e.g., race + disability) or on a single form of discrimination);
¨
Violent Conflict and Human Rights (focus on a
specific conflict—e.g,
¨ The Impact of Globalization on Human Rights (focus on a specific issue in the context of a specific country) (e.g., international migration or trafficking, international trade and access to drugs to treat HIV/AIDS or other illnesses).
The final paper or memo will be evaluated on the following:
¨ demonstrated familiarity with the readings, international instruments, and issues assigned or discussed in class;
¨ research on a specific human rights issue as it affects a specific country;
¨ clear, well organized writing;
¨ Clear arguments that are supported by citations to authoritative primary and secondary sources.
You are encouraged to discuss your paper topic and research with me and with other participants in the class as the quarter progresses. The final paper or memo, however, must be the product of your individual written expression and must substantially reflect your own research and preparation of class materials. Note—The Committee on Academic and Student Affairs has asked us to include the following information in exam instructions: "The University's Academic Honesty and Integrity Policy, and the applicable university disciplinary procedures, apply to the taking of law school examinations. The policy can be found in the University Student Handbook, at pages 53-63 and 72-74".
Please feel free to contact me at any time during the quarter with questions, comments, or suggestions.