Human Rights

Not discussing human rights but the problems faced by a practitioner in advancing them

Can respect for human rights be imposed?

Force or negotiations?

Realist, Idealist or Marxist?

Diplomacy is not debate. Decisions have consequences

The United Nations and Human Rights

Conference Diplomacy

Conference Diplomacy

Conference Diplomacy

Conference Diplomacy

Conference Diplomacy

Conference Diplomacy

Law and "soft laws"

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a series of 10 treaties are considered to be the basic corpus of human rights law. Most countries have acceded to atleast some of these treaties – two of which International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, form along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Bill of Human Rights.

Defines international standards

Millennium Development Goals

Intervention

RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

Monitor, name and shame

Monitor, name and shame

Multilateral sometimes works where bilateral does not

The Security Council Route

It is important to remember that these agreements were not the result of a legislative process in a democracy. They were not the result of royal commands or of executive fiats. They are the results of negotiations and diplomacy.

What role does culture play?

China respects the principle of universality of human rights, and is of the view that all countries have a duty to take measures, commensurate with their national conditions,
continuously to promote and protect human rights in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the basic spirit of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the relevant international human rights instruments. The international community should accord equal attention to the achievement of civil and
political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, and the right to development; it should also promote the coordinated development of individual and collective human rights.

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• Confucianism
• Daoism
• Chinese nationalism
• Socialism with Chinese characteristics

Singapore left the Federation of Malaysia and became an independent state on 9August 1965. Being the descendants of immigrants, its people had no conception ofSingapore as a nation with a shared history. A multi-racial, multi-religious population
living in close proximity to one another meant that there was strong potential for tensions. The Maria Hertogh/Nadrah religious riots of 1950, in which 18 people were killed, and the race riots of 1964, while Singapore was a part of Malaysia, in which 36 people were killed and 556 injured, were searing, defining events in Singapore’s history.

For this reason, maintaining racial and religious harmony has been the top priority
bar none of Singapore’s governing institutions. By managing, delicately and scrupulously,
relations among the different races and religions – and equally importantly, by never
hesitating to take firm action against any group that threatened racial or religious harmony
– Singapore has avoided major incidents of sectarian violence since its independence.

The Egyptian Government, in presenting this report to the Human Rights Council, is fully aware that the advancement of human rights in a given society is a continuous, evolving and cumulative process which yields results only gradually, and that whatever the efforts made and the achievements scored, they will always fall short of perfection. There will always be challenges to overcome and failings to remedy. In recent years, the Egyptian Government has been credited with speeding up the reform and development process, in
line with international norms, and with disseminating a human rights culture in society; the Government shall not shrink from this task, nor shall it shirk its international obligations.

The Egyptian Government is perfectly well aware, however, that the mere existence of the political will to promote human rights and to take practical, legislative, institutional and
executive measures to translate political will into facts on the ground does not mean that
there are no challenges still to be overcome. The development of a human rights system is
by its very nature a continuous and cumulative process, which yields results only gradually

The Kingdom is governed by sharia law, pursuant to which Muslim rulers are mandated to apply its established principles and rules to the promotion and protection of human rights, as prescribed in the Holy Koran, the Sunnah of the Prophet and Islamic
jurisprudence, which is renewed with every generation in pace with the latest developments in human evolution over time andplace. Justice, equality and consultation are key among
these principles. Article 55 of the Basic Law of Governance provides that:

“The King shall oversee the application of sharia, laws and the general policy of the State.” Allegiance to
the King is pledged on the basis of the Koran and the Sunnah, pursuant to article 6 of the Basic Law: “Citizens shall pledge allegiance to the King on the basis of the Book of God Almighty and the Sunnah of His Prophet.” Sharia law also establishes that society as a whole carries responsibility, ruling out any approximation of the State to a religious theocracy as opposed to a civil State.

The Kingdom is the cradle and centre of Islam, the land of the Two Holy Mosques
and the direction of prayer for 1.5 billion Muslims. The Koran and the Sunnah, the
authoritative sources for all Muslims, are its constitution and its governance is based on the
application of sharia law. It does not have its own particular interpretation of Islam.
Jurisprudence does not imply varying interpretations of Islam; strictly speaking, it is an
intellectual exercise in which sharia scholars are bound by specific criteria and rules.

The Kingdom is the cradle and centre of Islam, the land of the Two Holy Mosques
and the direction of prayer for 1.5 billion Muslims. The Koran and the Sunnah, the
authoritative sources for all Muslims, are its constitution and its governance is based on the
application of sharia law. It does not have its own particular interpretation of Islam.
Jurisprudence does not imply varying interpretations of Islam; strictly speaking, it is an
intellectual exercise in which sharia scholars are bound by specific criteria and rules.

Within a defined framework, Muslims follow the rulings most appropriate to them at all
times and in any place, without prejudice to the principles (rules of conduct) that protect
and promote human rights. In that these principles prohibit and criminalize the violation of
human rights, interpretative judgements falling within their framework are simply a
systematic endeavour to protect and promote these rights, as indicated in article 26 of the
Basic Law of Governance, which provides that: “The State shall protect human rights in
accordance with sharia law.”

According to article 2 of the Constitution, the individual and individual rights and freedoms are supreme values. The State is required to acknowledge, uphold and protect human and civil rights and freedoms. Section II of the Constitution is entirely devoted to human and civil rights and liberties, and establishes a long list of benefits that are subject topreservation. Fundamental rights are inalienable, belong to all people from birth, and are directly enforceable. Rights and liberties are acknowledged and safeguarded in accordance
with the generally recognized principles and standards of international law.

Under the Constitution, international agreements to which the Russian Federation is
party, like the generally recognized principles and standards of international law, take
precedence over domestic legislation.

The protection of human rights is a matter for the legislative, executive and judicial
branches of power. The President of the Russian Federation is the guarantor of theConstitution and of human and civil rights.

“India’s struggle for social and economic transformation of its 1.2 billion strong populationin the framework of an open society and a democratic polity, committed to respectfundamental human rights and the rule of law has no parallel in history. Our success in accomplishing this gigantic task could have great significance for the evolution of human
kind in this twenty first century of ours.”

The Chapter on human rights has undergone a revolutionary interpretative evolution
at the hands of the Supreme Court (fully supported by the Government), as a result of which new vistas have emerged around the dynamic content of human rights. To illustrate a
few, India has broadened the traditional narrow approach towards equality and proceeded on the basis of a positive mandate to eradicate backwardness in any form, social, economic
and educational. Similarly, the freedoms under Article 19 have been given a wide connotation as, for instance, the expansion of the freedom of speech and expression to include the right to obtain information. The Right to life and Personal Liberty in Article 21
has now come to encompass the right to a clean environment, right to legal aid, elimination of bonded labour, right to livelihood, right to speedy and fair trial, and right to education,
amongst various other rights.

TEST of COMMITTMENT

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• Intention?
• Progress?
• Limitations?
• Precedence?
• Open to criticism?

Beware

DO NO HARM

Civilizing mission

2-way street

• Linkages between human rights and WTO - movement of persons
• Immigrants rights

Non State Actors

Americans joining the Jihad

Consistency

Negotiating principles

Respect other cultures. Respecting other cultures means knowing about them. It means selling a proposition in a way that is culturally acceptable. It means respecting limits that other cultures cannot cross.

The diplomacy that goes behind these outcomes is long, slow, tortuous and painful. Most of all, it involves persistence and clarity of purpose.

It involves building alliances. Alliances not just between nations, but between nations, non-state actors, international organisations and other influential players or actors.

It involves focusing on similarities and not differences.

It involves analyzing the positions of other parties and your own. Analyzing them in a manner that allows for no gaps of logic or fact. Remember that there are not 1 or 2 other people analyzing your arguments but a 150.

It involves very complicated questions of procedure. What goes into the agenda? Who decides that? Who speaks? Why should everyone’s voice have the same weight? Who decided that?

It means compromise. Knowing when to compromise and what to compromise. How to fight a battle and a war. When to retreat strategically so as not to lose the battle and the war. Sometimes, it means to loose a battle to win the war.