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1131. Lebanon: An Overview Context, Evolving Demographics for Women, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Poverty and Women, Gender and Rights

Author:
Jocelyn DeJong and Sonya Meyerson-Knox
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
Lebanon, a small middle-income country located on the eastern Mediterranean, is typical of many developing nations as it is undergoing demographic and epidemiological transitions with limited resources at hand, and yet unique due to its diverse population and long history of conflict. The conditions of Lebanese women are also fairly unique: A gender analysis Lebanon’s development indicators reveals that Lebanese women experience relatively high levels of health and education, but are lacking a commensurate presence in the public sphere. According to a Lebanese NGO, a “key problem is that gains in health and education have not translated into women’s economic empowerment, advancement in politics, or full equality under the law” (CRTD-A, 2006, p. 8).
Topic:
Development, Gender Issues, Human Rights, Women, Sexual Health, and Reproductive Health
Political Geography:
Middle East and Lebanon

1132. The Reform of Israeli Checkpoints: Outsourcing, Commodification, and Redeployment of the State (La réforme des checkpoints israéliens : externalisation, marchandisation et redéploiement de l'Etat)

Author:
Shira Havkin
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
Since 2006 the checkpoints along the borders of the West Bank and the Gaza strip have been reorganized and equipped with a new technological platform. They are now managed by private security firms. The instigators of these reforms speak of the "civilianization" of the checkpoints and justify their program on economic, organizational and humanitarian grounds. This detailed study of the concrete means by which the management of the Israeli checkpoints has been outsourced and commodified enables one to establish links between the evolution of Israeli society in terms of the relationship between the State, the market and society and the actual changes in the operation of the occupation. It would appear that this is not a case of the State receding in the face of market forces in a zero sum game. Rather it is the redeployment in a neoliberal context of the State in which it has adopted the uniquely Israeli layering of the public and the private, the national and the international, the State and civil society.
Topic:
Security, Economics, Human Rights, Science and Technology, Occupation, Neoliberalism, and Borders
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and West Bank

1133. Middle East: A Region in Flux

Author:
Ömür Orhun
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
In this article, Ömür Orhun suggests that the creation of a regional cooperation and “security process”in the Middle East, rather than an organization, would provide a framework of rules and procedures for sustained and focused dialogue, transparency and cooperation, in a range of issues that should cover security, socio-economic challenges, democratic governance and human rights. The “process” can function simultaneously on multiple layers: civil society/academia, track-two, and governmental. Each of these layers should aim to contribute to the achievement of agreed goals. The success of the process (and eventually of the organization to be worked out) can be defined as a reduction over time, and eventual elimination of conflicts, improvement of social and political conditions and development of the economic situation. A side implication no doubt will be improvement of human interaction.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Human Rights, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

1134. The "Peoples' Congresses" in Russia: Failure or Success? Authenticity and Efficiency of Minority Representation

Author:
Alexander Osipov
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
This paper addresses the phenomenon of public fora which are designed to represent certain ethnic groups and are set up through popular vote. The academic and practical interest in such "congresses" results from the fact that over time it has been shown that these endeavors have: (1)proven to be viable and durable organization structures for about two decades; (2)secured flexibility in their establishment and functioning;(3) provided for mass participation in public discussions and voting; (4) avoided "identity trap" and most complexities related to setting qualifications and the selection of eligibility criteria for the participants; (5) been a bridge between minority activists and public authorities. At the same time, the real practical outcomes, the ability to act independently and visibility of the "congresses" on the political landscape are far from being obvious, and this raises questions about the reasons for such doubtful achievements and the very meaning of "representation" in such a context.
Topic:
Human Rights, Governance, Law, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

1135. Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Living Culture of Peoples

Author:
Federico Lenzerini
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Intangible cultural heritage (ICH), made up of all immaterial manifestations of culture, represents the variety of living heritage of humanity as well as the most important vehicle of cultural diversity. The main 'constitutive factors' of ICH are represented by the 'self-identification' of this heritage as an essential element of the cultural identity of its creators and bearers; by its constant recreation in response to the historical and social evolution of the communities and groups concerned; by its connection with the cultural identity of these communities and groups; by its authenticity; and by its indissoluble relationship with human rights. The international community has recently become conscious that ICH needs and deserves international safeguarding, triggering a legal process which culminated with the adoption in 2003 of the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. This Convention correctly highlights the main elements of ICH and is based on the right philosophical rationale, but its operational part – structured on the model provided by the 1972 World Heritage Convention – appears to be inadequate to ensure appropriate safeguarding of the specificities of intangible heritage. This article argues that to correct such inadequacy, international safeguarding of ICH must rely on the concomitant application, even though in an indirect manner, of international human rights law, for the reason that ICH represents a component of cultural human rights and an essential prerequisite to ensure the actual realization and enjoyment of individual and collective rights of its creators and bearers.
Topic:
Human Rights and Culture

1136. On Fragile Architecture: The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Context of Human Rights

Author:
Karen Engle
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This article traces the development of the international human rights and international indigenous rights movements, with a particular eye towards their points of convergence and divergence and the extent to which each has influenced the other. Focusing on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, it argues that the document, while apparently pushing the envelope in its articulation of self-determination and collective rights, also represents the continued power and persistence of an international human rights paradigm that eschews strong forms of indigenous self-determination and privileges individual civil and political rights. In this sense, it signifies the continued limitation of human rights, especially in terms of the recognition of collective rights, in a post-Cold War era in which a particular form of human rights has become the lingua franca of both state and non-state actors.
Topic:
Cold War, Human Rights, and United Nations

1137. Towards a Jurisprudential Articulation of Indigenous Land Rights

Author:
Gaetano Pentassuglia
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
As expert analysis concentrates on indigenous rights instruments, particularly the long fought for 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a body of jurisprudence over indigenous land and resources parallels specialized standard-setting under general human rights treaties. The aim of the present article is to provide a practical and comparative perspective on indigenous land rights based on the process of jurisprudential articulation under such treaties, principally in the Inter-American and African contexts. While specialized standards inevitably generate a view of such rights (and, indeed, indigenous rights more generally) as a set of entitlements separate from general human rights, judicial and quasi-judicial practice as it exists or is being developed within regional and global human rights systems is effectively shaping up their content and meaning. I argue that indigenous land rights jurisprudence reflects a distinctive type of human rights discourse, which is an indispensable point of reference to vest indigenous land issues with greater legal significance. From a practical standpoint, focussing on human rights judicial and quasi-judicial action to expand existing treaty-based regimes and promote constructive partnerships with national courts, though not a panacea to all the intricacies of indigenous rights, does appear to offer a more realistic alternative to advocacy strategies primarily based on universally binding principles (at least at this stage) or the disengagement of domestic systems from international (human rights) law.
Topic:
Human Rights and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa and America

1138. Re-envisaging the International Law of Internal Armed Conflict

Author:
Sandesh Sivakumaran
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The regulation of internal armed conflict by international law has come a long way in a very short space of time. Until the early 1990s, there were a minimum of international law rules applicable to internal armed conflict. Today, the situation has changed almost beyond recognition with a healthy body of international law applicable to internal armed conflict. This change has taken place in three principal ways – through analogy to the law of international armed conflict, through resort to international human rights law, and through the use of international criminal law. Each of these approaches stressed its similarity to internal armed conflict or to international humanitarian law. They proved immensely important, filling in what was a more or less blank canvas. However, there are limits to how far they can take us. Today, the canvas is no longer blank and a step back is needed in order to assess the existing state of affairs. Focusing not on the similarities between international and internal armed conflicts or between the various bodies of international law, but on their differences, will allow us to ascertain what further work is in order. It will allow us to identify gaps in regulation and refine relevant rules. It will also force us to re-think our approach to particular issues. Only in this way will we be able to develop the international law of internal armed conflict further.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and International Law

1139. Re-envisaging the International Law of Internal Armed Conflict: A Rejoinder to Gabriella Blum

Author:
Sandesh Sivakumaran
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
I am grateful to Professor Gabriella Blum for her thoughtful response to my article. Blum's response invites further consideration of three principal issues. She notes my use of the terminology of 'internal' as opposed to 'non-international' armed conflict and its juxtaposition with 'international' armed conflict and queries whether my 'methodological approach as well as specific suggestions would remain equally compelling in other types of non-international armed conflicts'. The choice of terminology was deliberate. I find the descriptor 'non-international' to be somewhat misleading as it unhelpfully defines the category by what it is not. It suggests that there is but one armed conflict and, if it is not international in character, by default it is non-international. However, in practice, an internal/non-international armed conflict is identified in a rather different manner. For example, in order for an internal/non-international armed conflict to exist, the violence must reach a certain level of intensity; yet, for an international armed conflict to exist one dominant view is that there is no such requirement. The category of internal/non-international armed conflict is thus in no way a default category which serves to catch those conflicts which are excluded from the international category. Yet this is what is suggested through the use of the terminology of 'non-international' armed conflict. What the terminology of 'internal' may suggest is that it is limited to those conflicts which are fought entirely within the territorial boundaries of a state. However, even this may be true only up to a certain point. For example, an internal armed conflict with a certain overspill, such as onto the high seas or into the territory of a third state, is still characterized as an internal …
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and International Law
Political Geography:
Sri Lanka

1140. Aida Torres Pérez. Conflicts of Rights in the European Union. A Theory of Supranational Adjudication

Author:
Constantin von der Groeben
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Aida Torres Pérez' Conflicts of Rights in the European Union. A Theory of Supranational Adjudication 1 is a comprehensive monograph dealing with one of the most striking normative challenges in the European Union (EU): the relationship between the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and Member State courts in adjudicating fundamental rights. Torres Pérez presents the existing spheres of fundamental rights protection in the EU and provides a thorough analysis of the conflicts that emerge where these different spheres overlap. Her volume covers a number of different approaches and provides suggestions on how to deal with these conflicts and eventually proposes a normative model for ECJ adjudication through judicial dialogue based on comparative constitutional reasoning. The book is well structured in three parts. The first part gives a brief but thorough overview of the different systems of fundamental rights protection open to EU citizens. The author describes these different systems as the multilevel protection of rights in Europe and distinguishes between human rights protection through national constitutions (constitutional rights), through the ECJ (EU fundamental rights) and through the European Convention on Human Rights (convention rights). She outlines the conflicts that arise when these different systems of fundamental rights protection overlap. In general, such conflicts may arise when different rights are considered to be fundamental (at 10) and where community members disagree regarding fundamental rights interpretation (at 11), especially concerning sensitive issues like abortion or affirmative action (at 16). A potential for conflict exists whenever states act within a field of application of EU law which includes two types of situations: (i) state acts implementing EU law, and (ii) state acts derogating from the EU basic freedoms of movement (at 16). An example of a rights conflict between German courts and the ECJ is the 'banana saga', where the courts disagreed on …
Topic:
Human Rights and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe