What is the universal declaration of human rights?
a statement of intent and a framework for foreign policy statements to explain economic or military intervention but not all states have signed the Declaration
- countires must adopt all aspects
What is the European Convention on human rights?
was drafted by the nations of the Council of Europe to help prevent conflict and integrated into the UK by the Human Rights Act of 1998; the ECHR remains controversial as some see it as an erosion of national sovereignty
Describe ECHR
1950/51
Helped build a united political Europe
Established a European Court of Hum
n Rights in 1959
Led to UK Human Rights Acts in 1998 – which requires public bodies (and the Judiciary) to act within the legislation of ECHR.
Impact of both declarartions?
Establishing H-Rights is now a focus for giving DfID aid
Raises questions: should countries intervene? E.g. Ukraine, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Nazi Germany, IS
Should we not intervene? E.g. Libya, Sudan, Syria
Do all countries agree?
Authoritarian don’t: executions, slavery, women discrimination
Some see Western Europe as hypocritical – how can everyone actually be allowed free speech? Maybe it’s a Western ‘construct’ which undermines other culture and beliefs.
controversies?
Erosion of national sovereignty
Allows difficult ideas, e.g. votes for prisoners, overturning of abortion laws, the right to privacy (vs. surveillance)
The UK government has sought to replace it with a Bill of Rights (June 2022
What is the geneva convention
4 versions set out since 1949
196 countries support it) All focus on how soldiers and civilians should be treated in wartime, including refugees
What does the geneva convention include
- Basic human rights should be guaranteed – e.g. wounded people cared for, whether an enemy or not.
- Torture and hostage taking as banned.
- Peacekeepers are used to enforce the Convention
- International Courts judge those charged with offences
Give an example the geneva convention in action
E.g. Liberia in 2018: UN Peacekeepers were on the ground for 15 years leading to the elections of President Wah.
to act within the legislation of ECHR
Who hasnr signed the UDHR
- the Soviet Union - because it considered that the Declaration did not sufficiently condemn Fascism and Nazism
- South Africa - to protect its system of apartheid, where people were segregated by skin colour and race, because that contravened the Declaration
- Saudi Arabia - because of the article that ‘everyone has the right to change their religion or belief’
- Also as women’s rights are controversial issue. Only allowed to vote in 2015. May be segregated (e.g. using a separate counter at McDonald’s)
