Non-State Actors in the Human Rights Universe PDF Download

Author: George Andreopoulous
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781626373983
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Author: George J. Andreopoulos
Publisher: Kumarian Press
ISBN: 1565492137
Category : Globalization
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
* Examines broad range of non-state actors engaged in activities that violate, promote, or protect human rights * Looks at human rights issues in bioethics, armed conflicts, labor, and welfare reform Despite the widespread acceptance of human rights at the normative level, actual progress toward the realization of human rights globally has been far from satisfactory. Concerned with human rights outcomes, this book departs from analyses that focus on the role of the state in human rights promotion and urges the study of the entire human rights universe. Transcending as well the literature on the role of NGOs, the book examines a broad range of non-state actors engaged in various activities that violate, promote or protect human rights. Contributing authors examine several important issues, such as bioethics, armed conflicts, and welfare reform, while stressing the need for accountability and mechanisms for curbing human rights violations. Other Contributors: Michael Goodhart, Herbert F. Spirer, Louise Spirer, Rainer Braun, Judy Gearhart, James L. Gunderson, J. Paul Martin, Richard Falk, Ruth Macklin, Alice Page, Anne Nelson, Thomas R. Lansner, Kevin Bales, Dana-Ain Davis, and Willy Fautre.

Author: Andrew Clapham
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191018627
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 2518

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Book Description
The threats to human rights posed by non-state actors are of increasing concern. Human rights activists increasingly address the activity of multinational corporations, the policies of international organizations such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and international crimes committed by entities such as armed opposition groups and terrorists. This book presents an approach to human rights that goes beyond the traditional focus on states and outlines the human rights obligations of non-state actors. Furthermore, it addresses some of the ways in which these entities can be held legally accountable for their actions in various jurisdictions. The political debate concerning the appropriateness of expanding human rights scrutiny to non-state actors is discussed and dissected. For some, extending human rights into these spheres trivializes human rights and allows abusive governments to distract us from ongoing violations. For others such an extension is essential if human rights are properly to address the current concerns of women and workers. The main focus of the book, however, is on the legal obligations of non-state actors. The book discusses how developments in the fields of international responsibility and international criminal law have implications for building a framework for the human rights obligations of non-state actors in international law. In turn these international developments have drawn on the changing ways in which human rights are implemented in national law. A selection of national jurisdictions, including the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom are examined with regard to the application of human rights law to non-state actors. The book's final part includes suggestions with regard to understanding the parameters of the human rights obligations of non-state actors. Key to understanding the legal obligations of non-state actors are concepts such as dignity and democracy. While neither concept can unravel the dilemmas involved in the application of human rights law to non-state actors, a better understanding of the tensions surrounding these concepts can help us to understand what is at stake.

Author: Philip Alston
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Can transnational corporations ignore human rights as long as governments don't hold them accountable? If the UN is put in charge of a territory, is it bound by human rights law? Does that body of law apply to private security contractors who use torture to achieve their goals? Does the right to freedom of speech apply in a private shopping mall which has become the modern-day town centre? Under traditional approaches to human rights, non-State actors are beyond the direct reach of international human rights law. They cannot be parties to the relevant treaties and so they are only bound to the extent that obligations accepted by States can be applied to them by governments. The result is that entities including Non-Governmental Organizations, international organizations such as the UN and the IMF, private security contractors, and transnational corporations, along with many others, are generally considered not to be bound directly by human rights law. This situation threatens to make a mockery of much of the international system of accountability for human rights violations. As privatization, outsourcing, and downsizing place ever more public or governmental functions into the hands of private actors, the human rights regime must adapt if it is to maintain its relevance. The contributors to this volume examine the different approaches that might be taken in order to ensure some degree of accountability. Making space in the legal regime to take account of the role of non-State actors is one of the biggest and most critical challenges facing international law today.

Author: Nicolás Carrillo-Santarelli
Publisher: Wolf Legal Publishers
ISBN: 9789462403888
Category : Humanitarian law
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
Addressing the reality that non-state actors do violate human rights in practice, which cannot be overlooked, author Nicolas Carrillo-Santarelli argues that the foundations and main principles of international human rights law call for the regulation of direct non-state obligations and responsibilities, given the potential failure of domestic actions and the limits of voluntary strategies. In part I, the author presents his ideas on why non-state abuses should be regarded as human rights violations and wrongful acts. Part II studies why direct protection from non-state violations is possible, and what legal mechanisms and institutions permit to make it effective. The final Chapter turns to the examination of the mechanisms that can be used to respond to or prevent non-state violations of human rights law. This book is based on the idea that the protagonists of human rights law are individuals, who deserve protection from all abusers, be they States, armed groups, international organizations, or other actors. Revised Dissertation. [Subject: Human Rights Law, International Law]

Author: Andrew Clapham
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781004029
Category : Human rights
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The question of whether non-state actors have human rights obligations is ultimately dependent on what we mean when we speak of human rights and what entities we consider to be non-state actors. Focusing the debate, this important collection presents an essential set of contributions which address these questions. An original introduction provides the context for the selection of papers that, first offer a general overview, and then a focus on the roles and impact of national legal orders, international organizations, corporations and rebel groups. This volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the fast-moving developments related to the ways human rights law now applies to non-state actors.

Author: Péter Marton
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031405463
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 916

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Book Description
The Handbook introduces to readers (accessibly for specialist and non-specialist scholars, students and layman audiences) the diverse universe of non-state actors (NSAs) that have played or are currently playing a significant role in the context of East-West relations (from 1945 to the present). With a view to the oft-seen political debates about which non- state actors may be independent or controlled by particular states, and in what ways they may be useful or harmful to the interests of particular actors, this volume is interested in analysing and assessing the relationship of NSAs to key state actors in the context of the politics of East-West relations. Key state actors in this context include more than just the United States (on the one hand) and the Soviet Union or Russia (on the other hand). To offer a structured overview, the volume explores possible typologies of the relationships conceivable between NSAs and states. New concepts and organising principles are presented, to support a process-tracing analysis of the evolution of proxy ships, partnerships and other types of connections between states and non-state actors. Degrees, sources and types of control and influence are considered. Further, the Handbook's chapters also examine NSAs’ impact on the dynamics of interstate conflict and cooperation in the East-West dimension. The systematic examination of the relationship between states and NSAs in East-West relations proposed here is the first undertaking of its kind. International scholarship in political science and strategic analyses have so far neglected to develop an analytical framework and a truly nuanced understanding that could capture the intricate and multilevel relationships that exists between NSAs and states in this context.

Author: Konstantinos Mastorodimos
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1134800541
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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The accountability of armed non-state actors is a neglected field of international law, overtaken by the regimes of state responsibility and individual criminal accountability as well as fears of legitimacy. Yet armed non-state actors are important players in the international arena and their activities have significant repercussions. This book focuses on their obligations and accountability when they do not function as state agents, regardless of the existence or extent of accountability of their individual members. The author claims that their distinct features lead to their classification into three different types: de facto entities, armed non-state actors in control of territory, and common article 3 armed non-state actors. The mechanisms that trigger the applicability of humanitarian and human rights law regimes are examined in detail as well as the framework of obligations. In both cases, the author argues that armed non-state actors should not be treated as entering international law and process exclusively through the state. The study concludes by focussing on their accountability in international humanitarian and human rights law and, more specifically, to the rules of attribution, remedies and reparations for violations of their primary obligations.

Author: Surya Deva
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107657369
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 451

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In recent years, the UN Human Rights Council has approved the 'Respect, Protect, and Remedy' Framework and endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These developments have been welcomed widely, but do they adequately address the challenges concerning the human rights obligations of business? This volume of essays engages critically with these important developments. The chapters revolve around four key issues: the process and methodology adopted in arriving at these documents; the source and justification of corporate human rights obligations; the nature and extent of such obligations; and the implementation and enforcement thereof. In addition to highlighting several critical deficits in these documents, the contributing authors also outline a vision for the twenty-first century in which companies have obligations to society that go beyond the responsibility to respect human rights.

Author: Jack Donnelly
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429853009
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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International Human Rights examines the ways in which states and other international actors have addressed human rights since the end of World War II. This unique textbook features substantial attention to theory, history, international and regional institutions, and the role of transnational actors in the protection and promotion of human rights. Its purpose is to explore the difficult and contentious politics of human rights, and how those political dimensions have been addressed at the national, regional, and especially international levels. The fifth edition is substantially revised throughout, including updates on multilateral institutions, particularly the UN's Universal Periodic Review process; regional systems; human rights in foreign policy (including a chapter on U.S. policy); humanitarian intervention; globalization; and (anti)terrorism and human rights. The book also includes a new chapter on the unity of human rights, and new case studies exploring the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Procedures mechanisms, Myanmar, and Israeli settlements in West-Bank Palestine. Chapters include discussion questions, case studies for in-depth examination of topics, and ten "problems" tailored to promote classroom discussion on topics such as the war in Syria, hierarchies between human rights, and much more.