Global Studies GLS 250 251

Key terms:

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• A declaration adopted by the UN in 1948
• http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
• “Common standard of achievement for all peoples and nations.  It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. ”
• RIGHTS TO WHICH ALL HUMANS BEINGS ARE ENTITLED
• Promotes development of friendly relations between nations- universal respect
• Genocide
• UN convention on genocide: any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group as such:
• A. Killing members of the group; B. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; C. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; D. Imposing measures intended to restrict births within the group; E. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
• universal jurisdiction
• The ability to try a violator of human rights anywhere in the world
• “Allows states or international organizations to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where the alleged crime was committed and regardless of the accused’s nationality, country of residence, or any other relation with the prosecuting entity.”
• Based on the idea that some crimes are so heinous they are a crime against all of humanity
• ICC= International Criminal Court
• Pinochet President
• Ríos Montt
• Former dictator and army general during the civil war in Guatemala
• Incriminated himself
• Put on trial for crimes against humanity & genocide committed against the Mayan people
• Dirty War
• 1976-1983
• A war that took place in Argentina in which the Argentinian military enforced a “Process of National Reorganization” in which rights were taken away and thousands of people were disappeared
• Argentina was a relatively wealthy country but its economy was highly dependent on foreign capital and markets. - Military coup 1976--plan for national reorganization: restore order, discipline society, eradicate ‘subversive elements; kidnapped suspected guerrillas, communist and all who opposed.
• Secret prisons
• Madres of the plaza de Mayo looking for their families- one of the first to demand justice for human rights violations= we healed with judicial trials- general videla sentenced to life in prison, museum of memories- pictures of people who were missing on display (116 missing grandchildren have been recovered)
• National Security Doctrine

• Guiding military principles for latin american militaries after 1965
• Established the concept of ‘internal enemy’ and held that it was the military's role to maintain security and combat internal subversion

• Nunca Más report (9000 desaparecidos documented in the report)
• Truth Commission created for Argentina’s Dirty War
• Translation: “Never Again”
• First time Cold War violence was made public
• Truth Commissions
• Commissions created during periods of political transition to investigate human rights crimes of the past. Their common purpose is to provide a comprehensive account of human rights crimes and violations of international law, usually in the form of a report.
• TRC (South Africa) -
• Truth and reconciliation commision created after the abolition of apartheid in the 1990s
• Official process for amnesty for human rights violators
• was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa
• 1980 Refugee Act-

• An act to amend the Immigration & Nationality Act; revises procedures for admission of refugees; uniform basis for assistance of refugees
• Created a new working definition of refugee; increased the number allowed in the US annually; created emergency procedures for if we were to exceed that number; & created a plan of how to properly deal with refugees in the US

• Operation Gatekeeper
• Operation Gatekeeper was implemented by the Clinton administration in 1994.
• The policy concentrated border patrol agents in the most populated areas along the Mexican-American border. This forced undocumented migrants to enter through extreme environments and natural barriers that increased the likelihood of injury and death.
• non-refoulement-is a principle of international law which forbids the rendering of a true victim of persecution to his or her persecutor. Generally, the persecutor in mind is a state actor. It is a principle of both the customary and trucial law of nations.
• Basically, countries can’t send a refugee back to where they were being persecuted, generally a state (country) or government.
• UNHCR-the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. It also has a mandate to help stateless people.

Since 1950, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives. Today, a staff of more than 9,300 people in 123 countries continues to help and protect millions of refugees, returnees, internally displaced and stateless people.

-main international body that recognizes refugees

• refugee definition

"owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."-UNHCR

(a person who has been displaced from their country due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, political affiliation, or social group. This person is unable to return to their country due to the fear resulting from this persecution.)

-well founded fear of persecution based on clear factors outlined by the law

- Issue = excludes gender as a category for cause to flee

-different from IDP’s (internally displaced persons) because the displaced did flee their homes but did not cross and international border. Therefore, they are not recognized/ do not get help from the government

• ICC- International Criminal Court

• Est. 1998/2002 through the Rome Statute
• permanent international court established to investigate, prosecute and try individuals accused of committing the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, namely the crime of genocide
• unlikely the ICC will open a case against the U.S or another world power because they (the UN security council) have the power to veto. Most cases have been in Africa

Some key questions:

1. How did the National Security Doctrine contribute to human rights abuses in Latin America during the Cold War?

http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232116.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199232116-e-25

• Introduced the concept of the “internal enemy,” which was expanded to include almost anyone who opposed the government during Latin America’s period of military dictatorships

1. Rise of covert action
2. New military branched function as parallel, secret power structures
3. Role of military expands into social, economic, and political spheres.
4. Military sees itself as above politics, as supreme defender of the ‘nation’
5. New ideology: opposition = subversion

2. What are the pros and cons of Truth Commissions?

Pros	Cons
Establish a public record of human rights crimes	May establish a “forensic truth” but usually cannot deal with the historical complexity of violence (“narrative truth”)
Gives victims/victims families some relief	Often don’t allow their findings to be used in judicial trials
May allow perpetrators of these crimes to come forward with the incentive of “forgiveness”	Criticized as not taking enough action; no justice or punishment implemented

3. What are some characteristics of forced disappearances as a tactic of political terror?

1. When random civilians are publicly kidnapped
2. Civilians who are kidnapped often time have little or nothing to do with why they are being kidnapped.  
3. Those who are kidnapped are killed in extreme and unusual ways.  

4. What are some of the key mechanisms of social reconciliation after political violence? Pros and cons of these different mechanisms?

• Truth Commissions
• Monuments, Memorials, and Museums
• Amnesty Laws (pardon and forgiveness)
• Human Rights trials (Justice and Reform)
• (Peaceful Co-existence)

5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of universal jurisdiction?

Pros	Cons
Ability to prosecute without elements of fear, danger, corruption, etc.	Uneven geography in practice because of power relations
ICC works as “embodiment of universal jurisdiction ideals”	Sovereignty--Requires cooperation and may require military intervention
Holds criminals that would not have been tried correctly otherwise accountable	Not enough accountability/accountability questionable

6. What were the impacts of Operation Gatekeeper?

Operation Gatekeeper was implemented by the Clinton administration in 1994.

The policy concentrated border patrol agents in the most populated areas along the Mexican-American border. This forced undocumented migrants to enter through extreme environments and natural barriers that increased the likelihood of injury and death.

Since the policy was instituted, immigrant deaths have skyrocketed and the political divide between the US and Mexico has become even wider. This increase in migration was the result of NAFTA(The North American Free Trade Agreement) passed in 1994.