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As dictatorships topple around the world and transitional regimes emerge from the political rubble, the new governments inherit a legacy of widespread repression against the civilian population. This repression ranges from torture, forced disappearances, and imprisonment to the killings of both real and perceived political opponents. Nonetheless, the official status of the perpetrators shields them from sanction, creating a culture of impunity in which the most inhumane acts can be carried out without fear of repercussions. The new governments wrestle with whether or not to investigate prior wrongdoings by state officials. They must determine who, if any, of those responsible for the worst crimes should be brought to justice, even if this means annulling a previous amnesty law or risking a violent backlash by military or security forces. Finally, they have to decide how to compensate the victims of this repression, if at all. Beginning with a general consideration of theories of punishment and redress for victims, Impunity and Human Rights in International Law and Practice explores how international law provides guidance on these issues of investigation, prosecution, and compensation. It reviews some of the more well-known historical examples of societies grappling with impunity, including those arising from the Second World War and from the fall of the Greek, Spanish, and Portuguese dictatorships in the 1970s. Country studies from around the world look at how the problem of impunity has been dealt with in practice in the last two decades. The work then distills these experiences into a general discussion of what has and hasn't worked. It concludes by considering the role of international law and institutions in the future, especially given renewed interest in international mechanisms to punish wrong-doers. As individuals, governments, and international organizations come to grips with histories of repression and impunity in countries around the world, the need to define legal procedures and criteria for dealing with past abuses of human rights takes on a special importance. Impunity and Human Rights in International Law and Practice aims to share their experiences in the hope that lawyers, scholars, and activists in those countries where dealing with the past is only now becoming an imperative may learn from those who have recently confronted similar challenges. This work will be essential reading for lawyers, political and social scientists, historians and journalists, as well as human rights experts concerned with this important issue. ... Read more

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This book guides civil rights lawyers -- and informs judges, legislators, and academics -- in the effective use of international law in US federal and state cases. 'Soft law' standards are scrupulously avoided. The author highlights many concrete areas in which international law can enhance human rights protection both in the US and abroad, such as: Death penalty; Lethal force by police and military authorities; Extraterritorial privacy protection; Gay and lesbian rights; Government liability for foreseeable harm; Compensation for unintentional false imprisonment. This eminently practical approach which is based on model briefs developed for and used by leading US civil rights lawyers and organisations -- presents an extremely rare treatment of international human rights law. For both theorists and practitioners, this book's refreshing treatment anticipates many new issues that will arise as international human rights law practice becomes recognised as an advantageous approach to protecting US civil liberties and rights. ... Read more

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The seminar on `Freedom of Association' was held in Reykjavik(Iceland) from 26 to 28 August 1993. It was organised by theDirectorate of Human Rights of the Council of Europe in cooperationwith the Ministry of Justice of Iceland, and dealt with the followingfour themes: freedom of association and political democracy; freedomof association and civil society; freedom of association and socialdemocracy; freedom to form and join or not to join trade unions. Written communications were presented on the following subjects: caselaw of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, freedomof association and the freedom of associations, freedom of associationof immigrants in Europe, freedom of association and public service andfreedom of association, labour law and the needs of a democraticsociety. About one hundred personalities took part: representatives ofgovernments of member States, representatives of non-governmentalorganisations, members of the European Commission and Court of HumanRights, professors and other interested persons from Central, Westernand Eastern Europe competent in the fields covered by the themes ofthe Seminar. This publication contains the Proceedings of the Seminar: the officialspeeches made at the opening ceremony, the reports and writtencommunications, the interventions, the final report and the list ofparticipants. Le Seminaire sur la `Liberte d'association' a eu lieua Reykjavik (Islande) du 26 au 28 aout 1993. Il aete organise par la Direction des Droits del'Homme du Conseil de l'Europe en collaboration avec leMinistere de la Justice de l'Islande. Les travaux duSeminaire de Reykjavik ont ete axes surles quatre themes suivants: liberte d'association etdemocratie politique; liberte des associations etsociete civile; liberte d'association etdemocratie sociale; liberte de fonder avec d'autres dessyndicats et de s'y affilier. Des communications ecrites ont etepresentees sur les questions suivantes: jurisprudence del'Article 11 de la Convention europeenne des Droits de l'Homme,liberte d'association et libertes des associations,liberte d'association des immigres en Europe,liberte d'association et fonction publique et liberted'association, droit du travail et les besoins d'unesociete democratique. Une centaine de personnalites y ont participe:representants de gouvernements des pays membres etd'organisations non gouvernementales, membres de la Commission et dela Cour europeennes des Droits de l'Homme, personnalitesdu monde academique et autres personnalites de l'Europeoccidentale, centrale et orientale competentes dans lessecteurs concernes par les themes du Seminaire.La presente publication contient les actes du Seminaire:les allocutions officielles faites lors de la ceremonied'ouverture, les rapports et communications ecritespresentes, les interventions, le rapport final et laliste des participants. ... Read more

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As several developments have highlighted, there is an urgent need for an improved theoretical framework concerning how best to accommodate population diversity within multicultural societies. The rights of minorities to identity and real, substantive equality are both used to assess the existing standards and jurisprudence and also to argue for additional rights of (members of) minorities and/or a more beneficial interpretation of existing rights. A defining chapter is followed by three which analyze and evaluate the relative contribution to minority protection of, respectively, individual human rights, minority rights and the right to self-determination. It is argued that the acquis of the first category of rights, namely individual human rights, is taken up, furthered and brought closer to the goal of minority protection by the next category, namely minority rights, as the latter deals more explicitly with essential concerns of minorities and thus with their right to identity.Finally, the author turns to the right to self-determination, mainly in its internal dimension, as it seems to take up the acquis of both individual human rights and minority rights while enhancing the protection and promotion of minorities' right to identity. It seems justified to conclude that individual human rights, minority rights and a right to (internal) self-determination would all be needed and would interrelate for the elaboration of an adequate system of minority protection. ... Read more

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Of value to human rights litigators and activists, this manual provides a step-by-step practical guide to handling lawsuits in the United States for human rights abuses committed in other countries. The authors fully cover the relevant statutory law and jurisprudence, especially the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act. They also discuss the thornier issues that often arise in such cases, including problems of jurisdiction and immunity, choice of law and sources of international law. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very practical manual
Although I am only a law student, I want to express great appreciation for this manual for litigating (foreign) human rights torts cases in U.S. courts.Not only does it include the evolution of case law and statutes on the subject, presenting this in the most helpful way; not only does it describe the current status of relatively resolved, or possible issues and the apparent trends as of 1996; it also suggests strategies, caveats, with explicit attention to specific pitfalls and opportunities. Simultaneously it is a history, an analysis, and a workbook.I only wish I could afford to buy it!
[For reasons fully explained and practical, it focuses on the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, and is not very pertinent to any attempt at raising issues of domestic human rights for Americans violated by Americans in the United States.It does, however point out the wisdom of including all municipal causes of action along with one's reference to international law: treaties, covenants, customary law, and especially jus cogens.] ... Read more

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Increasing recognition of the salience of human rights is reflected in the UN-declared Decade of Human Rights Education (1995-2004). By defining terms from "1235 Procedure (UN)" to "xenophobia", the author (affiliation unspecified) provides an important tool to non-legal expert students of human rights. ... Read more

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The contributions collected in the present book go beyondrefugee law in its traditional sense -- largely centred onquestions of durable asylum and the plight of only a small tranche ofthe asylum-seeking population -- in situating refugee law withinthe broader international legal system. The refugee problem is thusseen as a prism through which a host of exploding issues confronttraditional international law and international relations: creationand dissolution of states, state responsibility, human rights,international jurisdiction and the United Nations mandate. Thesetheoretical problems and their legal incidence on the refugeecondition are debated against the background of UNHCR field operationsin Former Yugoslavia, Africa and Eastern Europe. The contributionswere originally presented at a Colloquium held in May 1994, organisedby the Graduate Institute of International Studies in collaborationwith the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.Refugee law experts, members of the UN International Law Commissionand practitioners were brought together in a dialogue between scholarsand practitioners on a major and exponentially growing internationalproblem. ... Read more

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Represent the Voices from Below
Alison Brysk¡¯s detailed account of Indian struggles in Latin America is focused, captivating and highly influential. From a voice of experience and authority on the subject, she provides a concise picture of the social movement-it¡¯s impact and drawbacks-and puts points out some clear pathways to remedy the drawbacks. Perhaps the modern world also has something to learn from the Indians. ¡°What justifies borders? Can we completely control nature? Indian movements bring back to the politics of modernity an expanded sense of time, space, and the sacred, when they speak for all living creatures..¡±
Highly recommended reading! ... Read more

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Tracing the rise of human rights from the issues which came out of World War II, through the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Cold War, and on to the present day, this book highlights the issues themselves (at Nuremberg and in South Africa, Israel, Chile and elsewhere) and also shows how they link to the central phenomena of international relations. The role of the UN is covered in depth, and teaching notes and essential human rights documents accompany the text, which also includes discussion questions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Human Rights 101
I originally read this book for a class at Vassar College my freshman year.Yes, this book can be dry, and it is not a quick read by any stretch of the imagination, yet, it also clearly portrays the basic theoretical paradigms behind the contemporary study of human rights.Quite evidently, this book is meant to be a text for courses on the subject matter, and in terms of this objective it succeeds.

Very Good Introduction to International Human Rights
Jack Donnelly porvides a very good introduction to human rights as an issue in world politics. Particularly his treatment of human rights in foreign policy is excellent. Worth reading.

not very interesting
i had this book to read for a class at james madison university and if your living and breathing...don't read this book. it was dry and didn't grab my attention at all.if you want facts, then this is the book for you.if you want good reading,pick another book. ... Read more

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This book explores the birth of the African-American international tradition and, particularly, the roots of African Americans' stake in international law. Richardson considers these origins as only formally arising about 1619, the date the first Africans were landed at Jamestown in the British North American colony of Virginia. He looks back to the opening of the European slave trade out of Africa and to the 1500s and the first arrival of Africans on the North American continent. Moving through the pre-Independence period, the American Revolution, the Constitutional Convention, and the Westward Migration, the book ends around 1820. This historical period also roughly corresponds to two other key historical phenomena greatly affecting the Atlantic Ocean basin: the rise of international law as a modern legal system (including European states and their Atlantic colonies) and the rise and flourishing of the international slave trade in African slaves to the Americas by European and New World governments and merchants. Only by placing African slavery in the British North American colonies in the context of the international slave system encompassing and linking the New World can the voices, struggles, demands, claims, and decisions of slaves and Free Blacks in North America towards freedom, relative to their evolving interests under international law, be properly understood. These interests comprise no less than the birth of an African-American international jurisprudence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Amazing Examination of History and Today's World
This book by Prof. Richardson provides an unprecedented examination of the role held by African Americans in international law. The Origins of African American Interests in International Law is not only well written, it is well presented. Mixing compelling historical events with legal analysis and even fictional narrative recreation, the book reads quickly yet pragmatically as it tackles difficult concepts and raises novel interpretations.

This amazing book's application spreads far beyond the scope of African American related law. It is filled with lessons on life that exemplifies the long lasting impact created as an entire people struggle through oppression. The Origins of African American Interests in International Law is a must read for all those interested in the roots of freedom.
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This book provides a key reference on the role of the Commonwealth and its member states in relation to international humanitarian law (IHL). It provides insights in the implementation of IHL in Commonwealth states and, particularly, the challenges faced by small states. It examines the progressive development of IHL in the Commonwealth and provides an analysis of some of the landmark decisions emerging from the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

The book was developed collaboratively between the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. In this regard, it contains insights in the work of the Secretariat with regard to implementation of IHL and an assessment of legislation enacted by Commonwealth states as well as an accession chart to IHL instruments. It expounds on the work of the Movement, including the role of National Societies, the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, and the development of international disaster response law, rules and regulation.

This book was based on a special issue of Commonwealth Law Bulletin.

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Liberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote praising "the idea of a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed". Modern liberalism has its roots in the Age of Enlightenment and rejects many foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, and established religion. John Locke is often credited with the philosophical foundations of modern liberalism. He wrote "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions." ... Read more

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This book provides a careful and close analysis of the power and function of the newest United Nations Human Rights Committee. Vested with wide-ranging power, the committee has developed a large body of case-law to complement the activities of other United Nations organizations. This is the first in-depth study of the practices and procedures of this highly important facet of the United Nations. ... Read more