US and EU Human Rights and Democracy Promotion since the Arab Spring. Rethinking its Content,Targets and Instruments

The momentous changes in the Middle East and North Africa have brought the issue of human rights and democracy promotion back to the forefront of international politics. The new engagement in the region of both the US and the EU can be scrutinised along three dimensions: targets, instruments and content. In terms of target sectors, the US and EU are seeking to work more with civil society. As for instruments, they have mainly boosted democracy assistance and political conditionality, that is utilitarian, bilateral instruments of human rights and democracy promotion, rather than identitive, multilateral instruments. The content of human rights and democracy promotion has not been revised.     

Andreas Wenger and Reto Wollenmann,eds. Bioterrorism: Confronting a Complex Threat

This article examines the transformation of the Chechen conflict from a predominately nationalist to jihadist struggle, and compares the similar changes that took place in the Kashmiri insurgency. Using global jihadist strategy and ideology, and the accompanying influence of Al Qaida, both conflicts are shown to have taken on a new ideology and to have expanded beyond previous areas of operation. In both instances, the political leadership wrapped themselves in the mantle of political Islam (Islamism) as ensuing violence led to rapid socioeconomic transformation and social breakdown, thus allowing foreign jihadists to exert power and take up/divert the cause. In the past few years, two main groups originating in Chechnya and Kashmir have taken on Western targets and become more indoctrinated in Al Qaida's global jihadist ideology: the Caucasus Emirate (CE) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The opportunist franchising strategy of Al Qaida could come to play a role in the future of both groups, especially if the CE is able to coalesce into a more unified front. More importantly, the global jihadist attributes of the CE must begin to garner the same attention in the Western world as that of LeT.     

儒、道传统文化对生态正义的推助

中国儒、道传统文化中的朴素自然观照应了现代生态正义的应有之义,也就是现代社会所倡导的生态文明观的基本意旨。只有在优秀的生态文化背景之下,中国才能够找到反思生态问题的契机,并在实践中提出加强生态文明建设的倡导。中国儒、道传统文化中的生态思想潜移默化,预示着当代社会文明的新的正义归属。在生态危机与现代文明的冲突中,中国传统文化在孕育着解决这一矛盾冲突的文化力量之时,仍然扮演着作为思想自觉、精神教化的重要角色。     

Sex trafficking in Latin America: dominant discourse,empirical paucity,and promising research

Much has been written in the English-speaking world on the topic of sex trafficking, but little is known about what researchers elsewhere have produced on this topic. An exhaustive literature search was conducted to locate publications on this topic from Latin America. A total of 74 publications were located and put through a systematic content analysis. Four main discernible patterns were noticed: (1) the vast majority of the publications were produced by individuals affiliated with international or non-government organisations; (2) the production of trafficking-related literature sharply declined after 2007; (3) of the small number of studies involving empirical data, most were qualitative in nature; and (4) the literature was primarily focused on the sexual exploitation of children. The discourse on sex trafficking in Latin America appeared to be dominated by advocacy groups. There were few scholarly articles, suggesting limited attention from the academic community. Despite limited empirical data, many Spanish-speaking authors made claims on the nature and extent of sex trafficking, with articles citing one another as source of evidence. This review finds a great need for the involvement of the academic community and for dispassionate and empirically grounded research on sex trafficking.     

Criminalisation,modernisation, and globalisation: the US and international perspectives on domestic violence

The growth of modernisation in a society is intimately connected to the growth of legal evolutions related to criminalisation. While modernisation expands the boundaries of tolerance in an open society, it also expands the boundaries of crime and criminalisation. As modernisation expands on a global scale, the process of redefining crime, criminalisation, and victimisation also occurs on a global scale. In the modern societies of the West, the advance of modern law and justice and the progress of the notions of human rights have expanded the boundaries of freedom. They have also expanded the boundaries of criminalisation in a number of social, cultural, political, and economic domains. One of the major areas of criminalisation that has rapidly expanded with modernisation and globalisation, particularly in the West, is domestic violence. During the last 30 years, a series of laws have evolved in these societies that criminalise a wide variety of behaviours related to domestic violence. A comparative study of legislative developments on domestic violence in the United States, Brazil, India, Japan, Bangladesh, and Ghana suggests that, in each, a relatively homogenous set of laws against domestic violence has evolved.     

Human trafficking: the need for human rights and government effectiveness in enforcing anti-trafficking

Human trafficking constitutes a global problem. Involving exploitation of individuals through forced labour, sex, or organ removal, trafficking is an egregious human rights violation and illegal in many countries. Although laws have arisen to combat trafficking, it has persisted and inconsistent enforcement of anti-trafficking measures has been a concern. Using new data on trafficking, the enforcement patterns of 168 countries from 2001 to 2011 are examined. Findings suggest enforcement is predicted by the interaction of states’ world culture ties and government effectiveness, trafficking flows, and other state-level political mechanisms. Theoretically important factors, such as female legislators or various economic measures, are insignificant.     

A human rights-based approach to sex offender management: The key to effective public protection?

Abstract

This paper outlines recent ‘public protection’ legislation in the United States of America as a basis for considering possible outcomes when public concern and political pressures combine without due regard for efficacy and appropriate balance. It highlights concerns about the implications of policy measures developing in this way and questions whether a human-rights based approach should be applied in terms of public protection policy in order to develop more effective public protection.     

关于保护儿童的欧洲标准

保护儿童是当今世界人权保护的重要内容.欧洲是世界上社会经济法治最发达的地区,保护儿童的欧洲标准在世界人权保护范围内具有很高的影响力.欧洲理事会所颁布的法律标准,覆盖面广,针对性强,比较完整地确立了儿童保护的欧洲标准.欧洲保护儿童的基本政策,是以八项一般原则与四项实施原则为基础,确立了儿童友好型的国家制度和国际合作以及法律保护的机制.因此,研究保护儿童的欧洲标准对于提高与确立我国保护儿童的标准,以及促进我国法治的进步都具有重要意义.     

“保护的责任”与宽容、多元的价值秩序

"保护的责任"是一种新的人权保护观念和规范,它要求主权国家必须承担和履行保护其国内人民的重大责任,当一国不能或不愿履行这一责任时,国际社会将有责任介入并采取相应的保护行动。由于"保护的责任"在内涵发展与具体适用等方面存在着不确定性与分歧,为使"保护的责任"得到正确的解释运用,防止其被滥用,应当坚持国际社会的容忍性、多样性,以宽容、多元的人权价值及其相应的国际秩序为基础来指导国内人权保护。     

Explaining the Vientiane Action Programme: ASEAN and the institutionalisation of human rights

Abstract

Existing explanations for the emergence of human rights on the political agenda in ASEAN focus either on the role of external pressure on ASEAN member states to ‘do something’, or on the way those states copied the form, but not the function, of other regional organisations such as the EU. Both approaches tacitly acknowledge that given the strong preference for intergovernmental governance displayed by ASEAN, regardless of interpretations, that it was states that drove the institutionalisation of rights forwards. Through examining in detail the causes and consequences of the Vientiane Action Programme this article disagrees with that assertion. At crucial moments before and after 2004 it was the Working Group for the Establishment of an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, a track III actor, which both inserted human rights into ASEAN discussions and forged the link between protecting those rights and the continuing success of ASEAN's security goals. Through understanding the role of the Working Group as a norm entrepreneur, assisting in the localisation of human rights standards, this article suggests that existing explanations of ASEAN institutionalisation need to be revised to include a wider range of political dynamics than previously were acknowledged.