Barcelona 2002: law, ethics, and human rights. HIV testing for peacekeeping forces: legal and human rights issues

In 2001, the United Nations Security Council established an Expert Panel to study the issue of whether the UN should institute HIV testing of peacekeeping personnel. This article, based on a 9 July 2002 presentation to the XIV International AIDS Conference (abstract TuOrG1173), reports on the findings of a paper prepared for the Expert Panel by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. The paper examined whether it is permissible for the UN to implement mandatory HIV testing of its peacekeeping personnel, and whether HIV-positive UN peacekeeping personnel should be excluded or restricted from service on the basis of their HIV status or HIV disease progression. The article describes some of the court cases in which these issues have been considered; discusses the importance of analyzing such issues in the context of a human rights-based approach to the pandemic; and formulates a series of key principles for guiding UN decision-making. The article concludes that a policy of mandatory HIV testing for all UN peacekeeping personnel cannot be justified on the basis that it is required in order to assess their physical and mental capacity for service; that HIV-positive peacekeeping personnel cannot be excluded from service based on their HIV status alone, but only on their ability to perform their duties; and that the UN cannot resort to mandatory HIV testing for all UN peacekeeping personnel to protect the health and safety of HIV-negative personnel unless it can demonstrate that alternatives to such a policy would not reduce the risk sufficiently. In the end, the Expert Panel unanimously rejected mandatory testing and instead endorsed voluntary HIV counselling and testing for UN peacekeeping personnel.     

HIV,AIDS and human rights

Solicitor, Lecturer in Law. This research has been undertaken with the support of the University of Sussex, Arts Area Research Fund. Special thanks to Neil Duxbury, Zdenek Kavan, Professor Arthur S. Leonard, William B. Rubenstein, Tom Stoddard and the staff of the Aids Discrimination Unit of the New York City Human Rights Commission especially Catherine Franke.     

HIV vaccines in Canada: legal and ethical issues--an overview

In July 2002 the Legal Network released an overview paper on legal and ethical issues related to an HIV vaccine in Canada. The paper, which is based on a more detailed report prepared in collaboration with the Centre for Bioethics of the Clinical Research Institute of Montréal, calls for the establishment of a Canadian HIV Vaccine Plan.     

Measuring legal implementation of the international guidelines on HIV/AIDS and human rights

With over 36 million people now living with the virus and over 21 million people dying of AIDS in the last two decades, HIV/AIDS is a global health and security problem. These shocking figures eclipse the human toll of many wars, and reveal in themselves that human rights are not being respected, protected, or fulfilled, either through negligent omissions or violations. A human rights approach to the epidemic was advocated early by advocates such as Jonathan Mann, who recognized that infections thrived in conditions of inequality. This approach was crystallized in the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights that were developed at the Second International Consultation in 1996 convened by UNAIDS and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Guidelines cover three main areas: improving governmental responses in terms of multisectoral responsibility and accountability; widespread law reform and legal support services; and supporting increased private sector and community participation in effective responses to the epidemic. This article focuses on the half of the twelve Guidelines that concern rights that are justiciable and amenable to law reform. It highlights the responsibilities of States Parties to human rights treaties, as they bear the principal burden of the obligations to implement.     

Sex work research: methodological and ethical challenges

The challenges involved in the design of ethical, nonexploitative research projects with sex workers or any other marginalized population are significant. First, the size and boundaries of the population are unknown, making it extremely difficult to get a representative sample. Second, because membership in hidden populations often involves stigmatized or illegal behavior, concerns regarding privacy and confidentiality are paramount and difficult to resolve. In addition, they often result in challenges to the validity of the data. Third, in spite of evidence to the contrary, associations between sex work and victimization are still strong, dichotomies remain prevalent, and sex workers are often represented as a homogeneous population. Drawing on three research projects in which the author has been involved-all grounded in a sex-as-work approach-as well as the work of others, this article provides several strategies for overcoming these challenges. Clear guidelines for ethical, nonexploitive methodologies are embedded in the solutions provided.     

弘扬法制保障人权反对邪教(笔谈)

几名"法轮功"痴迷者受李洪志驱使在天安门广场自焚的事件,再一次证明,邪教"法轮功"危害极大,必须坚决铲除.我们必须充分认识到同邪教"法轮功"斗争的尖锐性、严重性、复杂性和长期性,决不可麻痹松懈.为此,我刊特组织了本期笔谈,从法律角度揭批"法轮功"邪教组织本质,探讨如何用法律武器对其予以严厉打击.     

Deregulation,property rights,and legal system

During regulation the regulator carries out an intermediary role between shareholders and managers, consequently affecting property rights and the agency relation between the two. Deregulation implies that this intermediary role ceases to exist. This article analyses how government deregulation changes property rights, differentiating between firms of network and non-network structures. Changes in property rights affect the agency relation between shareholders and managers, increasing information asymmetry and agency costs. I argue that the way to reduce agency costs depend to a great extent on the country’s legal system classified as of common or civil law tradition.

HIV/AIDS and human rights revisited

In their article, Sofia Gruskin and Daniel Tarantola demonstrate how, as the number of people living with HIV and with AIDS continues to grow in nations with different economies, social structures, and legal systems, HIV/AIDS-related human rights issues are not only becoming more apparent, but also increasingly diverse. In the 1980s, the relationship of HIV/AIDS to human rights was only understood as it involved people with HIV or AIDS and the discrimination to which they were subjected. The concerns included mandatory HIV testing; restrictions on international travel; barriers to employment and housing, access to education, medical care, or health insurance; and the many issues raised by named reporting, partner notification, and confidentiality. Almost 20 years into the epidemic, these issues remain serious and most often have not been resolved. In the 1990s, however, there was increased understanding of the importance of human rights as a factor in determining people's vulnerability to HIV infection and their consequent risk of acquiring HIV infection and their chances of accessing appropriate care and support. And most recently, human rights have also come to be understood to be directly relevant to every element of the risk/vulnerability paradigm. Gruskin and Tarantola identify three situations and three levels of governmental obligations that should be considered when identifying the specific needs and related rights of individuals in the context of HIV/AIDS. They conclude that policymakers, program managers, and service providers must become more comfortable using human rights norms and standards to guide and limit government action in all matters affecting the response to HIV/AIDS; and that those involved in HIV/AIDS advocacy must become more familiar with the practicalities of using international human rights law when they strive to hold governments accountable.     

The Philippines: HIV/AIDS, condoms, and human rights

Influential leaders are increasingly attacking condoms through HIV-prevention programs that focus on sexual abstinence and marital fidelity. In May 2004 Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report that examines the impact of these policies in the Philippines, the largest Roman Catholic country in Asia and a major recipient of US HIV/AIDS funding.