Parliamentarians take the initiative on HIV/AIDS

In 1999 UNAIDS and the Inter-Parliamentary Union jointly published the Handbook for Legislators on HIV/AIDS, Law and Human Rights. This section describes initiatives taken by parliamentarians to promote legal and policy responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic which respect human rights.     

Update to international guidelines on HIV/AIDS and human rights

On 10 September 2002, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) released a revised international guideline on "Access to prevention, treatment, care and support." The update to Guideline 6 of HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: International Guidelines reflects significant therapeutic, political, and legal developments in this area since the 12 guidelines were originally published in 1998. The new Guideline 6 significantly expands the guidance given to governments on what international human rights norms require of them in relation to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support.     

AIDS Law Project receives AIDS and human rights award

The AIDS Law Project, the recipient of the 2nd Annual International Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, has been at the forefront of the struggle for human rights for people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. It has played a major role in convincing the South African government to implement a national HIV treatment plan.     

A human rights critique of the United Kingdom's HIV response

The National AIDS Trust (NAT) is the United Kingdom's leading HIV policy and advocacy NGO. NAT is committed to promoting a human rights framework for HIV responses through work with communities, governments, professionals, and the private sector, both within the UK and internationally. In this presentation to the XIII International AIDS Conference (abstract WeOrE524), John Godwin and Saul Walker discuss current human rights issues related to HIV/AIDS in the UK, and NAT's perspective on the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights as an advocacy tool.     

International Guidelines audit tool tested in Cambodia

Until mid-2003, the audit tool developed at the Australian National University to measure compliance with the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights had not been tested in a developing country. This article describes the process and preliminary findings from the application of the audit in Cambodia. Of particular interest was the willingness of the Cambodian government to permit the audit, as well as the publication and dissemination of the results.     

Barcelona 2002: law, ethics, and human rights. An advocacy and political conference produces a consensus: effective action is urgently required

From the deep sense of frustration about the gap between what is possible and what is actually happening, a clear consensus emerged at the XIV International AIDS Conference that effective action is urgently required. This article is based on a presentation on 12 July 2002, the last day of the conference, by Terje Anderson, the rapporteur for Track G. The article presents a summary of the discussions in Track G on topics such as advocacy strategies, the use of the law, the use of a human rights framework and approach, the role of people living with HIV/AIDS, and the need to mobilize sufficient resources. The article states and then critically examines some of the consensus positions that emerged from the conference--specifically, the goal to have three million people on antiretroviral therapy by 2005; the notion that the debate around prevention versus care is over; and the idea that the key issue is no longer what we do, but how to secure the commitment and the resources to do it. The article states that the fight against HIV/AIDS must be fought on a political plane, and that it is the responsibility of everyone working in AIDS to engage our leaders. The article concludes by asking whether we really have the courage and the perseverance to turn our knowledge and our commitment into action.     

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.     

Chinese Practice in Public International Law: 2006 (I)

This part of the Survey covers materials reflecting Chinesepractice in 2006 relating to: I. Subjects under discussion atthe ILC (Shared natural resources; responsibility of internationalorganizations; reservation to treaties; unilateral acts of states;effects of armed conflicts on treaties; obligation to extraditionor prosecution; fragmentation of international law); II. Internationalhuman rights law (general commitment on human rights; collectivehuman rights, including right of self-determination, right todevelopment; civil and political rights, including freedom ofreligion, freedom of expression, issue of organ transplants;economic, social and cultural rights, including right to food,right to health; human rights of aliens, including freedom ofpress of foreign correspondents, rights of refugees; human rightsof special groups, including rights of ethnic minorities, rightsof indigenous peoples, rights of women, rights of children,rights of immigrants, rights of persons with disabilities, rightsof older persons; implementation of international human rightslaw, including the establishment of UN Human Rights Council,review of mandates and mechanisms of UN Human Rights Council,the implementation of human rights instruments, human rightsdialogue and corporation; human rights situation in foreigncountries, including Myanmar, Middle East; human rights andinternational trade); III. International humanitarian law.     

Human rights and the AIDS crisis: the debate over resources

In his plenary presentation of 11 July 2000 at the XIII International AIDS Conference, Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, the largest US-based human rights organization, reflects on whether a human-rights perspective can help us confront the AIDS crisis. More specifically, he asks the question whether human rights can help us meet the urgent challenge of securing the vast resources we need for treatment and prevention. Mr Roth believes they can. He argues that human rights are a powerful tool for meeting basic human needs, but that their contribution to the fight against AIDS is not as simple or straightforward as many often assume. In his presentation, he explains why.     

A Tort-Based Approach to Damages under the Human Rights Act 1998

This article argues that a strong case can be made for departing from the current approach to damages under the Human Rights Act 1998, and for the adoption of an alternative tort-based approach. The article critically analyses the English courts' arguments against adopting a tort-based approach and demonstrates that neither the Act nor the European Convention on Human Rights militate against such approach. It makes a positive case for a tort-based approach, arguing that the law of damages in tort provides an appropriate model for damages under the Act as a matter of principle given the common functions and protected interests that underpin both areas of the law. Further, tort law offers an established and elaborate corpus of principles to draw on, which can readily and naturally be read across to the human rights context. A tort-based approach would also promote consistency across English law, while generally affording greater protection to human rights than the English courts' current approach.     

The UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: a review of legislation in six Southern African countries

This article reviews legislation of six Southern African countries to determine what progress has been made after the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, particularly with regard to paragraph 58 on human rights and paragraph 69 on rights in the workplace. The article notes the complexities introduced by the coexistence of customary laws and practices and codified law. It describes certain features of specific codified and customized laws. It concludes that, with the possible exception of South Africa, the countries under review have not responded to the challenges the HIV/AIDS epidemic have confronted their legal systems with. They have resorted in the first instance to criminal law, and have allowed discriminatory customary laws and practices, which propel the epidemic, to continue to operate.     

International Recognition of Victims' Rights

Since its inception, the United Nations has adopted two GeneralAssembly resolutions dealing with the rights of victims: the1985 Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victimsof Crime and Abuse of Power and the 2006 Basic Principles andGuidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victimsof Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and SeriousViolations of International Humanitarian Law. The focus of theformer was on victims of domestic crimes, while that of thelatter is on victims of international crimes; more particularly,gross violations of international human rights law and seriousviolations of international humanitarian law. The 2006 Principlesare, for all practical purposes, an international bill of rightsof victims. Their adoption has been hard-fought, but their implementationboth at the national and international levels is sure to stillface many obstacles. Parallel to this historic development havebeen decisions by the European Court of Human Rights and theInter-American Court of Human Rights, as well as provisionsin the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), givingstanding to victims in ICC proceedings, but also certain rightsof compensation. These parallel developments, as well as otherswithin domestic legal systems, evidence a wide movement towardsthe recognition of the rights of victims of crime, whether domesticor international, or gross violations of human rights. Thisarticle re-traces the historic origin of victims' rights indomestic and international legal systems, focusing particularlyon the adoption of the two international instruments mentionedabove, and more particularly on the negotiating history of the2006 Principles. A detailed commentary of these Principles constitutesthe centerpiece of this article.     

Prison activist receives AIDS and human rights award

Laurence Stocking, the recipient of the 2nd Annual Canadian Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, fought for the rights of prisoners to access HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) prevention and treatment programs.     

Putting third first: critical legal issues and HIV/AIDS

On 7 July 2000, before the XIII International AIDS Conference, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the AIDS Law Project, South Africa held a one-day satellite meeting on legal, ethical, and human rights issues in Durban, South Africa. Entitled Putting Third First--Critical Legal Issues and HIV/AIDS, the satellite focused on legal strategies to advance the human rights of those most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and to discrimination: people in the developing world, and people who, although they live in the industrialized world, suffer from poverty and marginalization and are at high risk of contracting HIV. The satellite grew out of the ongoing partnership between the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the AIDS Law Project, South Africa, and was co-hosted by UNAIDS.     

论《世界人权宣言》的思想基础和权利体系

《世界人权宣言》以自由和平等为其思想基础,构建了世界各国和人民努力实现的共同标准。它所设定的权利体系不仅包括公民权利和政治权利,而且还涉及到经济、社会和文化权利,为国际社会提供了一份详尽的人权保护清单,成为国际人权法的基本法律文书。     

Eastern Europe and Central Asia: report identifies human rights gaps

Criminalization and stigmatization of the high-risk behaviours that promote the spread of HIV are fuelling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and placing millions of people at risk. This is one of the findings of a report from the United Nations Development Programme released in February 2004. The report, which is the first comprehensive profile of the epidemic in the 28 countries of the region, includes a significant focus on human rights issues.     

AIDS Audit – HIV and Human Rights: An Australian Pilot

This article explores the Australian pilot of a human rights audit using ten indicators in the specific area of HIV/AIDS. The new methodology has three main roles: a monitoring device to measure human rights protection in a jurisdiction's legal system against international standards; an intervention to raise local dialogue and consciousness of rights-based legislation; and an advocacy tool to stimulate law reform. It uses a tripartite process balancing independent experts, government, and community representatives. This approach attempts to overcome some of the democratic deficits identified by Power's hypothesis on the explosion of regulatory audits (1997).     

“Error But Without Malice” in Defamation of Public Officials: The Value of Free Expression in International Human Rights Law

Government officials in various parts of the world use defamation to silence critics, but defamation liability may curtail freedom of expression on topics of public interest and undermine human rights generally. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees freedom of expression unless a state can show need to protect individual reputation and acts proportionally. In its adjudication of complaints for violations of Article 19, and in its General Comment 34, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has crafted the principle that defamation liability may not be imposed if an erroneous statement about a public official was made in “error but without malice.” Although soft law, General Comment 34 represents the committee's most compelling articulation of the values animating freedom of expression in international human rights law, and chief among the values is the role played by free expression to promote realization of all human rights.     

The Evolution of International Indigenous Rights in the Inter-American Human Rights System

Indigenous communities in the Western hemisphere are increasinglyrelying on international law and international fora for enforcementof their human rights. When there are no domestic laws thatrecognise indigenous rights, or such laws exist but there isno political will to enforce them, indigenous peoples in theAmericas may turn to the Inter-American human rights system.Consequently, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and theInter-American Commission on Human Rights have developed a progressivecase law in this area. In 2005 and 2006, the Inter-AmericanCourt decided seminal indigenous ancestral land rights casesand a political rights case. This article analyses these casesand the previous jurisprudence and decisions on indigenous rightsin the Inter-American system.     

The Dissemination of Detainees Awaiting Trial Before International and Internationalized Criminal Tribunals

This paper will focus on the rights attributed to detainees who are facing charges before international and internationalized criminal courts. The question is whether their position merits a different approach compared to the position of detainees who are confronted with domestic criminal trials. In particular, this paper will address the question whether, and to what extent, international human rights have a direct effect on the position of the former detainees. Attention will focus on case law of the European Court of Human Rights vis-a-vis the rights of detainees and the impact thereof on the position of detainees who are held in custody on behalf of international and internationalized criminal courts. The author is Professor of International Criminal Law at Utrecht University (The Netherlands), defence counsel acting before the ICTY, ICTR and SCSL, and a partner of the law firm Knoops & Partners Advocaten in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.