The Anonymous Matrix: Human Rights Violations by 'Private' Transnational Actors

Do fundamental rights obligate not only States, but also private transnational actors? Since violations of fundamental rights stem from the totalising tendencies of partial rationalities, there is no longer any point in seeing the horizontal effect as if rights of private actors have to be weighed up against each other. On one side of the human rights relation is no longer a private actor as the fundamental‐rights violator, but the anonymous matrix of an autonomised communicative medium. On the other side, the fundamental rights are divided into three dimensions: first, institutional rights protecting the autonomy of social discourses – art, science, religion ‐ against their subjugation by the totalising tendencies of the communicative matrix; secondly, personal rights protecting the autonomy of communication, attributed not to institutions, but to the social artefacts called ‘persons’; and thirdly, human rights as negative bounds on societal communication, where the integrity of individuals' body and mind is endangered.     

The Role of Perceived Deservingness in the Toleration of Human Rights Violations

Based on evidence that people have a strong need to see that individuals get what they deserve, we reasoned that people will tolerate a human rights violation to the extent that they believe the target of the violation deserves severe treatment. Thus, we expected that variables that influence the perceived deservingness of a target (i.e., “contextual cues” to deservingness) should influence toleration of a violation of the target’s rights, mediated by perceptions of the target’s deservingness. We also expected that the effect of a contextual cue to targets’ deservingness on toleration should occur even for people who support the violated right in the abstract. Across two studies, using student versus community samples, we measured participants’ abstract support for the right to humane treatment. We then presented participants with scenarios about a target who was tortured (a violation of the right to humane treatment), and manipulated a contextual cue to the targets’ deservingness for severe treatment—the moral reprehensibility of the targets’ past behavior. Participants tolerated a target’s torture more if he had engaged in highly morally reprehensible (vs. less reprehensible) behavior and, thus, was perceived to deserve more severe treatment. Participants’ abstract support for the right to humane treatment did not moderate the effect of moral reprehensibility on toleration. Our findings highlight the importance of perceived deservingness in the toleration of human rights violations and have implications for reducing such toleration. Our research also extends literature on deservingness to an important global issue.     

Responsibility Beyond Borders: State Responsibility for Extraterritorial Violations by Corporations of International Human Rights Law

States routinely provide support and assistance to their corporate nationals in their global trade and investment ventures. While states may not intend to allow corporate nationals to violate human rights in their extraterritorial operations, by their actions or omissions, states may facilitate, or otherwise contribute to, a situation in which such violations by a corporation occur. This article investigates the extent to which the extraterritorial activities of transnational corporations (TNCs) that violate international human rights law can give rise to home state responsibility. The analysis shows that home states of TNCs have obligations under international law in certain situations to regulate the extraterritorial activities of corporate nationals or the latter's foreign subsidiaries and can incur international responsibility where they fail to do so.     

人权的国家保障义务

国家是人权保障的主要义务主体.这是因为保障人权是国家存在的价值所在和行使国家权力的合法性基础;对人权的最大威胁也往往来自国家权力;社会主体之问侵犯人权的行为也仰仗国家的整治.人权的国家保障义务包括尊重、保护、满足和促进四个方面.按国家行为的性质可分为消极义务与积极义务;按社会主体的权利性质可分为对私权利和公权利的保护义务;还有经由人权推定而衍生的保护义务;以及国家对人权的国际义务.国家在履行人权保障义务时,应当遵守以人为本、人权保障优位原则;平等保护原则;他律与自律原则(以法控权和"克制保留义务").国家(政府)违反人权义务应当承担国家责任.     

Catching Up with the Past: Recent Decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Addressing Gross Human Rights Violations Perpetrated During the 1970 1980s

This article highlights some of the discursive implicationsof framing the question of Islamic dress as one of religiousrights. It is argued that the very construction of hijab issuesas those of ‘religious identity’, sustained by theuse of Article 9 of the ECHR as the primary legal basis fortheir resolution, has shaped a number of counterproductive trends.These are: avoiding difficult questions through a judicial techniqueof deference to local knowledge; using a language of choiceto produce an obscure and unsatisfactory account of Muslim women'sagency; false dichotomising of culture and gender; and producingan ever more docile and exposed subject through the subtle mechanismsof public scrutiny and moralising. Each trend is consideredin turn. The article's arguments draw on the critical thoughtof Wendy Brown and post-colonial feminism.     

The Logics of Supranational Human Rights Litigation,Official Acknowledgment,and Human Rights Reform: The Southeast Turkey Cases before the European Court of Human Rights, 1996–2006

This article examines the domestic impact of supranational human rights litigation on acknowledgment of state violence in the context of macroprocesses of global governance. The article's argument is that the impact of supranational human rights litigation on the process of acknowledgment must be seen through counternarratives on state violence. The article undertakes a detailed textual analysis of the truth claims and denial strategies that emerged from the European Court of Human Rights proceedings on state violence during Turkey's struggle against the armed group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It assesses these in the context of the human rights reforms that were created following pressure from European-level governance processes. The article argues that attention must be paid to agency in acknowledgment and truth-telling processes, and points to the limits of technical-bureaucratic forms of human rights reform interventions in the context of state violence.     

Delfi AS v Estonia: The Liability of Secondary Internet Publishers for Violation of Reputational Rights under the European Convention on Human Rights

In October 2013, the European Court of Human Rights in Delfi AS v Estonia upheld a decision of the Estonian Supreme Court to impose liability on the owners of an internet news portal for defamatory comments which had been posted on their website by anonymous third parties. This note suggests that the decision is important in the context of publications with a ‘public interest’ element to them, because it appears to afford more protection to the right to reputation (deriving from the Article 8 right to privacy) and less to freedom of expression than was formerly the case. It is further argued that the Court's emphasis on the positive obligation of states to protect this right to reputation may mean that the existing English law in this area, including, potentially section 5 of the Defamation Act 2013, is inconsistent with the ECHR jurisprudence.     

From Root to Tree: Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement—The Grassroots Approach to Addressing Human Rights Violations

The Green Belt Movement's success in fighting for environmental and social issues, often prior to these issues becoming mainstream, will hopefully serve as a model for the next generation in addressing human rights violations, including environmental wrongs. Organizations should be proactive in the fight against human rights violations and need not be concentrated on a singular social issue. Human rights violations result from a combination of multiple social issues. The Green Belt Movement gives people a strong support network, educating and empowering them to provide their own resources and be responsible for their own physical and environmental well-being. As a result, the movement has strengthened in both numbers and influence to demand good governance and care for the environment, with its power spreading beyond the borders of Kenya. At the grassroots level, protecting the environment is a basic step that all can benefit from, and which can prevent the need for future environmental claims.     

Corporations as Moral Agents: Trade-Offs in Criminal Liability and Human Rights for Corporations

This article argues that a common way of defending corporate criminal liability creates a dilemma: it provides a strong justification for giving human rights to corporations. This result follows from approaches to punishment and human rights which predicate each on the status of moral agency. In short, if corporations are moral agents in a sufficient sense to attract criminal liability, they are eligible holders of human rights. The article also discusses the doctrinal application of this philosophical claim. Drawing on US jurisprudence, it illustrates how the European Court of Human Rights might deploy corporate moral agency as a theoretical foundation for its otherwise weakly-reasoned attribution of human rights to corporations. If proponents of corporate criminal liability are dissatisfied with these conclusions, they face difficult policy trade-offs: they must abandon the doctrine, or adopt alternative approaches to punishment or human rights.     

从实施人权公约的视角看我国行政判例对人权的保护

从1987年至2006年底,20年间各级人民法院共审结了120余万件行政诉讼案件。与之基本同时,最高人民法院通过创刊于1985年的《最高人民法院公报》,并依据2000年6月发布的《裁判文书公布管理办法》,至2006年底,总共发表了75件具有代表性的行政裁判。这些以公报案例、法公布文书和裁判文书选登等形式发表的行政裁判,已经成为人民共和国的最初行政判例。它们是被誉为重要的人权保障法的《行政诉讼法》正在得以有效实施的证明,不仅代表着中国努力建设社会主义法治国家的切实努力和中国大陆的行政审判水平与行政审判中的人权保护水平,而且展现了中国大陆正在以日益发展的司法手段,努力促进联合国人权两公约中规定的诸项人权的实施,在某些方面甚至正在拓展出新的人权保护范围和规范。同时,也面临着如何把人权保护范围,从主要限于人身权与财产权,平稳迅速地扩展到也受到人权公约保护的诸项社会权利和政治权利的问题。发展人权保障事业与建设和谐社会与和谐世界的新目标具有内在的同一性。行政判例,正在为我国实施经社文公约(CESCR),加入《公民权利和政治权利公约》(CCPR)作出积极的贡献。     

Analysis of Bone Healing in a Postoperative Patient: Skeletal Evidence of Medical Neglect and Human Rights Violations

This study highlights complexities associated with postsurgical trauma interpretation of a 76‐year‐old female patient from a psychiatric institution in Mexico. The skeletal analysis identified complications from an unsuccessful surgical operation for an intertrochanteric fracture of the femur. An improperly placed surgical plate resulted in nonunion due to limited contact between fracture margins. However, it is unclear whether this resulted from surgical complications, ineffective postoperative care, or from the decedent's limited ability to follow postoperative care instructions. Additionally, failure of the plate resulted in degenerative changes to the acetabulum. These complications, associated with degenerative changes to upper limb joints, suggest significant mobility issues. The pattern of antemortem trauma and contextual information support a conclusion of postoperative medical neglect, a documented problem in psychiatric institutions in Latin America. This study provides insight into the relevance of detailed trauma assessment of skeletal remains in cases where neglect and human rights violations are suspected.     

紧急状态下人权保障的比较研究--国内法和国际人权法的视角

一个法治国家的最重要标志之一就是对人权的尊重与保障 ,而紧急状态下的人权保障状况更能说明一个法治国家的成熟程度。所以 ,这对一个正在逐步走向法治社会的国度来说具有十分深远的意义。作者从世界法治文明的广阔视野 ,清楚阐明了紧急状态下人权保障的意义、目的与原则。并在对一些国家有关法律制度设置予以比较分析的基础上 ,系统阐明了人权保障的法律规制路径及基本内容。读者或可从中得一人权保障的概貌。     

Smuggling of Human Beings from a Human Rights Perspective: Obligations of Non-State and State Actors under International Human Rights Law

Although trafficking of human beings has been widely regardedas a human rights issue, little attention has been paid to humanrights aspects of smuggling as it is mainly characterised asfacilitation of illegal migration. The purpose of this articleis to demonstrate that smuggling of human beings equally raiseshuman rights concerns. The article begins by exploring the definitionsof trafficking and smuggling and their policy implications.It then highlights some human rights issues inherent in theact by examining its causes, process and consequences. It continueswith an analysis of human rights obligations imposed upon non-Stateand State actors. The fact that non-State actors are not helddirectly accountable under international human rights law pointsto an investigation of legal obligations imposed upon States,and this article examines an obligation to protect victims asan example.     

论人权国际保护与国家主权

人权国际保护与国家主权的关系 ,是现代国际法上的一个基本理论问题。人权国际保护与国家主权并不是绝对对立的 ,而是互相统一、互相促进的。一方面 ,人权国际保护对国家主权提出了新的挑战 ;另一方面 ,国家主权又对人权国际保护产生制约。在承认不干涉内政原则的情况下 ,国际社会在特定情势下为保护人权可进行干涉。     

论绑架案件侦查与人权保障

当前,刑事案件侦查中是否尊重人权成为社会关注的热点问题,绑架案件侦查中涉及到多方人员基本人权保障问题,引人注目,尤其公开绑架人质案件的接连发生,使人们对绑架案件的人权问题极为关注。人权观念在绑架案件侦查中的确立与发展包括三方面内容:一是“人质安全第一”观念的提出和实践;二是从一元安全观到多元安全平衡价值观的思辩;三是可持续性侦查策略与措施的凸现。     

论公安机关风险防控与人权保障职责协调的途径

人权保障是公安执法追求的效果,是风险防控目的是否达成的风向标。通过不得强迫自证其罪规则指引职责协调,在职责协调中明确举证责任的分配规则以实现无罪推定原则对职责协调的导引。建立高效的讯问规则与加强对协调职责的内外监督是实现公安机关风险防控与人权保障职责协调的途径。