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Indigenous Peoples’ Rights at the United Nations Human Rights Council: Colliding (Mis)Understandings? Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Marina A R de Mattos Vieira, Lieselotte Viaene
Indigenous peoples have been struggling worldwide to have their rights recognized. Despite relevant legal advances, such as the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), the implementation gap between the adoption of international standards by States and their compliance still remains. This article relies on empirical examples from Interactive Dialogues (ID) with the Special Rapporteur
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Backlash and Beyond: Three Perspectives on the Politics of International Justice Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-02-25 Genevieve Bates
This review essay evaluates three new books on international justice, focusing in particular on cooperation and backlash against the International Criminal Court: Africa and the Backlash Against International Courts by Peter Brett and Line Engbo Gissel, Saving the International Justice Regime by Courtney Hillebrecht, and State Behavior and the International Criminal Court by Franziska Boehme. It provides
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Engaging Ulama in the Promotion of International Humanitarian Law: A Case Study from Mindanao Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-02-08 Datuan Magon, Dominic Earnshaw
In 2006 the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) produced rules of engagement in hostilities for members of its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, which reference Islamic law and are also compliant with international humanitarian law (IHL). The release of these rules came following engagement with the MILF by both national and international humanitarian organizations. This article examines
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Declaration of the Town Square: The Urgency of Speaking as One Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-02-01 Felipe Agudelo-Hernández, Luisa Fernanda Cardona Porras, Ana Belén Giraldo Álvarez
Ethics in biomedical research in mental health plays a central role. Historically the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice have been violated in individuals with mental disorders. This article aims to analyse the perceptions of individuals involved in research ethics advocacy in Aranzazu-Colombia, from the Declaration of the Town Square to current research practices and
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Review of Panel Discussion on Digital, Media and Information Literacy—Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-31 Josephina Lee
This review considers the Panel Discussion on Digital, Media and Information Literacy—Report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and explores the report’s key implications for human rights practitioners and their organizations.
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The Judge-Made ‘Duty’ to Consider Climate Change in South Africa Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-29 Melanie Jean Murcott, Clive Vinti
Environmental legislation in South Africa does not explicitly require that the executive branch consider climate change in environmental decision-making. Yet, in a handful of climate cases, the executive has been found to have acted unlawfully (and thus unconstitutionally) by failing to do so. We argue that the case law has implicitly introduced a ‘duty’ to consider climate change mitigation and adaptation
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What Might Future Rights-Based Climate Litigation Look Like in Indonesia? A Preliminary Analysis Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-27 Conrado M Cornelius
While there has been some climate litigations in Indonesia, a rights-based climate case has yet to emerge. On the other hand, several rights-based environmental cases have seen the light of day before the Indonesian courts, although with more failures than successes. This note explores the prospects and challenges for future rights-based climate litigation in Indonesia by reflecting on previous climate
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Exploring Institutional Barriers to Effective Human Rights-Based Climate Litigation in Latin American Courts—Lessons from Chile and Ecuador Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-27 Lorena Zenteno Villa
The global climate crisis demands that all branches of government play a role in tackling climate change, including the judiciary. One important mechanism is climate litigation. In the adjudication of climate litigation, courts can advance the protection of human rights, promote environmental values, assist in developing climate change law and policy, and uphold the rule of law. However, some Latin
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The Political Ecology of Climate Remedies in Latin America and the Caribbean: Comparing Compliance between National and Inter-American Litigation Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-18 Juan Auz
The climate crisis will continue to affect human and natural systems across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Undoubtedly, this jeopardizes entire communities’ enjoyment of human rights. In that context, the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) is expected to respond, particularly since its organs have jurisdiction to order remedies over most LAC countries, provided they determine a rights
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The Principle of Accountability in Human Rights-Based Approaches to Development: Towards a New Understanding Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-18 Ysaline Reid
Human rights-based approaches to development (HRBADs) have been pointed out as the most accomplished form of integration of human rights in development. Despite the growing talks among development practitioners on the need for human rights-based approaches to development policies and practices, it remains unclear what exactly the human right principle of accountability at the heart of these approaches
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Rights-based Climate Litigation in Colombia: An Assessment of Claims, Remedies, and Implementation Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-12 María Daniela de la Rosa Calderón
Climate litigation in Colombia is increasingly centred on fundamental and/or constitutional human rights. This note evaluates rights-based climate litigation in Colombia through the lens of five cases that protect ecosystems: the Atrato River, the Combeima River, and the Bruno River; the Amazon rainforest; and the Páramos ecosystem. First, the framing of cases is analysed. Second, the judges’ interpretations
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Right to Privacy and Data Protection Concerns Raised by the Development and Usage of Face Recognition Technologies in the European Union Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-11 Eglė Kavoliūnaitė-Ragauskienė
The fast and fragmentedly regulated development of facial recognition technologies and related artificial intelligence poses various challenges to personal privacy, which leads to potential infringements of a wide range of related human rights. This article analyses the threats that the development and use of facial recognition technologies pose to privacy and personal data protection. It discusses
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Performing/Informing Rights: Mixing Inclusive Dance and Human Rights Education for Disabled People in Sri Lanka and Nepal Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-10 Lars Waldorf, Helena-Ulrike Marambio, Hetty Blades
Over several years, the German/Sri Lankan NGO VisAbility has been pioneering a mix of inclusive dance with rights education and advocacy to empower persons with conflict-related, physical impairments, first in Sri Lanka and, more recently, in Nepal. This article captures both the benefits and challenges of using dance for more transformative human rights education in informal settings.
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Descriptive Analysis of Community Based Needs among Asylum Seekers in the Greater Rhode Island Area before and after COVID-19: Evidence from a Student-Run Asylum Clinic Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-10 Victoria Angenent-Mari, Viknesh S Kasthuri, Hannah Montoya, Elizabeth Toll
The Brown Human Rights Asylum Clinic (BHRAC) is a medical-student-run asylum clinic which provides pro-bono medical and psychological affidavits for people in immigration proceedings. At the time of the evaluations for affidavits, a BHRAC student administers a Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) screener, evaluating clients for access to healthcare and social needs such as assistance with utilities
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Human Rights-based Approaches and the Right to Health: A Systematic Literature Review Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2024-01-10 David Patterson
The term ‘human rights-based approach’ is common in rights and international development literature. Yet there is no single, universally agreed definition of a human rights-based approach, let alone its application to the right to health. This article uses a PRISMA-informed systematic literature review to address the question, ‘What is the current status of the human rights-based approach to health
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Bringing Human Rights Home: Access to Justice and the Role of Local Actors Implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-12-01 Dorien Claessen, Majda Lamkaddem, Barbara Oomen, Quirine Eijkman
Most European states have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), but implementation varies at national and local levels with municipalities often playing a key role. Decentralization policies have often led to municipalities providing social support as well, but little attention has been paid to the accessibility of municipal support for persons with disabilities
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Criminalizing Human Rights Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-12-01 Philip Alston
The priorities reflected in the overarching system that includes the regimes dealing with international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law are currently undergoing a gradual but highly significant transformation. The cause is a growing preoccupation with ‘atrocity crimes’ in each of the three fields, along with the imposition of criminal sanctions in response
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Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures: Can They Work Better Together? Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Elina Steinerte, Vincent Ploton
This article is a conversation between the authors on areas of complementarity between these two mechanisms, gaps, and potential avenues for enhanced mutual cooperation between the two.
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From Theory to Practice: Reflections on how we can Meaningfully Measure Human Rights Impact Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-11-29 Natalia Gubbioni, Danny Vannucchi
What are the biggest challenges and opportunities when an organization is trying to understand the human rights impact it has achieved? Building on more than 12 years combined years of practical evaluation and impact assessment experience across various organizations in the human rights field, the authors reflect on the key lessons learnt while trying to balance organizational needs of reporting, planning
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Climate Constitutionalism as a Foundation for Climate Litigation in Latin America Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-11-17 Déton Winter de Carvalho, Rafaela Santos Martins da Rosa
Climate emergency is one of the facets shaping the current stage of ecological imbalance and requires action to be taken. The trend to address conflicts involving climate change by legal means is clearly on the rise, and the article argues that this calls for an evolving constitutional dialogue on human rights. The article examines the phenomenon, particularly in Latin American countries, explaining
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Conceptualization Shapes Practice: Apostasy-Based Refugee Claims and International Human Rights Law Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-11-07 Mirjam van Schaik, Lynn Hillary
Freedom of religion or belief is guaranteed in international human rights law. Incorporating the right to apostasy as a fundamental aspect of religious freedom encounters challenges in different state practices. To study this phenomenon, this article explores the interaction of the conceptualization of the right to apostasy in international human rights law and in the context of apostasy-based refugee
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Proactive Prevention: Denmark’s Domestic Practices of Human Rights Compliance Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-10-28 Aysel Küçüksu
Fuelled by an ambition to solve the puzzle of the stark contrast between Denmark’s increasingly negative presence in the international press and its leading performance in European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) compliance statistics, this article presents the results of a mixed-method study of the country’s domestic human rights’ protection and implementation practices. The story that emerges is not
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Build Forward Fairer: Covid-19, Lessons Learned Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-10-24 Morten Kjaerum
The article discusses the importance of adopting a human rights-based approach in addressing the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. The article highlights the case of a human rights-based hospital in Sweden that actively reached out to vulnerable individuals in the community during the pandemic, emphasizing how the human rights-based approach contributes to building trust and thereby realizing
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Rethinking the Human Right to Food from a Single Perspective to a Four-Fold Legal Interpretation Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-10-11 Jorge Freddy Milian Gómez
The human right to food is a fundamental pillar for guaranteeing human dignity and the existence of human beings. It is configured in the international legal system as the possibility of supplying a minimum amount of food necessary to avoid death by hunger, as well as healthy and adequate food for all people. The path to its recognition and conceptualization has been hazardous and is currently not
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The Power of Personal Archives in Witnessing, Teaching, and Visual Storytelling: The Armenian Memory Project Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-30 Catherine Masud, Armen T Marsoobian
The Armenian Memory Project (AMP) is a collaborative effort designed to harness the energy and resources of the University of Connecticut and the New England Armenian community for the goal of fostering greater understanding of the region’s Armenian cultural heritage and the impact human rights crimes had on the Armenian community. In 2019, students and faculty from the university worked with Armenian
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Antisemitism and the Left: On the Return of the Jewish Question Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-30 Richard Carver
This review considers Robert Fine and Philip Spencer’s Antisemitism and the Left: On the Return of the Jewish Question and explores the book’s key implications for human rights practitioners and their organizations. The review is one of three contributions to this 15th Anniversary Issue’s Review Section from members of the Journal of Human Rights Practice Editorial Team and Editorial Board—highlighting
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Toward a Truly Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Talking Cultural Transformation with Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-30 Brian Phillips
This review considers Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim’s Decolonizing Human Rights and explores the book’s key implications for human rights practitioners and their organizations. The review also includes An-Naim’s reflections on the book as shared in an interview with Brian Phillips, Journal of Human Rights Practice Reviews Editor, in November 2022. The piece inaugurates a series of essays which will appear
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A Larger ‘We’; Identity, Spirituality and Social Change in Pluralistic Societies Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-13 Dustin N Sharp
Over the last decade, in the United States in particular, there has been an increasingly acute awareness of historic and ongoing social, racial, gender, and other disparities, and the frequent deployment of categories (for example BIPOC, LGBTQQIA2SP+, Latinx) and concepts (for example ‘cultural appropriation’, ‘white privilege’, ‘intersectionality’) that centre thinking and conversations around various
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Grooming and Child Sexual Abuse in Organizational Settings—an Expanded Role for International Human Rights Law Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Afrooz Kaviani Johnson
This article focuses on child sexual abuse in organizational settings, with a particular emphasis on ‘grooming’. While grooming is often associated with online behaviour, its origins predate the digital age. Consequently, this article challenges the misconception of solely linking grooming to online platforms and highlights its broader recognition. The article aims to explore how international human
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More than Lack of Capacity: Active Impunity in Mexico Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Alejandro Anaya-Muñoz, Patricia Cruz-Marín, James Cavallaro
Mexico faces a severe crisis of violations of physical integrity rights. In the past fifteen years, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, over one hundred thousand have disappeared, and torture continues to be widespread. Observers emphasize the role of impunity as a critical causal factor. Negligence and lack of capacity have been considered as causes of impunity. This article elaborates
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Fortify the Truth: How to Defend Human Rights in an Age of Deepfakes and Generative AI Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Sam Gregory
Audiovisual digital media and tools are critical elements in contemporary human rights documentation and advocacy. Generative AI, deepfakes and synthetic media compound questions of what to trust in an existing situation of government suppression, difficulty proving witness accounts and broader societal challenges to trust. There is a need to ‘fortify the truth’ by fostering resilient witnessing practices
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Beyond ‘Global Good Samaritans’: Transnational Human Rights Obligations Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Gamze Erdem Türkelli, Markus Krajewski, Wouter Vandenhole
What we mean by human rights remains perhaps too anchored in the international legal frameworks that took shape after the Second World War. Those legal frameworks tend to take a myopic view on human rights duty-bearers. If human rights are to remain relevant for core societal challenges, such as climate change, exploitation of natural resources, or increasing inequalities, we need a better understanding
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Human Rights and Peacebuilding: Bridging the Gap Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Lina Hillert
In view of academic and policy discussions about a persisting gap between human rights and peacebuilding in the UN system, this article examines how peacebuilding has been integrated into the work of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). The analysis draws on interviews with UN Member State attachés and representatives of non-governmental organizations, as well as a range of HRC documents focusing on
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The ‘Fair Share’ of Climate Mitigation: Can Litigation Increase National Ambition for Brazil? Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Maria Antonia Tigre
Several years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the world is still far from achieving its emission reduction target. Despite the scientific certainty of the devastating effects of climate change on human rights, countries’ ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDCs) still fall short of the 1.5 °C goal. Compared to developed countries and their historical contributions, the Global South’s
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Balancing Legalism and Pragmatism: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Human Rights Language in Peace Agreements Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-09-05 Corina Lacatus
In recent decades, the role of human rights in peacebuilding has been the object of scholarly and practitioner debate. Some commentators criticize human rights for being inflexibly legalist and for lacking pragmatism regarding the domestic implementation of international law. Other scholars support the inclusion of human rights provisions in peace agreements, as central to sustainable peace. Which
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Framing Climate Litigation in Individual Communications of the African Human Rights System: Claw-Backs and Substantive Divergences Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-08-23 Ademola Oluborode Jegede
Climate litigation is anticipated to continue expanding, especially related to the interface with the human rights of vulnerable populations and the adequacy of states’ efforts to adopt and implement climate laws. While the possibility of climate-related litigation is envisaged before the African Human Rights System (AHRS), there is no pioneering case on climate change at that level yet. Essential
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Gender in Climate Litigation in Latin America: Epistemic Justice Through a Feminist Lens Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-08-08 Natalia Urzola Gutiérrez
Emerging strategic litigation in Latin America, in particular, and the Global South more broadly, brings visibility to marginalized groups and allows novel approaches to promote climate action. Rights-based claims have taken centre stage in Global South climate litigation, strengthening the links between human rights and the environment. However, the gendered impacts of the climate crisis are not broadly
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The Escazú Agreement Contribution to Environmental Justice in Latin America: An Exploratory Empirical Inquiry through the Lens of Climate Litigation Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-08-08 Gastón Medici-Colombo, Thays Ricarte
In many jurisdictions, procedural rules and arrangements that govern litigation are not necessarily well-suited to the protection of collective interests, such as the environment. This idea has been flagged for a while by scholars and practitioners from different jurisdictions and was part of the reason for promoting specific regulations on access to justice in environmental matters. The protection
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Expanding and Contracting the UN Guiding Principles: an Analysis of Recent Inter-American Human Rights Court Decisions Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-08-04 Sebastián Smart
In 2021, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) decided two cases for advancing the increasing jurisprudence on the implementation of human rights and business standards, yet there is still a gap to fill. Despite the important development with regards to the State obligation to supervise business operations, the decisions do not introduce further definitions of companies’ responsibilities
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Rights-Based Climate Litigation in Brazil: An Assessment of Constitutional Cases Before the Brazilian Supreme Court Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-08-04 Danielle de Andrade Moreira, Ana Lucia B Nina, Carolina de Figueiredo Garrido, Maria Eduarda Segovia Barbosa Neves
This article presents a systematic analysis of climate litigation in the Brazilian Supreme Court. It argues that climate litigation in Brazil is centred on the protection of human rights and the court is ready (and eager) to draw a closer connection between climate and human rights. The climate litigation movement in Brazil follows in the wake of more than 40 years of a rich environmental legal framework
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The Chilling Effects of Surveillance and Human Rights: Insights from Qualitative Research in Uganda and Zimbabwe Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-07-31 Daragh Murray, Pete Fussey, Kuda Hove, Wairagala Wakabi, Paul Kimumwe, Otto Saki, Amy Stevens
States are increasingly developing and deploying large scale surveillance and AI-enabled analytical capabilities. What is uncertain, however, is the impact this surveillance will have. Will it result in a chilling effect whereby individuals modify their behaviour due to the fear of the consequences that may follow? Understanding any such effect is essential: if surveillance activities interfere with
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From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to a Pandemic Treaty: Will a Right to Medicines Forever be ‘Under Construction’? Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-07-21 Lisa Forman
Global disparities in access to COVID-19 vaccines have illuminated long-standing tensions between intellectual property rights and the right to health. Debates over solutions to these disparities have focused on a waiver to the TRIPS Agreement and a prospective pandemic treaty which will attempt to regulate the impact of intellectual property rights on access to essential pandemic health goods. These
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Making it Work: Closing the Inclusion Gap for Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Crises Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-07-21 Carolin Funke
Disability inclusion has been firmly established as a human rights issue in humanitarian action. Numerous stakeholders have entered into commitments and designed policies to make their services inclusive and accessible for persons with disabilities. In practice, however, persons with disabilities are still excluded from participating in humanitarian action and cannot access the services they need.
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Climate Change Litigation before the African Human Rights System: Prospects and Pitfalls Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-07-12 Yusra Suedi, Marie Fall
Africa is a promising regional venue for climate change-related complaints—not least because it is distinctively vulnerable to climate harms. Yet, neither the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights nor the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights have been theatres to such disputes at the time of writing. In anticipation that climate litigation will emerge before the African human rights
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Human Rights Violations, Moral Emotions, and Moral Disengagement: How States use Moral Disengagement to Justify their Human Rights Abuses Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-06-26 Ben Luongo
: States often use strategic messaging in order to defend their human rights violations. Such messaging often relies on promoting exclusionary ideologies or referencing national security doctrines in order to justify a breach of human rights. Less understood, however, are the specific mechanisms that makes such justifications so effective, especially when they aim to excuse unthinkable human rights
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Human Rights Beyond the Colonial Imagination: Legal Empowerment and Techniques of Delegitimation Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-06-14 Emese Ilyés, Melania Chiponda, Sukti Dhital, Meg Satterthwaite, Aakanksha Badkur, Antonio Gutierrez, Bethany Carson, Dyari Mustafa, Felipe Mesel, Francesca Feruglio, Noor Mushin, Poorvi Chitalkar, Shreya Sen, Tim Kakuru, Tom Weerachat, Tyler Walton
Community-based and participatory methods are often marginalized within institutions of power. In this article, we—a group of community advocates, lawyers, scholars, and researchers from across the globe including Thailand, India, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Italy, Iraq, Argentina, the UK, Puerto Rico, and the United States—have collectively gathered ways that community based, participatory legal empowerment
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Using a Volunteer Friends Support Scheme in a Temporary Relocation Programme Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-06-09 Marilyn Crawshaw, Sanna Eriksson, Margot Brown
This article describes a voluntary Friends Scheme that sits alongside a temporary relocation scheme for Human Rights Defenders at the University of York, UK. Members of the Scheme, including the scheme’s co-ordinators, are all volunteers drawn from the local community with a remit to befriend the Defenders, help orient them to the city and UK lifestyles and offer the opportunity to experience day-to-day
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Coverage of Human Rights Issues in Malawian Newsrooms: Challenges and Prospects Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-06-09 Joe Mlenga
This paper is a study of 14 media houses in Malawi and it looks at coverage of human rights issue from various dimensions. A questionnaire was administered to journalists of diverse levels at these media houses to gather data concerning the research. The targeted media houses are located in the main urban centres of Malawi and include radio, television and newspaper publishers. The findings indicate
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‘Faith for Rights’ in Armed Conflict: Lessons from Practice Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-06-08 Ibrahim Salama, Michael Wiener
This article examines how the Beirut Declaration and its 18 Commitments on ‘Faith for Rights’ have been implemented in practice since 2017. It focuses on case studies from Afghanistan, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and hypothetical ‘cases to debate’ of the #Faith4Rights toolkit. The latter provides a peer-to-peer learning methodology to share the experiences of faith-based actors in
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Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence in Practice: Prohibiting or Facilitating Investment in Conflict Affected Areas? Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-05-26 Daniel Aguirre, Irene Pietropaoli
Companies operating or seeking to invest in conflict-affected areas are expected to carry out a heightened human rights due diligence (HRDD) process to identify, address and mitigate their impact on human rights and the conflict. The heightened HRDD process put forward in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and clarified by the UN Working Group constitutes best practice but raises
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Activating Citizenship through NGO-Led Litigation: Shaping the Neoliberal State to Eradicate Manual Scavenging in India Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-05-26 Alena Kahle, Ole Hammerslev
Sanitation work in India is largely carried out by the historically marginalized Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, without proper devices or safety gear, as so-called ‘manual scavenging’. To counter manual scavenging, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have turned to courts and litigation as a form of resistance. This brought about some successes: manual scavenging was repeatedly outlawed
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Ethics and Epistemic Injustice in the Global South: A Response to Hopman’s Human Rights Exceptionalism as Justification for Covert Research Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-05-03 Kirandeep Kaur, Ben Grama, Nairita Roy Chaudhuri, Maria Jose Recalde-Vela
This article investigates the risk of epistemic injustice in conducting sociolegal research in Global South contexts. Diving into the ethical imperatives of honouring knowledge, agency, and voice, we challenge extractive research practices and reframe participants as active, legitimate bearers of knowledge. Covert research is a highly controversial research practice which bypasses the right to informed
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Movement Lawyering and the Caring Society Litigation Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-05-03 Julia Hernandez, Anne Levesque
In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal issued a landmark ruling in First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada v. Canada finding that the government of Canada was racially and ethnically discriminating against First Nations children and their families in its funding and delivery of child welfare services to them. This ruling did not result from an isolated legal case; it was the result
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Visibility or Impact? International Efforts to Defend LGBTQI+ Rights in Africa Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-04-28 Stephen Brown
Most struggles for LGBTQI+ rights play out at the national level. However, the question of sexual and gender minorities’ rights periodically appears as a point of friction in international relations as well. This article analyses the question of international efforts to defend LGBTQI+ rights in countries of the Global South, with a particular focus on Western countries’ endeavours in Africa. Combining
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The EU’s international Relations in the Practice of Criticizing the Human Rights Record of Russia Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-04-28 Islam Jusufi
The European Union’s international relations are organized into a series of practices that regulate its relationships with the third states, including with Russia. The primary practice is that of ‘criticizing’ the human rights record of Russia, and this represents a major part of the EU’s engagement with Russia. This article analyses the practice of EU criticism of Russia regarding its implementation
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Change at the Top: The Necessity of Transitional Leadership Provisions in the Laws of Independent State-Based Institutions Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-04-28 Kirsten Roberts Lyer
The leadership of independent state-based bodies is critical to their independence and proper functioning. Where leadership ends, either within or outside of the term of office, legislation must ensure that the institution can continue to function. Transitional leadership provisions provide for the continuation of the powers of office in the event of the absence of the mandate holder. Through a textual
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Getting Pragmatic about Human Rights Pragmatism Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-04-22 James A Goldston
This review essay considers Jack Snyder’s Human Rights for Pragmatists: Social Power in Modern Times and explores the book’s key implications for human rights practitioners and their organizations.
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Amicus Curiae Applications in Malawi—Reflections of a South African Practitioner Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Sheena Swemmer
Amicus curiae applications are important as they aim to raise awareness for the court around aspects of a case that might otherwise be overlooked. This is especially significant in cases dealing with the intersection of various rights of vulnerable individuals such as women and children. In this practice note, I discuss the amicus intervention of the South African non-profit organization, the Centre
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The Right to the Truth as an Enabler for Missing Persons Efforts Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-04-10 Melanie Klinkner
The right to the truth is often mentioned in conjunction with missing persons cases and is recognized for its propensity to function as an enabling right, helping victims and families to claim their rights. While families, survivors, communities, specialist agencies, NGOs and international organizations readily invoke the right to the truth, the terminology used in the context can be ambiguous, overlapping
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Where are the Voices and Experiences of Persons with Disabilities/Disabled People in Transitional Justice Research and Practice? Journal of Human Rights Practice Pub Date : 2023-04-10 Janine Natalya Clark
The ever-expanding field of transitional justice has, to date, largely overlooked the issue of disability, even though there is growing research on disability and armed conflict. Relatedly, little attention has been given to the accessibility of transitional justice processes. This Policy and Practice Note, the idea for which developed from the author’s own personal experiences and reflections as a