Fifty years of human rights: An emergent global regime

Policy Sciences

Volumn 32, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 79-93

  Montgomery, John D ^a  

^a HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

HUMAN RIGHTS; INTERNATIONAL LAW;

EID: 0033375103     PISSN: 00322687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1004535707239     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. The first appearance of the term 'human rights' in an international document was at Dumbarton Oaks in 1944, echoing sentiments stated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in his Four Freedoms speech of 1941. Louis Henkin, 'Human Rights: Ideology and Aspiration, Reality and Prospect.' Human Rights Initiative, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1998.
2. David P. Forsythe, 'Human Rights: Fifty Years after the Universal Declaration,' PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. xxxi No. 3, Sept., 1998, pp. 507-511.
3. Louis Henkin, 'U.S. Ratification of Human Rights Conventions: The Ghost of Senator Bricker,' American Journal of International Law, Vol. 89, No. 2, Apr. 1995, pp. 341-349.
4. United Nations, Human Rights: International Instruments, Chart of Ratifications as at 31 December 1994, New York and Geneva, 1995. Several additional states have ratified these instruments since then.
5. Such as (1) refusal to undertake any treaty obligation inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution; (2) rejection of any change in existing laws or practices; (3) rejection of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice; (4) insistence upon the 'federalism clause' that protects the sovereignty of the states; (5) requirement that human rights agreements be 'non-self-executing.' Louis Henkin, 'U S. Ratification of Human Rights Conventions: The Ghost of Senator Bricker,' American Journal of International Law, Vol. 89, No. 2, Apr. 1995, pp. 341-349. See also Henry J. Steiner and Philip Alston, International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), pp. 34, 756-779, 918-924.
6. Such as (1) refusal to undertake any treaty obligation inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution; (2) rejection of any change in existing laws or practices; (3) rejection of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice; (4) insistence upon the 'federalism clause' that protects the sovereignty of the states; (5) requirement that human rights agreements be 'non-self-executing.' Louis Henkin, 'U S. Ratification of Human Rights Conventions: The Ghost of Senator Bricker,' American Journal of International Law, Vol. 89, No. 2, Apr. 1995, pp. 341-349. See also Henry J. Steiner and Philip Alston, International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), pp. 34, 756-779, 918-924.
7. Steiner and Alston, cited, p. 774. The General Comment No. 24 of the Human Rights Committee implied that such reservations do not necessarily exempt a state from application of the Covenant which they had ratified (p. 776).
8. Steiner and Alston, cited, pp. 448-455.
9. Steiner and Alston, cited, p. 492.
10. William Archer, 'New Development Approaches and the Adaptability of Other National Agencies, the Case of the World Bank,' International Organization, 37, 415-439, 1983, cited in Van B. Weigel, A Unified Theory of Global Development (New York: Praeger, 1989), p. 199.
11. William Archer, 'New Development Approaches and the Adaptability of Other National Agencies, the Case of the World Bank,' International Organization, 37, 415-439, 1983, cited in Van B. Weigel, A Unified Theory of Global Development (New York: Praeger, 1989), p. 199.
12. In addition to the European regional body, Latin America established a working regional body. W. Michael Reisman, 'Practical Matters for Consideration in the Establishment of a Regional Human Rights Mechanism: Lessons from the Inter-American Experience,' St. Louis-Warsaw Transatlantic Law Journal, 1995, pp. 87-101.
13. Steiner and Alston, cited, pp. 734, 747.
14. Steiner and Alston, cited, pp. 350, 381.
15. See John P. Pace, 'The Development of Human Rights Law in the United Nations, the Control and Monitoring Machinery,' International Social Science Journal, No. 158, Dec., 1998, pp. 499-512.
16. Judith Eleanor Innes, 'Human Rights Reporting as a Policy Tool: An Examination of the State Department Country Reports,' in Thomas B. Jabine and Richard P. Claude. Human Rights and Statistics, Getting the Record Straight (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992), pp. 235-257; American Watch, Helsinki Watch, and Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights, Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1984 (New York, May 1985), quoted in George A, Lopez and Michael Stohl, 'Problems of Concept and Measurement in the Study of Human Rights,' in Jabine and Claude, op. cit., pp. 216-234.
17. Judith Eleanor Innes, 'Human Rights Reporting as a Policy Tool: An Examination of the State Department Country Reports,' in Thomas B. Jabine and Richard P. Claude. Human Rights and Statistics, Getting the Record Straight (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992), pp. 235-257; American Watch, Helsinki Watch, and Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights, Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1984 (New York, May 1985), quoted in George A, Lopez and Michael Stohl, 'Problems of Concept and Measurement in the Study of Human Rights,' in Jabine and Claude, op. cit., pp. 216-234.
18. Judith Eleanor Innes, 'Human Rights Reporting as a Policy Tool: An Examination of the State Department Country Reports,' in Thomas B. Jabine and Richard P. Claude. Human Rights and Statistics, Getting the Record Straight (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992), pp. 235-257; American Watch, Helsinki Watch, and Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights, Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1984 (New York, May 1985), quoted in George A, Lopez and Michael Stohl, 'Problems of Concept and Measurement in the Study of Human Rights,' in Jabine and Claude, op. cit., pp. 216-234.
19. David Jones, 'Human Rights Report: Luxury or Necessity?' Foreign Service Journal, May 1998, pp. 13-15.
20. David L. Banks, 'New Patterns of Oppression: An Updated Analysis of Human Rights Data,' in Jabine and Claude, cited, p. 389.
21. Douglas A. Samuelson and Herbert F. Spirer, 'Use of Incomplete and Distorted Data in Inference About Human Rights Violations,' in Thomas B. Jabine and Richard P. Claude, cited, pp. 63-64.
22. Governments are sensitive to U.S. Department of State reports on their human rights record, for example, at least to judge from the complaints they register. Judith Eleanor Innes, 'Human Rights Reporting as a Policy Tool: An Examination of the State Department Country Reports,' in Jabine and Claude, cited, pp. 235-257, at 250.
23. James C. Strouse and Richard P. Claude, 'Empirical Comparative Rights Research: Some Preliminary Tests of Development Hypotheses,' in Richard P. Claude, ed., Comparative Human Rights, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976, pp. 51-67, esp. p. 54.
24. See Robert Justin Goldstein, 'The Limitations of Using Quantitative Data in Studying Human Rights Abuses,' in Thomas B. Jabine and Richard P. Claude, cited, pp. 35-77, and Kenneth A. Bollen, 'Political Rights and Political Liberties in Nations: An Evaluation of Human Rights Measures,' ibid., pp. 203-205, 223; George Lopez and Michael Stohl, 'Problem of Concept and Measurement in the Study of Human Rights,' in Thomas Jabine and Richard Claude, cited, p. 226.
25. See Robert Justin Goldstein, 'The Limitations of Using Quantitative Data in Studying Human Rights Abuses,' in Thomas B. Jabine and Richard P. Claude, cited, pp. 35-77, and Kenneth A. Bollen, 'Political Rights and Political Liberties in Nations: An Evaluation of Human Rights Measures,' ibid., pp. 203-205, 223; George Lopez and Michael Stohl, 'Problem of Concept and Measurement in the Study of Human Rights,' in Thomas Jabine and Richard Claude, cited, p. 226.
26. See Robert Justin Goldstein, 'The Limitations of Using Quantitative Data in Studying Human Rights Abuses,' in Thomas B. Jabine and Richard P. Claude, cited, pp. 35-77, and Kenneth A. Bollen, 'Political Rights and Political Liberties in Nations: An Evaluation of Human Rights Measures,' ibid., pp. 203-205, 223; George Lopez and Michael Stohl, 'Problem of Concept and Measurement in the Study of Human Rights,' in Thomas Jabine and Richard Claude, cited, p. 226.
27. These correlations were performed for Asia and the Pacific by Minghong Lu at the Pacific Basin Research Center, Soka University of America.
28. The Freedom House distinction between 'political' and 'civil' has been dismissed as 'ill-defined, almost redundant.' Douglas A. Samuelson and Herbert F. Spirer, 'Use of Incomplete and Distorted Data in Inference About Human Rights Violations,' in Thomas B. Jabine and Richard P. Claude, cited, p. 60, n. 53.
29. Minghong Lu calculations for the Pacific Basin Research Center.
30. The distressing events described in Human Rights Watch, World Report 1999 (New York, 1998) in Freedom House, Freedom in the World, Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1996-97 (New York, 1997), and in Amnesty International, International Report 1998 (New York, 1998) are the result of policies more than sheer vindictiveness, especially when they involve groups of people, rather than individual victims. Freedom House's World Survey of Economic Freedom (New Brunswick, 1996) also reports on both laws and their implementation.
31. The distressing events described in Human Rights Watch, World Report 1999 (New York, 1998) in Freedom House, Freedom in the World, Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1996-97 (New York, 1997), and in Amnesty International, International Report 1998 (New York, 1998) are the result of policies more than sheer vindictiveness, especially when they involve groups of people, rather than individual victims. Freedom House's World Survey of Economic Freedom (New Brunswick, 1996) also reports on both laws and their implementation.
32. The distressing events described in Human Rights Watch, World Report 1999 (New York, 1998) in Freedom House, Freedom in the World, Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1996-97 (New York, 1997), and in Amnesty International, International Report 1998 (New York, 1998) are the result of policies more than sheer vindictiveness, especially when they involve groups of people, rather than individual victims. Freedom House's World Survey of Economic Freedom (New Brunswick, 1996) also reports on both laws and their implementation.
33. The distressing events described in Human Rights Watch, World Report 1999 (New York, 1998) in Freedom House, Freedom in the World, Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1996-97 (New York, 1997), and in Amnesty International, International Report 1998 (New York, 1998) are the result of policies more than sheer vindictiveness, especially when they involve groups of people, rather than individual victims. Freedom House's World Survey of Economic Freedom (New Brunswick, 1996) also reports on both laws and their implementation.
34. Hirabayashi v. US, 1942 (320 US 8), Korematsu v. US, 1944 (323 US 214), Ex Parte Endo, 1944 (323 US 283), and finally Korematsu v. US. 1984 (584 F. Supp. 1406).
35. These and other examples appear in John D. Montgomery, ed., Human Rights: Positive Policies in Asia and the Pacific Rim (Hollis, NH: Hollis Pub. Co., 1998).
36. On corporate contributions to such opportunities, including multinational companies, see World Bank, Foreign Direct Investment and Poverty Alleviation, Background Paper (Washington, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992, Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, UN, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992: Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, 1992); United Nations, World Investment Report 1994, Transnational Corporations, Employment and the Workplace (New York, 1994); United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, Transnational Corporations in World Development: Trends and Prospects (New York, 1998).
37. On corporate contributions to such opportunities, including multinational companies, see World Bank, Foreign Direct Investment and Poverty Alleviation, Background Paper (Washington, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992, Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, UN, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992: Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, 1992); United Nations, World Investment Report 1994, Transnational Corporations, Employment and the Workplace (New York, 1994); United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, Transnational Corporations in World Development: Trends and Prospects (New York, 1998).
38. On corporate contributions to such opportunities, including multinational companies, see World Bank, Foreign Direct Investment and Poverty Alleviation, Background Paper (Washington, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992, Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, UN, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992: Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, 1992); United Nations, World Investment Report 1994, Transnational Corporations, Employment and the Workplace (New York, 1994); United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, Transnational Corporations in World Development: Trends and Prospects (New York, 1998).
39. On corporate contributions to such opportunities, including multinational companies, see World Bank, Foreign Direct Investment and Poverty Alleviation, Background Paper (Washington, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992, Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, UN, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992: Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, 1992); United Nations, World Investment Report 1994, Transnational Corporations, Employment and the Workplace (New York, 1994); United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, Transnational Corporations in World Development: Trends and Prospects (New York, 1998).
40. On corporate contributions to such opportunities, including multinational companies, see World Bank, Foreign Direct Investment and Poverty Alleviation, Background Paper (Washington, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992, Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, UN, 1998); United Nations, World Investment Report 1992: Transnational Corporations as Engines of Growth (New York, 1992); United Nations, World Investment Report 1994, Transnational Corporations, Employment and the Workplace (New York, 1994); United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, Transnational Corporations in World Development: Trends and Prospects (New York, 1998).
41. Positive reinforcement of human rights became the goal of new ventures to educate people systematically regarding the content and pursuit of their rights. George J. Andreopoulos and Richard Pierre Claude, eds., Human Rights Education for the Twenty-first Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997).
42. Onuma Yasuaki, 'In Quest of Inter-Civilizational Human Rights: "Universal" vs. "Relative" Human Rights Viewed from an Asian Perspective,' Asian Pacific Affairs, Asia Foundation, Occasional Paper No. 2, Mar. 1996, citing Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Japan's Official Development Assistance 1994 Annual Report (Tokyo, 1995). Susan J. Pharr identified similar trends. Susan J. Pharr, 'Japanese Aid in the New World Order,' in Craig Garby and Mary Brown Bullock, eds., Japan: A New Kind of Superpower?' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), pp. 159-180, at p. 169. But David M. Potter notes that Japanese aid still reflects 'interest accommodation' more than ideological commitment. Japan's Foreign Aid to Thailand and the Philippines, (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1996).
43. Onuma Yasuaki, 'In Quest of Inter-Civilizational Human Rights: "Universal" vs. "Relative" Human Rights Viewed from an Asian Perspective,' Asian Pacific Affairs, Asia Foundation, Occasional Paper No. 2, Mar. 1996, citing Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Japan's Official Development Assistance 1994 Annual Report (Tokyo, 1995). Susan J. Pharr identified similar trends. Susan J. Pharr, 'Japanese Aid in the New World Order,' in Craig Garby and Mary Brown Bullock, eds., Japan: A New Kind of Superpower?' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), pp. 159-180, at p. 169. But David M. Potter notes that Japanese aid still reflects 'interest accommodation' more than ideological commitment. Japan's Foreign Aid to Thailand and the Philippines, (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1996).
44. Onuma Yasuaki, 'In Quest of Inter-Civilizational Human Rights: "Universal" vs. "Relative" Human Rights Viewed from an Asian Perspective,' Asian Pacific Affairs, Asia Foundation, Occasional Paper No. 2, Mar. 1996, citing Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Japan's Official Development Assistance 1994 Annual Report (Tokyo, 1995). Susan J. Pharr identified similar trends. Susan J. Pharr, 'Japanese Aid in the New World Order,' in Craig Garby and Mary Brown Bullock, eds., Japan: A New Kind of Superpower?' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), pp. 159-180, at p. 169. But David M. Potter notes that Japanese aid still reflects 'interest accommodation' more than ideological commitment. Japan's Foreign Aid to Thailand and the Philippines, (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1996).
45. Onuma Yasuaki, 'In Quest of Inter-Civilizational Human Rights: "Universal" vs. "Relative" Human Rights Viewed from an Asian Perspective,' Asian Pacific Affairs, Asia Foundation, Occasional Paper No. 2, Mar. 1996, citing Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Japan's Official Development Assistance 1994 Annual Report (Tokyo, 1995). Susan J. Pharr identified similar trends. Susan J. Pharr, 'Japanese Aid in the New World Order,' in Craig Garby and Mary Brown Bullock, eds., Japan: A New Kind of Superpower?' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), pp. 159-180, at p. 169. But David M. Potter notes that Japanese aid still reflects 'interest accommodation' more than ideological commitment. Japan's Foreign Aid to Thailand and the Philippines, (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1996).
46. British White Paper 'Eliminating World Poverty - A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century' was discussed in the House of Commons, 5 November 1997. Press Office, Department for International Development, 54 Victoria St., London SW1E5JL.
47. Margaret E. Kech and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders, Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998).
48. The latent moral obligations of sovereignty are discussed in J. Samuel Barkin, 'The Evolution of the Constitution of Sovereignty and the Emergence of Human Rights Norms,' Millennium, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1998, pp. 229-252.
49. Susan Strange, The Retreat of the State, The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996). A projection of the increased development of international legal standards from 1648-2110 appears in Weigel, op. cit., pp. 212-213 and 217-232.
50. Susan Strange, The Retreat of the State, The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996). A projection of the increased development of international legal standards from 1648-2110 appears in Weigel, op. cit., pp. 212-213 and 217-232.
51. Robert N Stavins, 'Policy Instruments for Climate Change: How Can National Governments Address a Global Problem?' Legal Forum, University of Chicago, Volume 1997, pp. 293-329.
52. Roy Goodson and Phil Williams, 'Strengthening Cooperation Against Transnational Crimes,' Survival, Vol. 40, No. 8, Autumn 1998, pp. 66-88.
53. Jonathan A. Fox and L. David Brown, eds., The Struggle for Accountability, The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements (Cambridge, MA., the MIT Press, 1998); Robert Wade, 'Greening the Bank: The Struggle over the Environment, 1975-1995,' in Devesh Kapar, John P. Lewis, and Richard Webb, eds., The World Bank: The First Half-Century (Washington: Brookings Institution, 1997).
54. Jonathan A. Fox and L. David Brown, eds., The Struggle for Accountability, The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements (Cambridge, MA., the MIT Press, 1998); Robert Wade, 'Greening the Bank: The Struggle over the Environment, 1975-1995,' in Devesh Kapar, John P. Lewis, and Richard Webb, eds., The World Bank: The First Half-Century (Washington: Brookings Institution, 1997).
55. In 1992 Business for Social Responsibility was organized in San Francisco. Its 1,400 members represent an annual turnover of $1.5 trillion. The Council on Economic Priorities has formulated a set of standards for multinational corporations that include human rights elements. Economist, Dec. 5-11, 1998, 'Human Rights Survey,' p. 14.
56. United Nations, International Instruments, Chart of Ratifications as at 31 Dec. 1994 (New York: 1995).
57. George J. Andreopoulos and Richard Pierre Claude, eds., Human Rights Education for the Twenty-First Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997).