POLITICAL SCIENCE

POLS 262

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

Beth Dougherty

Fall 2007 MW 2-4:00pm

MI 112B x2084

Course description:

Over the past fifty years there has been a sea change in the international understanding of the concepts of human dignity and fundamental freedoms that has radically altered the practice of international politics. States no longer can hide behind the doctrine of sovereignty, violating their citizens’ rights with impunity. Despite such progress, what constitutes a human right is still the subject of fierce controversy. This course investigates specific cases of human rights violations and the international and domestic responses to these abuses. Much of the course will focus on the most serious abuses: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture. We will examine the controversies surrounding the concept of humanitarian intervention, as well as the accountability mechanisms societies recovering from mass abuses have available to them. We will also examine several issues that illustrate the struggle between the ideas of universal rights and cultural relativism.

Course readings:

There are four required books, all of them available in the bookstore; when available they are also on reserve in the library.

Bales, Kevin. Disposable People (2nd ed.). University of California Press, 2004.

Drakulic, Slavenka. S: A Novel of the Balkans. Penguin Books, 2001.

Holzgrefe, J.L. & Robert Keohane. Humanitarian Intervention. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Minow, Martha. Between Vengeance and Forgiveness. Beacon Press, 1999.

There are also REQUIRED readings on reserve at the library. There is a lot of reading for this course; if you fall behind you may not be able to catch up. If you are not willing to do the reading, please do not take this course. Full text of documents is available on-line for some organizations: Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org, Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org, United States Department of State, www.state.gov. Relevant UN sites include www.un.org, www.unhcr.ch, www.unicef.org, www.icty.org, and www.ictr.org. For longer Amnesty and HRW reports, read at least the summary. Searching for these reports is sometimes easier to do through google, using the document’s title.

Course assignments:

Three 6-8 page papers, each worth 20%.

We will conduct three discussions/presentations during the term: the international human rights architecture (DUE SEPT 13), societal responses to mass atrocities (DUE OCT 13), and humanitarian intervention (DUE NOV 1). You are expected to have completed your research prior to the scheduled class discussions, but papers will not be due until after the discussions so that you may incorporate new information and ideas. Papers MUST include both citations and a bibliography. Failure to include both will result in the instructor handing your paper back without a grade for a redraft.

NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT SUBSTANTIAL PENALTY. The grade will be based on the thoroughness of your research, the accuracy of your positions, the development of your arguments, and the clarity of your writing.

Current issues project, including a 10 -12 page paper, with a re-write option, worth 25% of the grade.

You may choose from one of five topics: marriage and sex; female genital mutilation; child labor; the death penalty and prison conditions in the U.S.; and freedom of religion. All of these categories represent contested practices, where defenders often claim the practice is protected because it is part of the local culture or because it safeguards national security, while critics cite the practice as a violation of human rights. Once everyone has signed up for a topic (you must choose a topic by November 6), you will be assigned to a group. Each group is responsible for presenting the debate surrounding their topic(s) during the first hour of the day it is scheduled in the syllabus, with the second hour for further discussion and lecture. The accompanying paper should identify the practice and discuss its scope; explain what causes the practice; lay out the debate between defenders and critics of the practice, and assess these arguments in light of the relevant human rights conventions and norms; and provide a conclusion summarizing key points of the paper. The paper should be analytical, not descriptive. It MUST include both citations and a bibliography. The original, finished draft is due on NOV 22; papers will be returned after I have read them and a second due date will be provided. Late papers will be subjected to a substantial grade penalty.

Class participation, worth 15% of the grade.

You are expected to make regular and informed contributions to class discussions, and to play an active role in in-class simulations. We will routinely hold discussions of the readings and films, and you are expected to be prepared to critically analyze the materials assigned for those discussions. You are also expected to attend class regularly. Repeated absences will result in a significant lowering of your participation grade, and I reserve the right to fail you for the course in the event of excessive absences.

Please note: I do not accept electronic submissions, except as a means of verifying you met the deadline. You MUST submit a hard copy to me.

Course outline

Aug 30 First day – syllabus and introduction

Sept 4 Early origins of human rights / international law, the United Nations, and the relevant covenants

Sept 6 media coverage / NGOs & networks

Readings: Susan Moeller, “Regarding the Pain of Others: Media, Bias and the Coverage of International Disasters, Journal of International Affairs 59, 2 (Spring – Summer 2006): pp. 173 – 197 [ASAP]; Sherry Ricchiardi, “Déjà vu,” American Journalism Review 27, 1 (Feb – Mar 20050: pp. 34 – 42 [ASAP]; Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 2003, Chapters 4 – 8.

Sept 11 human rights architecture presentations

PAPERS DUE SEPT 13 IN CLASS

Sept 13, 18 Genocide – Rwanda as case study

Readings: view Ghosts of Rwanda (2 hours); excerpts from Human Rights Watch* Leave None to Tell the Story (pp. 1-27, 65-92, 199-221, 222-262).

Sept 20, 25 Crimes against humanity – the use of rape in Bosnia

Readings: Drakulic, S: A Novel of the Balkans (finish by class time on Sept 25); view Calling the Ghosts (60 mins).

Sept 27,
Oct 2 war crimes - child soldiers in Sierra Leone & Liberia

Readings: P. W. Singer, Children at War, pp.70-115; Rachel Brett & Irma Specht, Young Soldiers: Why They Choose to Fight, pp. 9-76; view Return to Freetown (60 mins).

Oct 4 criminal tribunals: ICTY, ICTR, SCSL, IST, ICC

Readings: Minow, Chapter 2 -3.

Oct 9 truth and reconciliation commissions

Readings: Minow, Chapter 4, 6.

Oct 11 Discuss papers and Minow book

PAPERS DUE OCT 13 BY 5PM – ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS!

Oct 23, 25 Humanitarian intervention

Readings: Holzgrefe, Humanitarian Intervention (finish by class time on Oct 30)

Oct 30 Debate on humanitarian intervention

PAPERS DUE NOV 1 IN CLASS

Nov 1 Disappearing & torture

Readings: Tina Rosenberg “The Good Sailor,” in Children of Cain; Fida Mohammed et al., “Understanding Torture and Torturers,” Journal of Evolutionary Psychology (August 2002): p. 131 – 148 [ASAP]; Daniel Rothenberg, "What We Have Seen Has Been Terrible": Public Presentational Torture and the Communicative Logic of State Terror,” Albany Law Review (Winter 2003): pp. 465-500 [ASAP].

Nov 6 the war on terror

Readings: Jane Mayer, “The Memo – Alberto J. Mora,” The New Yorker 82, 1 (February 27, 2006): pp. 32 - + [ASAP]; Steven Lukes, “Liberal Democratic Torture,” British Journal of Political Science 36, 1 (January 2006): 1 – 17 [ASAP]; Jennifer Moore, “Practicing What We Preach: Humane Treatment for Detainees in the War on Terror,” Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 34, 1 (Spring 2006): 33 – 62 [ASAP].

Sign up for current issues groups in class

NOV 8 No class – symposium. Required attendance at Ivan Stone lecture.

Nov 13, 15 Slavery & sex-trafficking

Reading: Bales, Disposable People

Nov 20 Refugees and internally displaced people

Readings: Fiona Terry, Condemned to Repeat? The Paradox of Humanitarian Action, Chapters 1, 5; HRW, Struggling Through Peace: Return and Resettlement in Angola, August 2003.

NOV 22 No class – Happy Thanksgiving

CURRENT ISSUES PAPERS DUE AT NOON

Nov 27 Sex and marriage

Readings: HRW, Honoring the Killers, (Jordan) April 2004; HRW, Divorced from Justice, (Egypt) December 2004; Forum on Marriage and Rights of Women and Girls, Early Marriage: Sexual Exploitation and the Human Rights of Women and Girls, November 2001 (www.crin.org, under resources, search for “marriage).

Nov 29 FGM

Readings: Catharine Annas, “Irreversible Error: The Power and Prejudice of Female Genital Mutilation” (on reserve); Leigh A. Trueblood, “Female Genital Mutilation: A Discussion of International Human Rights Instruments, Cultural Sovereignty and Dominance Theory” Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 28, 4 (Fall 2000): pp. 437 - + [ASAP].

Dec 4 child labor

Readings: Luis F. Lopez-Calva, “Child Labor: Myths, Theories and Facts,” Journal of International Affairs 55 (Fall 2001): pp. 59-75 [ASAP]; Elliot J. Schrage and Anthony P. Ewing, “The Cocoa Industry and Child Labour,” The Journal of Corporate Citizenship 18 (Summer 2005): pp. 99 – 113 [ASAP].

Dec 6 death penalty and prison conditions in U.S

Readings: Amnesty International, Death by Discrimination: The Continuing Role of Race in Death Penalty, April 2003, AMR 51/046/2003; Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, The Rest of Their Lives: Life Without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States, October 2005 (http://hrw.org/reports/2005/us1005/); HRW, No Escape: Male Rape in US Prisons, April 2001; Amnesty, The Execution of Mentally Ill Offenders, January 2006, AMR 51/003/2006.

Dec 11 freedom of religion

Readings: HRW, Memorandum to the Turkish Government on HRW’s Concerns with Regard to Academic Freedom in Higher Education (head scarves), June 2004; HRW, Dangerous Meditation: China’s Campaign Against FalunGong, February 2002.

Dec 13 Final reflections, evaluations, 7-10pm

Human rights architecture project

You will research one of the following organizations:

UNICEF Amnesty International Catholic Relief Services

UNHCR Human Rights Watch International Rescue Committee

UNHCHR Oxfam Medecins sans Frontieres

CARE International Crisis Group International Committee of the Red Cross / Crescent

Your paper should answer the following general questions: What are the origins of the organization? Who comprises its membership? How is it organized? What are its mission & goals? What is its budget and where does it receive its funding? This section should be largely factual. The second section of the paper should investigate and assess the organization’s response to either the Asian tsunami or to the crisis in Darfur. What kinds of activities / actions has it undertaken? How effective has it been? What strengths does it have when dealing with a humanitarian emergency? What challenges / obstacles does it confront in trying to fulfill its mission in such situations?

Societal responses to mass atrocities

Choose a country that has used a transitional justice mechanism, and evaluate the efficacy of the effort. You should also include the origins of the institution (not a history of the conflict or the peace settlement, but how/why the mechanism was chosen). The effort does not need to be international – several countries have held domestic trials or undertaken TRCs without international participation. Some countries, including Rwanda and Sierra Leone, have used multiple mechanisms – choose one. This paper should be primarily analytical – What did the response accomplish? What obstacles did it face? What lessons can be drawn from this experience about the particular transitional justice mechanism utilized?

Humanitarian intervention

Choose a situation where the international community could have intervened for humanitarian purposes (or did intervene): should the international community have intervened? Why did it intervene / not intervene? If any, what other arguments could have been employed to defend a decision to intervene / not intervene. What lessons can be drawn about when and where and how humanitarian intervention should take place?

OR

Develop a set of criteria to guide decisions about humanitarian intervention – ie, when, where and why should the international community intervene to prevent / end widespread and grave violations of fundamental human rights?

For the purposes of this paper, humanitarian intervention is defined as:

The threat or the use of force across state borders by a state or group of states aimed at preventing or ending widespread and grave violations of the fundamental human rights of individuals other than its own citizens, without the permission of the state within whose territory force is applied.

Current issues project

You may choose from one of the following categories: marriage and sex – includes child / forced/ arranged marriage, divorce, adultery, honor killings; female genital mutilation; child labor; the United States: death penalty and prison conditions – includes male rape, super maximum security prisons; and freedom of religion – includes wearing headscarves in Turkey and Europe, treatment of religious minorities, persecution of Muslims in Uzbekistan, Tibet, FalunGong.