Promoting and enforcing human rights

Promoting and enforcing human rights

State Sovereignty

• State means country  

• Sovereignty is part of being a nation state 
  

• Each state has the right to choose whether or not to recognise other countries or IGOs (e.g. the UN)

• Each country is able to make its own decisions without outside interference.

• It has absolute control over its legal system 

Open Ended

What does the bombing of hospitals in Syria show about the role of state sovereignty in protecting human rights?

State Sov. and Human Rights

• Human rights instruments (e.g. the ICCPR) are made to protect people from human rights abuses- INCLUDING those committed by the state. BUT States have power to sign, ratify, monitor and enforce their own compliance 

• Means that each govt. is expected to put human rights above ALL OTHER INTERESTS (e.g. the US often puts "the national interest" ahead of human rights issues)
  
  
  

State Sov and HR

• There is some good though...

• Some govt. have been conceding/giving away parts of their sovereignty in order to be part of something beyond states and "higher powers" to decide on human rights issues (e.g. the European Court of Human Rights) 
  

• Since the 2005 UN Summit, there has been a thing called the Responsibility to Protect.

Open Ended

R2P is the answer to the problem posed by S.S. Using the case of Libya, evaluate this statement.

The role of the UN- the good

• The International Bill of Rights

• The creation of R2P

• The SDGs and MDGs have improved many human rights issues

• Election monitoring for democracy

• Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)- promotion

Open Ended

How have the UN helped to promote and improve human rights through the SDGs and MDGs?