International Human Rights after WWII - Essay Example

? International Human Rights Number: Why Human Rights entered the International Political Process Since WWII and How this was done What are Human Rights? The general philosophy of human rights has been designed to address various general questions as pertaining to the universality, existence, legal status, content, nature, legal status and existence of human rights. This section seeks to show what exactly are these human rights, establish why and how they entered into the international political process since WWII, highlight any changes that might have occurred in the character of international relations as well as ascertain the actor that is best suited to pursue international human rights while analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each actor. What are Human Rights? Human Rights can broadly be defined as a set of various international norms that have been designed to help in the protection of all people all over the world from any form of severe social, legal and political abuses. Common examples of human rights generally include the right of an individual not to face any torture, the right to have freedom of religion as well as the undeniable right for one to have affair trial in the event that they happen to be charged with a crime (Orend 2002). The main sources of the current versions of human rights include the International Bill of Rights which emerged as the United Nations, 1948b Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various treaties and human rights documents (Mcneill, St. Clair and St. Clair 2009). Various human rights treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) have resorted to creating various treaty bodies to help them effectively monitor the implementation and compliance of these treaties (Orend 2002). How and why did Human Rights Enter the International Political Process since WWII? After the horrors that were witnessed during the Second World War, there was a broad consensus that emerged at the international level that was keen in demanding that the individual human being should essentially be placed under the protection of the international community. The atrocities that had been committed against certain specific ethic groups as a result of anarchy had shown that it was possible for national governments to gravely fail to protect their citizen’s liberty and lives. As such, since it had been established that the provision of protective mechanisms at the domestic level alone was not enough to provide enough sufficiently stable safeguards, it was thus necessary to entrust the planned new world organization with the role of guaranteeing the enforcement of human rights on a universal scale. Some Latin American countries requested that a full code of human rights be included in the United Nations Charter at the 1945 San Francisco conference so as to promote the Universalism of these rights. Due to various time constraints it was not possible for the motion to successful at that stage. The commission on Human Rights created a draft of the International Bill of Rights and drafted the Universal Declaration of Human rights, which was adopted by the General Assembly on December 10th, 1948. This Declaration of Human Rights and two UN international treaties are what are collectively commonly referred to as the International Bill of Human Rights (Mcneill, St. Clair and St. Clair 2009). What has Changed about the Character of International Relations since WWII Since the end of the Second World War, there have been rampant changes in the nature and content of international relations. Some of these changes include the fact that the politico-geographic setting of the world has undergone major changes. This factor has been further emphasized by decolonization that lead to the materialization of an enlarged number of new Sovereign nations that seek to assert themselves in the international community of nations (Fry 2002). After the Second World War, the number of nations that where members of the U.N. was seen to increase from 51 members in 1945 to 155 members. Quiet diplomacy which advocates for a variety of soft diplomatic approaches has quickly become the most preferred diplomatic approach internationally. Since the end of WWII, a rapid increase in population through out the world has been witnessed, this burst in population growth has been largely been uneven with China and India recording the greatest growth rates. Increased population in a country results in faster draining of the food, mineral and energy resources in a country along with shrinking living space, housing shortages and overcrowding problems, the increased pressure on education, public health and transportation eventually leads to competition, social friction, and eventual conflict. The over-populated countries end up exerting undue pressure on some of the less populated countries who naturally resent this undue pressure hence resulting in conflict and tension in international politics (Uhlenberg, 2009). What Kind of Actor is best suited to purse International Human Rights: States, Individuals, NGOs or Intergovernmental Organizations and what are the weaknesses and Strengths of each? Intergovernmental Organizations such as the UNHCR are best suited to pursue International Human Rights. This is because most of the world’s countries are signatories of the United Nations Charter. Intergovernmental Organizations also issue regular review reports and the member countries all seek to protect their human rights records. Some of weaknesses that are exhibited by Intergovernmental Organizations include the fact that the findings made by some of these intergovernmental human rights Committees such as the UNCHR are not enforceable although most states opt to act on the recommendations made by these organizations. It should however be noted that the decisions made by some of these other Intergovernmental Organizations such as the European court of Human Rights are legally binding (Smith, 2009). It is through individual complaints that international human rights are given concrete meaning. It is when they happen to be applied to a person’s real-life situation that the standards that are currently contained in various international human rights treaties happen to find their most direct application. Nongovernmental Organization’s, States and individuals can then be adequately guided by the resulting body of decisions in the interpretation of the text concerned. One of the main disadvantages of individual complaints was that social, cultural and economic rights violations have never been seriously examined. Individual complains using avenues such as the i1503 procedure also tend to be more complex, slow and time consuming while giving unequal opportunities to various state bodies in comparison to individual complainants (Donnely, 2003). Because of their private status, Nongovernmental Organization’s can be able to operate while totally free of any unwanted political control by the various states. As opposed to states which normally have broad foreign policy concerns, Nongovernmental Organization’s do not have these concerns and are thus better placed to be able to press various human rights concerns (Bergner, 2008). As a result of their being rather generally nonpartisan and narrowly focused, Nongovernmental Organization’s are sometimes better placed to raise certain human rights issues within a given country that no other actor can be able to do. Some of the weaknesses that can be attributed to Nongovernmental Organization’s include the fact that they are unable to enforce human rights and must solely rely on the power of persuasion and publicity. In acting as the main actors pursing human rights, states have to their advantage vast resources, publicity capabilities and channels of influence that may not necessarily be at the disposal of other actors. A key weakness that faces states in human rights is that states are normally the key violator of human rights although it can be contested that they are also the principal mechanism for the implementation and protection of human rights in the contemporary world. Conclusion It is evident that International Human Rights play a major role in modern society and their adoption into the main UN charter has served to further promote them internationally a factor that has helped them remain constant in light of the changing international relations landscape. Various actors are currently to pursue International Human Rights although each actor has several strengths and weaknesses. Compare between the three models of International Human rights (Internationalist, Statist and Cosmopolitan) based on the weaknesses and strengths of each Model. Introduction Three models are currently being used to analyze and study International Human Rights. This section seeks to define and compare these three models of International Human Rights based on their weaknesses and Strengths. Description, Strengths and Weaknesses of the Three Models of International Human Rights The traditional Statist model of human rights discourse keenly examines the various issues of human rights all within the established context of the state’s sovereign character or the organic theory of the state. In light of this context, the judicial interpretation of the various human rights must evidently flow from the within the sovereign nation-state and is thus considered to be generally outside the purview of the international community. Under this model of international human rights discourse, any meddling of any sort in the affairs of what is considered to be a sovereign nation-state in regards to the manner in which it chooses to treat or handle its citizens may actually be considered to be a violation of various international laws (Mertus and Helsing, 2006). The Statist model of international human rights is seen to largely draw most of the advantages and disadvantages that are normally associated with states being the main actors pursing international human rights. In doing so, it is seen to rely on realism ideologies that emphasize on state power and security above all else. Some of the advantages of this model include, through the representation of human rights by states, states happen to have large amounts of resources, various diverse channels of influence as well as publicity capabilities that may be required to ensure that international human rights concerns are well addressed. Among the weaknesses commonly associated with the Statist model include the fact that in some instances, states are usually some of the key violators of international human rights (Mertus and Helsing, 2006). The Cosmopolitan model of internal human rights perceives the state as being a major obstacle in the analysis of human rights. The model is more intent on emphasizing on the significance of an individual as opposed to the state. This model perceives the state as being sandwiched from the top by the large global community and from below by some influential Nongovernmental Organization’s and individuals. As such, the state having been severely squashed as per this model, ends up being severely crippled and weak and as a result of this, there happens to be less confrontational issues towards various external challenges on human rights issues (Mertus and Helsing, 2006). One of the key strengths of the Cosmopolitan model of international human rights is that pressure is constantly being exerted on the various nation-states pushing the nation states into ensuring that they try to preserve international human rights. However, this model is seen to exhibit some key weaknesses in respect to the fact that the descriptive power of this Cosmopolitan model happens to be rather small due to its focus on the individual, as states still play a very major part in various world politics affecting international human rights (Mertus and Helsing, 2006). The Internationalist model of human rights discourse is seen to promote the combination of Nongovernmental Organization’s, the society of states, powerful individuals and different informed publics all with the intention of trying to further human rights. This model assumes that human rights activity happen to work in the context of the norms and rules that have been established by the international community. It can indeed be seen that Article 28 (Resolutions 1235 and 1503) of the UDHR happen to give Nongovernmental Organization’s, International Regimes such as the UN and governments the exclusive mandate of being able to intervene in all the international affairs of all nation-states largely on behalf of human rights. It can be seen that various regional organizations such as the European community and the Organization of African Unity happen to support this thesis as evidenced by the various covenants on human rights that they have declared (Mertus and Helsing, 2006). One of the key advantages of the Internationalist model of international human rights is that it is keen to recognize that both the society of states and the International community are important in advancing international human rights and as such it ends up bearing the advantages that accrue to both the Statist and the Cosmopolitan model of international human rights (Mertus and Helsing, 2006). Despite the ever growing importance of various international actors on human rights, the state’s national interests are always regarded as being more important as compare to the various human rights proclamations and ideologies. Conclusion The three models of International Human Rights each have various strengths and weaknesses with the Internationalist model being the best model as a result of its adopting aspects of both the Statist and Cosmopolitan models. Bibliography Bergner, T. J., 2008. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2008: Vols. I and II: Joint Committee Print, U. S. House of Representatives and U. S. Senate. DIANE Publishing. Donnelly, J. 2003. Universal human rights in theory and practice. Ithaca ; London : Cornell University Press. Fry, G. M., 2002. Guide to international relations and diplomacy. London; New York: Continuum. Mcneill, D., St. Clair L. A., and St. Clair L. A., 2009. Global Poverty, Ethics and Human Rights: The Role of Multilateral Organisations. 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