Syllabus
PS531 - THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF HUMAN RIGHTS
North Carolina State University
Fall Semester 2004
Mondays, 1:30-4:20
Caldwell G109
INSTRUCTOR
Professor of Political Science and Public Administration
North Carolina State University
Office: Caldwell 207
Phone (with voice mail): 515-3755
Website: http//:social.chass.ncsu.edu/soroos/
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30-11:30; by appointment,
or on a walk-in basis when the door is open
THE TOPIC AND COURSE OBJECTIVES
This semester PS531 will focus on international law as it has evolved in the field of human rights. While principles pertaining to human rights can be traced back several centuries if not further, most of contemporary human rights law has been established through the United Nations and regional international organizations since World War II. The foundation for human rights law is the documents that have become known as the International Bill of Rights, which include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1948, and two follow-up treaties---the Convention on Political and Civil Rights and the Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which were finalized in 1966. Numerous other declarations and treaties further define human rights as they apply to specific issues, such as those pertaining to slavery, torture, racial discrimination, genocide, imprisonment, the conduct of war, women, children, the disabled, refugees, and indigenous peoples.
International human rights law continues to develop rapidly. Over the past decade the United Nations has convened a series of major conferences to further elaborate and promote human rights, such as the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), the World Summit on Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995), the World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), and the World Conference against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (Durban, South Africa, 2001). Other major developments of past decade were the creation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Criminal Court.
Students taking the course can expect to achieve the following:
a knowledge of the basic types of international law (including customary, treaty law, and resolutions), as well as how international law is established, implemented, and enforced;
an awareness of the origins of the principles of human rights and the historical evolution of human rights;
a sensitivity to variations in the ways human rights are interpreted among different societies, cultures, and nations;
a familiarity with the documents that comprise the International Bill of Rights and the many other treaties that address specific type of human rights;
an understanding of the roles that United Nations bodies, such as the Commission on Human Rights, as well regional international institutions, play in defining, promoting, and enforcing human rights;
an appreciation of the roles played by Amnesty International and other nongovernmental organizations play in advancing the cause of human rights; and
an awareness of the mixed record of the United States in promoting international human rights law.
BOOKS TO PURCHASE
Paul Gordon Lauren, The Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen. 2nd edition, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. (the first edition published in 1998 is an option in that it appears to be identical except for one relatively short chapter that has been added to the 2nd edition)
Jonathan Power, Like Water on Stone: The Story of Amnesty International. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2000.
Janusz Symonides, ed., Human Rights: Concept and Standards. Aldershot, Ashgate, 2000.
SEMINAR PROJECT
Each student taking the course for credit is required to undertake a substantial research project leading to a paper of 15-25 double-spaced pages, which is due on or before Monday, November 22. Papers 12 pages or less will not be considered adequate for fulfilling this assignment. The paper should be on one of the following types of topics.
(a) a specific human rights issue, such as genocide, status of women, refugees, prisoners or war, capital punishment, migrant workers, freedom of religion, or indigenous people;
(b) an international institution, such as the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the European Court of Justice, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees, or the International Criminal Court;
(c) an international conference on human rights, such as the World Conference on Women (1985) or the World Racism Conference (2001);
(d) human rights within a specific country, such as women's rights in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia, political freedoms in China, or the caste system in India, press freedom in Russia, or the death penalty in the United States;
(e) a nongovernmental organization, such as Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, Freedom House, or the World Organization Against Torture (but not Amnesty International, which we will consider as a class); or
(f) an international human rights court case, such as the trial of Slobodan Miloševic, Augusto Pinochet
Generally speaking, narrower topics work better than broad ones, assuming that sufficient information is available.
On-line resources for research:
Internet Sites for Researching Countries
Globalization, Democracy & Term Paper Resource Websites
PROBLEM ESSAYS
In lieu of in-class examinations, each student will write two essays of 7-10 pages which draw upon the course readings and class discussions. The assigned topics will be circulated approximately two weeks before the due dates.
Assignment for Problem Essay #1
Assignment for Problem Essay #2
CLASS SESSIONS
This being a seminar, regular attendance and active participation in class discussions is expected of all students. Assigned readings should be read prior to the class session for which they are assigned. A study guide will be provided for each class session to be of assistance in preparing for class discussions. Each student will make a presentation on his/her seminar project to the class during the last month of the semester.
GRADES
The course will be graded on an A,B,C,D,F basis, with pluses and minuses as appropriate. The grades will be based on the seminar paper (40%), the problem essays (20% each), and class attendance, participation in class discussions, and the paper presentation (20%). The grade scale will be 97-100 (A+), 93-96 (A), 90-92 (A-), 87-89 (B+), 83-86 (B), 80-82 (B-), 77-79 (C+), 73-76 (C), 70-72 (C-). A grade below 60 is failing.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1 (August 23) - Course Introduction (study guide for weeks 1 and 2)
Lauren, introduction, chapters 1-2
Week 2 (August 30) - History and Origins of Human Rights
Symonides, chapter 1
Lauren, chapters 3-4
NO CLASS SEPTEMBER 6 -- LABOR DAY
Week 3 (September 13) - Theories of Human Rights (study guide)
Symonides, chapter 2
Thomas M. Franck, "Are Human Rights Universal?" Foreign Affairs, Vol. 80, No. 1, January/February 2001, pp. 191-204. (electronic reserves)
Samuel Huntington, "The West Unique, Nor Universal," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 75, No. 6, November/December 1996, pp. 28-46 (electronic reserves)
Week 4 (September 20) - The Basics of International Law (study guide) (lecture notes)
Mark W. Janus, An Introduction to International Law (Third Edition, 1999), pp. 9-66 (electronic reserves)
United Nations, Treaty Reference Guide (available on-line)
Websites to check:
Summaries of 25 key human rights treaties (Millennium Report)
Summary of UN Agreements on Human Rights
Fletcher School Multilaterals Project (texts of treaties on human rights)
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Status of Ratifications of Human Rights Treaties
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
Week 5 (September 27) - The International Bill of Rights (study guide)
(Submit seminar paper topic)
Film: "A Question of Rights: The UN Declaration"
Lauren, chapters 5-7
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (read on-line)
Other websites to check:
World Conference on Human Rights (1993)
Week 6 (October 4) - International Institutions and Human Rights (study guide)
Lauren, chapter 8 and Conclusion
Websites to check:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
UN SubCommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
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No Class on October 11
Problem Essay #1 is Due by Wednesday, October 13. 2004 at 5:00 PM
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Week 7 (October 18) - The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations (study guide)
Power, introduction and chapters 4, 7, 9, and 10
Websites to check:
International Commission of Jurists
Week 8 (October 25) - Civil and Political Rights (study guide)
Symonides, chapter 3
Power, prologue, chapters 1, 8 (read chapter 8 first, then the prologue and ch.1 if you have time)
Websites to check:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Freedom House (see in particular the 2001-2002 Survey on Freedom: the Democracy Gap)
UK Home Office World Prison Population List (fifth edition)
US Bureau of Justice---Capital Punishment Statistics
Community of Democracies (see also)
US Department of State: Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
ACE Project of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Week 9 (November 1) - Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (study guide)
Submit Outline of Seminar Paper
Symonides, chapters 4-5
UN Human Development Report 2003 --Overview (recommended)
Human Development Indicators (UN Development Report) (take a glance)
Websites to check:
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen 1995)
World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002)
UN Human Development Report 1999 (Globalization with a Human Face)
UN Human Development Report 2004 (Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World)
Week 10 (November 8) - Torture, Genocide, and the International Criminal Court (and student presentations) (study guide)
Film: Genocide: The Horror Continues
Power, chapter 5
Samantha Power, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, Basic Books, 2002, ch. 13 and Conclusion (electronic reserves)
Student presentations:
Justin Greene, Genocide since World War II
Angela D'haene, Iraq's Human Rights History
Annita Wilborn, The Milosevic Trail
Websites to check:
Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
International Campaign to End Genocide
US Institute of Peace: the Genocide Convention at Fifty
Coalition for the International Criminal Court
Week 11 (November 15) - Rules of War and Humanitarian Law (and Student Presentations) (no study guide)
Symonides, chapter 11 (optional)
Power, chapter 3
Student presentations:
Lisa Whiting, Treatment of Prisoners of War since WWII
Kristy Magner, Guantanamo Bay
Julie Overstreet, UN High Commission for Refugees
Websites: (recommended)
International Committee of the Red Cross, International Humanitarian Law: Answers to Your Questions
International Committee of the Red Cross, International Humanitarian Law
Week 12 (November 22) - Women's and Children's Rights (and Student Presentations) (study guide)
Seminar Paper is due by 5:00 PM on Monday, November 22
Symonides, chapter 6-7
Power, chapter 2
Student presentations:
Chris Nichols, 2004 International Aids Conference
Mandana Mazeradl, Women's Rights in Iran
Sandhya Tenneti, Maoist Insurgency in Nepal
Piyarat Gunsalus, Status of Human Trafficking
Websites to check:
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor
Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo 1994)
United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995)
World Summit for Children (New York City 1990)
Week 13 (November 29) - Discrimination, Rights of Minorities, and Indigenous Peoples (and Student Presentations) (study guide)
Symonides, chapters 8-9
Student presentations:
Irene Godinez, Indigenous Peoples in Latin America
Annette Lindsay, Human Rights Abuse and HIV Transmission to Girls/Women in Zambia
David Dixon, Religious Freedom as a Human Right
Chelsea Sebastian, Environmental Rights: Are They a Human Right?
Tony Caravano
Websites to check:
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
UN Conference on Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (official website)
International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (see also UNESCO site on Indigenous Peoples)
Problem Essay #2 is due by 5:00 PM on Monday, December 6