PS531, The International Law of Human Rights
Fall Semester 2004
Study Guide for Week 6
International Institutions and Human Rights
Readings:
Lauren, chapter 8 and Conclusion
Optional Websites:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
UN Commission on Human Rights (Human Rights Watch Briefing)
UN SubCommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Bodies
Human Rights Treaties and Implemention Bodies
Questions to consider in reading Lauren, chapter 8
1. What changes in the international political system during the 1950s and 1960s impacted negotiations on human rights? What human rights came to forefront during this period?
2. What posture did the United States take toward international efforts to define and promote human rights following the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), including the negotiations that eventually lead to the adoptions of the two major human rights covenants in 1966?
3. What international bodies within the United Nations system have played a role in advancing human rights?
4. What strategies have United Nations bodies used to put pressure on countries to improve their performance in the human rights field?
5. What types of human rights have been given special attention from the 1970s to the present?
Questions to consider in readings Lauren's Conclusion
6. Has the larger human rights movement accomplished major changes in the relationship between governments and their people?
7. How is it that human rights advocates have been able to overcome the strong opposition of sovereignty claiming governments to international standards on how they treat their populations?