13. The Moral High Road: the UN, Human Rights, and Human Security

1. 13. The Moral High Road: the UN, Human Rights, and Human Security 13.1. The United Nations (readings) 13.2. Human Rights 13.3. Human Security

2. 13.2. Human Rights Themes

3. 13.2. Human Rights The historical record Early Issues: Boers (1880s); Armenians (1915); Koreans (1919); Ethiopians (1930s); Jews (1930s) Japan in China (1937)

4. 13.2. Human Rights The historical record Human rights policy during the Cold War

5. 13.2. Human Rights Contemporary Motives • Canadians expect their government to be a leader in the human rights field by reflecting and promoting Canadian values, including respect for diversity, on the international stage. • Canadians recognize that their interests are best served by a stable, rules-based international system. Countries which respect the rule of law tend to respect the rights of their citizens, are more likely to benefit from development, and are much less likely to experience crises requiring peacekeeping, emergency assistance or refugee resettlement missions. • The UN Charter and customary international law impose on all countries the responsibility to promote and protect human rights. This is not merely a question of values, but a mutual obligation of all members of the international community, as well as an obligation of a state towards its citizens. (DFAIT website)

6. 13.2. Human Rights Canada’s International Human Rights Policy • An emphasis on multilateral instruments and organizations

7. 13.2. Human Rights Canada’s International Human Rights Policy • An emphasis on multilateral instruments and organizations • Active participation in building international law on human rights

8. 13.2. Human Rights • International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights • Optional Protocol (allowing individual complaints) • Second Optional Protocol (aiming at abolishing the death penalty) • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women • Optional Protocol (permitting individual complaints) • Convention Against Torture • Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination • Convention on the Rights of the Child

9. 13.2. Human Rights Canada’s International Human Rights Policy • An emphasis on multilateral instruments and organizations • Active participation in building international law on human rights • A preference for “constructive engagement”

10. 13.2. Human Rights Canada’s International Human Rights Policy • A preference for “constructive engagement” “In seeking to advance human rights internationally, the essential question is how a country like Canada can most effectively influence others to respect international human rights principles. Our ultimate aim is not to punish offending governments, and certainly not their innocent citizens, but rather to influence governments to respect their people's rights. Responses to specific situations require a careful balancing of many considerations: a government's relative commitment to human rights, the range of Canadian interests at play and above all the effectiveness of the means of influence at our disposal.” (DFAIT)

11. 13.2. Human Rights Canada’s International Human Rights Policy • An emphasis on multilateral instruments and organizations • Active participation in building international law on human rights • A preference for “constructive engagement” • Bilateral efforts

12. 13.2. Human Rights Canada’s International Human Rights Policy • Bilateral efforts “Bilaterally, in most cases, Canada finds it can maximize its influence by continuing dialogue with the government in question, rather than isolating it, and by employing positive measures, rather than coercion. Positive measures include direct support for development of democratic institutions and practices, legal and administrative training, support for election processes and provision of observer teams.” (DFAIT)

13. 13.2. Human Rights Canada’s International Human Rights Policy • An emphasis on multilateral instruments and organizations • Active participation in building international law on human rights • A preference for “constructive engagement” • Bilateral efforts • Cooperation with civil society actors • International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (“Rights and Democracy”)

14. 13.2. Human Rights The debate over Canada’s human rights policy Themes

15. 13.2. Human Rights The case of China • The Tiananmen Massacre (June 1989) • The Canadian government’s response

16. 13.2. Human Rights The case of Talisman Energy in the Sudan • Talisman’s operations and the controversy

17. 13.2. Human Rights The case of Talisman Energy in the Sudan • Talisman’s operations and the controversy • The Canadian government’s response

18. 13.2. Human Rights Women’s Rights: a point of emphasis “Protection and advancement of women's human rights remains a central foreign policy priority for Canada, both in bilateral discussions and in multilateral fora.” (DFAIT)

19. 13.2. Human Rights Women’s Rights: a point of emphasis • Commission on the Status of Women • Commission on Human Rights • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 • Optional Protocol to the CEDAW • Vienna Declaration and Program of Action (1993) • 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the five and ten year reviews in 2000 and 2005 (Beijing +5, Beijing +10).

20. 13.2. Human Rights Women’s Rights: issues • Elimination of violence against women • Women in decision making and governance • “Mainstreaming” gender perspective • Trafficking in women • “Sex tourism” • Women in armed conflict (sexual violence, refugees)

21. 13.2. Human Rights Detainee Transfer in Afghanistan • US legal interpretation of “illegal enemy combatants” rather than POWs or Unlawful Combatants • 2005 prisoner transfer agreement with Government of Afghanistan (GOA)

22. 13.3. Human Security The “human security” and “soft power” concepts

23. 13.3. Human Security The “human security” and “soft power” concepts Human Security: “…an effort to construct a global society in which safety and well-being of the individual is an international priority.” Soft Power: the ability to attract international support for diplomatic initiatives through moral persuasion and the power of good ideas

24. 13.3. Human Security The “human security” and “soft power” concepts The assumptions

25. 13.3. Human Security Landmines (indiscriminate, inhumane)

26. 13.3. Human Security The International Criminal Court (ICC)

27. 13.3. Human Security The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS)

28. 13.3. Human Security The debate over human security and soft power • The critics

29. The Kosovo Air Campaign

30. The Kosovo Air Campaign “Humanitarian” Intervention The Shadow of Rwanda UN Failure? Human Security International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty

31. Kosovo: The Origins of the Crisis • Rise of Kosovar Albanian Ethnonationalism • Kosovo stripped of autonomous status (1989) • Increasing protest through 1990’s

32. Attempts at Negotiation • Mediation rejected by Yugoslavia in 1998 • Kosovar Liberation Army (KLA) offensive (July/August 1998) • Government counteroffensive: refugee flows begin

33. Attempts at Negotiation • Mediation rejected by Yugoslavia in 1998 • Kosovar Liberation Army (KLA) offensive (July/August 1998) • Government counteroffensive: refugee flows begin • NATO threatens air strikes (October) • Rambouillet Talks (6-23 February 1999) • Preparations to use force

34. The Debate in Canada • Opposition • Support

35. Canada’s Contribution • Air campaign begins 24 March 1999 Canada’s Contribution 18 CF-18s @600 troops to KFOR

36. A Responsibility to Protect? • The future of Humanitarian Intervention? • Sudan?