1. International Human Rights Do Western Human Rights Speak For All?

2. Human Rights Recognition of human rights first began in the times of war and civil strife Spread of colonialism raised issues about the status of minorities In Western societies, the status of women led to debates regarding their political rights Industrialisation in the 19th century led to regulation of factory working conditions (with thanks to Unions) Therefore the struggle for Human Rights recognition has taken a long road

3. Human Rights Tension exists between the concept of inalienable individual rights and state sovereignty States had traditionally opposed the idea that international norms be accepted over and above state policy Currently, the notion that human rights are in fact ‘natural’ has gained acceptance (in Western societies) The World Wars and the trauma inflicted upon people before and after them led to the adoption by the UN and other institutions of norms that are central to international law

4. UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 Its role is to act as a proponent of international law- not everyone agrees or abides Individuals can complain to the United National Human Rights Committee if they feel their government is violating their natural rights Some of Canada’s laws have been found to be incompatible with international rights obligations- Waldman vs. Canada (Catholic school funding) Long story short, the idea of Human rights is almost exclusively a Western culture notion

5. Western vs. Eastern/African Rights page 520 African Charter of Human and People’s Rights -emphasis on community and familial obligations Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights Very subtle but important differences

6. Regulation of International Behaviour International Law is often aimed at states rather than individuals How do we regulate and punish corporations who break international norms? Child labour? Equal Treatment access? Bio-ethics? Ethics in Chemical trade? Nuclear Proliferation? INTERPOL- world’s police force- focus on stopping individuals who commit transnational crime 190 members of INTERPOL

7. Criminal Prosecution Special Criminal Tribunals- prosecute people accused of committing violations of human rights on a massive scale Ad Hoc (example- International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and Yugoslavia) 2002 UN members states ratified a permanent International Criminal Court International Criminal Court- awesome stuff, prosecute major players in war crimes not awesome- USA, China and Russia have not and will not ratify this statute