Wolfgang Benedek

Human rights of women : international instruments and African experiences

* Part 1: Human Rights of Women - International Instruments * 1. International Human Rights Law - The Relevance of Gender - Christine Ainetter-Brautigam * 2. Human Rights of Women at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations - Dorota Gierycz * 3. Charter-based Activities regarding Womens Rights in the United Nations and Specialized Agencies - Dorothea Gaudart * 4. The Prohibition of Gender-specific Discrimination under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - Manfred Nowak * 5. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - Andrew Byrnes * 6. Women and Humanitarian Law - Francoise Hampson * 7. The European Human Rights System in Comparison with other Regional Systems - Wolfgang Benedek * Part 2: Human Rights of Women - African Experiences * 8. Introduction to the African System of Protection of Human Rights and the Draft Protocol - Henry Onoria * 9. Womens Rights under Islam - Khadija Elmadmad * 10. Women, Culture and Human Rights with Special Reference to the Practices * of Female Genital Mutilation, Polygamy and Brideprice in Africa - Esther M. Kisaakye * 11. Modern-Day Missionaries or Misguided Miscreants? NGOs, the Womens * Movement and the Promotion of Human Rights in Africa - Joe Oloka-Onyango * 12. Women in the Armed Forces in Uganda: Human Rights Issues - Apollo Makubuya * 13. Women Prisoners and Female Staff in Uganda Prisons - Kurt Neudek

ECONOMIC GLOBALISATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Introduction Koen De Feyter Part I. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Human Rights and Economic Globalisation: 1. Economic globalisation, globalist stories of the state, and human rights Jernej Pikalo 2. Towards a theory of global ethics in support of human rights George Ulrich 3. Localising human rights Koen De Feyter 4. Globalisation and social rights Adalberto Perulli Part II. The Relevance of Human Rights for International Economic Organisations: 5. The World Trade Organization and human rights Wolfgang Benedek 6. Making trade policies more accountable and human rights-consistent: a NGO perspective of using human rights Instruments in the case of access to medicines Davinia Ovett 7. The Bretton Woods Institutions and human rights: converging tendencies Laurence Boisson de Chazournes Part III. International Corporate Accountability: 8. Alternative perspectives on international responsibility for human rights violations by multinational corporations Francesco Francioni 9. Human rights, arbitration, and corporate social responsibility in the law of international trade Fabrizio Marrella Part IV: 10. General conclusions Wolfgang Benedek and Fabrizio Marrella.

International Cooperation and Support of Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In 1991, the population of Bosnia-Herzegovina (B-H) was about 4.4 million, of which 45.7% were ethnic Muslimo (Bosnicak/), 51.4% Serbs, and 17.5% Croats. As a result of the war, there were more than 2 million refugees and displaced persons, only 250,000 of which were able to return to their homes (about 550,000 people were killed and 240,000 wounded). The war was finally ended by NATO airstrikes and the Peace Agreement (negotiated in Day-ton, Ohio), which was signed on December 14, 1995 in Paris Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina consits of two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, itself made up of ten cantons, along with the Republika Srpska. After elections on September 14, 1996, it wad not until January 1997 that the new Parliament finally met and the Government was formed. However, the> new government has very weak competencies, and answers to a presidency consisting of one representative from each of the three major ethnic groups, with a rotating chairmanship. To stabilize peace, an Implementation Force (IFOR), which, since December 1996 has been called the Stabilization Force (SFOR), was placed in B-H. Additionally, a civilian peace-implementation authority was created in the form of the Office of the High Representative. The overall reconstruction needs (costs) of B-H have been estimated to be more than US

The African Charter and Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights; How to Make it More Effective

500 million.

The Human Security Approach to Terrorism and Organized Crime in Post-Conflict Situations

This contribution discusses how to improve the African system of human and peoples rights on the basis both of the practice of the African Commission and of a revision of the African Charter in the light of the practice and experience of other regional human rights conventions and bodies. Particular emphasis is put on improvements in the procedure of communications. Furthermore, the role of the African Commission with regard to the move towards democracy and human rights in Africa and the relationship between the Commission and the OAU will be analyzed, and a number of proposals on strengthening the African Charter and the African Commission will be made. In presenting the actual situation of the African Commission particular attention is given to the results of the 11th and 12th sessions (March and October 1992 respectively) of the African Commission which in respect to some concerns were breaking new ground.

The Emerging Global Civil Society: Achievements and Prospects

The human security approach, which will be described briefly below, can be usefully applied to the fight against terrorism and organized crime in postconflict situations. The concept’s focus is on the security needs of the individual, who is the main victim of terrorism and organized crime, although terrorism also threatens the security of the state. Therefore, in addressing these threats not only state security but the security of citizens in particular needs to be given attention. The basic message of the human security approach is that people matter and that the focus has to be on their vulnerabilities, which can also mean that state structures, like the police and the judiciary, need to be strengthened — albeit with a view to securing human rights and ensuring democratic governance. The state has the primary function of protection, but the protection needs to be provided in such a way that the security of the citizens is in the foreground. Post-conflict situations are often characterized by weak states, which still need to consolidate themselves and to reform the police and the judiciary in order to make sure that these are operating in the interest of the citizens. The distinction between the two main pillars of human security — freedom from fear and freedom from want — provides a useful methodological approach in order to analyse the vulnerabilities of citizens and the threats against them in post-conflict situations. For example, security sector reform is of crucial importance, because in post-war situations the security sector is often linked with organized crime and therefore rather a threat to citizens than a provider of protection. Generally, the state, by not providing adequate protection or by repressing (some) of its citizens, like critical civil society groups or media, violates its basic functions of providing human security for its people.

Blurring Boundaries: Human Security and Forced Migration

Global CSOs have emerged as a response to the deficiencies of global governance, of a ‘gap’ left by states and international organizations in representing public concerns and interests of citizens (Scholte 2000: 281 ff.). Governments often show a lack of adequate attention to ‘global concerns’, like environmental degradation, the depletion of natural resources needed also by future generations, epidemic illnesses, preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity, global warming, human security including food security and water security. Increasingly, citizens do not feel adequately represented at the global level, where no parliamentary institutions exist. Critique addressed to the United Nations exemplifies this trend. There appear to be certain imbalances in the international agenda, namely neglect of developmental and environmental concerns and of the social dimension of international economic relations (Weinz 2000: 94ff.). The main deficit of global governance, however, derives from the preoccupation of governments with short-term national, mainly executive interests, leading to the neglect of long-term global concerns. International public goods tend to be neglected also by private economic interests. One reaction was the organization of public interests through CSOs as non-state actors (Thurer 1999: 37 ff.) representing an emerging global civil society.

The Role of the Human Security Perspective

In Blurring Boundaries scholars from law and social sciences offer a critical account of the main topics of forced migration and advance a much-needed fresh view on forced migration through the lens of human security.

Conclusion: The Impact of Transnational Terrorism and Organized Crime on the Peace-Building Process in the Western Balkans

This contribution gives a rough overview of the state of the art in the field of human security research and practice. After 20 years of existence, the concept of human security has seen ups and downs in the United Nations and scholarly literature. However, the United Nations has recently agreed on a definition and the concept is broadly employed in the context of violent and non-violent security issues. While international organizations are still hesitant to use the concept directly, there appear to be various forms of indirect use. This is in line with an emerging human rights-based approach to security and humanitarian action. Whereas challenges remain both on a conceptual and a practical level, there is a growing common understanding of the main characteristics of the concept, which remains an inspiring perspective for many scholars and actors.

Introduction – Impact of Higher Education and Human Capital on the Economic and Political Development in Kosovo

What is the relationship between transnational terrorism and organized crime and what is its impact on the peace-building process in the Western Balkans, where the international community is so strongly engaged? How does organized crime and corruption affect (civil) society and the state? What are the prerequisites for sustainable peace? These are some of the essential questions that the contributions to this collection have undertaken to answer.