New Dimensions in the International Protection of Human Rights and the Need for a New Human Rights Diplomacy

Dr Bertrand G. Ramcharan has been Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor of International Law at the University of Ottawa, Professor of International Human Rights Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Fellow at Harvard University and Fellow at the LSE, Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurist, Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Deputy and then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ad interim. He served as member of an Eminent Persons Panel of the UN Human Rights Council dealing with human rights in Darfur, and as Commissioner on an ILO Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. He is the author of several books, including Contemporary Human Rights Ideas and Preventive Diplomacy at the UN.

Foreword


Preface


Contemporary Protection Challenges


1 Introduction

 i The UN’s Normative and Jurisprudential Architecture of Human Rights


 ii Protection of the Right to Life


 iii Promotion of Human Dignity and Equality


 iv Promotion of a Social and International Order Conducive to Human Survival, Dignity and Rights


 v Clarification of the Content of International Human Rights Law through the Human Rights Treaty Organs and the International Court of Justice


 vi Struggling against Widespread Violations of Human Rights


 vii The International Criminal Tribunals


 viii Operating Imperfect Bodies: The Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council


 ix Struggling for a Wise Arrangement on the Role of Treaty Supervisory Organs


 x Grudgingly Benefitting from the Contributions of ngo s


  Conclusion




2 Historical and Phlosophical Perspectives

  Introduction


 i Historical Perspectives


 ii Philosophical Perspectives


  Conclusion




3 Fundamental Premises: Universality, Dignity, Equality, Justice

  Introduction


 i Universality


 ii Dignity


 iii The Principle of Equality


 iv Justice


  Conclusion




4 A New Human Rights Diplomacy in Support of National Human Rights Protection Systems

  Introduction


 i International Legal Requirements on the Need for Adequate and Effective National Human Rights Protection Systems


 ii The Concept of a National Human Rights Protection System


 iii Sustainable Development Goal 16


 iv Towards a New Diplomacy in Support of the Enhancement of National Human Rights Protection Systems


  Conclusion




5 Promoting Equitable Life Chances through National Implementation of the Right to Development

  Introduction


 i The UN Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals


 ii Perspectives on Implementation of the Right to Development


 iii The Need for National Law and Policy


 iv Equality


 v The Duty to Ensure the Enjoyment of Basic Rights


 vi The Need for Legal Innovations


 vii The Right to Development as the Right to a Process of Development


 viii Case Studies of India, Brazil and South Africa


 ix Preventable Poverty


 x Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights


 xi Public Interest Litigation


  Conclusion




6 Enhancing Racial Justice in the Face of Searing Traumas – Despite the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

  Introduction


 i Intellectual History


 ii Taking the Pulse of the Regions and of ngo s in the Run-Up to the Durban Conference


 iii Vision Statements by All Countries


 iv Political Debates


 v The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action


 vi Innovations in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action


 vii Policy Issues


 viii Political Issues


  Conclusion




7 Managing Epochal Changes and Protecting People at Risk

  Introduction


 i The Responsibility to Protect in an Age of Epochal Change


 ii Divergences among the Great Powers


 iii Chinese and Russian Perspectives on Human Rights


 iv Climate Change: A Crime against Humanity for Deliberate, Reckless or Negligent Harming of the Global Climate?


 v Artificial Intelligence: Should ai Firms Face Criminal Sanctions?


 vi Robotic Weapons


 vii Humans on Other Planets


 viii Protection of People at Risk


 ix International Law and Public Emergencies


  Conclusion




8 Conclusion


Bibliography


Index