The growth of the Peoples’ Republic of China’s economic development, and growth of influence within the international sphere, the nation is able to offer an alternative model to global governance...Show moreThe growth of the Peoples’ Republic of China’s economic development, and growth of influence within the international sphere, the nation is able to offer an alternative model to global governance and state development. This study seeks to answer whether or not the People’s Republic of China is actively developing its own framework for global governance, state development and human rights. Furthermore, it will aim to answer whether the actions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) developed in the 21st century towards achieving that end? This analysis will focus on the development of three variables that promote China’s ability in undermining human rights governance and democratic promotion, with a focus on the CCP’s machinations within the United Nations (UN), in order to provide an insight into whether China’s actions represent an intent on establishing a new world order in the 21st century.Show less
By investigating the ODA approaches of both Japan and the Republic of Korea considering the human rights crisis in Myanmar, the East Asian Development Model seems to hold. Both countries prioritize...Show moreBy investigating the ODA approaches of both Japan and the Republic of Korea considering the human rights crisis in Myanmar, the East Asian Development Model seems to hold. Both countries prioritize economic development over human rights issues, although they differ in their motivations. This theory-testing case analysis dives into a descriptive account of the actions of Japan and the ROK considering the Rohingya Crisis. While Japan struggles to deal with its imperial past and continues to argue for a kakehashi approach, it is found how human rights have taken second place behind economic development projects. Similarly, the ROK strives for recognition by trying to establish itself as a leader, yet simultaneously fails to lead the way when it comes to standing for the OECD/DAC norms. The descriptive account of both countries shows how human rights issues are snowed under by the importance given to economic development and a favorable relationship with the government of Myanmar.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Liberal Arts and Sciences: Global Challenges (LUC) (BA/BSc)
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On 16 November 2012, the United States passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, followed by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act in 2016. This act allows...Show moreOn 16 November 2012, the United States passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, followed by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act in 2016. This act allows the US to employ targeted sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for human rights abuses and corruption. The European Union created a similar regime, the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, in 2020, which also targets individuals and entities responsible for human rights abuses but does not target those accused of corruption. While targeted sanctions avoid collateral damage to entire countries, they often lack safeguards for the listed individuals. This study is a comparative, doctrinal analysis that looks at the effectiveness of the due process mechanisms in the US Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. Both of the sanction regimes have several due process mechanisms in place which protect the rights of individuals yet in some areas, such as specific delisting criteria, they are lacking. In general, the EU regime has more effective due process mechanisms than the US act, though even the EU regime is still not perfect.Show less
This thesis explores the Dutch response to the human rights violations committed against the Uyghur people by the People’s Republic of China. By comparing the PRC’s human rights violations to those...Show moreThis thesis explores the Dutch response to the human rights violations committed against the Uyghur people by the People’s Republic of China. By comparing the PRC’s human rights violations to those committed by Myanmar and Venezuela, it contextualizes the response of the Dutch government. This research observes that the while the PRC has committed all major offenses of which Myanmar and Venezuela have been accused, and for which sanctions have been imposed upon the two states, the Dutch government appears unwilling to impose similar restrictions upon China. Though the assessment of government discourse and the incorporation of threat perception theory as a possible principle for explaining this inconsistency, the paper finds that China’s status as a great power, primarily its economic might, has kept the Dutch government from risking the ire of the PRC as long as it is not guaranteed to have the support of its allies in the European Union.Show less
The European Convention on Human Rights stipulates the death penalty as an exception to the right to life. However, the punishment has been abolished completely in Europe through its subsequent...Show moreThe European Convention on Human Rights stipulates the death penalty as an exception to the right to life. However, the punishment has been abolished completely in Europe through its subsequent Protocols and jurisprudential development of the European Court of Human Rights. As such, Europe (the Council of Europe and the European Union) insists that the death penalty should be abolished in Japan, while Japan continues to administer the form of punishment. One of Europe’s central arguments is that: (i) Japan has become party to international agreements that include the right to life; (ii) the death penalty violates the right to life; (iii) therefore, Japan should abolish the death penalty. In so arguing, Europe promotes the norm of abolishing the punishment as universal, while Japan does not accept such a claim. Against this backdrop, the thesis is guided by the following question: how do the conceptions of the right to life differ between Europe and Japan? It attempts to answer the question through undertaking a cross-cultural examination of the conceptions of the right to life within Europe and Japan. It does so through close-reading legal instruments and case law, taking into account the views of contemporary authors. In light of European and Japanese behaviours toward the two principal issues of the right to life, namely the death penalty and euthanasia, the study concludes by maintaining that, when concerning the conceptions of the right to life: (1) alienability of life (to take one’s life) is more generally accepted in Japan than in Europe; and (2) in Japan, public sentiments continue to play a significant role, whereas in Europe they do not. While the thesis does not claim for or against the death penalty, these differences suggest that specific understanding of each right within particular social orders should not be neglected in international communications.Show less
After the devastating terrorist attack on September 11th 2001, the United States changed the types of counter-terrorism polices used against the threat of international terrorism. While the George...Show moreAfter the devastating terrorist attack on September 11th 2001, the United States changed the types of counter-terrorism polices used against the threat of international terrorism. While the George W. Bush administration has been greatly studied by various scholars and journalists there is little research that combines the ideology of norm decay to President George W. Bush and human rights. Specifically, in regards to the physical and mental human rights violations that occurred during the War on Terror. An in-depth analysis through the use of a theoretical framework that consist of three benchmarks will be applied to two sperate case studies; focusing on the policy tool of extraordinary rendition and the prisoner abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. By analyzing the potential pattern that emerges from the case study analysis it will allow us to determine whether there is a decay in human rights norms. The two aforementioned case studies will be evaluated against three criteria and the outcome of this will determine if there is a consistent pattern of decay. The first criteria, analyzes the number of cases of human rights violations and how these have changed during the George W. Bush administration. The second, analyzes the changes in procedures and polices enabling prisoner abuse and human rights decay. The third, analyzes accountability focusing on how the George W. Bush administration interfered in legal proceedings enabling more abuse. Conceptualizing how a norm, regarding physical and mental human rights could decay. In this context, this thesis examines how the terrorist attacks on the domestic United States resulted in a change in counter-terrorism policies, and how those changes influenced human rights as a social norm leading to a decay.Show less
This thesis uses Hermann’s (1990) model of foreign policy change to analyse the research question: Why was the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act only adopted into public law in November 2019...Show moreThis thesis uses Hermann’s (1990) model of foreign policy change to analyse the research question: Why was the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act only adopted into public law in November 2019, despite its introduction into US legislation years earlier in 2014? Through tracking the progress of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act (HKHRDA) from its introduction in 2014 to its final signing into law in 2019, it has shown that bureaucratic advocacy and external shocks were the primary change agents driving the foreign policy change. Previous versions of the bill failed to pass the final stages of the decision-making process. However, in 2019, changes in the international context were crucial to the passing of the bill. That year, the external shock of the Hong Kong protests escalated to such an extent that Congressional legislators felt compelled to unite and take action. Rising geopolitical tensions between China and the United States also affected domestic American politics, contributing to the growing bipartisan Congressional support for a stronger stance against China on the issue of Hong Kong and pass the HKHRDA into law, despite resistance from the Trump administration. The symbolic value of the law was greater than its actual changes to US legislation, as it did not grant the government new instruments of statecraft it did not already possess. Still, the law was a clear show of Congressional support for the pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, and a political statement against the central Chinese and Hong Kong government’s policies in the city. This was instrumental in pushing the administration to change its approach towards HK, and with the HKHRDA, US HK policy became submerged in its American foreign policy towards China.Show less
This thesis aims to answer the research question: what influences countries in their response to the alleged human rights abuse of the Uyghur ethnic minority in China? In order to answer this, the...Show moreThis thesis aims to answer the research question: what influences countries in their response to the alleged human rights abuse of the Uyghur ethnic minority in China? In order to answer this, the concept of human rights in international relations, as well as the three main theories of international relations are projected on two case studies of international reactions to China’s alleged human rights abuse of the Uyghur ethnic minority in the Xinjiang autonomous region: Turkey and the European Union.Show less
The present Bachelor thesis looks at why refugees of Palestinian origin are treated differently from all other refugees and how this affects their rights. Palestinian refugees are the only group...Show moreThe present Bachelor thesis looks at why refugees of Palestinian origin are treated differently from all other refugees and how this affects their rights. Palestinian refugees are the only group that has been specifically excluded from the protection and the rights stipulated in the 1951 Refugee Convention. Although their ongoing displacement clearly constitutes a protracted refugee situation, Palestinian refugees do not respond to three-step solution that the UNHCR pursues in such situations: assimilation, resettlement or repatriation. By resolution 194 the United Nations in 1948 enshrined the right of return for the Palestinian refugees and created a dedicated agency, the Conciliation Commission on Palestine (UNCCP), to assure the collective rights of Palestinians. The UNCCP has become obsolete over the years without being formally abandoned and the UNRWA, the Relief and Works Agency that is tasked with the delivery humanitarian assistance is facing increasing restrictions. Being tied to weak organisations that were meant to offer some sort of protection, many Palestinian refugees today have to face the dilemma that only collective rights, as stipulated in resolution 194, preserve their right of return. Upholding this collective claim means that they have to no access to individual rights and thus suffer from a protection gap that is ever growing.Show less
ABSTRACT One of the approaches to problems regarding immigration and border control is to ask the question if the right to immigration ought to be a human right. Although the human right to...Show moreABSTRACT One of the approaches to problems regarding immigration and border control is to ask the question if the right to immigration ought to be a human right. Although the human right to immigration does not exist in law of morality, border control policies still need to be morally justified by self-determination and be free of the coercion of personal autonomy.Show less
The concept of Gay Pride Parade goes back many years, the first parades took place in 1970s United States. Since then, the concept of Gay Pride Parade has travelled not only from New York City to...Show moreThe concept of Gay Pride Parade goes back many years, the first parades took place in 1970s United States. Since then, the concept of Gay Pride Parade has travelled not only from New York City to other cities in the US, but also to cities all over the world. Both the Netherlands and Brazil are countries where Gay Pride Parades have been organized, although both in their own form with their own identity. However, realism, as an international relations theory, argues that non-state actors are not in a position to influence human rights policy as this can be done solely by states. This would mean that either Gay Pride Parade is not a multifunctional tool influencing legal emancipation, at the most only social emancipation, or that gay rights cannot be seen as human rights in this scenario. A link of causality between Gay Pride Parade and LGBT emancipation cannot be proven because of the lack of measurability of LGBT emancipation in its totality. However, to write the influence of such non-state actors of completely because of this, would not be correct either. Thus: when analyzing Gay Pride Parades and LGBT emancipation in the Netherlands and Brazil from 1970 onwards, how do Gay Pride Parades affect LGBT emancipation?Show less
In August 2010, The European Union (EU) withdrew its preferential trade agreement GSP+ from the island nation of Sri Lanka that was recovering from a long drawn civil war. The grounds for the...Show moreIn August 2010, The European Union (EU) withdrew its preferential trade agreement GSP+ from the island nation of Sri Lanka that was recovering from a long drawn civil war. The grounds for the withdrawal was cited to be Sri Lankan Government's poor human rights record in the latter stages of the war which had garnered international outcry. The ad hoc withdrawal of the scheme which was yoked to the Sri Lankan economy was damaging to the Sri Lankan economy and in particular its Ready-Made-Garment (RMG) industry that is central to povery alleviation in rural sectors of the country. In addition to the Sri Lankan Government was defiant of the EU's verdict and is believed to have made very little change. It is for this reason scholars argue that while the Human Rights concerns of the conflict were pressing, the objective of the EU withdrawal was unclear granted it achieved very little of its desired effect. Other writers have described it as 'democracy building' and 'economic terrorism' on the part of the EU. The objective of this research is to assess the effectiveness of the EU's withdrawal of GSP+ from the Sri Lankan economy and draw a conclusion on which side of the scholarly debate is more plausible.Show less
This thesis discusses the comfort women legacy, women's rights movements in Korea, and how these phenomena have influenced each other over time since the Second World War. Through this assumed...Show moreThis thesis discusses the comfort women legacy, women's rights movements in Korea, and how these phenomena have influenced each other over time since the Second World War. Through this assumed correlation, the arguments presented in this thesis will fill a gap in the already existing literature surrounding these concepts.Show less
Under international law, states assume obligations to respect, protect, and to fulfil human rights (OHCHR). This thesis will demonstrate that the state can fail to carry out these tasks, and that...Show moreUnder international law, states assume obligations to respect, protect, and to fulfil human rights (OHCHR). This thesis will demonstrate that the state can fail to carry out these tasks, and that in these situations businesses can step up to enforce human rights, thus filling regulatory gaps. This topic will be approached by first providing a definition of CSR, and explaining the relevance of the concept. Following this, the thesis will discuss different eras in the history of state versus business power, proposing that there has been a shift from an era of extensive state power towards a relative erosion of state capacities, accompanied by an increase in the power of corporations. While it will be proposed that this erosion of state capacities has opened up new possibilities for companies to adopt political responsibilities (Schrempf-Stirling 2), the thesis will also seek to understand why companies would make use of these possibilities. In order to analyze firms’ motivations to expand their influence to the political sphere to promote human rights, the thesis will introduce a theoretical framework which will identify three different CSR theories. To examine the applicability of these theories, the thesis will perform three case studies in the context of the United States: 1) Open Carry, 2) Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act or the ‘House Bill 2’, also known as the ‘bathroom bill’, and 3) Executive Order 13769 or the so-called ‘Muslim ban’ or ‘travel ban’. Through these steps, the objective of the thesis is to determine 1) whether businesses have indeed expanded their capacities to the political realm in the context of human rights promotion, thus filling regulatory gaps as suggested by CSR scholarship, 2) how they have done so, and 3) what the underlying motivations behind companies’ CSR practices are. The findings are expected to support the twofold hypothesis that 1) businesses can become the key enforcers of human rights by expanding their power to the political arena, and 2) businesses have philanthropic and ethical responsibilities besides their economic responsibility of profit-maximization, which contribute to explaining their CSR activities.Show less
This research attempts to add to the existing literature on the extent to which state sovereignty can restrict the efforts of international actors in the 21st century, specifically the World Bank,...Show moreThis research attempts to add to the existing literature on the extent to which state sovereignty can restrict the efforts of international actors in the 21st century, specifically the World Bank, to guarantee social development and the protection of human rights. The World Bank is an organisation that in recent years has been criticised for not upholding human rights obligations due to reasons largely placed on the failings of the organisation itself. However, this paper examines state sovereignty, an external reason for the World Bank’s failure in upholding international human rights obligations, using the case study of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project (CCPP).Show less
