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Federica D’Alessandra. 2014. “Human Rights and Alternative Legality in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”. See full text.Abstract

dalessandra_israelsaltlegality_utrecht.pdf

This working paper focuses on the legal protection awarded to the Arab populations under Israeli jurisdiction.

 

In analyzing their legal protection, the author distinguishes between Arab Israelis and other Arab populations resident in territories under Israeli jurisdiction. The author does not deal with Israeli settlements or other discriminating laws such as marriage laws and the family reunification laws, but focuses on anti-terrorism measures. The working paper is divided in three parts: in the first part, the author discusses Israel’s domestic obligations towards Arab Israelis and Palestinian residents, and their de facto discrimination. The second part discusses the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to both the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Palestinian unlawful combatants. The third part discusses the applicability of human rights law to all territories under Israeli jurisdiction, and delves into the issue of the mutual relationship between the two international legal regimes in the territories under occupation. The working paper concludes that many Israeli anti-terrorism measures (such as check-points, night searches of Palestinian households, administrative detentions and targeted executions of Palestinian militants) violate individuals’ rights protected under domestic and international law. Moreover, this working paper finds that Israel’s rationale underpinning the non-applicability of such legislation to the Arab populations under its jurisdiction constitutes a form of ‘alternative legality’ and discrimination.

2016 Sep 20
Human Rights and Technology (Study Group)
Repeats every 2 weeks every Tuesday until Tue Nov 15 2016 .
2:30pm to 3:30pm
2:30pm to 3:30pm
2:30pm to 3:30pm
2:30pm to 3:30pm
2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: 
Taubman 401
*Please note - Registrations are now closed for the semester*
The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy is delighted to announce that Senior Fellow Steven Livingston will lead a study group on “Human Rights & Technology” this semester.
The group will meet every other Tuesday from 2:30pm – 3:30pm throughout the Fall semester (Sept 20^th, Oct 4^th, Oct 18^th, Nov 1^st, Nov 15^th).
Together,...
Read more about Human Rights and Technology (Study Group)
2016 Nov 04
Human Rights Colloquium
Registration Closed 12:30pm to 2:00pm
Location: 
Cambridge
The Harvard Human Rights Colloquium is co-convened by Dr. Mathias Risse and Dr. Kathryn Sikkink
Registration: 
2016 Dec 02
Human Rights Colloquium
Registration Closed 12:30pm to 2:00pm
Location: 
Cambridge
The Harvard Human Rights Colloquium is co-convened by Dr. Mathias Risse and Dr. Kathryn Sikkink
Registration: 

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Sharmila Murthy. 2014. “In India, Dying to Go: Why Access to Toilets is a Women’s Rights Issue.” WBUR Cognoscenti. See full text.Abstract

Access to clean, safe and private toilets is a women’s issue.

 

In May, two young women in rural India left their modest homes in the middle of the night to relieve themselves outside. Like millions in India, their homes had no bathrooms. The next morning, their bodies were found hanging from a mango tree. They had been attacked, gang-raped and strung up by their own scarves. Eighteen months after a gang-rape on a Delhi bus, this incident and others since have galvanized nationwide protests to end violence against women and highlighted caste-related discrimination. The tragic story also underscores the need to talk about another taboo topic: open defecation.



Tom O'Bryan. 11/29/2016. “In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Donations Were Too Little Too Late.” Foreign Policy .Abstract

Read the article by Carr Center Research Assistant Tom O'Bryan:

Countless studies have shown that democracies are less likely to go to war, torture their own citizens, and censor the media. That's one reason why Western governments and philanthropic foundations funnel more than $10 billion every year into promoting democracy overseas. For example, donors fund efforts to help train election observers, educate voters about their rights, and train local media outlets to cover political issues.

In the last year, more than $70 million have been spent on such projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a poor and fragile country emerging from over two decades of armed conflict. That may sound like a lot of money, but in relative terms it's not. The American, British and Canadian governments alone spent more than eight times that amount on democracy promotion in Afghanstan during the country's most recent elections.

Read the full article in Foreign Policy 



Kathryn Sikkink. 11/11/2016. “International Pressure on Us Human Rights Matters Now More Than Ever”.Abstract

Read Kathryn Sikkink's article in OpenDemocracy: 

These are dangerous times.  Never has it been so important for domestic and international human rights advocates and scholars to collaborate.  Such action must be guided by past successes in promoting human rights, based on our best history and social science. I share Stephen Hopgood’s sense of urgency, but I disagree with his recommendation that we should only engage in domestic politics and abandon international human rights norms and law. 

We will need even stronger domestic movements to protect vulnerable populations from hate and discrimination and to mobilize groups harmed by globalization.  Domestic movements, as always, must frame their work in ways that will resonate politically. But human rights will continue to be one important language to mobilize both domestic and international publics. The US election did not reveal a tectonic shift in the electorate. Clinton won the popular vote and Trump received fewer votes than Romney did in 2012. This is less a story of a major realignment of US politics, and more about the electoral college, voter turnout and the impact of third parties.  Sexism and xenophobia, nothing new in US politics, played a role. These issues are all important but insufficient to conclude that we should suddenly abandon human rights.

Read the full article via Kathryn Sikkink on OpenDemocracy



Introducing Carr Center's 2016-2017 Fellows

August 25, 2016

The Carr Center is pleased to announce our Fellows for the upcoming academic year. Carr Center Fellowships offer scholars and practitioners the opportunity to spend a semester or year at Harvard conducting research, sharing experiences with students, and exploring critical human rights issues with a distinguished group of peers. Our fellows come with a range of experience as researchers, practitioners and leaders in the filed of human rights.

See more information on all of Carr Center's fellows for the 2016-2016 year...

Read more about Introducing Carr Center's 2016-2017 Fellows

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