Lesson 10 – International Human Rights Law

·
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) - adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on
December 10, 1984 at Palais de Challiot, Paris. It is not a legally binding treaty but a mere declaration or
statement of generally accepted principles of human rights (Humphrey, 1979).

Human rights law transcends state boundaries by seeking to define and uphold those rights held
universally by every person regardless of nationality.

The UDHR states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are
endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood (Article
1, UDHR). Under Article 2, UDHR, everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.

civil and political rights provided under Articles 1-21 of the UDHR:

1) Life, liberty, and security of person

2) Freedom from slavery or servitude
3) Freedom from torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
4) Recognition everywhere as a person before the law
5) Equal protection of the law
6) Effective remedy by the competent national tribunals
7) Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile
8) Fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal
9) Presumption of innocence until proven guilty
10) Freedom from arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence
11) Freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state, and the right to leave any
country, including his own, and to return to his country
12) Seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution
13) Nationality
14) Marry and to found a family
15) Own property alone as well as in association with others
16) Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
17) Freedom of opinion and expression
18) Freedom of peaceful assembly and association
19) Take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives
20) Right of equal access to public service in his country

economic, social, and cultural rights Articles 22-28 of the UDHR:

1) Social security
2) Work, free choice of employment, just and favorable conditions of work, protection against
unemployment, equal pay for equal work, just and favorable remuneration, and the right to form and
join trade unions for the protection of his interests
3) Rest and leisure
4) Standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family
5) Education
6) Freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific
advancement and its benefits.
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

- multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966
- entered into force on March 23, 1976. As of March 28, 2014, it has 74 signatories and 167 parties
- December 19, 1966, the Philippines signed it, and the same was ratified on October 23, 1986
(United Nations Treaty Collection)

Under Article 1, ICCPR, it states that all people have the right of self- determination. By virtue of that
right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural
development. Also, part of the rights provided therein is to freely dispose of their natural wealth and
resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic cooperation, based
upon the principle of mutual benefit and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own
means of subsistence.

rights which are not subject to limitation or suspension even in emergency situations:

1) Right to life
2) Prohibition on genocide
3) Freedom from torture and other cruel, degrading, or inhuman treatment of punishment
4) Freedom of enslavement or servitude
5) Protection from imprisonment or debt
6) Freedom from retroactive penal laws/ex post facto laws
7) Recognition as a person before the law
8) Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion

International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

- multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966
- entered into force on January 3, 1976
- 71 signatories and 164 parties as of 2015 (United Nations Treaty Collection)

Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Article 1 of CEDAW states that discrimination against women refers to any distinction, exclusion, or
restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the
recognition, enjoyment, or exercise of women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of
men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural,
civil, or any other field.

Articles 1 and 2 of CEDAW further states that any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely
to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts,
coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.
 Migrant Workers Convention

A migrant worker is defined as one who is to be engaged, is engaged, or has been engaged, in a
remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a national (Article 2, Migrant Workers
Convention).

Part III of the Migrant Workers Convention details the rights of all migrants and their family members:

1) Freedom to leave any state, including their state of origin and the right at any time to enter and remain
in their state of origin
2) Not to be subjected to any torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
3) Not to be held in slavery or forced or compulsory labor
4) Right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
5) Right to hold opinions without interference and to freedom of expression
6) Not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference
7) Right against arbitrary deprivation of property
8) Right to liberty and security of person
9) Right to equality with nationals before courts

United Nations on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

Article 1 of the UNCRC provides that every human being below the age of 18 years is a child unless
under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

Some of the rights of the child provided in UNCRC are as follows:

1) Right to be registered at birth

2) Right to acquire nationality
3) Right to know and be cared for by his parents
4) Right not to be separated from his parents against his will
5) Freedom of expression
6) Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
7) Freedom of association
8) Freedom of assembly
9) Protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury, abuse, neglect, negligent treatment,
maltreatment, or exploitation, sexual abuse
10) Enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health
11) Right to benefit from social security
12) Right to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social
development
13) Right to education
14) Not to be denied of the right to enjoy his own culture, to profess and practice own religion, or to use
his own language
15) Right to rest and leisure
16) Protection from economic exploitation
17) Protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
Lesson 11 – Principles on International Environmental Law

International environmental law – branch of public international law 'comprising of those substantive,
procedural, and institutional rules which have as their primary objective the protection of the environment

The term "environment" is understood as encompassing both the creatures and products of the natural
world and those of human civilization (Sands & Philippe, 2003).

Essential Environmental Principles:

1) Principle of Good Neighborliness

States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law,
the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies and the
responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the
environment of other states or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (1972 Stockholm
Declaration on the Human Environment, Principle 21).

2) Precautionary Approach/Principle

When there is a lack of full scientific certainty in establishing a causal link between human activity and
environmental effect, the court shall apply the precautionary principle in resolving the case before it (1992
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Principle 15).

3) Polluter Pays Principle

National authorities should endeavor to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of
economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost
of pollution with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment
(1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Principle 16).

4) Principle of Sustainable Development

It is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their own needs (Our Common Future, UN Document A/42/427).

5) Environment Impact Assessment Principle

Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be undertaken for proposed activities
that are likely to have significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of a
competent national authority (1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Principle 17).

6) Principle of Intergenerational Equity

Man bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future
generations (1972 Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment, Principle 1).
7) Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibility

Because developed states have contributed disproportionately to global environmental degradation, and
because they command greater financial and technological resources, those states have a special
responsibility in shouldering the burden of pursuing global sustainable development (Sarmiento, 2009).

8) Principle of Non-discrimination

Each state should ensure that its regime of environmental protection, when addressing pollution
origination within the state, does not discriminate between pollution affecting the state and pollution
affecting other states (Sarmiento, 2009).

Standard of Conduct

1) Strict Liability Theory

States are under an absolute obligation to prevent pollution and are liable for its effects irrespective of
fault (Shaw, 2008).

2) Test of Due Diligence

It is the standard that is accepted generally as the most appropriate one. The test of due diligence
undoubtedly imports an element of flexibility in the equation. It is also important to note that elements of
remoteness and foreseeability are part of the framework of the liability of the states. The damage that
occurs must have been caused by the pollution under consideration (Shaw, 2008).

3) Long-Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution

Air pollution whose physical origin is situated wholly or in part within the are under the national
jurisdiction of one state and which has adverse effects in the area under the jurisdiction of another state at
such a distance that it is not generally possible to distinguish the contribution of individual emission
sources of groups of sources (1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, Article 1b).

The main bases of liability for transboundary pollution under international law: (Sarmiento, 2009)

1) an absolute duty to protect against harm from ultra- hazardous activities, which if violated, results in a
state being held strictly liable
2) The absolute right theory or the responsibility for negligent or intentional acts
3) good neighborliness principle
UNIT IV
A WORLD OF REGIONS
Lesson 12
Global Divides
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. identify perspectives in global stratification;
2.
3.
discuss the concept of global divide; and
review some historical antecedents relating to the understanding of the global divide.
Definition of Term.
·
Global divide - global disparities, often due to stratification due to differing economic affluence but can
also be in other aspects of globalization
INTRODUCTION
Across history, there have been many manifestations of stratification in different societies. Social
stratification is essentially the phenomenon of segregating, grouping, and ranking people based on
differences in class, race, economic status, and other categories. In earlier civilizations, we hear of
nobilities and commoners, the lord and the peasant, and many other social statuses and positions that
embody hierarchy of power in a social system. These hierarchies, especially when pushed toward the
extremes, have often led to inequalities, wherein the group which possesses control over power and
resources are given much privilege at the expense of those who are deprived.
This is problematic because, in principle, humans, with our intrinsic dignity and consequential rights to live
and prosper, should also have equitable access to resources-both material and non-material.
Unfortunately, in the contemporary world, these hierarchies remain to exist, albeit, in different forms.
105

Based primarily on the works of Raul Prebisch and Hans Singer (thus, Prebish- Singer hypothesis), the
dependency theories suggest that countries are either "core" (i.e., developed) or "peripheral" (i.e.,
developing) such that resources tend to flow from peripheries to the core.
A related theory discussed in earlier lessons is that of Wallerstein (1975), speaking about a world system
composed of boundaries, structures, member groups, rules of legitimation, and coherence. This world
system is assumed to "comprises a single capitalist world-economy" (Graf, 1980, p.29) so to speak.
COLLABORATE AND CREATE.
Look for online articles on DEPENDENCY and WORLD SYSTEMS perspectives. Create an infographic
comparing these two concepts. Print a copy of the infographic and paste in the space below:
GLOBAL DIVIDE
In the contemporary world, the buzz word used to pertain to these stratifications among nations is the
term global divide. But, in the modern world, how did we reach this point?
Unit IV A WORLD OF REGIONS
107