Syllabus - Spring 2009
HSA 5332 - International Human Rights
(formerly HSA 332)

This is a three-credit graduate course and is one in a series of courses in the online Humanitarian Services Administration program developed by the University of Connecticut's Center for Continuing Studies. This course is a core course in the online Master of Professional Studies degree with a field of study in Humanitarian Services Administration. The developer of this course is Professor George Andreopoulos.

Course Title: International Human Rights (HSA 5332)
Credits: 3
Instructor: Maria Victoria Perez-Rios

E-mail: maria.perez-rios@uconn.edu

International Human Rights will address the evolution of international human rights and of the legal instruments designed for their promotion and protection. It will study the theoretical foundations of the idea of human rights in various civilizations and cultures, evaluate its legacy within the western and non-western traditions, and examine its meaning and relevance in dealing with major issues in the contemporary world. Particular emphasis will be placed on the impact of human rights' considerations, as well as on the role of the relevant actors, on a whole set of critical issue areas; including discrimination, accountability, human security, human development, and legal empowerment.

By the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Enumerate and critically typify the rights protected in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
2. Identify the main problems regarding the universal character of international human rights.
3. Describe how the United Nations codifies and establishes mechanisms of protection of international human rights through treaty law.
4. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of relevant human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention on Genocide.
5. Describe the US position regarding the aforementioned treaties.
6. Compare the different regional systems of protection of international human rights, mainly the European and the Inter-American.
7. Describe the impact of the World on Terror on the implementation of international human rights, especially on the prohibition against torture and the right to due process of law.
8. Assess the implementation of human rights in our days with an emphasis on the importance of non-governmental entities.

Two 10-15 page papers to be chosen after consultation with the instructor (70% of final grade). Participation in discussions on the class material will count for 30% of the final grade.

PAPERS:

The first paper will examine the connection between constitutional rights and international human rights. Choose a topic by Week 2 and once approved by the instructor work on a draft on the relevance of the topic, the relationship you think exists between both rights, and a preliminary bibliography. This draft is due by Week 5 of the semester. The draft will be returned with comments by Week 6 and you should hand in the final paper by Week 8 (35% of your grade).  

The second paper will examine the protection (abuse, accountability) of international human rights outside the U.S. By Week 9 choose a topic and once approved by the instructor work on a draft on the relevance of the topic and the specifics of what you plan to study. This draft is due by Week 11. The draft will be returned to you with comments by Week 12 and you will have until the last week of the semester to hand in your final paper (35% of your grade).

Final letter grades for this course will be determined based on the following scale:

Grade	Letter Grade	GPA
97-100	A+	4.3
93-96	A	4.0
90-92	A-	3.7
87-89	B+	3.3
83-86	B	3.0
80-82	B-	2.7
77-79	C+	2.3
73-76	C	2.0
70-72	C-	1.7
67-69	D+	1.3
63-66	D	1.0
60-62	D-	0.7
<60	F	0.0

 

You are responsible for acting in accordance with the Student Code, available at http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/student_code.cfm.

Course Materials

Required Readings:
These required course texts may be purchased locally or through an online bookstore.

The main textbook from which most of the assigned readings are drawn is:
Claude, R. P., & Weston, B. H. (Eds.). (2006). Human Rights in the World Community: Issues and Action (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN #: 0812219481

Moore, J. (1999). Hard Choices: Moral Dilemmas of Humanitarian Intervention. Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN#: 0847690318

Certain documents listed below (including journal articles) can be accessed via the Internet.

Graff, J. (2007, October). “Fight for the Top of the World.” Time 170 (14), 28.  Retrieved January 8, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1339307631).

Hirsh, D. “Forget What I Said about ‘Asian Values.” Declares the Sage of Singapore . Newsweek (28 January 2001). .

Sen, A. "Human Rights and Asian values." The New Republic (14-21 July 1997) .

Tomkins, E. and Amundsen, H. “Perceptions of the Effectiveness of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Advancing National Action on Climate Change,” Environmental Science & Policy vol. 11 (2008): 1-13.

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy's Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply: Executive Summary”.  DOE/GO-102008-2578 (May 2008) available at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy08osti/42864.pdf

You must become familiar, if you are not already, with the United Nations Web site (http://www.un.org). The following documents are available at http://www.un.org/Docs/SG

1. Secretary-General's Report to the UN Security Council on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa.

2. An Agenda for Peace, 17 June 1992.

3. An Agenda for Peace, Supplement, 3 January 1995.

4. Report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 8 September 1999; and Report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 30 March 2001; (they are available at http://ochaonline.un.org/webpage.asp?Page=758)

Finally, you should consult the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Web site (http://www.ohchr.org/english/); it includes a wealth of information on the relevant treaties, as well as numerous reports on human rights issues and the developments relative to the newly created Human Rights Council.

Recommended Readings:

For those students who are interested in acquiring a deeper knowledge of international human rights, the following is a list of several relevant books on this topic.

Andreopoulos, G. (Ed.). (1994). Genocide. The conceptual and historical dimensions. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.

An-Naim, A. A. (1992). Human rights in cross-cultural perspectives. The quest for consensus. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Darius, R. (2007).  Torture and Democracy .  Princeton University Press.  ISBN:  978-0-691-11422-4.

Goldstone, R. (2000). For humanity. Reflections of a war crimes investigator. Yale University Press.

Mamdani, M. (2001). When victims become killers. Princeton University Press.

Nussbaum, M. C. (2000). Women and human development. The capabilities approach. Cambridge University Press.

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Course Outline

Week 1 - What are human rights? The evolution and normative framework of international human rights.

Claude & Weston, pp. 1-16 and 17-24.

Week 2 - Philosophical underpinnings of human rights. The institutionalization of human rights in western political thought. The issue of economic and social rights.

Claude & Weston, pp. 17-24 and 170-177.

Week 3 - Human Rights in non-western traditions. Universalist vs. cultural relativist perspectives on human rights.

Claude & Weston, pp. 39 - 52.  

Week 4 - Universalist vs. cultural relativist perspectives (continued). The debate on Asian Values.

Excerpts from the following two articles:

Hirsh, D. (2001, January 28). Forget what I said about "Asian Values", declares the sage of Singapore . Newsweek.

Sen, A. (1997, July 14-July 21). "Human rights and Asian values". The New Republic.  

Week 5 - The United Nations and the internationalization of human rights standards.

Claude & Weston, pp. 341-353. Go to the UN web site and search for the current developments relative to the HR Council.  

Week 6 - The internationalization of human rights standards (continued). The growing impact of non-governmental organizations.

Claude & Weston, pp. 355-367. You can look at the web site for the OAS and for the Council of Europe to further understand these regional institutions.  

Week 7 - Past and contemporary challenges to the promotion and protection of international human rights: war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Issues of enforcement.

Claude & Weston, pp. 77-80, 82-90, 294-304, and 305-314. Read the Convention on Genocide .  

Week 8 - Past and contemporary challenges (continued).  

Claude & Weston, pp. 390-398. Read the Convention on Genocide .  

Week 9 - Human Rights in the post-cold war era.

Read An Agenda for Peace ; An Agenda for Peace, Supplement ; Secretary-General's Report to the UN Security Council on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa (all these documents can be accessed at the web sites indicated above).  

Week 10 - Human rights in the post-cold war era. The right of self-determination. The rights of indigenous peoples.

Claude & Weston, pp. 401-410, 242-247, and 148-157  

Week 11 - Complex humanitarian emergencies. The Challenge of civilian protection.

Jonathan Moore, Hard Choices , pp. 1-28, 29-54, 55-69

Week 12 - Dilemmas in humanitarian intervention.

Moore, pp. 137-193. Report (summary) of the Independent International Committee on Kosovo Intervention.

On Darfur, Alex de Waal, “Why Darfur Intervention is a Mistake”, viewpoint, BBCNews (May 2008), http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7411087.stm

Week 13 - Dilemmas in humanitarian intervention (continued). Strategies of human rights promotion. Role of NGOs.

Claude & Weston, pp. 415-433.  

Week 14 – Concluding remarks: Human Rights Education and Relevant Trends in International Human Rights.

Read: Claude & Weston, pp. 211-223.

Graff, J. (2007, October). “ Fight for the Top Of the World .” Time, 170 (14), 28. Retrieved January 8, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1339307631).

Rodriguez-Rivera, Luis E., “Is the Human Right to Environment Recognized Under International Law?” (Claude & Weston, pp. 261-73).

Tomkins, Emma L. and Amundsen, Helene. “Perceptions of the Effectiveness of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Advancing National Action on Climate Change,” Environmental Science & Policy vol. 11 (2008): pp. 1-13 and U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy's Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply: Executive Summary,” DOE/GO-102008-2578 (May 2008)

Students will be provided an opportunity to evaluate instruction in this course using the University's standard procedures, which are administered by the Office of Institutional Research. In addition, the Center for Continuing Studies will send a CCS Online Course Evaluation via each student's HuskyCT mail account.  This second survey includes questions unique to the online course format.