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This research presents a critical theoretical and practical re-examination of the link between human rights' issues and politics at national and international levels. The study of human rights is an inherently multidisciplinary enterprise. The paper provides an insight into the relations between diplomacy and human rights and discusses how the latter are exploited for political and commercial aims. This study focuses on the case and constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), and the problem of hostage taking. An internationally-oriented study and based on theoretical arguments and an empirical research approach-notably by using several real cases of ordinary individuals of foreign and dual nationalities who became hostages and the subject of political games and financial conflicts between Iran and the Western countries-the paper highlights the issue of hostage taking of individuals by a state as a political policy and prisoner swaps involving financial and commercial deals. The paper provides evidence of the substantial suffering of the hostages and their families. The paper makes an academic contribution to the literature-the unlawful act of hostage taking involving a state has rarely been discussed -and addresses the legal vacuum in international law and human rights conventions regarding the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of the European Parliament as an international moral tribune for the promotion of human rights through a qualitative case-study design. It focuses on the emblematic Ayotzinapa case, which involved the enforced disappearance of 43 young rural students and the killing of other six civilians in Mexico in September 2014. The paper innovatively analyses the parliamentary diplomacy activity of four Members and their respective political groups: Franziska 'Ska' Keller (Greens/EFA, Germany), Josep-Maria Terricabras i Nogueras (Greens/EFA, Spain), Estefanía Torres Martínez (GUE/NGL, Spain) and Teresa Jiménez-Becerril Barrio (EPP, Spain), during the 8th parliamentary term (2014–2019). It addresses: How does the European Parliament, acting as an international moral tribune, exercise its role in promoting human rights in practice? Importantly, how do individual members and their political groups contribute to fulfilling this role? The research findings reveal that the phenomenon of parliamentary diplomacy on human rights is highly complex, challenging the mainstream notion that the European Parliament is a monolithic player acting as a moral tribune in international relations. Results also provide important insight for understanding the (micro-)processes of parliamentary diplomacy and their relevance for human rights advocacy within the European Union's external relations and its Member States'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the recent cases of the European Court of Human Rights (the ECtHR, the Court) in which the Court offered legal protection to vulnerable groups. For this purpose, the paper will first discuss the vulnerability paradigm before the ECtHR and draw the list of groups recognised by the Court as vulnerable. It will then turn to the case law to trace the recent trends and developments in the Court's focus when protecting vulnerable groups. In particular, the research covers the Court judgements rendered in the last four years (from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the plight of the 'Guapinol Eight,' a group of men who were arrested, detained, and convicted by a Honduran court after defending their right to access clean water. Our analysis is situated within a broader doctrinal conversation on the gaps in the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of human rights defenders. In particular, we highlight the (lack of) effectiveness of protection mechanisms, the complex connections between activism, repression of activism and risk taking, and the usage of legal and administrative mechanisms for repression of human rights defenders. We find that the Honduran criminal justice system largely fails to protect those who speak up against unfair criminal charges, detention, and convictions, while at the same time fails to condemn private companies or individuals who retaliate against the work of human rights defenders with lawsuits, violence, or murder. In the conclusion of this paper, recommendations are made as to steps the Honduran government can take to redress past wrongs and introduce standards that comply with domestic and international law before a chilling effect ameliorates the voice of human rights in Honduras in the years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanity is vividly witnessing the loss of life, the massive destruction, and human rights violations due to new authoritarian regimes and protracted wars that have intensified in the last few decades, particularly in countries of the Global South. Such conflictual situations have also resulted in devastating attacks against academic institutions and values and, in turn, the displacement of scholars, mainly to neighbouring countries and to Europe. In a pressing situation involving the radical disruption of scientists' social and academic lives in their homelands, international support networks, the history of which goes back to the 1920s, could quickly respond to the scholars' urgent needs. This paper analyzes the impacts of this recent migration flow of scholars on 'academic humanitarianism' in Europe, which is a form of humanitarianism and a regime of governing that emerged at the intersection of humanitarianism and academia. While analyzing the changing nature of this regime, the paper focuses on governing discourses, technologies, and strategies of the following organisations: Cara (UK), PSI (Germany), and PAUSE (France). It concludes that the flow of scholars from the countries of the Global South to Europe has resulted in important changes in their humanitarian approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the interplay between international human rights law and international biomedical law as two specialised regimes within international law. The focus lies specifically on the anticipatory duties arising under the human right to benefit from science and its applications on the one side and under international biomedical law on the other. International biomedical law instruments adopt a human rights-based approach to the regulation of biology and medicine, so one of the questions is whether the anticipatory duties in biomedical law are indeed a specific application of the corresponding duties in international human rights law, modified, expanded and elaborated further to better address the distinctive subject matter, namely, the interface between the individual and science and technology in a medical context? Or whether the anticipatory duties in international biomedical law draw from international environmental law and/or general international law? The main question that this paper aims to address concerns the precise scope and content of the anticipatory duties under international biomedical law and their relationship to human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arab world faces serious challenges in the protection of human rights. Merely criticising government policies towards human rights has long meant risking one's freedom, if not life. Yet despite the myriad threats, there is a long and powerful history of efforts to address human rights from multiple perspectives that has largely been ignored outside the region (and even by many human rights scholars and practitioners within it), in good measure because most of it occurs in Arabic, which most international human rights scholars do not read. This paper critically reviews Arab human rights publications written in Arabic as a first attempt towards elucidating the diversity and depth of human rights literature in the Arab world for the broader field of human rights studies. Bringing this knowledge to the international human rights community is crucial to helping develop a human rights discourse in and for the Arab world that can positively impact research, advocacy and governance despite the broad environment of authoritarian retrenchment across the region. In so doing, our research offers new knowledge for developing human rights studies in trajectories that can have more direct impact on human rights struggles on the ground globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will first review the debate over the definition and recognition of Indigenous peoples with regard to the people of Ryukyu/ Okinawa, focusing on the colonial history, specifically regarding the case of the lawsuit calling for the return of the Ryukyuan ancestral remains. Then, after an overview of the history of the lawsuit calling for the return of the Ryukyuan ancestors, which was instigated in 2018, I will present what has been achieved so far, the challenges that remain, and the prospects for the future. There, the 'colonialism by academic knowledge' nurtured since the colonial period will be exposed, and the recognition by the state of the people of Ryukyu and Okinawa as Indigenous peoples, and the possibility of solidarity among civil society and domestic and international Indigenous and minority peoples will be analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International human rights institutions and scholars are debating whether established human rights suffice to address challenges raised by neurotechnologies which measure or alter brain activity; UNESCO intends developing a novel standard-setting instrument for neurotechnologies. This paper analyses how core human rights pertain to neurotechnologies and might be interpreted in this context. Contrary to claims about gaps in the law, several rights, especially the underexplored rights to mental integrity and freedom of thought, as well as some features of human dignity provide resources to protect persons against reading their minds or tampering with their brains against their will. Proposals for the construction of these rights are submitted. They specify and actualise the multi-layered protection of the person that core human rights provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted, in part, as a response to the horrific antisemitism leading to the extermination of millions of Jews in World War II. Yet, today, organisations that utilise human rights instruments to criticise Israel's laws, policies and practices are themselves being cast as antisemitic. How has the contemporary human rights regime come to be charged with antisemitism? The ostensible answer is that the meaning of antisemitism has expanded to include anti-Zionism and harsh criticism of Israel. While scholars have debated the validity of this expansion, this paper interrogates three types of abstractions: those deployed by traditional antisemites, those emanating from human rights, and those mobilised by the new antisemitism doctrine. An analysis of these abstractions helps clarify the new hostility between antisemitism and human rights. Whereas Zionism aims to protect Jews by asserting a right to Jewish difference within the context of a nation-state, human rights aim to protect Jews by promoting an egalitarian distribution of rights among the population. The crux of the matter is that the solution human rights offer to antisemitism also threatens the Zionist project, since it challenges the racialized mode of governance that this political ideology has implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief presented his 'Report on Freedom of Thought' to the United Nations General Assembly. This was the first substantive consideration of the right to freedom of thought at the United Nations level since the right was recognised in 1948. This paper provides interdisciplinary reflections on this report to support ongoing discussions on the appropriate content and scope of this fundamental human right. We begin by addressing reasons for the historical neglect of this right, namely the right being viewed as more symbolic than practical and relevant interests being perceived as already protected by other rights. Next, given there is no consensus on what the right protects, or how it protects, we consider its potential attributes. We then consider potential violations of this right, turning to its application to mental health. Finally, we consider the Special Rapporteur's recommendations, discussing how some may be realised through human rights-centered regulation in the form of the European Union's new Digital Services Act. In this context, we also briefly consider relevant aspects of the EU Commission's proposal for an AI Act. We conclude by outlining pressing challenges facing the development of this right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the correlations between the human rights situation and religious identity among minorities. It uses an integrated longitudinal dataset of the World Values Survey waves from 1990 to 2014 and three human rights measures to test how (a) constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and equality, (b) governmental human rights practices, and (c) societal discrimination and prejudice against minority religions correlate with the average strength of religious identities in 42 countries. Multilevel analyses show that Muslim respondents had the highest and Buddhists the lowest identity scores. The highest identity scores were further found in countries with medium governmental repression compared to such with very low or very high repression, and those with very high levels of societal discrimination. Those findings are discussed against the background of the existent literature on minority identities and religious movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International human rights law sets out the right to life and freedom from torture and ill-treatment. This includes the positive obligation of states to prevent, protect and punish acts of private individuals that threaten the life and limb of another person. Permeating through many areas of law, this duty of due diligence is particularly important for women and children who require protection from abuse perpetrated by intimate partners or family members. The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence details these obligations, including in family law. Based on the work of the convention's independent monitoring body (GREVIO), this article offers a categorisation of factors and mechanisms that thwart women's and children's rights in family law proceedings, resulting in unsafe child contact regulation after intimate partner violence. It shows the shared nature of these factors across several European jurisdictions and places them in context with the interpretative work of international human rights bodies and the European Court of Human Rights. Situating the discussion in the context of growing anti-feminist movements seeking to expand patriarchal notions of family authority, it argues for an understanding of family law processes as a setting for human rights violations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying a critical rhetorical approach to law, this article revisits the proportionality discourse of the European Court of Human Rights and the socio-political tendencies it reveals in the case of Garib v the Netherlands (2017). The work focuses on the rhetorical management of the conflict between socio-economic public policies and the social rights indirectly protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols. The rhetorical construction of proportionality discourse identified is driven by the re-elaboration of themes constitutive of the normative rationality of post-austerity neoliberalism, in particular the individual responsibilisation and sacrifice for the negative consequences of neoliberal socioeconomic policies. The discourse is also supported by elements announcing an authoritarian turn in the deployment of such policies through the connection between economic goals and public order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The millions of refugees in Turkey are left in political limbo. Anti-refugee sentiment in society has also become an issue. However, in contradiction to the earlier Muslim solidarity rhetoric of 'Muhajir and Ansar', the Turkish government has been implementing its repatriation project that requires a 'safe and dignified' voluntary return of a million Syrian refugees to Turkey's safe zone in Northeast Syria. The article argues that the country's current political, economic and social conjuncture overshadows the voluntary character of the government's repatriation project and claims that Turkey's voluntary repatriation project does not meet the requirements of the international refugee protection regime. Building on the policy-oriented approach to international law, the article examines the potential implementation of the preventive dimension of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) on behalf of Syrian 'returnees'. The article concludes that the 'two-phase' responsibility strategy that imposes responsibilities on the host country and the international community, which would be implemented simultaneously in Turkey's repatriation project, can protect returnees from possible danger in Syria. However, it can also set a precedent for future cases by filling a gap in International Refugee Law that does not address voluntary repatriation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its close relationship to employment rights, the concept of the public interest in labour law lacks extensive discussion. Even fewer scholars have studied employment discrimination in China from this perspective, despite China signing many international Conventions and Recommendations related to employment rights. This article analyses the social-based attributes in China's employment anti-discrimination laws, arguing that the laws should prioritise the protection of public interests. It then distils the connotation of the social public interest carried by the laws from the perspectives of legal values, the independence of legal interest, and legislative purposes. Subsequently, this article examines the implementation of the laws at judicial and administrative levels, identifying limitations in individual-oriented approaches and deficiencies in safeguarding the public interest. These limitations and deficiencies primarily manifest in the fact that labour agencies generally do not accept employment discrimination complaints or subtly exclude hiring processes from the scope of administrative enforcement, while courts are accustomed to a private law rationale of compensating for actual losses. Accordingly, this article suggests establishing and maintaining a fair labour market competition order by imposing punitive damages to deter potential discrimination, activating administrative enforcement to rectify past discrimination, and guiding employers to proactively assume social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homelessness has shattered democracies worldwide. This study uses a doctrinal approach, employing content analysis, especially relational content analysis, to examine the underlying factors and difficulties associated with homelessness among women. The study notably focuses on the issue of police violence directed at this marginalised population and sheds light on the vulnerable position of homeless women, highlighting the crucial responsibility of governments under Parens Patriae to protect their lives and freedoms. The study argues that homelessness is fundamentally inconsistent with the principles of human dignity. The findings highlight the constitutional violations committed against homeless women in India, contravening the principles enshrined in Articles 14, 19, and 21, as well as the directives specified in Articles 39(1), 42, and 47. The findings indicate that the social welfare efforts implemented by the state are in line with the objectives of SDGs. This highlights the importance of adopting more focused approaches to address the issue of homelessness among women. Moreover, the study examines the legal framework of the United Kingdom, taking into account the influence of India's colonial history, and investigates the current practices of democratic nations and the role of the protagonist played by the Indian Judiciary in addressing homelessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past three decades, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have becoming an increasingly common feature of transitional and post-conflict justice processes. As institutions designed to promote and protect human rights, they have been afforded a range of responsibilities, including investigating conflict-related human rights violations, assisting with the establishment and functioning of ad hoc mechanisms like truth and reconciliation commissions, and contributing to accountability. Drawing on evidence from the case of Nepal, however, this article demonstrates that engaging in transitional justice processes places NHRIs at considerable risk. It argues, in particular, that the political nature of transitional justice and compromises it inevitably entails can serve to jeopardise the legitimacy, credibility, and effectiveness of NHRIs. The article thus concludes that far greater consideration of the impact that transitional justice has on NHRIs and development of measures to protect their integrity in highly fraught political contexts is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granting amnesty to perpetrators of gross human rights is becoming a re-emerging phenomenon in Africa. Nigeria is currently witnessing unprecedented threats of violent extremism unleashed by terrorist groups; despite efforts to curb such acts, there has been little or no success. One such counter-terrorism measure has been the grant of amnesty to the Boko-haram terrorist group. Gauging the effectiveness of such a policy is of great importance to the survival of democratic principles. The article explores the Nigerian debate around amnesty. It argues that these debates need to evaluate the substance of the rule of law and ensure that impunity is not entrenched in achieving 'peace' without justice. There is a need for the executive to justify, explain and defend decisions on the grant of amnesty. Giving such explanations will allow for the public greater participation in security matters. The grant of amnesty to 'repentant' terrorists has not effectively facilitated law enforcement agencies' disruption of terrorism in Nigeria. Inclusive decision-making process around amnesty must be invoked to have efficient amnesty program in Nigeria and safeguard the rule of law. Public debates on granting amnesty be encouraged, taking into cognisance the consequences of not prosecuting violators of gross human rights abuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate litigation against states is increasingly based on international human rights law. As a result, more climate cases are filed at international human rights courts and treaty bodies. Strict standing requirements pose significant hurdles, however, for individuals and communities to access such courts and treaty bodies, especially for those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This article argues that an intersectional perspective aids in overcoming procedural hurdles and can help international and regional human rights courts and treaty bodies to provide access to justice in climate cases, thus enforcing international human rights standards. Intersectionality unveils how climate change exacerbates pre-existing injustices and how society's most vulnerable are structurally hit the hardest by climate change. It thus offers courts a more complete view of the impact of the climate crisis on human rights. Moreover, it illuminates how certain individuals are particularly affected by the climate crisis, aiding them in meeting standing requirements such as victim status and individual concern requirements. Examining recent cases brought on by generational groups, the article illustrates how intersectionality uncovers how the intersection of age and climate make certain generations particularly susceptible to climate change-induced human rights violations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this research is to identify the determinants that intervene in the transitional justice choices made in general, and those made in the Spanish case in particular. The construction of a linear regression model containing 83 transitions was developed to identify the significant explanatory factors in the transitional justice choices. The analysis enabled us to place Spain at some distance from the countries considered as successful in terms of transitional justice to classify it as an exception that is not adequately explained by the general model, while also identifying the main reasons for this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, there are certain tendencies in a significant number of regimes today that indicate a shift away from liberal democracy, the rule of law, equality, and justice. This threatens international human rights, advancing towards totalitarianism. The technologies available to totalitarian regimes today for control, intimidation, indoctrination, and mass manipulation are far more advanced than their earlier counterparts. It is typically led by a charismatic dictator and a single political party that uses powerful narratives of blame, hate speech, instilling fear, and scapegoating to seise or maintain power at any cost. That being so, amid contemporary global shifts to totalitarianism, human rights abuses persist worldwide despite the ratification of so many international treaties. This piece engages in critically analysing the situation faced by the targeted group of citizens who live under the rules of resurgent totalitarian states. The study further examines the reasons why certain countries and communities get along well with their counterparts while others appear to be breeding grounds, what role governments, politicians, and leaders play in the development and support of group divisions and ideologies of social difference, and how these ideologies lead to the creation of a destructive culture and infrastructure on the path to large-scale bloodshed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the 75th anniversary of the Genocide Convention, the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC), as constituted under the Rome Statute, in responding to genocide is worth evaluating. This article assesses the effectiveness of the ICC in addressing genocide, with a focus on the Al-Bashir Case (case concerning genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur, Sudan) - the first ICC proceeding against a sitting Head of State charged with genocide. It first singles out the ICC's role in promoting international solidarity to prevent genocide, break cycles of violence, and enhance the likelihood of prosecution. It also discusses the legal obligation to strengthen international cooperation for the Al-Bashir Case, under the Genocide Convention, and considers the relevant contexts of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The analysis has incorporated legal and criminological literature, alongside scholarship of international relations from voluminous resources. This article emphasises the ongoing necessity for international cooperation within the ICC to effectively implement its mechanisms: investigation, prosecution, principle of complementarity, and deterrence. It suggests that this aim can be attained through encouraging Member States of both the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention to actively participate in responding to genocide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous communities around the globe increasingly resort to courts to seek protection for their individual and collective rights. Not only has the use of strategic litigation by Indigenous peoples to defend their human rights been underexplored but the role of Indigenous lawyers and experts is also a blind spot. Drawing on interdisciplinary, qualitative and collaborative research with Indigenous lawyers, experts and legal activists who are involved in the legal defence of the rights of Indigenous peoples in Guatemala, we foreground a complex legal ethnographic landscape regarding their intergenerational legal-political battle in a society facing transition from recent mass violence and the imposition of extractive economies. This article explores how their Indigenous lawyering is rooted in their Indigenous being and embedded in Indigenous water and land ontologies. We demonstrate how these Indigenous litigators are advancing through counter-hegemonic legal practice that goes beyond dominant Euro-Western and colonial legal positivistic assumptions about human-water-life relationships embedded in a racialised neoliberal legal structure. We argue that in contrast to human rights activist lawyers, they are occupying and exercising a differentiated role, through their positionality and their non-conventional practices, as transformative connectors of worlds before the courts or political ontological knowledge brokers, without falling into romanticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though inter-state forced displacement is heavily concentrated in the Third World and predominantly constituted of massive migration flows linked to objective and structural socio-economic factors, the protection provided by International Refugee Law remains based on a liberal Euro- and state-centric definition of refugees, culminating in a de facto exclusion of the great majority of the world's refugees. This article advocates the need to conceptually challenge the 1951 Convention refugee definition, proposing the Cartagena Declaration as a Third World human rights alternative to it. The delegitimization of the socio-economic refugee sustains and is sustained by the Western liberal and state-centric logic under which International Refugee Law functions. The recognition of socio-economic rights per se as a basis for refugee status under the Cartagena Declaration constitutes a rupture with that dysfunctional logic. Consequently, the Cartagena 'Spirit' provides, in theory, a comprehensive and up-to-date human rights refugee protection regime capable of encompassing all types of refugees. To materialise the discussion, the article critically analyses the Brazilian application of the Cartagena refugee definition to Venezuelan socio-economic refugees. It concludes that the Brazilian approach does not fully materialise the Cartagena 'Spirit' radical potential, putting into question the 'Spirit' practical feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1948, Article 27(1) UDHR declared the right 'to share in scientific advancement and its benefits'. Since 1966, the right has also been guaranteed by Article 15(1)(b) ICESCR as the right to 'enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications'. This equivocation on the right's name reveals a disagreement about the object of that right, i.e. (actively) participating in the scientific practice or (passively) 'enjoying its fruits' only. While the importance of participation in science has recently been emphasised, no justifications thereof have yet been provided. Drawing on considerations in human rights theory, the present article proposes an interpretation of Article 15(1)(b) ICESCR qua 'right to participate in scientific practice and enjoy its benefits'. It starts with an account of the genesis of the right. Second, it argues that science is best approached as a 'participatory good', both from the perspective of the philosophy of science and of other rights guaranteed by the ICESCR. Third, the article spells out the participatory dimensions of the human right to participate in science including its 'collective' dimensions. Finally, the article explores three institutional implications of the proposed participatory interpretation of the right, both domestically and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how the right to science can benefit from the obligations and mechanisms related to anticipation of other, social and cultural rights. It considers how these obligations can be extended to the right to science and how they can benefit the right to science by ricochet. Hence, this article shows, on the one hand, the potential that the obligations of prevention, precaution and due diligence, when applied to, social and cultural rights, have to be extended into the context of the right to science. This analysis of obligations is followed by identifying mechanisms capable of addressing the anticipatory dimension required for implementing this right. It is therefore explored, on the other hand, how mechanisms such as indicators and HRIAs, considered useful in the framework of, social and cultural rights, can play a role in the implementation of the anticipatory aspects linked to the right to science. This analysis is based mainly on the interpretative function of quasi-judicial and jurisdictional human rights bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States have under the right to science an obligation to prevent or mitigate harm of scientific progress and its applications. This obligation is derived from the right to be protected against the harmful effects of scientific progress and its applications, a dimension of the right to science. However, preventing the harmful effects of scientific progress and its applications can sometimes conflict with other human rights or with scientific freedom, which is also part of the right to science. In such cases, limitations on one right might be required to protect another, whereby the different interests need to be properly balanced. While the duty to prevent harm is well established in international human rights law, it is yet obscure if the anticipation of potential harms to come is possible under the existing framework of international law. While not a legal concept, entry points for anticipation are already covered under the current international law and can be drawn together by a cross-fertilisation of the obligation to prevent, the precautionary principle and due diligence. The precautionary principle and due diligence can provide guidance on when and under what circumstances situations for anticipation are triggered and conducted. Both concepts involve a necessity and proportionality test, which is also inherent to limitations under international human rights law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can scientists assist society and contribute to international policymaking – and just as crucially, how can society engage with and shape science? What will it take to make modern science diplomacy for the Anthropocene successful so that the benefits of science are furthered and its risks and harms, as far as possible, prevented? In this article, we explore the relevance and usefulness of three areas of study to these questions: science diplomacy, the human right to science, and anticipation in the context of scientific and technological developments. We argue that a hitherto underappreciated aspect of science diplomacy – diplomacy (with)in science – has significant potential to complement anticipatory approaches such as the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator's (GESDA's) by furthering the same goals: ameliorating the negative impacts of scientific and technological developments and facilitating their benefits. We relate the concept of diplomacy (with)in science to the normative framework of the right to science under international human rights law and develop and motivate it further by illustrating two potential areas for its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of strong legislative frameworks to guarantee children's privacy, agency and safety in the digital environment has been emphasised by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its most recent general comment. Both the EU and China, who(se Member States) are Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, have adopted their own legislative frameworks for protecting children's rights to privacy and data protection in recent years. This article compares how these two distinct legislative frameworks safeguard these rights. The analysis focuses on the constitutional protection as well as on a comparison of the legislation that is currently in place, such as the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU and the Personal Information Protection Law, the Provisions on Online Protection of Children's Personal Data and other relevant regulations in China. More specifically, the article zooms in on the responsibilities emerging from these regulatory frameworks for private companies and platforms that process children's personal data. It ultimately aims to draw conclusions as to whether and how the child's rights to privacy and data protection are protected in different parts of the world where children use similar commercial apps and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article 'Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology', published in 2017, Ienca and Andorno review the current stage of neuroscience and neurotechnology development, proposing four new human rights that shall protect the individual from the dangers arising from said development. The authors accept the idea of infiltration into our interior castle -- the mind -- requiring only the proper level of protection against the described probable misuse of techniques, especially their use against the individual's will. Although their proposal seems a needed addition to the human rights system, it raises doubts as to the very definition of human it was designed to protect. Is the whole concept of the technical infiltration of the brain to alter the mind processes reconcilable with human freedom, especially with freedom of thought, conscience, and religion? In the article, the authors deliberate the inadequacy of two visions of human: the one that was the foundation of the human rights system and another emerging from Ienca and Andorno's article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, a White narrative of self-defence against a Black uprising suppressed the truth of the 1921 Tulsa (Oklahoma) race massacre and blocked reparations to survivors. In 2001, the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (often called the Tulsa Race Riot Commission, or TRRC), a truth commission established by the state of Oklahoma, demonstrated that Whites had conducted a pogrom against the Black community of Tulsa for which the government shared culpability. The TRRC recommended to the state legislature a reparations programme that included restitution and compensation to survivors and their descendants. However, because of flaws in the conception and execution of its mandate, the TRRC failed to convince the Oklahoma legislature to implement and fund its recommendations. The experience of the TRRC illustrates the gap between the measures that a truth commission recommends and those ultimately implemented by policymakers and offers lessons to future truth commissions charged with proposing reparations in response to organised violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to barriers to remedy through national and international legal fora, nonjudicial mechanisms (NJMs) are very often the only options for victims of transnational business-related human rights abuses (TBHRA) to seek remedy, even for serious and gross violations. Yet, it has been well-established that NJMs have been largely ineffective in providing access to remedy. Based on an assumption that improving the effectiveness of NJMs will result in better remedy outcomes for rightsholders, a variety of prescriptions have been put forth to make NJMs more effective. However, through a two-step empirical analysis of cases involving serious instances of TBHRA handled by the National Contact Points for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, this article demonstrates that, even when operating effectively, NJMs are unequipped to provide certain forms of remedy and are particularly ill-suited to provide remedy proportional to serious instances of TBHRA. This article therefore advocates for a more nuanced understanding of the degrees of various forms of remedy and what NJMs are truly capable of providing, in order to better situate NJMs within the overall remedial architecture and to aid selection of the appropriate forum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science permeates almost every aspect of society, yet the human right to science remains neglected. In 2020, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published its General Comment No. 25, intended to interpret the abstract provisions of Article 15 ICESCR. As a non-binding treaty body pronouncement, the General Comment's reception and impact depend on its normative legitimacy -- the extent to which its reasoning is coherent, determinative, transparent, systemically consistent, and adheres to international law methodologies, particularly those set out in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. This article evaluates the General Comment's normative legitimacy and practical value by reference to three key interpretations in Article 15: 'science', 'enjoy the benefits', and 'participation'. The General Comment, it concludes, does not represent a comprehensive interpretation, but should be seen as opening a door to state practice and, therefore, more detailed interpretation by the Committee, States parties, and domestic and international courts. Despite purporting to innovate, the Committee's approach generally builds on pre-existing conceptualisations, further increasing its normative legitimacy. The article concludes that the future impact of the right to science can be greatly enhanced by increased attention by the Committee and by States parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the world praised Taiwan for its exemplary management of the COVID-19 pandemic, a debate on its compliance with rule of law and human rights was shadowed. This manuscript examines the stringent policy of mandatory quarantine and isolation in Taiwan through the lens of personal liberty and argues that despite its effectiveness for public health, it was disproportionate, arbitrary and likely amounting to the ill-treatment of quarantined persons. Notwithstanding its implications for coronavirus policies elsewhere, the legal ramifications of Taiwan's lesson are also vital for scholarly debate on the limits of the established international human rights framework during the time of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Universal Periodic Review has given UN development agencies an opportunity to further reframe their work as rights-promotion. The UPR consists of regular reviews of state reports on their human rights situations. It is a peer-review process, encouraging states to improve their rights records and making specific suggestions on how to do so. Still, by itself the UPR has no powers to push for compliance other than report-driven mechanisms. However, development agencies such as UNDP, UNICEF, and the rest of the UN Sustainable Development Group are being encouraged to participate in all facets of the UPR process. They can help states prepare reports, help the UPR review those reports, and, crucially, incorporate suggestions from the UPR into national development plans of cooperation. They do this by linking UPR recommendations with the Rights-based Approach to Development. This opens up new ways to promote human rights through a more cooperative model: it moves beyond 'naming and shaming' to a more active process of rights implementation by development agencies, working cooperatively with states. The process is new, and only sporadically followed; however, if fully implemented, it can provide a model for a new phase of rights promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, privacy emerges as one of the most desired human rights. It is crucial for the fullest development of the physical and mental growth of human beings. Due to constant progress and subsequent usage and dependence on Information and Communications Technology in the digital age, personal data emerges as the new fuel to the Internet and coin to the digital world. While the digital environment makes life easier, faster and smarter, it eventually, poses tremendous challenges to information privacy as diverse actors always monitor, or track our online activities, or behaviour mostly without our knowledge. Thus, the debate encompassing information privacy appears as one of the hot-button issues in contemporary global politics, policies and business. In response, numerous policy measures have been adopted globally, but Bangladesh is lagging. This context requires a study to learn – whether the existing legal regime of Bangladesh adequately protects citizens' rights to privacy. Such kind of research work is lacking, and hence, this study aims to fill that gap. The findings of this research will enlighten all stakeholders to understand the existing legal framework for privacy in Bangladesh. It will further facilitate them to map and design their future policies and strategies encompassing privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]