International Human Rights Law E-Learning Course
The IBA, in collaboration with Florida State University, offer a 15-week survey course which looks at international human rights law and provides an introduction to the basic principles of international human rights and the legal institutions that operate in this area.
All applicants were required to complete the application form, send their CV and a 500-1000 word essay on what they currently consider to be the most pressing concern in International Human Rights Law. There was no right answer to this question, and we encouraged students to select a topic based on their current experience and interests.
Application Essays - 2019
Human Rights v Diplomacy, Foreign Policy and Ors - Ali Imam Yousafi
It has been nearly seven decades since UN trumpeted its infamous and august dictum that, The People of United Nations, are determined “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.” These golden words, to flogged and raped humanity, sounded as though the voice of God himself at last—finally descending from His solemn abode above—down on longing-broken souls. The words sounded as though Eminence Himself! But it was just that—just words! Not golden, but sly copper in disguise—whose shine illusioned the weary eyes of hope and shut them forever. Since, the actual efforts to achieve that goal are—if not entirely a mere puffery then at the very least—grossly inadequate and the goal itself is still more a dream than reality. A dream for the realization of which, millions died in waiting—and millions are dying still!
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Application Essay - Azubike Onuora-Oguno
The growth of international human rights law is one that should not be ignored. The impact of international human rights laws on national laws keeps gaining traction. The laws of violence against women, economic social and cultural rights, solidarity rights are all but a few of the areas of influence. However, of particular importance to me is the place of solidarity in realising human rights laws. Solidarity rights generally considered to be a fourth-generation human rights law gained some acceptance when the United Nations set up an office for the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of solidarity rights. These issues cover areas such as migration and displacement issues.
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Essay about the most pressing concern in International Human Rights Law - Cathy Weihs
The International Human Rights Law was created to promote and protect human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. While the OCHRC lists more than hundred Human Rights Issues, I will concentrate on the one that seems to be the most pressing concern to me in the International Human Rights Law – Human Rights and Climate Change. That climate change is real is out of question by now – also, that human-made greenhouse gas emissions are its primary cause.
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The most pressing concern in International Human Rights Law? - Jaslin Kaur
Whether it may be the detention of Uighur muslims in reeducation camps, or modern day sex trafficking , or even data collection by companies such as Cambridge Analytica for the purpose of influencing elections; it would be unjust to identify one as being more concerning than the other. On that note, it must be considered that maybe that these individual incidents can only be solved by attending to the most pressing concern that is International Human Rights Law(IHRL) itself. International Human Rights law is essentially a set of treaties and conventions that sets out idealistic morals that we expect the individual and the state to abide by. Recent events seem to leave unresolved issues surrounding IHRL; has legal enforceability gone far enough?; is IHRL based on a criteria which isn’t applicable to all? and to what extent should IHRL be dominated by politicians and lawyers as well as the possible implications with this being the case?. Furthermore, it can be argued that failure to solve these questions brings into question the sustainability of IHRL itself, which is ultimately the most pressing concern.
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Challenges in International Human Rights Law - Kamilia Saad
I consider the most pressing concern in International Human Rights Law to be accountability and the effectiveness of the mechanisms and regulatory environment to address alleged human rights violations, including how international human rights law has influence in the corporate world. Some have alluded to a ‘governance gap’ between corporate influence and accountability with regard to business respect for human rights, despite the range of standards and norms in place.
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International Human Rights Law and Climate Change - Kristhea Cortez
Ironically, the most pressing concerns receive the least attention. International Human Rights Law is a set of international treaties agreed upon by sovereign states for the protection of human dignity. Naturally, the Earth has been warming at a slow pace. However, increased gases in the atmosphere have sped up warming, causing climate change. This phenomenon is considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the result of human activities which release harmful gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, into the atmosphere, altering the climate’s rhythm. Such changes pose a threat to life, access to water, food and housing, and so impacts the human right to subsistence, health and life. Following the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNCHR) acknowledgement of the implications of climate change on human rights in 2008, International law now obligates its states to ensure that global warming does not affect human rights. The lack of attention this matter receives paradoxically depicts it as the most concerning issue in the International Human Rights Law.
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Venezuela Cries for Help - Laura Gonzalez
Venezuela, once the richest country in South America, has fallen in recent years into one of the deepest humanitarian crisis this century has seen. Human rights violations are a constant for Venezuelans, who flee en masse seeking asylum in neighboring countries such as Colombia or Brazil. In fact, the United Nations estimate 5.3 million Venezuelan migrants by the end of this year, rivaling the Syrian refugee crisis.
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International Human Rights Law and International Refugee Law: the primacy of human rights and the contemporary tensions of migratory policies - Malu Stanchi
The UNHCR (ONU, 2018, p. 2) recorded 70.8 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, of which 25.9 million are refugees. Forced displacement is itself characterized as a violation of human rights that undermines the right to personal integrity, property, personal freedom, freedom of expression and belief, and therighttolife.Itoccursmainlyattheinterstate level, leading to disputes that have been configured in different ways due to temporality, territorial and geopolitical limits, and agreements and pacts signed by nations before the international community.
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Migration: Friend or Foe? - Manar Hassan
The migration of individuals is paramount to the economic and social growth of the world at large. It is often categorized as an enabler of global development as it facilitates access to education and integration to global job markets while promoting diversity and inclusion. However, the rapid increase in number of migrants, reaching up to 258 million recorded people in 2017,1 caused widespread concern. Consequently, the benefits of migration have been overlooked as, particularly involuntary migration, yields sensitive political issues including state sovereignty. In a day of increased xenophobia and discrimination, migrants have increasingly become victims of human rights violations, whether in transit or upon arrival at the host countries.
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Application Essay - Manolis Antonakakis
H. G. Wells predicted that “the whole human memory can be, and probably in short time will be, made accessible to every individual”. This famous English paints a prophetical picture; a picture which seems familiar to most of modern citizens and refers to the Internet, probably the most important invention ever.
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Direct Provision in Ireland – A Domestic Attempt at Managing a Global Human Rights Concern - Margaret Gallagher
At this very moment there are 5,609 asylum seekers living in Direct Provision in Ireland, 22.6% of whom are children, a number significantly higher than the total number of prison detainees on the island. Direct Provision has been the Irish government’s response to the very global phenomenon of mass migration and the issue posed by asylum seekers awaiting judgment of their claim for refugee status. Scenes in recent months of the separation of children from their families in the United States and ships of asylum seekers in the Mediterranean being refused access to EU ports have become the tragic undercurrent of global affairs. This juxtaposition draws ever closer into focus the pernicious threat posed by populist political forces to the long-standing international regime on refugee protection. Direct provision refers to the system for the provision of basic meals and shelter to those claiming subsidiary protection, refugee status or leave to remain in Ireland. It is time that this 18-year-old, outmoded, non-legislative, discriminatory system be brought to an end in favour of an arrangement which upholds human dignity. It is contended that Direct Provision in its current iteration is an affront to the rule of law. It violates international law, specifically transgressing a number of rights protected under the ICCPR, notably the right to equal treatment under law, the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment and the right to private and family life. Further, a number of UN human rights treaty bodies have voiced concerns over the impact of Direct Provision on various vulnerable groups including women and children, similar sentiments were also expressed under the UPR process.
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Application Essay - Mariam Shakil
It is a widely known and understood fact that human rights are fundamental to each and every individual; which is to say that every person has the right to uphold their dignity and autonomy, without disrupting the same rights of others. The question that should be asked is why these fundamental requirements are not being followed through thoroughly? Human rights are broad and cannot be subject to an absolute definition, making it difficult to be universally binding. There are a multitude of issues concerning human rights that have been ongoing for centuries, which makes it difficult to dedicate one single issue as the most pressing one, as they are all, in their own right, considered to be harmful to humanity.
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Our Plastic Life - Mariann Gabriella Farkas
I have to go to the local supermarket. What should I buy? Milk, water, soda, some fruits, especially peach, because this is the favorite of my family, some vegetables and bread. I rip off the plastic bag routinely, one for the peaches, another for the vegetables, and another one to put all plastic bags in one. After that, I take the artificial soda full of sugar, which is in a plastic bottle, couple of milk, which is full of hormones and also in plastic bottle. I stop for a moment in the ocean of plastic, what else do I need? Of course, bread, which is in a plastic bag too. In the same time, on the other side of the Earth the same story certainly is not told in this way. The original story is the same, I need fruits and vegetables, bread and water. But instead I go to the shop, I go to my little garden, where I grow some fruit and vegetables, it is not much, but will be enough for us. We could grow more, but our land is too small, because the big lands are property of the multinational companies. These fruits and vegetables are not grow for us, only for the rich people in the developed countries. I can bake bread in my kitchen, I am not used to go to the shop, because these products are expensive. After that I go to the nearest well with my jug, but it is dried up. Out of water.
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Populist is a pressing concern for International Human Rights Law - Milinia Drova
The global rise of populism derives out of the political approach that appeals to the ordinary people who feel disregarded by established elite groups. Populists tend to frame politics as a battle between the virtuous 'ordinary' masses and a nefarious or corrupt elite – and insist that the general will of the people must always triumph.1 It offers immediate answers to complicated problems that usually blame some other groups along the way.2 It poses a major concern for international human rights given the rise of nativism, xenophobia, racism, islamophobia and misogyny.
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Application Essay - Nameen Imtiaz
There are various pressing concerns in International Human Rights Law but one that I feel very strongly about is domestic violence against women globally. This topic holds vital importance to me, as this sickening conduct is essentially a norm in my home country, Pakistan.
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Two Barks and No Bite: of the Shift of States from Watchdogs to Lapdogs - Nana Adwoa Baiden
It is year 2019: the 71st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The United Nations is roughly a year from its Diamond Jubilee, and still going strong. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children has seen 174 ratifications1 while the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has seen 189.2 And the most-ratified human rights treaty of all time – the Convention on the Rights of the Child – can boast of 196 ratifications.3 These, among others, are the giant strides that have been made under international human rights law. Despite the declarations and reservations that accompany human rights treaties in general, these are comparatively good days for the international human rights system, and we have good reason to be proud.
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Most pressing concern in International Human Rights Law - Nigel Chidombwe
The most pressing concern in international human rights law is undoubtedly the violence against women and international law’s failure to address the challenges faced by women. This essay seeks to look at whether the international human rights frameworks adequately protects women from discrimination and abuse, it will also go further to dissect the femicide index reports as provided by the Human Rights Watch as well as the indepth analysis of the status of girls in the international human rights framework with references to international policy documents as provided by the research done by Plan International.
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The most pressing concern in International Human Rights Law - Oleksandra Vergeles
Nowadays protection of human rights is one of the main aims of every democratic state. Contrary to previous times we can observe great progress in how the human rights of different generations are safeguarded. For instance, people don't have to fight for 8 hour workday as it was a century ago and the right to life is protected as there is a strong penalty for a murder in all the states. However, the 21st century has brought to us new complicated challenges to human rights based on different causes which varying from climate change to poverty. But the biggest threat is connected with fast widespread of the information technologies that, despite all the advantages, also has a major negative impact on human rights. In this essay, the author will cover detailed arguments with examples which illustrate why uncontrolled digitalization is the most pressing concern to human rights law.
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Migration and Dwindling Rights of Migrants - Priscilla Vitoh
The problem of migration seems to arise in two ways. First, is people leaving their country of origin due to civil unrest, insurgency or persecution and moving to seek refuge in lands deemed to be at peace. A most recent example of this is the Rohingya refugee crisis caused by Rohingya Muslims leaving Myanmar as a result of ethnic persecution to seek refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. Another example is the estimated 5 million Syrians who have had to flee Syria's civil war causing what was dubbed in 2015 as the Europe migration crisis. The second way is people leaving their countries of origin to seek greener pastures i.e. economic or financial betterment mostly in western countries. We see this with African migrants taking the risk of crossing the Atlantic Ocean by boat to get to the shores of Europe and Latin Americans seeking to enter the united states of America albeit illegally through the southern border. Whether these migrants are coming in as refugees or asylum seekers, their main motivation seems to be a better life or offer of better opportunities than what they had in the country they left. In an attempt to control the number of people entering and encumbering on resources, States have adapted stringent and more often than not inhumane treatment of these people with total disregard of the rights such persons are entitled to under international law. This, in my opinion, is the most pressing concern in International Human Rights Law.
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Enforcement of Human Rights Law (The losing game) - Tsebaot Getahun
The biggest hurdle Human Rights law faces is in respect to its effective enforcement. From the very loose accountability of authorities at the state level to the poor level of its application in domestic violence, human rights law seems to be a goal too ideal to pursue. Moreover, in respect to ensuring diversity and inclusive culture, the attitude towards the notion of human rights law seems to have rolled back lately especially regarding women, people of different racial backgrounds and the LGBTQ community. Hence, this loose implementation backed by some countries’ aloofness and outright refusal to observe and abide by the law further pushes the future of stringent Implementation, if any, down the uncertain path.
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