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11 December 2008
Scholar Discusses Citizen Action in the Fight for Human Rights
Ask America webchat transcript, December 11
In observance of the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Bert Lockwood — a professor of law at the University of Cincinnati and director of the university's Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights — answered questions in a December 11 Ask America webchat on creating effective mechanisms for insuring the implementation of human rights.
Following is the transcript:
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of International Information Programs
Ask America Webchat Transcript
Citizen Action: Joining the Fight for Human Rights
Guest: Professor Bert Lockwood
Date: December 11, 2008
Time: 9 a.m. EST (14:00 GMT)
Bert Lockwood: This is Bert Lockwood. I am delighted and honored to be able to chat with you on this 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I think it is important to remember that with the ratification of the UN Charter and the passing of the 1948 Universal Declaration, that a legal revolution was ushered in respecting international law – namely, that what a nation did to its own citizens was no longer simply a matter of domestic concern but in fact became a legitimate concern of the international community. The nature of human rights are that they either restrict what governments may do or they impose upon them positive obligations of what they must do, and therefore it is not surprising that the record of the observance of human rights has been very uneven in the 60 years since the universal declaration. The international community has done a pretty good job respecting, defining what are human rights and has elaborated upon them in a number of treaties and resolutions. What has been much less successful has been in creating effective mechanisms for insuring the implementation of human rights. One fact is that they are grossly under funded. If you were to give human rights NGOs and the UN human rights bodies one year of the US defense budget, we could make great progress. I say this not in the belief that this is going to happen but to underscore the point that I do believe that part of the problem is that governments have been unwilling to sufficiently fund the human rights mechanisms.
Question [LC Karachi – Naimat Ullah Khan]: What are the roots of religious liberty in Human rights? Does it put any impact in war of civilizations?
Answer [Bert Lockwood]: While religions have been a source of inspiration for human rights and many are daily doing excellent work in fulfilling to goals of human rights, I must say that significant violations of human rights occur daily done in the name of religion.
Q [nahedh]: Hi dear...do you think HUMAN RIGHTS are really representing the ethics of the modern world? Or it is just political tool with and no one care about it all over the world ?
A [Bert Lockwood]: Yes, I clearly believe that human rights have become the idea of our times and do set an ethical standard.
Q [pete]: How does one effectively champion human rights, when doing so in certain situations is highly controversial. I am specifically referring to the collective punishment imposed on the Palestinian people by Israel. The case is often made that if one defends Palestinian human rights, Israeli human rights are being ignored, which is often not the case.
A [Bert Lockwood]: It is difficult to answer your question directly. The human rights groups have focused significant attention upon the violations of human rights by Israel. I am thinking of such groups as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists. There are also a number of Israeli human rights groups that courageously criticized their own government.
Comment [nahedh]: Thanks a lot, my name is nahedh abdelwahed. I am palestinian journalist from gaza city. I am interested in human rights.
Webchat Moderator (Kristin): Welcome to all that have just joined us today! Bert Lockwood is taking your questions now.
Q [TM]: It's no question the USA is not living up to its own standards regarding human rights. How will this change now in a new Obama presidency?
A [Bert Lockwood]: I would first underscore that the United States record respecting human rights has been lacking in both democratic and republican administrations. It is our hope that the new administration will significantly improve our participation in the UN as it has promised and I think the appointment of the new UN ambassador is a hopeful sign, but it is clear that we have a great deal to do to repair the record.
Comment [nahedh]: Why we should talk about every state own standards??? Let’s make the global standards be our measure tool, TM.
Webchat Moderator (Kristin): Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Nahedh.
Q [Gevorg Hakobyan]: There is a lack of mechanisms to make governments do their merits?
A [Bert Lockwood]: The answer is yes...but. The but is that there are mechanisms such as the UN office of the High Commission for Human Rights and the various expert committees set up under human rights treaties, but they have been lacking financial resources to enable them to do a truly effective job.
Comment [nahedh]: We are here, here about global debate, even US is a super power, but is it not an absolute power, and should not be above the law, all should be under the law.
Q [bah issiaga mariama bailo]: All the time i witness people abused by authority in their life, what can i do for them?
A [Bert Lockwood]: When I receive this question speaking in my own country I typically suggest that individuals become involved with groups like Amnesty International. I unfortunately am not familiar enough with your country to know whether there are private groups of citizens that have organized to try to give voice to those that are deprived and abused.
Webchat Moderator (Kristin): Thanks for joining us today! Please feel free to let us know where you are from.
Participant [Gevorg Hakobyan]: Armenia.
Participant [francisco gomes de matos]: Recife, Brazil
Participant [Andy Damien]: Jakarta, Indonesia
Participant [LC Karachi – Naimat Ullah Khan]: Pakistan
Participant [nahedh]: am palestinian from GAZA city
Participant [bah issiaga mariama bailo]: i am in guinea-conakry, i am graduated student at the english department of conaky
Q [LC Karachi – Naimat Ullah Khan]: Do the freedom of speech can be outlined? do we have any standard framework for this? If so, why we aren't ready to implement it?
A [Bert Lockwood]: The answer is yes that freedom of speech is clearly spelled out in the Universal Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights, as well as a regional treaty like the European Convention on Human Rights, and many petitions and cases have been brought to these bodies on speech issues.
Q [Gevorg Hakobyan]: What kind of imperatives besides the fundamental education, does the article 26 of the UDHR imply for the states?
A [Bert Lockwood]: There have been significant efforts by human rights NGOs to promote the idea that Article 26 includes the idea that you have a right to be educated about your human rights, in other words a right to human rights education. I believe the only constitution that specifically recognizes this is the Philippines, but there are websites and many NGOs that are doing terrific work with respect to human rights education.
Q [Carla]: Prof. Lockwood, do you think access to water, food and health and sanitation facilities will become human rights in this century?
A [Bert Lockwood]: I think they are already recognized as fundamental human rights. They may be derived from various provisions in the Universal Declaration. You are correct that there are many challenges to getting governments to implement these rights, but that has also been true with many other rights.
Webchat Moderator (Mark): Hi everyone, I'm Mark, another moderator. I'll be helping to answer some of your questions regarding future chats and related links and materials you can access online. I'll try to respond to your raised hands as well. There are many questions coming in for Dr. Lockwood so please be patient!
Comment [Gevorg Hakobyan]: To Clara: Article 25.(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Q [Cisse Mohamed]: What are perspectives of human rights for African people?
A [Bert Lockwood]: The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, a regional treaty, essentially incorporates the same rights as the Universal Declaration and I believe both reflect our central concern for promoting human dignity. I noted that one of the earlier questions raised the issue of the rights of homosexuals, and it is interesting to note that the first constitution that prohibits discrimination against sexual orientation is the new South African constitution.
Comment [Carla]: Thanks Gevorg.
Comment [bah issiaga mariama bailo]: I am furious against when people fill underestimated and when their right is banished.
Webchat Moderator (Kristin): I think everyone here would agree that human right abuses must be stopped.
Comment [bah issiaga mariama bailo]: professor i am over the moon when i see people denouncing human right abuser.
Q [diallo thierno mamadou oury]: is there a country in the world where democracy is totally respected?
A [Bert Lockwood]: I believe that there are many countries that respect democracy. However, that is not the same question as to whether there is a country that totally respects human rights. No country is perfect respecting human rights but clearly there are many that have done an excellent job, for instance Norway.
Q [LC Karachi – Naimat Ullah Khan]: Does it OK to freeze basic human rights in War on terrorism? now any body claiming their basic rights to vote or live by their own tradition now accused to be a terrorist in movements of freedom. How would you differentiate both?
A [Bert Lockwood]: My human rights institute just awarded human rights medals to three lawyers who have defended the rights of the Guantanamo prisoners. Too many violations of human rights have been done under the rubric of battling terrorism. There is no reason why an effective campaign against terrorism cannot be undertaken, and yet at the same time fundamental human rights be respected.
Q [Dr Aubrey H. Mvula]: Prof Lockwood is there anybody or organisation that could donate 10,000 one page posters of the simplified version of the UDHR so I can distribute to as many primary schools here in Malawi?
A [Webchat Moderator (Mark)]: Dr. Mvula, we will pass your question along to Dr. Lockwood. In the meantime I'm going to post some links where you can find online publications free for download. On America.gov, please visit our publications section to see several free books and handouts on Human Rights: http://www.america.gov/publications/books.html. These are available in many languages.
Q [nahedh]: Kristin! Is it possible to get the full script of the chat when we finish?
A [Webchat Moderator (Kristin)]: Yes, we will have a transcript link posted in this room at this URL as quickly as possible.
Comment [bah issiaga mariama bailo]: in my area, i use to speak to people to respect each other because we are all human being despite we have different colors and different weight.
Q [Barry Alseny Sadio]: which is the creation date of human rights?
A [Bert Lockwood]: Not an easy question because some would find human rights to be very old and included in various religions. But as a international lawyer we often use 1945 and the ratification of the UN Charter, but recognize that there were important precedents such as the founding of the International Labor Organization in 1919.
Webchat Moderator (Mark): Dr. Mvula and everyone, on this same page, http://www.america.gov/publications/books.html, you can download our new official biography of President Elect Obama.
Another great online resource for you all is our new eJournal: USA "Sixty Years: Celebrating the UDHR". This eJournal is available in English, French, and Spanish at http://www.america.gov/publications/ejournalusa/1108.html.
Q [diallo thierno mamadou oury]: Why is the application of human rights different from one country to another?
A [Bert Lockwood]: All countries have areas in which their human rights record can be improved. It is not simply a question of financial resources, for instance, in the US we still do not have the guarantee of basic medical care for everyone as recognized in the Universal Declaration. But an important factor is the quality of leadership within a country.
Webchat Moderator (Mark): America.gov's "Handbook of Independent Journalism" covers the ins and outs of what every journalist should know -- from how to research, write, and edit a story, to how to write headlines and select quotes. The booklet is available free for you at http://www.america.gov/publications/books.html#handbook.
Q [Dr Aubrey H. Mvula]: What is one supposed to do in a very low human development state on a shoe string budget to get people to appreciate dignity and justice for all?
A [Bert Lockwood]: There is no doubt that it is more challenging in the circumstances of a poor country. This does not mean that individuals cannot band together and press their governments to observe fundamental rights. Too often in Africa there have been countries that have had some resources but because of corrupt governments, the mass of the population has not benefited.
Comment [francisco gomes de matos]: Aubrey, may I suggest that you access www.humiliationstudies.org which focuses on dignity.
Q [francisco gomes de matos]: How do you interpret Human Linguistic Rights in the perspective of International Law? The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights was proclaimed in 1996 but it has not been sanctioned by the U.N. Why?
A [Bert Lockwood]: With respect to this question professor, you are the expert and I would defer to you as to both its meaning and the reasons why the UN has not sanctioned it.
Webchat Moderator (Mark): Some of you are asking where else you can post your thoughts and comments. Our CONX homepage is always open for you to post a comment, join us at http://co-nx.state.gov. We also invite your comments on our Democracy Roundtable blog at http://blogs.america.gov/democracy/.
And please remember to send your ideas for future chats to conx@state.gov.
Q [nahedh]: But the big question is professor is that how can we all as individuals and groups influence on governments strategies to modify its policies for the benefits of HUMAN RIGHTS?
A [Bert Lockwood]: You are quite correct that that is a big question. Let me state that it has been a wonderful experience chatting with you all and I hope that we may be able to continue this conversation in the future. I have been involved in international human rights for about 40 years and I have seen great accomplishments achieved by private citizens. Individually and working together through groups like Amnesty International human rights problems and issues are going to be with us forever; but I think that this only challenges us to devote more energy and creativity in attempting to promote the respect for human dignity of all peoples.
Q [Uwantege]: I am Solange Uwantege, I am a secondary school teacher in Rwanda. My question is the following: Is there a link between human rights violation and poverty in Africa?
A [Bert Lockwood]: I believe that I answered in part the question with respect to the link in Africa. It is a yes and no question. Obviously the lack of resources in many countries means that the fundamental dream of fulfilling human rights is not possible unless the international community provides aid. However, too often in Africa countries that do have resources such as Nigeria and the Congo have experienced corrupt governments where the wealth of the country has been siphoned off, and it is part of the challenge of Africa to hold their governments accountable.
Webchat Moderator (Mark): Thank you so much, Professor Lockwood, for joining us today! And thanks to you all for your great questions. A full transcript of today’s webchat will be published (usually within one business day) to our Ask America homepage.
Comment [Gevorg Hakobyan]: thanks very much!!!!
Comment [nahedh]: thanks professor and thanks moderators
Comment [Andy Damien]: thank you all
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