Pub Date : 2020-12-09DOI: 10.1163/15718158-21020005
A. Najafinejad, M. Goudarzi
Although Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian minorities form less than two per cent of the Iranian population, the recognition of their official rights and the institutionalised legal discrimination against them has been a matter of a long conflict between minority rights activists and Muslim jurists since the Constitutional Revolution in 1905. The major part of this controversy relates to the assumed status of non-Muslims in traditional Shi’a jurisprudence. The present study examines and assesses the recognised status and rights of religious minorities in the two constitutions of 1906 and 1979 and their development. Although, due to the formation of new recitations in Shi’a jurisprudence, some changes have been made in identifying the fundamental rights of religious minorities, the domination of the general spirit of the rulings in Shi’a jurisprudence in the formulation of both constitutions means there is still a long way to go before recognising equal human rights for all.
{"title":"Religious Minorities’ Rights in the Iranian Constitution of 1906 and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran","authors":"A. Najafinejad, M. Goudarzi","doi":"10.1163/15718158-21020005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-21020005","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Although Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian minorities form less than two per cent of the Iranian population, the recognition of their official rights and the institutionalised legal discrimination against them has been a matter of a long conflict between minority rights activists and Muslim jurists since the Constitutional Revolution in 1905. The major part of this controversy relates to the assumed status of non-Muslims in traditional Shi’a jurisprudence. The present study examines and assesses the recognised status and rights of religious minorities in the two constitutions of 1906 and 1979 and their development. Although, due to the formation of new recitations in Shi’a jurisprudence, some changes have been made in identifying the fundamental rights of religious minorities, the domination of the general spirit of the rulings in Shi’a jurisprudence in the formulation of both constitutions means there is still a long way to go before recognising equal human rights for all.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":"1 1","pages":"298-325"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90016729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-09DOI: 10.1163/15718158-21020002
R. Juwita
The establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asean) Community in 2015, marked a milestone of progressive regionalisation in the Southeast Asia region. The asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (aichr) and asean Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (acwc) were designated as pivotal organs to strengthen the realisation of the right to education as part of the rights guaranteed in the asean Declaration of Human Rights. The asean Political-Security and Socio-Cultural communities recognise the importance of human rights. This research analyses the realisation of the right to education by the asean member states. The Concluding Observations from international human rights monitoring organs are explored to describe the empirical situation of each member state. Subsequently, this article scrutinises the aichr and acwc within the framework of the asean community and critically assesses the realisation of the right to education under the works of the aichr and acwc. This article concludes the realisation of the right to education in asean is still challenging due to the problems of, inter alia, low allocation of resources in the education sector, high illiteracy and drop-out rates, gender discrimination in the non-traditional study program and access to quality education, especially for vulnerable groups. The aichr and acwc have not yet formulated specific formal instruments to address these situations. Since their respective establishment only a minor contribution has been made to advance the realisation of the right to education in the asean community. In order to protect the right to education, the aichr and acwc have to be strengthened institutionally and financially. It is also necessary to empower the aichr and acwc by a quasi-legal authority to assess and inquire the asean member states’ human rights’ performance. This step is a necessary for the aichr and acwc to make a tangible contribution to the realisation of the right to education in asean.
{"title":"The Right to Education in the Era of the ASEAN Community","authors":"R. Juwita","doi":"10.1163/15718158-21020002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-21020002","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asean) Community in 2015, marked a milestone of progressive regionalisation in the Southeast Asia region. The asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (aichr) and asean Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (acwc) were designated as pivotal organs to strengthen the realisation of the right to education as part of the rights guaranteed in the asean Declaration of Human Rights. The asean Political-Security and Socio-Cultural communities recognise the importance of human rights. This research analyses the realisation of the right to education by the asean member states. The Concluding Observations from international human rights monitoring organs are explored to describe the empirical situation of each member state. Subsequently, this article scrutinises the aichr and acwc within the framework of the asean community and critically assesses the realisation of the right to education under the works of the aichr and acwc. This article concludes the realisation of the right to education in asean is still challenging due to the problems of, inter alia, low allocation of resources in the education sector, high illiteracy and drop-out rates, gender discrimination in the non-traditional study program and access to quality education, especially for vulnerable groups. The aichr and acwc have not yet formulated specific formal instruments to address these situations. Since their respective establishment only a minor contribution has been made to advance the realisation of the right to education in the asean community. In order to protect the right to education, the aichr and acwc have to be strengthened institutionally and financially. It is also necessary to empower the aichr and acwc by a quasi-legal authority to assess and inquire the asean member states’ human rights’ performance. This step is a necessary for the aichr and acwc to make a tangible contribution to the realisation of the right to education in asean.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":"36 1","pages":"195-236"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78301997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-09DOI: 10.1163/15718158-21020004
David K. C. Huang, Nigel N. T. Li
The rule of ‘Li’ (De-Zhi), which embraces the spirit that morality and law are one, historically underpinned China’s legal institution. Even though it is no longer recognised in Taiwan’s legal institutions, it still influenced judges when they had to decide whether a court-ordered apology should be constitutional. A critical analysis of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 656 [2009] through the lens of Hans Kelsen’s pure theory lays bare the quandary facing the judiciary in a Confucian society, that whilst the judiciary appreciated the merits of the rule of law, it hesitated to tell the people that morality is not law.
{"title":"Hans Kelsen and Court-Ordered Apology in Taiwan: A Critical Analysis of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 656 [2009]","authors":"David K. C. Huang, Nigel N. T. Li","doi":"10.1163/15718158-21020004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-21020004","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The rule of ‘Li’ (De-Zhi), which embraces the spirit that morality and law are one, historically underpinned China’s legal institution. Even though it is no longer recognised in Taiwan’s legal institutions, it still influenced judges when they had to decide whether a court-ordered apology should be constitutional. A critical analysis of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 656 [2009] through the lens of Hans Kelsen’s pure theory lays bare the quandary facing the judiciary in a Confucian society, that whilst the judiciary appreciated the merits of the rule of law, it hesitated to tell the people that morality is not law.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":"8 1","pages":"270-297"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76180550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-09DOI: 10.1163/15718158-21020003
Michel Vols, E. Kusumawati
This article analyses if, and how, the international right to housing obliges states to protect the victims of justifiable evictions, particularly evictions due to rent arrears. It concerns a comparative analysis of practices in one Asian and one European jurisdiction: Indonesia and the Netherlands. The study juxtaposes measures adopted by each of the governments, regarding their obligations to protect tenants from eviction and to rehouse them post-eviction. As the use of rental accommodation in Indonesia is increasing, a comparison with the Netherlands – where rental accommodation has a prominent role – is beneficial. One significant finding is there is a grey area regarding the protection of people who are evicted due to rent arrears. Although states should protect these victims in the same way as they do people affected by (urban) development, it is unclear how far this protection should go. In the absence of parameters for such protection, the two countries have adopted measures to prevent victims from becoming homeless. The Netherlands protects tenants by providing legal mechanisms against the threat of eviction, and by providing adequate shelter for such victims. Indonesia also shows its intention to protect tenants, by adopting an ad hoc policy to help tenants pay their rent. These measures both seem to be effective, yet there is still a pivotal need for more structured frameworks.
{"title":"The International Right to Housing, Evictions and the Obligation to Provide Alternative Accommodation","authors":"Michel Vols, E. Kusumawati","doi":"10.1163/15718158-21020003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-21020003","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article analyses if, and how, the international right to housing obliges states to protect the victims of justifiable evictions, particularly evictions due to rent arrears. It concerns a comparative analysis of practices in one Asian and one European jurisdiction: Indonesia and the Netherlands. The study juxtaposes measures adopted by each of the governments, regarding their obligations to protect tenants from eviction and to rehouse them post-eviction. As the use of rental accommodation in Indonesia is increasing, a comparison with the Netherlands – where rental accommodation has a prominent role – is beneficial. One significant finding is there is a grey area regarding the protection of people who are evicted due to rent arrears. Although states should protect these victims in the same way as they do people affected by (urban) development, it is unclear how far this protection should go. In the absence of parameters for such protection, the two countries have adopted measures to prevent victims from becoming homeless. The Netherlands protects tenants by providing legal mechanisms against the threat of eviction, and by providing adequate shelter for such victims. Indonesia also shows its intention to protect tenants, by adopting an ad hoc policy to help tenants pay their rent. These measures both seem to be effective, yet there is still a pivotal need for more structured frameworks.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43078581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-29DOI: 10.1163/15718158-02101003
James Greenwood-Reeves
This article evaluates the 2019 street protests in Hong Kong following the proposal of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, in light of the constitutional settlement of the region. Firstly, it examines the ‘constitutional morality’ of Hong Kong, that is, the moral principles underlying its foundational claims to moral authority. Secondly it analyses whether the Administration’s ‘legitimacy claims’ – its rational-normative arguments for obedience to law – follow from these constitutional moral principles. Concluding that the legitimacy claims of the Administration pursuant to the Bill proved morally unintelligible, this research finds that protest action by citizens was a logical and rational response to a perceived legitimacy claim failure. It suggests that similar protests are likely to occur for the foreseeable future given the instability of the region’s constitutional morality.
{"title":"The Democracy Dichotomy: Framing the Hong Kong 2019 Street Protests as Legitimacy Counterclaims against an Incoherent Constitutional Morality","authors":"James Greenwood-Reeves","doi":"10.1163/15718158-02101003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-02101003","url":null,"abstract":"This article evaluates the 2019 street protests in Hong Kong following the proposal of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, in light of the constitutional settlement of the region. Firstly, it examines the ‘constitutional morality’ of Hong Kong, that is, the moral principles underlying its foundational claims to moral authority. Secondly it analyses whether the Administration’s ‘legitimacy claims’ – its rational-normative arguments for obedience to law – follow from these constitutional moral principles. Concluding that the legitimacy claims of the Administration pursuant to the Bill proved morally unintelligible, this research finds that protest action by citizens was a logical and rational response to a perceived legitimacy claim failure. It suggests that similar protests are likely to occur for the foreseeable future given the instability of the region’s constitutional morality.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15718158-02101003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48977475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-29DOI: 10.1163/15718158-02101004
Jane Richards
Hong Kong’s one country, two systems model denies meaningful political equality for citizens. Instead citizens have engaged government in dialogue and have been granted a foothold in politics through protest. However, this equilibrium was upset in 2019 to 2020. Protests took place that were unprecedented in their scale, duration, widespread support and participation. And yet, government refused to engage in any kind of dialogue or deliberative action. This refusal, along with the use of excessive force by police, provoked an unprecedented escalation from civil disobedience to principled uncivil disobedience. This article argues that the escalation of principled uncivil disobedience was not only justified, but satisfied a duty that citizens have to resist injustice. It relies on the legal and political theory of Candice Delmas, arguing that while citizens have a prima facie obligation to obey the law, where law or policy becomes unjust, citizens may have a duty to resist that injustice, even if it means breaking the law. To illustrate this point, one type of principled uncivil disobedience that has become prevalent – graffiti – is used as an analytical lens. Graffiti communicates protestors’ grievances and subverts authority by reclaiming the space. It is allegorical of both the movement and the city; just as the cityscape has been permanently altered by the protests, so too has Hong Kong been changed by this period of unrest.
{"title":"‘It was you who taught me that peaceful marches did not work’, Uncivil Disobedience and the Hong Kong Protests","authors":"Jane Richards","doi":"10.1163/15718158-02101004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-02101004","url":null,"abstract":"Hong Kong’s one country, two systems model denies meaningful political equality for citizens. Instead citizens have engaged government in dialogue and have been granted a foothold in politics through protest. However, this equilibrium was upset in 2019 to 2020. Protests took place that were unprecedented in their scale, duration, widespread support and participation. And yet, government refused to engage in any kind of dialogue or deliberative action. This refusal, along with the use of excessive force by police, provoked an unprecedented escalation from civil disobedience to principled uncivil disobedience. This article argues that the escalation of principled uncivil disobedience was not only justified, but satisfied a duty that citizens have to resist injustice. It relies on the legal and political theory of Candice Delmas, arguing that while citizens have a prima facie obligation to obey the law, where law or policy becomes unjust, citizens may have a duty to resist that injustice, even if it means breaking the law. To illustrate this point, one type of principled uncivil disobedience that has become prevalent – graffiti – is used as an analytical lens. Graffiti communicates protestors’ grievances and subverts authority by reclaiming the space. It is allegorical of both the movement and the city; just as the cityscape has been permanently altered by the protests, so too has Hong Kong been changed by this period of unrest.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":"45 1","pages":"63-97"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85323984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-29DOI: 10.1163/15718158-02101001
{"title":"Introduction","authors":"","doi":"10.1163/15718158-02101001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-02101001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15718158-02101001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49175823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-29DOI: 10.1163/15718158-02101006
Kuibin Zhu, D. Siegel
In China, police control of street protests can be accomplished under existing law both directly, through administrative penalties including detention that police can impose on their own authority, and indirectly, through the threat of detention as part of the ordinary criminal process. In the ordinary criminal process Chinese law provides police and prosecutors extensive discretionary authority to detain suspects and defendants for periods of six months or more without judicial review. While the structure of these detention provisions superficially resembles that in Western countries, their operation is wholly subject to internal policies and practices of police and prosecutors. In addition to providing an overview of these provisions, we review here a recent prosecutorial policy change in decision-making on extended detention (dàibǔ, 逮捕) that places the same prosecutor in charge of both this decision and the ultimate presentation of the case. We conclude that this may encourage individual prosecutors to assess their cases more thoroughly and realistically at an earlier stage and may alter the litigation dynamics of detention during the investigative phase, but it does not reduce the threat of detention as a means of deterring protests. At most, the change may provide negotiation opportunities for defence counsel. Until a Chinese criminal case is formally presented to a court, control over detainees remains firmly in the hands of the police and prosecutors.
{"title":"The Law and Policy of Police and Prosecutorial Control of Detention in China","authors":"Kuibin Zhu, D. Siegel","doi":"10.1163/15718158-02101006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-02101006","url":null,"abstract":"In China, police control of street protests can be accomplished under existing law both directly, through administrative penalties including detention that police can impose on their own authority, and indirectly, through the threat of detention as part of the ordinary criminal process. In the ordinary criminal process Chinese law provides police and prosecutors extensive discretionary authority to detain suspects and defendants for periods of six months or more without judicial review. While the structure of these detention provisions superficially resembles that in Western countries, their operation is wholly subject to internal policies and practices of police and prosecutors. In addition to providing an overview of these provisions, we review here a recent prosecutorial policy change in decision-making on extended detention (dàibǔ, 逮捕) that places the same prosecutor in charge of both this decision and the ultimate presentation of the case. We conclude that this may encourage individual prosecutors to assess their cases more thoroughly and realistically at an earlier stage and may alter the litigation dynamics of detention during the investigative phase, but it does not reduce the threat of detention as a means of deterring protests. At most, the change may provide negotiation opportunities for defence counsel. Until a Chinese criminal case is formally presented to a court, control over detainees remains firmly in the hands of the police and prosecutors.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15718158-02101006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45097480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-29DOI: 10.1163/15718158-02101002
Michael Hamilton
This article distinguishes the obligation of States to ‘facilitate’ and ‘protect’ the right of peaceful assembly under Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (iccpr) from State practices that rather seek to ‘manage’ or ‘control’ its exercise. Focusing on the protection of public assemblies in the Asia-Pacific region and drawing principally on the UN Human Rights Committee’s assembly jurisprudence and its Concluding Observations on State reports, it emphasises the critical importance of the language in which State obligations are framed and understood. Many domestic laws over-regulate the right of assembly by creating broad discretionary powers, impermissible grounds of restriction, bureaucratic procedures and onerous liabilities. Such laws reinforce a police ego-image premised on the pernicious logic of ‘management’ and encourage preventive policing tactics that fundamentally undermine the right of peaceful assembly.
{"title":"To Facilitate and Protect: State Obligations and the Right of Peaceful Assembly in International Human Rights Law","authors":"Michael Hamilton","doi":"10.1163/15718158-02101002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-02101002","url":null,"abstract":"This article distinguishes the obligation of States to ‘facilitate’ and ‘protect’ the right of peaceful assembly under Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (iccpr) from State practices that rather seek to ‘manage’ or ‘control’ its exercise. Focusing on the protection of public assemblies in the Asia-Pacific region and drawing principally on the UN Human Rights Committee’s assembly jurisprudence and its Concluding Observations on State reports, it emphasises the critical importance of the language in which State obligations are framed and understood. Many domestic laws over-regulate the right of assembly by creating broad discretionary powers, impermissible grounds of restriction, bureaucratic procedures and onerous liabilities. Such laws reinforce a police ego-image premised on the pernicious logic of ‘management’ and encourage preventive policing tactics that fundamentally undermine the right of peaceful assembly.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":"38 1","pages":"5-34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88484888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-29DOI: 10.1163/15718158-02101005
Joanna Siekiera
The aim of the article is to present, as well as to analyse legally, the situation of the indigenous population of Rapa Nui in the territory of Chile. Rapa Nui, officially called Easter Island, is an island in the Pacific Ocean basin. It was illegally annexed by Chile in 1888; since then, violations of the rights of native peoples have been observed. The legal-political situation of Rapa Nui (also the name for the inhabitants of Easter Island) is challenging due to the Chilean government’s actions towards them. Instances of human rights breaches can be seen in, inter alia, the failure to respect the right to self-determination as well as the right to environmental protection. The article will also consider breaches of very basic human rights by the Chilean government such as the rights to freedom of speech and assembly. The article firstly examines the actual situation in which the indigenous people of Rapa Nui find themselves. Secondly, such analysis will consider the legal situation, in light of both regional (i.e. American) and universal norms. These legal frameworks provide an explicit legal basis that can be used to improve the problematic position of Rapa Nui. The American regional norms, however, are still at the stage of creation and execution. There are a series of judgments from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which de jure can help the people of Rapa Nui in regaining their freedoms, primarily their right to protest.
{"title":"Implications of Easter Island Protests – Breach of Rapa Nui Rights by Chile in the Context of National, American and Universal Legal Systems","authors":"Joanna Siekiera","doi":"10.1163/15718158-02101005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-02101005","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of the article is to present, as well as to analyse legally, the situation of the indigenous population of Rapa Nui in the territory of Chile. Rapa Nui, officially called Easter Island, is an island in the Pacific Ocean basin. It was illegally annexed by Chile in 1888; since then, violations of the rights of native peoples have been observed. The legal-political situation of Rapa Nui (also the name for the inhabitants of Easter Island) is challenging due to the Chilean government’s actions towards them. Instances of human rights breaches can be seen in, inter alia, the failure to respect the right to self-determination as well as the right to environmental protection. The article will also consider breaches of very basic human rights by the Chilean government such as the rights to freedom of speech and assembly. The article firstly examines the actual situation in which the indigenous people of Rapa Nui find themselves. Secondly, such analysis will consider the legal situation, in light of both regional (i.e. American) and universal norms. These legal frameworks provide an explicit legal basis that can be used to improve the problematic position of Rapa Nui. The American regional norms, however, are still at the stage of creation and execution. There are a series of judgments from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which de jure can help the people of Rapa Nui in regaining their freedoms, primarily their right to protest.","PeriodicalId":35216,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15718158-02101005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41839151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}