‘The Rules of the Game are Changing’: Fundamental Human Rights in Crisis After 9/11

Abstract

Is there a crisis of legitimacy in relation to fundamental human rights commitments? At one level, the human rights regime has endured legitimacy problems from the outset, in part due to the scope and complexity of the standards but also as a result of the unwillingness of states to regard human rights norms as properly binding. I argue that September 11 and the responses this event triggered in the foreign policies of leading states in international society have taken the challenge to the regime to a new level. What makes it a crisis of legitimacy is the fact that those were crucial to the emergence of the regime, and the rights that are under siege are core 'rights of the person' and not aspirational rights. The closing discussion examines the possibility for a restoration of legitimacy. Consistent with the earlier theoretical discussion, the question of whether and how the legitimacy crisis can be resolved requires a differential response, depending on the site of the crisis, and the location of the audience. The concepts of international and world society provide analytical leverage in identifying both the causes of the crisis and the prospects for its resolution.

Norm internalisation revisited: Norm contestation and the life of norms at the extreme of the norm cascade

“…International society integrated the prohibition of torture in international law (Kesper-Biermann 2018: 7–8), 26 reflecting and strengthening its widespread social recognition. 27 Today, the norm enjoys ‘extremely high’ legitimacy worldwide (Dunne 2007: 277), particularly, albeit not exclusively (Liese 2009: 18), among liberal states (Sikkink 1999: 520; Risse and Sikkink 1999: 8). Accordingly, a majority of the international community has ratified several global and regional treaties that institutionalise the prohibition of torture, 28 notably the 1984 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).…”

Europa en el mundo ¿de potencia normativa a una verdadera unión de la defensa?

“…Véanse por ejemplo las normas contra la tortura, los mercenarios o los asesinatos de líderes extranjeros (McKeown, 2009;Percy, 2007;Groβklaus, 2017). También hay indicadores muy serios acerca de la erosión de los derechos humanos desde el 11-S (Dunne, 2007).…”

Contestación normativa y Consejo de Seguridad: la agenda de mujeres, paz y seguridad o de la resolución 1325 a la resolución 2242

“…), Género, conflicto y construcción de suele resultar en una mayor especificación de las condiciones bajo las cuales resultan relevantes, sino que se dirige, de manera específica, a contestar su validez 48 . En los últimos años se ha generado una agenda de investigación centrada en la observación de la erosión normativa, con un amplio desarrollo empírico en torno a temas como la tortura, los Derechos Humanos, el uso de mercenarios o la Responsabilidad de Proteger 49 .…”