Exploring the Impact of Human Rights on Diplomatic Relations: A Comparative Analysis of State Interactions (original) (raw)

Impact of Human Rights Organizations Reports in Shaping African States Foreign Relations

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2013

It is notable that Human rights constitute fundamental needs of human beings' survival. The existence of human rights organizations is one of the steps in the right direction to ensure these rights are protected from violation, enhanced, and enshrined in each state's constitutions. The International Human Rights bodies and Local chapters of Human Rights Organizations in different states should promote advocacies of these rights in enhancing coexistence among the citizens themselves, vis-à-vis the citizens and the state. Basing on the divine nature of any state in the field of International Relations and Diplomacy, it is therefore basic that the responsibility of any state can be measurable to the level at which it exercises the practice of human rights. On the basis of the core role of a state to human rights practice, the impact of International Human Rights Organizations' reports can either portray the understanding of a state on the 'coin scale' towards its foreign relations. Using the African states, this paper will address how the reports of International Human Rights Organizations have helped shape their foreign relations.

Shifting Power and Human Rights Diplomacy South Africa

The third volume in the Shifting Power and Human Rights Diplomacy series contains a collection of eleven essays on South Africa’s foreign human rights policy. Fifteen authors from South Africa, Asia and the United States write about a variety of topics, including South African geopolitics, internet governance and South Africa’s foreign policy and the Responsibility to Protect from a South African perspective. The volume contains contributions from, among others, Jeremy Sarkin (University of South Africa), Audie Klotz (Syracuse University) and Dan Kuwali (University of Pretoria).

Human rights and humanitarian diplomacy

2020

Human rights and humanitarian diplomacy is the bargaining, negotiating, and advocating process involved with promoting and protecting international human rights and humanitarian principles. This diplomacy is also a secondary mechanism for discovering or defining new rights and principles. For centuries, diplomacy in general was the exclusive preserve of states. States use diplomacy as a foreign policy tool to achieve complicated and often competing goals. Today, human rights and humanitarian diplomacy is conducted on many levels by individuals who represent not only states but also intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). As such, diplomacy occurs on several tracks, often in interactive and simultaneous ways. Track 1 diplomacy refers to the official diplomacy practiced by state and IGO officials using traditional channels and tools. Track 2 diplomacy expands diplomatic activity to include the more unofficial interactions that involve civil society actors such as NGOs and prominent individuals. The conduct of human rights and humanitarian diplomacy occurs on multiple levels that can both complement each other, as well as work at cross-purposes. This introductory chapter explores what international human rights are, why they are controversial, and why diplomacy is necessary for the actualization of human rights. It also explains the narrow distinctions between human rights and humanitarianism; discusses the different kinds of actors involved in multilevel human rights and humanitarian diplomacy; and outlines basic strategies and tools used to promote and protect human rights and humanitarian principles through diplomacy. The subsequent chapters of the text are devoted to the process and conduct of human rights and humanitarian diplomacy. Chapter 2 examines the continued centrality of the state and how states, as the main duty-bearers, define and implement human rights and humanitarian principles domestically, as well as promote and protect them internationally. Chapter 3 looks inside "the black box" of the state to highlight the roles of secretaries, ministers, ambassadors, bureaucrats, and ombudsmen. It also looks at how human rights reports are created and help frame the diplomatic process. Chapter 4 shifts focus to IGOs. States create IGOs to help them achieve common goals or manage international problems. One of the central purposes of IGOs,

Impact of Human Rights Report on African State Foreign Policy

It is notable that Human rights constitute fundamental needs of human beings' survival. The existence of human rights organizations is one of the steps in the right direction to ensure these rights are protected from violation, enhanced, and enshrined in each state's constitutions. The International Human Rights bodies and Local chapters of Human Rights Organizations in different states should promote advocacies of these rights in enhancing coexistence among the citizens themselves, vis-à-vis the citizens and the state. Basing on the divine nature of any state in the field of International Relations and Diplomacy, it is therefore basic that the responsibility of any state can be measurable to the level at which it exercises the practice of human rights. On the basis of the core role of a state to human rights practice, the impact of International Human Rights Organizations' reports can either portray the understanding of a state on the 'coin scale' towards its foreign relations. Using the African states, this paper will address how the reports of International Human Rights Organizations have helped shape their foreign relations.

South Africa and the United Nations Human Rights Council

Human Rights Quarterly, 2014

This article assesses South Africa's foreign policy commitment to human rights by studying the country's role in the United Nations Human Rights Council, which began its work in 2006. South Africa's behavior is evaluated in terms of its participation in four aspects of the Council's work: the institution-building phase that took place during the body's first year, country-specific human rights issues, thematic human rights problems, and the Universal Periodic Review. It is concluded that South Africa has become a defender of unpalatable regimes and an obstacle to the international promotion of human rights.

Human rights and international relations

1986

This book is about the impact of human rights on the relations among states. It seeks to bring together in one place an account of the theory of human rights (what they are; where they come from; whether they are universal); a discussion of the part they play in contemporary ...

Democracy, Human Rights and Ubuntu in Post-Apartheid South Africa's Diplomacy

African Journal of Democracy & Governance, 2020

South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994, ended decades of apartheid and isolation. Since then, it is worth examining whether the country's diplomacy demonstrates the pursuit of human rights, democracy and Ubuntu as the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), promised. Using constructivism as a theoretical approach, and referring to South Africa-China relations, the article demonstrates that as for any other country, South Africa's foreign policy is to serve its national interests first. This article explains show how and why emerging powers like South Africa are more likely to promote their national interests and South-South solidarity while avoiding divisive issues in the developing world. The ANC's historical indebtedness to Africa and other actors of the developing world, some of whom have dubious human rights reputation, makes it difficult for South Africa to be prescriptive in terms of democracy and human rights in its foreign policy. National, mainly economic interests account for a pragmatic diplomacy. The South African government is keenly aware of the urgent needs and the pressing demands of its people to transform a historically lopsided domestic economy. Such endeavour requires pragmatic rather than value-laden diplomacy.