Human Rights Readings
Human Rights: Core Elements
The purpose of this memorandum is to examine the three principal types of provisions for human rights and fundamental freedoms within peace agreements: (1) the definition of rights and freedoms; (2) the incorporation of rights and freedoms into domestic legislation; and (3) the designation of enforcement mechanisms for the rights and freedoms.
Click here to read the memorandum, Human Rights: Core Elements.
THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF FORCED DISPLACEMENT
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide an overview of the international legal framework that regulates issues pertaining to forced displacement. Forced displacement is a term of art that refers to a situation where individuals or communities are forced to leave their homes to avoid the impact of situations including armed conflict or human rights violations. International law prohibits forced displacement through treaties and customary international law.
Click here to read the memorandum, Legal Framework of Forced Displacement.
DISPLACED PERSONS
This chapter from the Peace Agreement Drafting Guide for Darfur provides an overview of the mechanisms by which states facilitate the return of displaced persons. This chapter also outlines the related provisions of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) and provides sample language regarding displaced persons that parties may wish to consider in drafting a peace agreement. This chapter refers to both internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees together as “displaced persons.” Please skim the chapter.
MINORITY PROTECTIONS: CORE ELEMENTS
The purpose of this memorandum is to present mechanisms a state may employ to ensure the effective inclusion of cultural, ethnic, and religious minorities in government institutions.
Click here to read the memorandum, Minority Protections: Core Elements.
Minority protections in post-conflict state building
Internal strife and conflict occur when minority groups face limitations on their expression of cultural identity and are excluded from participation in political, civic, and economic activities due to sociopolitical inequities within a state. This chapter, written by PILPG Senior Peace Fellow Nikhil Narayan argues for the importance of protecting minority rights in plural, multi-ethnic societies post-conflict. The chapter begins with a discussion of the evolution of specialized international legal frameworks in minority rights protection beyond normative human rights standards. It proceeds to explore the alignment of minority rights protections with post-conflict state building goals of conflict prevention and sustainable development. Then, the chapter examines principal approaches to addressing minority protections and critiques surrounding consociational approaches. The chapter concludes with best practices in minority rights protection through analyses of case studies of South Africa and post-Cold War Europe.
Click here to read the book chapter, Minority Protections in Post-Conflict State Building.
South African Interim Constitution: Human Rights Provisions
The South African Interim Constitution of 1993 served as both a peace agreement and an interim constitution from 1993 to 1997. Article 1.1 outlined several provisions on human rights that covered both civil and political rights and social and economic rights. Article 1.1 served as a stepping stone to the creation of the South African Human Rights Commission which played a role in the peace process and is still active today. Please skim Article 1.1 and read the implementation timeline at the bottom of the page for additional context.
Click here to read Article 1.1 Rights of individuals in South Africa.
Lawyering Peace: Power-Sharing
This chapter of the upcoming Lawyering Peace book first sets forth and discusses the puzzle of whether and how crafting power-sharing arrangements that balance the pull of some parties for greater diffusion and devolution of political power, with the pull of other parties to maintain a degree of political centralization, both for the sake of efficiency and effectiveness, and to preserve their prior political privileges. The chapter then outlines the basic legal framework parties have used to create power-sharing arrangements. Next, the chapter provides an overview of various structures different states have developed. The chapter then turns to a discussion of how the parties have managed the conundrums they face when seeking to solve the puzzle.
read the upcoming chapter on Power-Sharing.
Speakers Notes
SPEAKER NOTES INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OF RETURNING REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
This session will address the legal elements surrounding the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, including defining refugees and IDPs, providing an overview of international legal norms and standards for their return, and examining the legal issues that refugees and IDPs may confront.
Speakers Notes: Core Elements in Peace Agreements Providing for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
The purpose of these notes is to explore the international legal protections for refugees and internally displaced persons (or IDPs), and the importance of humanitarian provisions in peace agreements providing for their return and proper treatment.
Speaker Notes: Identity and Citizenship
The purpose of this discussion is to (1) identify options for designing a state structure based on identity and citizenship, (2) consider the role of religion in a state and its governance and society, and (3) explore options for sub-national arrangements regarding identity and religion.
Click here to read the Identity and Citizenship Speaker Notes
Decision Tree
The Right of Return in Economic Redevelopment Decision Tree
This decision tree outlines the decisions parties must make when considering the right of return in economic redevelopment.
Click here to read the decision tree, Right of Return During Economic Redevelopment.
Additional Material:
op-ed: Americans Are Ignoring Syria's Humanitarian Crisis
In this article, PILPG Advisory Board Member and former US ambassador to Turkey and Thailand, Morton Abramowitz examines US humanitarian responsibilities in Syria following the refugee crisis.
A Tale of Two States: Two States: Territoriality and Minority Rights in Kosovo and Georgia
In this article, PILPG Board Member and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Professor of Law, Milena Sterio examines how the principle of territorial integrity can be reconciled with minority rights, and in particular, with the idea of self-determination - that every "people" ought to have a nation State.
Integrating Internal Displacement in Peace Processes and Agreements
Leading experts on mediation and the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs) collaborated to produce this handbook, which gives mediators the tools they need to incorporate IDPs' concerns into peace processes and agreements. Achieving such integration will not only safeguard the rights and interests of IDPs as stakeholders in a peace process but will also help mediators reach a negotiated and lasting settlement for all the parties involved in a conflict.
Click here to read more about Integrating Internal Displacement in Peace Processes and Agreements.