Geography of Human Rights
GEOG 3640, Fall
2001
Professor Amy
Ross
Office
Hours: Wednesday 11-12, or by
appointment
138 GG Building.
Tel: 542-1617
rossamy@uga.edu
Interest in the protection of human rights
has been expanding steadily since the end of WW2, as have social movements and
political projects organized around the protection of such rights. And yet while social theorists and political
analysts appear to concur that the topic of “human rights” has become, in the
last fifty years, a significant feature of global, national and local
landscapes, it is also quite apparent that the violation of such rights is
widespread. A quality of schizophrenia
defines the evolving identity of “human rights.” One of its personalities is a shining
success: generating laws, organizing activists, broadening definitions. Another personality reeks of gloomy failure:
cataloging attacks, identifying offenders, counting corpses.
This course examines the polemics and paradoxes of the development of international laws, norms and practices concerning war, state violence and human rights. We will examine the way these rules are violated by addressing specific cases: the ex-Yugoslavia, Rwanda, South Africa, Guatemala, and Chile. We will investigate how, where, and under what specific conditions massive violations of human rights occur.
A central theme is to address these
debates within the analytical framework of local/global dialectics. We will review local and global mechanisms
for addressing human rights violations, and evaluate how international law and
national practices are mutually constituted.
We will also address contemporary theoretical debates regarding violence
and power, memory and history, and the dilemmas of democratic transitions and
the construction of civil societies.
REQUIREMENTS:
The majority of
class-time will be used for lectures, with time reserved for class discussion
and video viewing. All class members are
expected to contribute regularly to class discussions. In addition to class participation, grades
will be determined as follows: A midterm
(40%), final (40%) and a few short
writing assignments (20%).
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Dorfman,
Ariel. Death and the Maiden. Nick Hern Books, 1991
Gourevitch,
Philip. We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our
families; stories from Rwanda. Farrar
Straus and Giroux, 1998
Gutman, Roy and
David Reiff, eds. Crimes of War:
What the Public Should Know. W.W. Norton and Company; New York. 1999
O’Brien, Tim. The Things
They Carried. Penguin Books: New York, 1990
Robertson,
Geoffrey. Crimes Against Humanity; The Struggle for Global Justice. The New Press; New York. 1999.
Stover, Eric and
Gilles Peress. The Graves: Srebrenica and
Vukovar. Scalo Edition, Steidl:Germany,
1998
Additional
required reading materials are available in a Course Packet for
purchase. Copious amounts of recommended
readings are available on specific topics—see instructor for more titles.
Three key texts
are available in the bookstore as “recommended:”
Hitchens,
Christopher. The Trial of Henry Kissinger.
Verso Books, 2001.
Levi,
Primo. The Drowned and the Saved.
Vintage Books, 1998.
Sewall, Sarah B.
and Carl Kaysen, editors. The United States and the International
Criminal Court; National Security and International Law. Rowman and Littlefield, Publishers. 2000.
CLASS SCHEDULE:
(Please be advised that the schedule below provides an outline of the progress
of topics, but the professor reserves the right to make changes as necessary. Students are responsible for staying informed
as to changes of the schedule, and for completing reading assignments at the
beginning of each week. Thank you).
Introduction
Human Rights and Wrongs
Description of
course content and requirements, review of syllabus.
Begin Gutman and
Reiff, Crimes of War: What the Public
Should Know.
but especially
the “Preface,” “Forward” (Goldstone), and “International Humanitarian Law: An
Overview” (Weschler).
Part One: The Genealogy of Human Rights
Week One: Laws of War, Crimes of War
Hugo Grotius and
the laws of war, the historical roots of modern day international humanitarian
law. The Hague and Geneva as sites for
these developments. The “just war” debate (when it is acceptable to go to war)
versus what is acceptable during war.
International law develops out of issues surrounding trade and
sovereignty rather than concerns for ‘rights.’
World War Two and the development of the concept of "crimes against
humanity." Nuremberg and the Tokyo Trials.
Also important developments regarding "individuals" and their rights
vis a vi states, and the rights of certain states to protect the rights of
people in other places. Transforming
conceptualization regarding "boundaries" and "sovereignty."
The United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948, things
getting hot, until the chill of) the Cold War.
Readings:
“The United
Nations Charter” and the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" in
Robertson (appendices)
Robertson,
Chapters 1-6.
Week Two: Human
Rights and Global/Local Dialectics
The 1960s, 70s and the
development of social movements surrounding the concept of "human
rights," more treaties and conventions despite the superpowers, Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, civilian deaths. Challenging the
"optimists' equation," that economic development leads to political
freedom. Where is the international community? Its history, its mystery. President Carter and the linkage between
economic relations and human rights. Disappearances,
Deniability and “The Right to the Truth.”
State repression and gross violations of human
rights. Bodies and bones. Madres in the Plaza, donde esta mi hijo.
Psychosocial consequences of disappearance. Democratic transitions and legitimacy. New leaders establishing a break with the
past, yet the reality of amnesty.
Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil. Nunca
Mas. Commissions of Inquiry into the
Fate of the Disappeared. Chile, and El Salvador.
Readings:
Dorfman,
Ariel. Death and the Maiden Penguin
Books, 1991
Robertson,
Chapter 7.
Movie: “The Official Story”
Part Two: Accounting for Violence. Truth Commissions in Theory and Practice
(NOTE: First short written assignment due, details
TBA)
Week Three: Guatemala and “The Commission for the
Historical Clarification of Human Rights Abuses and Other Acts of Violence that
Have Caused the Suffering of the Guatemalan People”
Background to
the 36 years of war, the formation of the rebel armies, the 1970s, the URNG,
scorched earth, "democratic transition," negotiations, more
negotiations, still negotiating. The
accord that mandates the truth commission, the politics of its gestation and
birth. Where are we going to get the
money to pay for all these experts?
Selecting the commissioners, hiring the staff. Organization and chaos. The farther from the main office, the more
important the work. Hard hard work. Trauma.
Taking testimony. Dueling
databases: the challenge from civil society.
The challenges of geography. Overcoming overwhelming fear. Things are just so bad here, nunca mas. Lots of advice, none of it useful for this
Very Particular Case.
Reading:
“Agreement on
the Establishment of the Commission for the Historical Clarification of Human
Rights Violations and Incidents of Violence that Have Caused Suffering to the
Guatemalan Population” (English
translation, Course Reader).
“Guatemalan
Death Squad Dossier Uncovered” (Press release and selected pages from document,
Course Packet)
Ross, Amy. The
Body of the Truth, “Chapter 6, The
Guatemalan Commission for Historical Clarification” (Course Packet).
Week Four: Critical
Issues about the Guatemalan Commission to Clarify
The commission
as a site of struggle. The UN dominates, which means that the
"center" wins, which means that the majority loses. Yet another missed opportunity. The problematic international
involvement. The "caught between
the cross-fire" debate. Yet: many
other sites of the social theatre on the reconstruction of history. Exhumations everywhere. Pandora's grave has been opened. Will this be truth without consequences? But they called it genocide!
Reading:
“Conclusions”
from Guatemala: Memory of Silence (Report of the Guatemalan
Historical Clarification Commission).
(entire document available at
http://hrdata.aaas.org/ceh/report/english).
Week Five: The South African Truth and Reconciliation
Commission
Overview of the
history of South Africa. Segregation,
apartheid, and resistance. The 1980s, international pressures, the ANC, the
negotiations, the specific acts and talks and deals that lead to negotiated
transition from apartheid to democracy. The establishment of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission. The negotiations,
the influence from Chile, the compromises and creative thinking. Institutional ethnography of the TRC, its
mission and its daily practices.
Selection of the commissioners, debates and establishment of the
offices, the development of a (chiefly) legal identity in the commission. Staff profiles, the budget. Spatial aspects
of the TRC, the venues, geographical diversity, rules and procedures.
Video screenings
of human rights violation hearings and amnesty hearings.
Readings:
Ross, Amy. The
Body of the Truth, “Chapter Five, the South African Truth and
Reconciliation Commission). (Course Packet).
Also: explore the TRC website, www.truth.org.za
Week Six: Critical issues about the South African Truth and
Reconciliation Commission
Truth as social
theatre. Making law vs. making
history. Who goes to the TRC? Civil society's ambivalence toward the
TRC. The TRC, instead of being a
"lesser" court, actually looked more powerful than a court! Creative construction/control of space as a
progressive strategy. Yet the explicit
goals…relief for the victims and deterrence of future violations… much more
problematic.
Reading:
Krog, Antjie.
Chapters 5 and 6, “The Sound of the Second Narrative,” and “The Wet Bag and Other Phantoms,” in Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness
in the New South Africa Times
Books, New York 1998 (Course Packet)
Recommended
Reading concerning Truth Commissions (on reserve):
Rotberg, Robert
and Dennis Thompson, editors. 2000. Truth
v. Justice: The Morality of Truth Commissions. Princeton University Press.
Boraine,
Alex. 2000 A Country Unmasked: Inside South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation
Commission. Oxford University Press.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4th: In-Class Midterm (details to be discussed).
***********************************************************
Part Three: International Tribunals in
Theory and Practice
Week Nine: The
International Criminal Tribunal for the ex-Yugoslavia.
The conflict in
the ex-Yugoslavia and the nature of the gross violations of human rights. Why a tribunal for a European country? The
Post- Cold War context. War crimes,
politics and power. Immigration,
refugees, and the humanitarian crisis.
Kosovo and
international intervention. Historical survey of Kosovo, the ‘myths and truths’
that contributed to the war.
Establishing precedents for international human rights law. The political ramifications of an ICTY
indictment; how to negotiate with a war criminal?
Readings:
Robertson,
Chapter 8.
Bass, Gary
Jonathan. 2000. “Introduction” and Chapter 6, “The Hague” in Stay the Hand of Vengeance; the Politics of
War Crimes Tribunals. Princeton
University Press. (Course Packet).
Movie: “A Cry From the Grave”
Week Ten: The ICTY,
cont. Corpus Delecti: The Body of Evidence
In a court of
law certain information (material and metaphorical) is entered into evidence. This evidence may be oral testimony, or
written documents, or forensic remains of dead bodies. What happens to the dead after mass
atrocity? How does the narrative of
death become evidence?
Video: testimony from the Krstic case at the ICTY.
Reading:
Stover, Eric and
Gilles Peress. 1998 The Graves: Srebrenica and Vukovar Zurich: Scalo
Mertus,
Julie. 2000 “Truth in a Box: the Limits of Justice through Judicial
Mechanisms,” in The Politics of Memory:
Truth, Healing and Social Justice, Ifi Amadiume and Abdullahi An-Na’im,
editors. Zed Books, London.
Week Eleven: The
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Background for
the conflict in Rwanda. Ethnic
conflict, or merely mass murder? Where
is the United Nations? When, how, and
why to declare genocide. The persistence
of instability in the region. Precedents
in Africa. The lack of existing systems
of justice in Rwanda. How to define, and prove, genocide. The issue of free speech
and the use of mass media in the promotion of genocide. Responsibility. International punishment (life in prison) vs.
national measures (execution by hanging or gunfire). 96,000+ accused
perpetrators in prison, less than 100 judges.
Conflicts between the Tribunal and the Rwandan government.
Readings:
Gourevitch,
Philip. We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our
families; stories from Rwanda Farrar
Straus and Giroux 1998
Morris, Virginia
and Michael Scharf. “The Legal and
Factual Circumstances which Led to the Establishment of the Rwanda Tribunal” in
The International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda Transnational Publishers,
1998 (Course Packet)
Video: “Forsaken Cries: the Rwanda Crisis”
Week Twelve: A
Permanent International Criminal Court.
Transnational Justice: El Caso
Pinochet. Universal Jurisdiction?
Pro's and Con's
of an international court. International
justice vs. local realities. The debates
surrounding the drafting of the treaty establishing the Court. The US vs. everybody else (except Syria,
China, Iraq, Libya, and the Sudan!) on the final vote in Italy June 1998. Possibilities for the ratification of the
treaty. The Case of General Pinochet:
From dictator (1973-1990) to Senator for Life (1990-present) to an
international human rights law precedent.
Arrested in London, on a warrant from Spain, for crimes committed in
Chile. The implications for
international human rights law. And will
the powerful be prosecuted? The case
against Henry Kissenger.
Robertson,
Chapters 9-11.
Hitchens,
Christopher. “The Case Against Henry
Kissinger: Part 1, the making of a war criminal,” in Harpers Magazine February
20001, vol. 302 no. 1809 (course packet)
Kissinger,
Henry. “The Pitfalls of Universal
Jurisdiction,” in Foreign Affairs,
July/August 2001. (course packet)
Weschler,
Lawrence. 2000. “Exceptional Cases in Rome: The United States and the Struggle for an
ICC,” in The United States and the International Criminal Court; National
Security and International Law. Sarah B.
Sewall and carl Kaysen, editors. Rowman
and Littlefield Publishers; New York.
Part Four: A Critical Approach to Truth
and Justice
Weeks Thirteen and Fourteen:
Trauma (and Speaking)
Psychosocial
effects of war. How to be sane in a sick
world. Debates concerning post-traumatic
stress syndrome, entire nations of survivors.
Fixing the "victim" vs. reforming society. The impact of trauma on testimony.
Reading:
Hernan, Judith.
1992 “Introduction” and Chapters 1 and 2
in Trauma and Recovery: the aftermath of
violence --from domestic abuse to
political terror. Basic Books. (course packet)
Moeller, Susan
D. “Covering War” in Compassion Fatigue;
How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death. Routledge, London. (course packet)
Memory (and History)
The role of
memory in the establishment of post-war
histories. Truth and memory in the
construction of personal and political power.
The spatial specificity of multiple truths. Repression, denial, recovered memories and
challenges to power. Who has the power
to determine the truth about the past?
Readings:
Borges, Jorge
Luis. "Funes the Memorious" in
Labyrinths, New Directions Publishing Corporations, 1962. Pages 59-66. (Course Packet)
Lappen,
Elena. “The Man with Two Heads” in Granta, Summer 1999 (Course Packet)
Amnesty (and Forgetting)
The politics of
memory and forgetting in the construction of the historical narrative of a
nation are often written as amnesty legislation. (“Amnesty” has its roots in the word amnesia, or forgetting.) Who supports amnesty? What are the practicalities, advantages and
disadvantages of amnesty for those responsible for human rights abuses?
Questions and Conclusions:
Week Fifteen: “How
to Tell a True War Story”
How can violence
be described? Is it possible to tell the
truth of what happened, when that reality is ‘unspeakably’ horrific? Which testimonies/narratives are to be
trusted in the narration of violence and war?
Readings:
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried Penguin Books, 1990
Week Sixteen: The
Place of Justice. The Space of
Justice.
Courts vs.
Commissions? How does knowledge of the
past contribute to the deterrence of future violence, if that knowledge
includes the fact that the perpetrators got away with murder? But… are courts really the right place to
(re)construct history? International,
national and local mechanisms: what are
the relative advantages? And on the
relationship between violence and power:
Do people come to power despite
having committed human rights violations, or because they have? Does
punishing offenders contribute to deterrence, and if so, how? Is there such a thing as a "just
war," or is all violence deplorable?
How might powerful people be brought to trial in an international space,
if they are popular at home?
Final Exam: TBA.