Human Rights and Social Justice



Human Rights and Social Justice

1. Justice Cascade

In “Justice Cascade”, Sikkink, who teaches political science at the University of Minnesota, goes beyond earlier studies to ask whether one can draw general conclusions from surveying all of the cases. She makes two strong arguments in favor of such trials: first, that holding former leaders legally accountable strengthens the prospects for successful transitions to democracy; and, second, that there is a cascade effect: as such trials become the norm worldwide, violators are left with few places to run.

Armed with empirical data, she argues that Latin America thanks to the widespread use of trials has achieved a better record of democratization and human rights than Eastern Europe, the former U.S.S.R., Asia or Africa. In this way, she undercuts the argument that countries should postpone holding trials until after they have consolidated their transitions to democracy.

“Justice Cascade” provides riveting accounts of specific human rights prosecutions against deposed dictators in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Though the book was completed before the Arab uprising, the timing of its publication is certainly propitious. The specter of a new wave of prosecutions either in the home country or in some international tribunal — hangs over the heads of former leaders Ben Ali of Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and the still-struggling Bashar al-Assad of Syria, along with some of their family members and associates .

Sikkink argues against skeptics who see such prosecutions and trials as spectacular shams that lead to neither real justice nor peace. She maintains that the proliferation of human rights prosecutions in Latin America, Europe and Africa has become a powerful tool for facilitating democratic transitions and preventing leaders elsewhere from undertaking brutal human rights violations.

1. A. Go to the 2011 Interim Egyptian Constitution (on http://confinder.richmond.edu/ ). State in detail what human rights are clarified that is not in the U.S. Constitution.

After reading the2011 Interim Egyptian Constitution, I have concluded that there are several what human rights which are clarified that are not in the U.S. Constitution. Below are the examples:

Citizens have the right to form associations and unions, unions, political parties and that the manner prescribed in the law prohibits the establishment of societies whose activities are hostile to the social system, clandestine or have a military character may not be engaging in any political activity or political parties on a religious basis or on discrimination due to race or origin.

Personal freedom is a natural right which shall not be touched, no one may be arrested, searched, detained or his freedom restricted in any way or prevented from free movement except by an order necessitated by investigations and preservation of public security, and issue this command from the competent judge or the Public Prosecution in accordance with the provisions of law and the law shall determine the period of remand.

Any assault on individual freedom or the inviolability of private life of citizens and other public rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the law a crime ...