Magister Legum - LLM / The objective of this study is to explore the criminalisation of persons based on sexual orientation in Cameroon in light of that country’s international human rights obligation. The study examines the constitution and laws of Cameroon as applicable to sexual minorities. It aims to discuss recent developments in international human rights law with regard to the human rights basis for decriminalising homosexuality.

This dissertation looks at the concept of “trafficking in persons” and how it has been created, interpreted and utilized in the international sphere and in Canada. Using the approach of Critical Legal Pluralism (CLP), it examines the legal regulation of trafficking as being created through a bi-directional constitutive process, with paradigmatic conceptions of trafficking having a hand in creating regulation as well as being influenced by it. Through a review of data retrieved using a variety of qualitative methods as well as classic legal analysis, this dissertation explores the operation of various social actors and their effect on the determination of what trafficking is, and who is worthy of protection from it. In Part One the international framework is outlined through a discussion of the creation of the dominant paradigm of trafficking and implementations of it. Chapter One traces the history of the anti-trafficking movement by looking at the development of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, and by examining the creation of dominant discourses around trafficking. Chapter 2 uses CLP to examine the influences of a variety of actors on the creation of these discourses and the repercussions the discourses have had on the implementation of anti-trafficking policies. Part Two then turns to the Canadian context. In Chapter Three, classical legal methodologies are employed to discuss Canada’s obligations under international law with respect to trafficking, as well as the creation of definitions of trafficking in the Canadian legal regulatory context. Chapter Four then reviews data from Canada to discuss the ways in which various actors have been involved in the creation and operation of the dominant paradigm and how it in turn affects the operation of trafficking-related legal constructs. Ultimately, it is found that due to the influence of the dominant paradigm and the motivations that aid in its operation, programs and policies framed under the rubric of “trafficking” necessarily fail to achieve meaningful redress for the groups they purport to benefit. On this basis, an alternative approach is suggested to address phenomena currently being dealt with through anti-trafficking frameworks. A move is suggested away from a focus on “trafficking” to a sectoral approach, accounting for the complexities and histories of individuals subject to exploitative circumstances.

"The domestic courts have not been able to enforce international human rights in Mozambique and there are no institutions to address the concerns of victims of human rights abuses. A limited number of NGO's operating in the field of human rights play a role, which is not significant considering the number. Several factors, for example, the lack of knowledge of international human rights instruments by the people in charge of administration of justice such as judges, prosecutors, or even lawyers and legal assistants, may explain this. The present paper is an attempt to explore why the international human rights norms are not enforced in the Mozambican legal system; this will be done in a comparison with the situation [in] Ghana. ... This paper is structured in five chapters. Chapter one is the introductory chapter, it essentially introduces the topic, discusses the manner in which the research will be caried out, namely the methodological approach used, literature review, objectives of the study and its limitations, [and] last but not least, it outlines the research questions and the hypothesis. Chapter two gives the definitions of the main concepts used in this paper; it goes further in discussing the relationship between national law and international law focusing [on] the theories of monism and dualism. It also analyses the constitutional provisions dealing with international law in the Mozambican and Ghanaian legal order in the light of the monist and dualist theories. Chapter three discusses the sources of international human rights law and their implications [for] the enforcement of internationl human rights law in domestic courts. It goes further by discussing the principles governing domestic applicability of international human rights law and finally discusses the obstacles to the enforcement. Chapter four is the case study of this paper: it analyses how international human rights law is enforced by domestic courts in Mozambique and Ghana and several other aspects around the judiciary and the international human rights law training. Chapter five finally draws conclusions and gives recommendations on what should be done to ensure the enforcement of international human rights law in domestic courts." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Kofi Quashigah at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Over the last decades there have been a shift in the power balance between the transnational corporation and the state. This shift is due to the transnational corporation’s power has increased. Therefore, this thesis will examine the impact of the power balance between the state and the transnational corporation on the enforcement of law concerning human right abuses by transnational corporations. It will focus primary on the state’s possibility to enforce its international human rights obligations. In order to find out the impact the power balance has on the enforcement, I will discuss different challenges that could stand in the way for the state due to the power of the transnational corporation or that the state is powerless over the transnational corporation. The result is that the state only has a small possibility of enforcing human rights regulation on the transnational corporation.  The reason for this is because the state is relying on the economic opportunities from the transnational corporation and the system is constructed in a manner which made the state powerless in relation to the transnational corporation. The result was therefore that the state has difficulties in enforcing the law concerning human right abuses by transnational corporations. After this conclusion it is quite clear that the power balance between the state and the transnational corporation plays a crucial role in the enforcement of the law concerning human rights abuses by transnational corporations. However, it is possible to make changes in the system so that the power balance between the state and the transnational corporation do not have the same negative effect on human rights and therefore strengthening the protection of human rights.

It has been two decades since the terrorist attacks on September 11. These events were the starting shot for the US war on terrorism, which has resulted in extreme challenges for human rights treaties. Several people have fallen victim to the US protection measures, which have included a detention and interrogation program and extraordinary renditions. The US protection measures have resulted in military invasions, kidnappings, detentions, and acts of torture. Even though black sites are no longer secret, has nobody ever been held responsible for these crimes. The question of who should be held responsible for the systematic violations of the United States is therefore necessary to discuss as this is a problem that characterizes the international legal system still today. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the US legal argument for justifying enhanced interrogation techniques and extraordinary renditions is consistent with the human rights treaties. The study examines the extent to which the US exercises jurisdiction over people who are subject to extraordinary renditions. Furthermore, it is also important to investigate if extraordinary renditions conflict with two treaties that have been approved in the United States and consequently the legitimacy of the arguments will be tested against CAT and ICCPR. The problem has been analysed in the light of jurisdiction. The interpretation of the concept of jurisdiction in general international law and human rights treaties constitutes an essential issue regarding states’ responsibilities to uphold and respect the human rights within the research area and research questions. The study focuses primarily on the question of when a state has obligations under human right treaties outside of its own territory. The issue of jurisdiction has been discussed primarily in international courts since Bankovic. The investigation shows that people that have been subject to extraordinary renditions as well as the detention and interrogation program fall under US jurisdiction. According to case law, the study establishes that the United States exercises effective control over the people in the event of extraordinary renditions. Moreover, the study claims that state responsibility can be attributed to the US for having failed in its obligations to respect and protect human rights in the war on terrorism.

Since children are particularly vulnerable in armed conflicts, they are conferred legal protection under International law, like in the International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law. Despite of international legislation, the situation of children remains critically worrying with numerous ongoing armed conflicts and instabilities globally. On the one hand, they are assumed special protection, yet on the other hand, they are commonly used as shields or forced into being combatants. The aim of the study is to outline legal areas of ambiguity or inadequacy in the legal framework and see whether they are sufficient in seeking to protect children in armed conflicts. Following relevant conceptual discussions on International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, the study employs a legal analysis in conjunction with a normative argumentation approach in reference to the works of various scholars. Based on the findings, I conclude that IHL and IHRL are often not adhered to, by state parties in armed conflicts due to a lack of binding power; hence such conventions do not produce the desired result. Since state parties are either in breach of the conventions, or have not yet ratified them, the conventions are not practically effective in protecting children.

This paper assesses U.S. national security policies in surveillance, detention, interrogation and torture, and targeted killing to determine whether they comport with international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The U.S. is responsible for adhering to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Geneva Conventions. These human rights law documents can be understood through court decisions, congressional statutes, and widely accepted interpretations from organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the UN Human Rights Council. Further, this paper offers prescriptions on how international human rights law and international humanitarian law can be updated to better deal with the current war on terror. / text

Almost four decades have passed since the European Court of Human Rights introduced the concept of positive obligations. Positive obligations mean that the member states must take affirmative action in order to secure the rights and freedoms provided for by the European Convention on Human Rights. Since then, the scope of positive obligations has extended tremendously, and today all substantive rights generally contain positive obligations. The reason behind the development is to maintain the full effectiveness of human rights enforcement within the European context, and it has been enabled, inter alia, through dynamic interpretation and because the European Convention on Human Rights is considered a living instrument.  The fact that European companies operating transnationally, i.e. in a non-European context, sometimes through its commercial activities violates human rights has given rise to discussion in legal doctrine on whether the scope of positive obligations should be further extended so that the member states to the European Convention on Human Rights will incur state responsibility for national corporates’ extraterritorial human rights violations. Thus, the purpose of the thesis is to examine whether the European Court of Human Rights can and should proceed with such expansion. An expansion creates methodological and technical problems as it challenges the traditional notion of jurisdiction, however, it is not impossible. Whatever the European Court of Human Rights will decide to do, the thesis will provide arguments both for why home state responsibility for national corporates’ extraterritorial activities that violates human rights can and should be imposed, as well for why it is beyond its (the European Court of Human Rights) competence.

A Comissão Interamericana de Direitos Humanos é uma instância jurídico política que integra o Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos e é responsável pela análise de denúncias de violações a direitos ocorridos nos diversos países das Américas. A proposta deste trabalho é analisar as decisões de admissibilidade, mérito e acordos de solução amistosa publicadas pela Comissão e verificar a incidência de casos de violação a direitos humanos das mulheres. Mais do que simples casos em que a mulher é vítima, os casos objeto de análise deste trabalho apresentam situações em que justamente a violência ocorreu porque a vítima é do sexo feminino. Esta pesquisa congrega dados quantitativos e qualitativos sobre a ocorrência destas demandas no Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos e os impactos que as decisões da Comissão trazem para a observância dos direitos humanos das mulheres na região, bem como para a própria reformulação do conceito de direitos humanos / The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is a political and juridical instance which is part of the Inter-American Human Rights System and analyzes human rights violations reports in many countries in the American continent. This research evaluates the rulings of admissibility, merit and friendly solution agreements published by the Commission; it also verifies the frequency of womens human rights violation cases. More than just simple cases in which a woman is a victim, these analyzed episodes show that the violence took place precisely because the victim was a woman. This dissertation is based upon quantitative and qualitative data concerning the occurrence of these cases in the Inter- American Human Rights System and the impact that this decisions had on womens human rights observance in the region and on the re-formulation of human rights concept itself.

Notre thèse analyse la protection internationale des droits de l'homme dans des «zones grises», définies comme des zones géographiques où l’État, souverain sur son territoire, ne peut ou ne veut pas exercer un contrôle effectif. Or, une fois l’État n'a plus de contrôle sur une partie de son territoire, les mécanismes de contrôle des droits de l'homme deviennent paralysés. La question principale à laquelle notre étude vise à répondre est la question de savoir si et comment le droit international des droits de l'homme peut s'appliquer de façon effective dans des zones hors du contrôle effectif de l’État, premier garant des droits de l'homme dans son territoire. La Première Partie a pour objectif d'analyser la question de l'applicabilité du droit international des droits de l'homme et de répondre aux questions relatives à son applicabilité ratione loci, ratione materiae et ratione personae. Les conclusions clarifient si cette branche du droit international continue de s'appliquer dans les «zones grises» et quelles sont les obligations qui lient les États, notamment en répondant à la question, connexe, de savoir à quels autres sujets les obligations relatives aux droits de l'homme sont opposables. La Deuxième Partie examine les questions relatives à la mise en œuvre des normes du droit international des droits de l'homme, c'est-à-dire la question de la responsabilité internationale pour violations des droits de l'homme et le défi de l'engagement de la responsabilité dans les mécanismes de contrôle. Notre thèse soutient que le droit international des droits de l'homme est capable d'imposer son applicabilité et sa mise en œuvre dans une telle situation imparfaite. / The present thesis analyzes the international protection of human rights in "grey zones", defined as geographical areas where the State, sovereign of its territory, is unable or unwilling to exercise effective control. However, once the State has no more control over a part of its territory, human rights monitoring mechanisms become paralyzed. The main question to which the present study aims to answer is whether and how international human rights law can effectively apply in areas out of the effective control of the State, primary guarantor of human rights in its territory. The First Part aims to analyze the question of the applicability of international human rights law and to answer to the questions related to its applicability ratione loci, ratione materiae and ratione personae. The conclusions clarify whether this branch of international law continues to apply in the "grey zones" and which are the obligations binding States while answering to the related question to which other subjects human rights obligations are opposable. The Second Part examines the questions related to the implementation of the norms of international human rights law, i.e. the question of international responsibility for human rights violations and the challenge of the engagement of the responsibility in control mechanisms. The present thesis claims that international human rights law is able to impose its applicability and its implementation in such an imperfect situation.