Thesis (doctoral)--University of Helsinki, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed Mar. 9, 2006). Includes bibliographical references (p. 329-363).

Values are operative in all of human rights law. That is an organizing principle of the entirety of this work. I have endevoured to remain true to a self-consciously value-orientated approach to elaborating a model against race discrimination in EU law, and 1 have made no attempt to disguise the substantive values which underpin it, or the commitment to protect fundamental human rights above market goals. While values are controversial, and while reasonable people will disagree on their application, it is submitted that attempting an articulation and exploration of those at work in antidiscrimination law is essential. Values are not, however, plucked from the abstract, and this is how context introduces itself, and remains central to this work. Context is viewed as determinative of values, and therefore of laws and their application. Chapter II offers a contextual definition of race and racism, looking to how a contextualised approach forces us to go beyond formalistic categorise and assumptions of objectivity in anti-discrimination law. The hope is that by freeing our legal conceptions of these categories, we may more fully appraise the extent of discrimination in context, and allow for more progressive strategies to combating it. Chapter III follows from the theoretic position established in Chapter II, looking to various aspects of the 'European context,' its history of immigration and the constitution of its diverse population. This chapter describes the political climate that prevails today and the rise of the extreme right in the past decade, as well as the social and economic consequences of racism in context. It examines also the emergence of 'Eurocentrism' as a new form of ethnocentrism specific to Europe, and partially reinforced by EU law. Chapter IV also relies on the contextual approach of Chapter 11 but applies it to a legal context. It examines the legal context of race discrimination in EU law, with special emphasis on the legal construction of race through the distinction between EU Nationals and Third Country Nationals. This discussion traces the roots of that foundational distinction to Member State laws and looks to the ways in which EU law has replicated and amplified it, and more importantly, to the ways in which it supports a racialised or even racist construct. The focus of this discussion is therefore de jure discrimination which effects race discrimination and how EU law participates in constructing racial Other. Chapter V concerns the corollary de facto discrimination affecting all minorities residing in the EU, but highlights this discrimination as the 'central case' because it afflicts minority EU citizens in the exercise of their EU law rights: in this way it is about insiders who are treated as Other. This chapter examines discriminatory contexts as they are reinforced by aspects of EU law, and as they generate an EU obligation to act from within EU law itself. Chapter VI is a theoretic excursus, which considers the multitude of choices which the anti-discrimination law may embody, dividing these into two basic poles: the liberal perspective and the alternative perspective. A number of central substantive tenets of anti-discrimination law are analysed from the perspective of these two poles. The second part of the chapter applies this theoretic modality to EU law, again considering substantive tenets in EU law in the light of the two poles of anti-discrimination law, with special emphasis on Article 13 and the new Race Directive. A final part of this chapter considers form and the adequacy of the current EU law anti-discrimination model in the light of other existing models. Chapter VII builds on Chapter VI but looks 'behind' the poles that present themselves in EU law, to the normative justifications and aims of anti-discrimination laws. Once again, this issue presents a multitude of choices. This chapter focuses on one such choice involving two distinct orientations in EU law: the Single Market and fundamental human rights. These are considered in tum as justifications for action against race discrimination, and it is argued that a balance between them is needed in EU law. Beyond that mutually defining coexistence, it is also argued that where they are irreconcilable, the normative prioritisation should favour fundamental human rights. An overarching theme of this work is the acknowledgment of the centrality of context and the duality of anti-discrimination law in terms of theoretic models, substantive choices and normative justification and aims. Acknowledging these offers a stronger model for combating discrimination in novel and sui generis contexts, such as the legal context of the EU, allowing us transcend existing legal models in search of more effective synergies. EU law cannot combat race discrimination without acknowledging the sui generis nature of its social and legal contexts and the politics and norms at work at all its levels, or without recognising the specific challenges presented by an economic law burgeoning fundamental rights provisions, or by the sheer diversity of standards and traditions and legal rules that exist within its boundaries.

South Africa is a country that in the past has experienced gross human rights violations, and therefore has sought never again to have such violations. The government has sought to protect people's human rights by including them in the country's Constitution. Furthermore, South Africa has engaged with various international human rights bodies to further advocate for good human rights practices. However, the country has encountered some domestic challenges, with inequality and poverty being rife in the country. These challenges have implications for South Africa's economic foreign policy goals. This study explores South Africa's foreign policy with the Chinese government and the Zimbabwean government to explain why the country has chosen countries with poor human rights such as these. The research study will be centred around the period from 2008 to 2017. The offensive realism theory formed the theoretic framework of this research study. The study employed a qualitative research strategy as well as an interpretivist research paradigm. The findings show that when it comes to South Africa's foreign policy agenda, the government's goal is to establish a partnership with another country that will ultimately benefit the economic interests of South Africa, regardless of the country's human rights principles.

Includes bibliographical references. / There are millions of children worldwide without parental care, families and homes. The HIV/AIDS pandemic, civil wars and poverty among other factors have contributed to the population of millions of orphans and destitute children in Africa. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides that ‘a child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or in whose best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance by the State.’ Thus, States Parties have an obligation to provide alternative care for such children in accordance with their national law. Such care includes ‘foster placement, kafalah of Islamic law, adoption and placement in suitable institutions.’ The CRC also recognizes intercountry adoption as one of the many possible solutions to children deprived of a family environment or parental care. However, it is only considered as a last resort if the child cannot be cared for in the country of origin.

This thesis seeks to uncover the challenges encountered by women and girl victims of rape in seeking recourse through the criminal justice system in Kenya. To do this I focus on their experiences in three major points of service provision, i.e. the police, the health facilities and the courts. I then explore, as a secondary research question, whether an integrated service provision approach provides solutions to these challenges. Article 48 of the Constitution of Kenya provides that 'The state shall ensure access to justice for all persons and, if any fee is required, it shall be reasonable and shall not impede access to justice'27 This obligation places a tall order on the state and all its agents to ensure that anyone in pursuit of justice should access it with the minimum obstacles.

This research analyses the Global Compact on Refugees("GCR"), adopted in 2018 by the United Nations General Assembly. It aims to discuss whether the document, a non-legal document offers durable solutions to developing countries who host more than 80% of the world´s refugees and asylum seekers population. The paper does this by outlining the key components of the GCR, doing a comparative study of Kenya and Jordan, and looking at what impact the GCR might have had on the programs already running in Kenya and Jordan. The two countries were chosen as they were part of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework countries, which greatly influenced the development of the GCR. The paper comes to the conclusion that the GCR has great potential in dealing with the Refugee crisis in the world, but this is hinged on the political will of the developed countries and international cooperation. The research underlines topical issues in international refugee protection such as "accidents of geography" that leads to most refugees seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, which more often are not are developing countries. The research paper further gives the strengths of the GCR, critiques it and gives recommendations based on the comparative studies.

Regional Organizations hereinafter referred as Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are the building blocks of the African Union. They promote regional integration, democratization, cooperation, development and peace and security within African States. RECs complement the instruments of the AU on democracy consolidation and its shared norms and values. Since elections are at the centre for democracy, development and human rights, RECs have a mandate to protect and promote them. Protection and promotion of democratic elections have become a priority among the RECs. RECs have adopted legal instruments to protect democratic elections. They observe elections within Member States. They effectively conduct pre- and post-electoral audits to facilitate smooth conduct of elections. They facilitate mediation when electoral disputes arise. RECs also facilitate political negotiations and dialogues in times of electoral conflicts. They enhance restoration of democracy when it is violated. They assist with interventions when governments act unconstitutionally and refuse to step down from power. In some cases, they impose sanctions, where necessary, to states violating democracy and human rights. Thus, the role of the RECs is dynamic and has been expanding over the years to meet the needs of their regions. However, despite the establishment of RECs, and their mandates in supporting consolidation of democracy, election disputes have been prevalent in Africa. Electoral malpractices have been in the form of vote rigging, manipulation of vote results, refusal of incumbent heads of state to step down after losing elections to mention a few. This happened in the Gambia in 2016 as discussed in this study. In some cases, independent electoral commissions have committed gross errors in vote counting as in the case of Zimbabwe 2018 elections. These errors have caused election disputes and political uprisings. Election monitoring bodies have also failed to provide accurate reports on the outcome and conduct of elections and have caused a cycle of contested elections in some African countries. The case of the SADC Observer Mission in Zimbabwe is a good example in this study. Elections that have lacked credibility and integrity have led to crises of legitimacy in governance. The lack of legitimacy and credibility of elections have undermined human rights and freedoms linked to democratic elections. This research argues that contestations over elections should not be seen in isolation from the entire human rights discourse. Human rights are interdependent and, therefore, when one right is affected other rights suffer in turn. Protection of a single right such as, the right to vote, has a positive impact to the realisation of many human rights.

This paper investigates the integration experience of refugee womxn in South Africa. It focuses on the areas of access to housing, employment and protection from gender-based violence. Through a human rights approach, influenced by intersectional feminist theory, it analyses the international normative and South African domestic framework and discusses its gaps and challenges. Thereafter, an overview of the experience of refugee womxn's access to housing, employment and protection from gender-based violence internationally and in South Africa is presented. Lastly, recommendations are made to the South African state suggesting reform in law, policy and practice.

Disability in South Africa is a complex issue to understand and address. Society is structured in such a way that ableism persists, creating ongoing challenges for minority groups such as those living with a disability. In the light of the above, this dissertation examines the right to education for children with disabilities. This dissertation has a narrowed focus, through a desktop study investigating legislation and policies addressing and supporting the right to education in South Africa. If the right to education is effectively addressed, it could lead to improved access to equality, dignity and freedom for children with disabilities, as enshrined in the Constitution. Civil society organisations have become increasingly involved in supporting and promoting the right to education for children with disabilities, to ensure that children with disabilities can and do access their basic rights, when government fails to provide for equitable realisation of this right. I propose that the government has accepted responsibility to meet its obligation1 to provide equal education opportunities for children with disabilities in South Africa through signing international and regional treaties but is ineffective in doing so. However, the pervasiveness of ableism is a major barrier to implement this obligation. As a result institutions such as civil society have been ‘required’ to fill the gap to avoid further marginalisation of children with disabilities and violation of their human rights.

This master thesis gives a comprehensive overview of the protection of journalists and media facilities in times of armed conflict. First, the thesis analyses, which legal regimes are applicable: international humanitarian or human rights law. In conclusion, it suggests a parallel application of both regimes while international humanitarian law is to be regarded as lex specialis in the event of an armed conflict. In the case of a discrepancy between norms of the two regulatory complexes, the lex specialis maxim solves the inconsistency as an interpretation rule. Thus, the human rights provision is interpreted in the light of the more specific humanitarian law provision. Secondly, the thesis examines the concrete norms under both legal regimes that protect journalists and media facilities. It finds that only human rights norms protect the work of journalists while international humanitarian law protects journalists as civilians and media facilities as civilian objects. In the event, that a (fatal) military attack on journalists or media facilities is justifiable under international humanitarian law, there exists a controversy with the right to life guaranteed in human rights law which is solved by means of the lex specialis principle. Finally, the extent of the de facto protection of journalists and media facilities in comparison to the assured de jure protection is tested. For this purpose, the effective protection of journalists and media facilities in general during the current South Sudan crisis is analysed as well as the protection of female journalists against gender-based rights violations in times of armed conflict. A huge discrepancy between the de jure granted protection and the actual protection is found in both cases. Therefore, this thesis stresses the need to adopt new binding international regulations specifically tailored to afford all journalists and media facilities the highest protection possible – especially in times of conflict.