Human Rights and Conflict : Exploring the Links Between Rights, Law, and Peacebuilding

by Mertus, Julie

• ISBN13: 9781929223763
• ISBN10: 1929223765
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-22
• Publisher: United States Inst of Peace Pr

Summary

The relationship between human rights and conflict is dynamic, complex, and powerful, constantly shaping and reshaping the course of both peace and war. Yet, despite its importance, our understanding of this relationship has long been fragmentary, chiefly because three different schools of thought-human rights, conflict resolution, and international law-have offered three different and often contradictory perspectives.

Author Biography

Julie A. Mertus, a former senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, is an associate professor at American University Jeffrey W. Helsing is a program, officer and Middle East specialist in the Institute's Education Program.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Richard H. Solomon	ix
Preface and Acknowledgments	xiii
Contributors	xvii
Introduction Exploring the Intersection between Human Rights and Conflict	3
Authors: Julie A. Mertus and Jeffrey W. Helsing
Part I: The Role of Human Rights in Conflict Intensification
1. Understanding Human Rights Violations in Armed Conflict	23
Author: Ellen L. Lutz
2. Human Rights: A Source of Conflict, State Making, and State Breaking	39
Author: Michael S. Lund
3. Linking Human Rights and Conflict Transformation: A Peacebuilding Framework	63
Author: Lisa Schirch
4. Culture, Relativism, and Human Rights	97
Author: Kevin Avruch
Commentator: Ram Manikkalingam	121
5. Peace as a Human Right: Toward an Integrated Understanding	129
Authors: Abdul Aziz Said and Charles O. Lerche
Commentator: Jack Donnelly	151
Part II: The Application of Human Rights in Armed Conflicts and Other Violent Conflicts
6. Claiming a Humanitarian Imperative: NGOs and the Cultivation of Humanitarian Duty	159
Author: Hugo Slim
Commentator: Jonathan Moore	175
7. Humanitarian Intervention after Kosovo	185
Author: Richard Falk
Commentator: Thomas G. Weiss	209
8. Holding Military and Paramilitary Forces Accountable	217
Author: John Cerone
9. Human Rights, Terrorism, and Efforts to Combat Terrorism	239
Author: Jordan J. Paust
Commentator: David R Stewart	267
10. Bridging Conflict Transformation and Human Rights: Lessons from the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process	277
Authors: Mohammed Abu-Nimer and Edward (Edy) Kaufman
11. The Human Rights Dimensions of War in Iraq: A Framework for Peace Studies	309
Authors: Julie A. Mertus and Maia Carter Hallward
Part III: The Contributions of Human Rights in Post-Armed Conflict and Postcrisis Situations
12. Human Rights, Peace Agreements, and Conflict Resolution: Negotiating Justice in Northern Ireland	345
Author: Christine Bell
13. Truth vs. Justice? Commissions and Courts	375
Author: Vasuki Nesiah
Commentator: Richard Ashby Wilson	399
14. Promoting the Human Rights of Forced Migrants	405
Authors: Susan Martin and Andrew I. Schoenholtz
15. Human Rights Education and Grassroots Peacebuilding	431
Authors: Janet E. Lord and Nancy Flowers
16. Building a Democratic Middle Ground: Professional Civil Society and the Politics of Human Rights in Sri Lanka's Peace Process	459
Author: Alan Keenan
Conclusion Toward a More Integrated Approach	509
Authors: Julie A. Mertus and Jeffrey W. Helsing
Index	525