BPM- Euro-Americas Zone: Americas Telescopic Analysis

Showing posts with label Americas Telescopic Analysis. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Global Justice & Global Jurisdiction: Acquiring a niche as a Constitutive Norm?

Week #105 – Dated 31 December- February 6, 2010

Zone 3- Telescopic Analysis:

The acceptability of the concept of Global justice has always enjoyed an exalted

position in view of its mass appeal as a universal ideology. The acceptability of global jurisdiction however has been in flux as its enforcement in the international community in light of other constitutive norms has been on the rise. Where the concepts of Democratic domestic governance and Human Rights enjoy a ‘legitimate appeal’ world wide, questions regarding enforceability through global jurisdiction of widely adhered to ‘norms’ are a more complex undertaking. Following are a few cases that highlight this disputed arena.
Goldstone Report- Israel
Last year following the issue of UN-sponsored Goldstone report, both Israel and the Palestinians were asked to investigate accusations of human-rights violations committed during the conflict in the Gaza Strip. In the wake of this development a British court issued an arrest warrant against Tzipi Livni, Israel’s former foreign minister, for her role in orchestrating Israel's military offensive against Hamas. The supporting legislation was under the controversial 1988 Criminal Justice Act, which gives courts in England and Wales universal jurisdiction in war crimes cases.
Previously Britain had abstained during the United Nations vote on the Goldstone report, which accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes in Gaza, and the Swedish proposal to recognize Jerusalem as a shared Israeli and Palestinian capital. In response to the warrant, Livni voiced affront at the comparison of Israel Defense Forces soldiers to ‘terrorists’. This incident was the latest in a string of attempts by pro-Palestinian activists to have Israeli officials arrested on British soil. Previous attempts include:
Oct 2009: Former military chief Moshe Yaalon cancelled a UK visit because of fears of arrest for alleged war crimes
Oct 2009: Failed attempt to raise warrant against Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Court ruled he had diplomatic immunity
Sept 2005: Arrest warrant issued for a former head of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Gen Doron Almog. He received warning before disembarking from an aircraft at Heathrow Airport, and flew back to Israel

Though this latest warrant was subsequently annulled it has raised havoc in diplomatic and legal circles in its wake. Pro-Palestinian groups welcomed news of the abortive move as "long overdue". The Foreign Office however was deeply embarrassed by the episode, where David Miliband, UK’s Foreign Secretary stated that “The Government is looking urgently at ways in which the UK system might be changed in order to avoid this sort of situation arising again”.
Kosovo
Following Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008, Serbia announced last year that it would seek an opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of the issue and that Belgrade would abide by the court’s decision, despite it being a nonbinding, advisory opinion. The question being pondered in the international Court simply seeks to confirm whether Kosovo’s declaration of independence accords with international law.
Kosovo, formerly a province of Serbia, unilaterally declared independence on February 17, 2008, after UN-brokered talks between Belgrade and ethnic-Albanian officials in Pristina broke down. Since then, more than 60 countries, including 22 of the EU's 27 members, have recognized Kosovo's independence. The judges are expected to issue their nonbinding opinions sometime during 2010.

Nigeria
Last year The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir for atrocities committed in Darfur; the first international arrest warrant ever issued against a sitting head of state.
Though Sudan under the pretext of not being a signatory of the Rome Statute refused to hand over the accused president, the warrant did raise issues for nations such as Nigeria that was hosting the African Union summit on refugees, which Bashir subsequently declined to attend. Nigeria, though it announced it would not proceed with the arrest, faced pressures pertaining to its international legal obligations including under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which it has ratified.
Professor

Noah Weisbord is of the opinion that ICC’s first arrest warrant against a sitting head of state is an historic moment in international affairs. “They (ICC) may have discovered a way to leverage their force and advance the cause of international justice. States will enforce the warrant when they realize that going after Bashir is not going after Sudan.”
In light of these examples, the novel development in recent history of international law whereby national courts may act on global stimuli or conversely the acceptance of non binding international rulings in a national sphere, no matter how disputed, depicts a distinctive trend. Regardless of its potential enforceability, the fact of such stimuli being potent diplomatic arguments is in it self quite remarkable. §

Discussion Question:
· In your opinion is the concept of ‘Global Jurisdiction’ an asset in international law or an impediment to sensitive diplomatic dealings?

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Zone 3- Telescopic Analysis- Economic Crisis taking a Political Toll- Europe’s toppling Dominoes W # 90

Week # 90, Dated 17th-24th Oct. 09’

The Romanian Government lost a vote of confidence this month becoming the latest political casualty in Europe’s financial crisis. Since the beginning of this year protest rallies have riddled the continents nations, not sparing even the power houses such as Germany. The economic crisis taking its political toll on governments has however been mainly prevalent in the post Soviet east. Widely being labeled as Europe’s toppling Dominoes, following is a brief account of the regions significant developments this year.
LATVIA
After surviving a no confidence vote in early February 2009, Latvia's center-right coalition government collapsed on the 20th of Feb., with the resignation of president Valdis Zatlers at the call for his dismissal from the nation’s two largest parties (People’s Party and Union of Greens and Farmers). The government collapsed following violent demonstrations in the capital Riga, in protest at the government's handling of the crisis and steep IMF-imposed cutbacks. Latvia has had a history of revolving-door politics and complex coalitions since pulling free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But the precipitous plunge of Latvia's economy, which helped provoke the worst riot since its post

communist history played a major part in the government's downfall. Elections are expected to be held in Oct. 2010. Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and an expert on the region, said Godmanis's resignation was simply "democracy in action”; "It is better to take the [economic] blow immediately, than to have a long steady slide," he added.

HUNGARY

On 21 Mar 2009 Hungary's Prime Minister resigned after facing mounting criticism over his government's handling of the country's economic crash. Ferenc Gyurcsany, leader o

f the ruling Socialists, made the unexpected announcement as his party’s popularity hit an all time low. His reputation failed to recover from a 2006 scandal where his statements regarding lying about the economy were leaked to the public and triggered massive rioting. The ‘political casualty of the economic downturn’ followed a political deadlock over how to slash public spending. The next elections are expected to be held in the spring of 2010.

CZECH REPUBLIC
On March 24th this year, four days after the collapse of the Hungarian Government, the Centre Right Czech government lost a vote of confidence, in a nation that surprisingly was perceived to be dealing well with the economic Crisis. Mr Topolanek, head of a three-party coalition government, a fractious parliament majority lost the vote following the defection of four government members as the Czech economy heads toward a recession and his spending plans were under pressure. Yet despite the succession of woes afflicting some of the EU's former

Communist states, some observers cautioned against linking the political musical chairs in Prague to a pessimistic narrative about the region. "What happened in the Czech Republic was driven by politics," said Piotr Kaczynski of the Brussels think-tank the Centre for European Policy Studies. The early elections scheduled this year have been postponed till 2010.

ROMANIA

In a latest development this month Romania joined the list of East Europe’s ‘Toppling Dominoes’, following a vote of no confidence that the centrist Government lost. While opposition parliamentarian characterize the vo

te as a ‘punishment’ for Mr. Boc’s poor stewardship of the economy, analysts said it had been at least partially motivated by the desire to dent the prospects of President Traian Basescu, a close political ally of Mr. Boc, who is favored to win a second term in the presidential election on Nov. 22.
Amidst the financial downturn in recent weeks there have been protests and strikes by railway workers as well as other public sectors, but non directly demanding this end. Presidential elections are expected at the end of this year.
UKRAINE
Amidst the financial crisis Ukraine’s political deadlock continues. The two heroes of the Orange Revolution that put Ukraine on a pro-Western course have become fierce foes ahead of the 2010 presidential vote. A bitter political rivalry between Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko drags on in a year that has witnessed some major protest rallies in the country. Ms Tymoshenko has called for all political forces to form a broad coalition, but the main opposition party and Mr. Yushchenko's allies denounce her idea as a "political confidence game." Many speculate that the nation is teetering at the brink of collapse.

ICELAND

At the beginning of the year Iceland’s Conservative government became the first in the world to fall as a direct result of the financial crisis. Iceland's centre-right government resigned in January amid mass street protests following the country's economic collapse. Mr. Haarde, the former prime minister called early parliamentary elections this year, bringing forward a vote

originally scheduled for 2011, in which Iceland's interim centre-left government won a resounding victory.

REST OF EUROPE
Waves of job protests have swept the whole of Europe since the beginning of this year. Including Germany, France, Belgium, Briton, Ireland, Spain, Russia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, widespread protests as well as occasional rioting has been in evidence this year. However the trend of economic upheaval perpetuating in a political collapse has been mainly observed in the east European region raising speculations about a return to authoritarian politics and a ‘New Iron Curtain’.

Discussion Questions:

· Is the impetus of changing governments in these East European Democracies depictive of :
A)- Underdeveloped institutions in nascent political systems or,
B)- Promising systems where non violent change is occurring seemingly with in the constitution?

· Given the volatile environment do you think such a change could be sustained or would it be an unbearable stress leading to a reversal to the authoritarian past?

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Zone 3- Telescopic Analysis: ‘Amerindian Reaction to Human Rights Excesses- A Political Awakening?, Week # 87 dated 27th Sept-3rd Oct 09'

Chile-

Ethnic Groups-white and white-Amerindian 95.4%, Mapuche 4%, other indigenous groups 0.6% (2002 census)

Independence- 18 September 1810 (from Spain)

GDP- per capita (PPP)- $14,900 (2008 est.)

In Chile, Amnesty International has been denouncing the slow and inadequate resolution of Indigenous Peoples’ claims to their ancestral lands, along with the impact of current and future extraction and logging industry projects, is causing tension resulting in violence. M

ore than 4% of the nation's 17 million citizens belong to one of its nine indigenous tribes. The Mapuches resisted the Spanish conquest for 300 years before Chile’s government finally pushed them into communities in southern Chile.
The tribe had a series of violent confrontations with the Chilean government in August 2009 over the eviction of Indians from seized land. Many of these actions were initiated by the Coordinadora Arauco Malleco (CAM), an indigenous group that has been accused of terrorist acts. Last month, dozens of indigenous communities agreed to form the Mapuche Territorial Alliance to fight for political autonomy and press demands to end poverty. President Michelle Bachelet proposed Tuesday to create a Ministry for Indigenous Affairs to place more weight on policies affecting Chile's Indian communities. This was met with disapproval from the Mapuche Indians who called it a ‘curtain of smoke’ to ‘avoid straight answers’.

Ecuador-

Ethnic Groups-mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish and others 7%, black 3%

Independence-24 May 1822 (from Spain)

GDP- per Capita (PPP)-$7,500 (2008 est.)

In Ecuador 3.4 million Indigenous tribes make up 25% of the population. Arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment, high levels of poverty and social exclusion are some of the reported ills against the indigenous population as reported by Amnesty International. Violence erupted last week in the region when a highway blockade by Ecuador’s Shuar Indians left one dead and several injured.
The leftist President Rafael Correa is in an intensifying dispute with indigenous groups, who oppose a recently proposed legislation on water, mining and oil laws which they claim would allow mining on their lands without their consent and lead to the privatization of water. The Shuar vowed not to lift the blockade until the president personally negotiates with them while Correa says talks can't start until Indians abandon the blockades.
In 1986, indigenous people formed the first "truly" national political organization. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) has been the primary political institution of the Indigenous populations and the second largest political party in the nation. It has been influential in national politics, contributing to the ouster of presidents Abdalá Bucaram in 1997 and Jamil Mahuad in 2000.

Peru-

Ethhnic Groups-Amerindian 45%, mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3%

Independence-28 July 1821 (from Spain)

GDP- per Capita (PPP)-$8,500 (2008 est.)

Neighboring Peru is contending with a bloody rebellion of Amazon Indians protesting government efforts to allow private development of their traditional lands. Peru has the largest indigenous population of South America, about 45%. In the recent violence Amnesty international has recorded the brutal response of the government to what it terms as the ‘legitimate protests of Indigenous Peoples for their rights’.
On 5 June this year protests were held claiming the people’s right to land and consultation on decree laws regarding land and natural resources in the Peruvian Amazon. Such consent is required under international law. The government crackdown was reported to have been excessively forceful.
Individual indigenous groups have a variety of governance structures. MATSES, the Movement in the Amazon for Tribal Subsistence and Economic Sustainability (MATSES), is an indigenous people’s rights organization that is working for the cultural survival of indigenous people in Peru. The State has now commenced a process of dialogue with Indigenous Peoples. However persecution on a political level is still feared.

Discussion Questions:

· Does the recent violent response of Indigenous Communities in Latin America depict a heightened political conscience, fueling their right to protest?

· In light of the global Human Rights consciousness are the local governments more inclined to give leverage to the indigenous peoples?

· Is Latin America headed towards another revolutionary phase of its history in which indigenous people and other marginalized social and economic groups will coalesce their forces?
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Bibliography
[1] http://www.culturalsurvival.org/files/Ecuador.pdf
[2] http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR01/004/2009/en/65324480-80e4-4de1-a664-efb848089378/amr010042009en.pdf

BPM- Euro-Americas Zone

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Global Justice & Global Jurisdiction: Acquiring a niche as a Constitutive Norm?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Zone 3- Telescopic Analysis- Economic Crisis taking a Political Toll- Europe’s toppling Dominoes W # 90

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Zone 3- Telescopic Analysis: ‘Amerindian Reaction to Human Rights Excesses- A Political Awakening?, Week # 87 dated 27th Sept-3rd Oct 09'

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