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Human Rights Protection for Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons: A Guide to International Mechanisms and Procedures

Author(s): Fitzpatrick, Joan (Editor)

Hardcover - 693 pages (2001)
ISBN: 1-57105-061-2

Price: US $125.00 (Hardcover)

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About This Publication

Regional and internal conflicts often provide an atmosphere for human rights violations causing large groups to flee across borders or to leave their homes seeking safety elsewhere. Unaware of how or where to request assistance, their plight often becomes desperate. This volume provides a detailed and concrete analysis of how human rights complaints mechanisms can be accessed by refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced persons.

The Guide offers a thorough explanation of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies, with a focus upon the four committees authorized to receive communications from individuals. Detailed information is provided concerning procedural requirements, while the treaties are analyzed for their relevance to the forcibly displaced. United Nations mechanisms are also examined, with an emphasis on the thematic and country special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights.

The regional systems of Africa, Europe, and Latin America are thoroughly analyzed with special attention to the particular substantive relevance of the regional human rights treaties to the situation of refugees, asylum-seekers, and the internally displaced is presented in detail.

Because refugees and displaced persons are frequently the victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity, this volume also includes a chapter on the provisions for victims and witnesses before international criminal tribunals. The trend toward the establishment of mixed national and international bodies in post-conflict societies is examined in the concluding chapter, using the human rights institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a model.

The contributors are recognized experts on the mechanisms they describe and analyze, with both academic and practical experience in the workings of these bodies. The book will be of interest both to advocates wishing to use it as a step-by-step guide to the mechanisms as well as to those with an interest in the human rights dimension of forced displacement.

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About The Author(s)

Joan Fitzpatrick, former Professor of Law at the University of Washington and former Rapporteur to the Committee on the Enforcement of Human Rights Law of the International Law Association, was a respected scholar who has a particular expertise in the subject of states of emergency and their impact on the protection of human rights.

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Reviews

No reviews are available for this publication.

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Availability

Human Rights Protection for Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons: A Guide to International Mechanisms and Procedures is available from:

Transnational Publishers, Inc.
Ardsley Park Science & Technology Center
410 Saw Mill River Road
Ardsley, New York 10502-2615

(914) 693-5100
(800) 914-8186 (toll free)
(914) 693-4430 (fax)
email: info@transnationalpubs.com

Human Rights Protection for Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons: A Guide to International Mechanisms and Procedures is also available from Amazon.com.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments			xxi
Editor's Foreword			xxiii
Contributors			xxv
Table of Abbreviations			xxix
Chapter 1   The Human Rights of Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons: A Basic Introduction — Joan Fitzpatrick			1
1.	Introduction		1
2.	Who Are Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons?		3
3.	Identifying Rights at Risk and Framing a Human Rights Claim		6
4.	A Basic Primer on the Nature of International Human Rights Law and the Varied Functions of Enforcement Bodies		15
5.	Conclusion		20
	Bibliography		21
Chapter 2   Protection Under the Complaint Procedures of the United Nations Treaty Bodies — Anne Bayefsky, Stephanie Farrior, Karen Hanrahan, and Andrew Langham			23
1.	Brief Overview of Individual Complaints under International Human Rights Treaties		23
2.	Admissibility Criteria for Individual Complaints		26
3.	Substantive Rights and Significant Jurisprudence		45
4.	Additional Considerations		111
5.	Strengths and Weaknesses of the UN Treaty Mechanisms for Individual Complaints		119
6.	Other Advocacy Possibilities		123
	Bibliography		128
Chapter 3   The United Nations Charter-Based Mechanisms — Camille Giffard and Meagan Hrle			137
1.	Introduction		137
2.	Setting the Context		138
3.	How Do The Charter-Based Mechanisms Work and What Can You Achieve by Using Them?		144
4.	What Mechanisms Are Available and How Can You Identify Which Ones May Apply in Your Case?		150
5.	Once You Have Identified the Available Mechanisms, How Do You Go about Using Them?		163
6.	How Effective Are the Mechanisms?		222
7.	Other Advocacy Possibilities in the Context of the UN Charter Organs		223
	Bibliography		248
Chapter 4   African Regional Mechanisms That Can Be Utilized on Behalf of the Forcibly Displaced — Chidi Anselm Odinkalu and Monette Zard			259
1.	Introduction		259
2.	African Regional Mechanisms		262
3.	Sub-Regional Mechanisms		283
4.	Conclusion		310
	Bibliography		310
Chapter 5   European Human Rights Mechanisms — Diane Atkinson-Sanford			315
1.	Introduction		315
2.	Advocacy		318
3.	ECHR Jurisprudence and Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and IDPs		359
4.	Other European Human Rights Mechanisms		420
5.	Conclusion		431
	Bibliography		431
Chapter 6   The Inter-American Mechanisms — Beth Lyon and Soren Rottman			439
1.	The Major Bodies		439
2.	Admissibility Criteria for Individual Complaints		443
3.	Substantive Rights and Important Jurisprudence		462
4.	Effectiveness of the Inter-American Mechanisms		477
5.	Other Avenues for Advocacy		481
6.	Specific Guidance for Advocates		483
	Bibliography		485
Chapter 7   International Criminal Tribunals: Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Who May Be Witnesses Before the Tribunals — Åsa Rydberg and Kelly Askin			495
1.	Introduction		495
2.	The Establishment of the Ad Hoc Tribunals		497
3.	Investigation and Pre-Trial Stages		499
4.	The Victims and Witnesses Section		503
5.	Trial Phase		504
6.	Post-Trial Phase		512
7.	Restitution of Property and Victim Compensation		513
8.	The International Criminal Court		514
	Bibliography		518
Chapter 8   Internationalized Legal Structures and the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons — Marcus Cox and Christopher Harland			521
1.	Introduction		521
2.	Human Rights Issues in Population Displacement		523
3.	Institutional Models for the Protection of IDPs		528
4.	Assessing the Institutional Choices		536
	Bibliography		538
Appendices			541
Bibliography of International Instruments			639
Index			647