Event Summary
The Belfer Center''s new Human Rights Initiative (HRI) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a conference entitled "Human Rights Policy: What Works?" At the conference leading thinkers and practitioners from the policy and human rights communities reflected upon past achievements since the Declaration, and identified pressing needs, and future challenges for human rights. The conference brought together human rights activists, academics and policy makers to debate their differences but also find ways to realize common goals.
Human rights experts discussed several of the themes at the heart of a forthcoming HRI book also called Human Rights Policy: What Works? The book, which will be published next year, features essays by policymakers and activists including President Jimmy Carter, Chinese exiled dissident Wei Jingsheng, and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson. The authors will examine human rights strategies at the individual, local, national, and international level.
The first panel was led by Anna Husarska (Political Analyst, International Crisis Group and New Yorker correspondent), whose paper "The Case for a Humanitarian Media" stressed the importance of the media in precipitating humanitarian intervention. Respondents Susan Moeller (Asst. Professor of Journalism at Brandeis) and John Shattuck (Ambassador to the Czech Republic and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor), commented on Husarska''s paper, and Anthony Lewis, The New York Times columnist, moderated the panel. The presentation led to a lively discussion about whether reporters should try and remain objective when covering atrocities, and to what extent the press can influence the policy process and spark U.S. Government intervention.
Morton Halperin (Vice President, Twentieth Century Fund and former U.S. National Security Council official) led the second panel with his presentation "A New Consensus? Democratization as an Instrument for Human Rights Promotion," which was moderated by Anne-Marie Slaughter of Harvard Law School. Respondents Thomas Carothers (Vice President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) and Miriam Elman (Fellow, International Security Program) helped lead a spirited debate on the necessity and sufficiency of democracy as an indicator for the potential enjoyment of human rights, and whether democracy promoters and human rights activists can work together to build
a new consensus for the promotion and protection of human rights. The presentation by Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch, on "Human Rights Organizations: A New Paradigm for Social Change" dealt with the role of NGOs in the promotion and protection of international human rights standards. Respondents Kathryn Sikkink (Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota), Susannah Sirkin (Physicians for Human Rights) and moderator Robert Pastor (visiting Professor at the KSG) focused on the successes and failures of NGOs, looking back from the 1970s to the present.
The final panel, moderated by David Hamburg, (President Emeritus, Carnegie Corporation), considered the broad question "50 Years of Human Rights: What Has Been Accomplished? What Is to Be Done?," in a discussion opened by Louis Henkin, (Professor of International Law, Columbia University). Professor Henkin, who has been called the "father of international law," was joined by panelists Mary Ann Glendon (Professor, Harvard Law School), Makau Mutua (Director of the Human Rights Center, SUNY Buffalo), and Xiao Qiang (Executive Director, Human Rights in China). During the spirited debate that followed, Professor Mutua challenged Professor Henkin on the notion of the universality of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, questioning the composition of the drafting committee and the content of the rights themselves. Xiao Qiang reminded the group that the "Western" vision of human rights looks quite appealing to a jailed Chinese dissident, whether the rights are universal or not. In the closing session, Professor Henkin said, "The strong public turnout and intense debate at the conference show that human rights topics have found fertile ground in the Kennedy School."
For more information about HRI visit http://ksgwww.harvard.edu/hri or call Ingrid Tamm at 617-495-5819.