International Human Rights Law

3 credits

This class will examine legal understandings ofand responses tosome of the most compelling human rights, humanitarian (law of war), and refugee law challenges of our times. Among many other topics, we will explore torture, religious freedom, refugee and humanitarian protections, genocide, refugee law, the human rights of migrants, human trafficking, and criminal prosecutions of alleged war criminals and those who commit crimes against humanity. We will engage critically with ideas of gender, culture, ethnicity, legal status, and race. We will consider: - What are human rights? - What is human rights law? - How do Western ideas of human rights differ from other conceptions? - What are the major international law, treaties, instruments, customary norms, etc. that create and protect human rights, including economic and social rights, rights against racial, ethnic, religious, and gender discrimination, rights to self-determination, and the rights of children? - How do refugees differ from migrants? - How does international humanitarian law intersect with human rights law? - Which institutions (including tribunals and courts) monitor and enforce such law?