Non-Governmental Human Rights Organizations In International Relations »

PETER R. BAEHR is Honorary Professor of Human Rights and a former Director of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) at Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

Human rights play a crucial role in today's international relations. They provide standards to which states must conform when dealing with their own citizens. Non-governmental human rights organizations remind states of their obligations in that field. Without this, human rights would have drifted to the bottom of the international agenda.

Preface viii

List of Abbreviations ix

1 Introduction 1

2 Legitimacy 9

Introduction 9

Membership 10

Accountability 13

Reliability 14

Access 16

Cooperation among NGOs 20

Conclusions 25

3 Independence 29

Introduction 29

Financial independence 31

Cultural relativism 35

Supplying information to governments 36

Media attention 37

Timing 38

Treaty-making 40

Foreign policy 40

Cases from recent Dutch foreign policy 43

Conclusions 45

4 The United Nations 48

Introduction 48

The Vienna World Conference on Human Rights 50

Cooperation with governments and the UN 52

The Cardozo Report 54

The Geneva Office 56

High Commissioner for Human Rights: ideal and reality 58

The "international community" 59

Conclusions 61

5 The Promotion of Human Rights: Standard-Setting 64

Introduction 64

The prohibition of torture 65

Involuntary disappearances 67

Women's rights 69

Children's rights 71

Amnesty International and homosexuality 73

Conclusions 75

6 The Protection of Human Rights 79

Introduction 79

Prisoners of conscience 80

Better or worse? 81

Genocide 85

Shadow reports 88

An NGO's shadow report on the Netherlands 89

Universal Periodic Review 92

Globalization 95

Amnesty International and globalization 96

Conclusions 99

7 Non-Governmental Entities 102

Introduction 102

Somalia 105

Colombia 109

Democratic Republic of the Congo 111

Spain 113

Afghanistan 114

Conclusions 118

8 Conclusions 120

Introduction 120

Legitimacy 122

Impact 123

Quiet versus public diplomacy 125

Public officials 126

The United Nations 127

Standard-setting 128

Protection of human rights 128

Non-governmentalentities 129

The future of human rights NGOs 129

Appendix 1 ECOSOC Resolution E/1996/31: Consultative Relationship Between the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations 130

Appendix 2 International Non-Governmental Organizations: Accountability Charter 148

Notes 155

List of Interviewed Persons 190

Bibliography 191

Index 195