Carnegie Council

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Articles

Introduction: Public Security and Human Rights 12/31/02
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, public tolerance for suspending civil rights in the face of threats to public security—both criminal threats to personal security and terrorist threats to national security—has created new human rights challenges.

The New Face of Impunity 12/31/02
Rachel Neild explains the phenomenon of rising crime and the challenges it poses to human rights activists worldwide.
Author(s): Rachel Neild

Restricting the Right to Shoot 12/31/02
Martin Schönteich details the life and eventual passage of a controversial piece of legislation in crime-ridden South Africa. Makubetse Sekhonyane provides some insights from the street based on his work with officers.
Author(s): Martin Schönteich, Makubetse Sekhonyane

Responding to Vigilantism 12/31/02
One human rights group in Nigeria, writes Innocent Chukwuma, is working with community vigilante groups to help them fight crime - the right way.
Author(s): Innocent Chukwuma

"Firm Hand, Large Heart" 12/31/02
According to Adam Isacson, the tough new leader of Colombia has the support of a war-weary population, making human rights work in the region more challenging, and more critical, than ever. Jorge Rojas responds.
Author(s): Adam Isacson, Jorge Rojas

Bridging Activism and Policymaking 12/31/02
Pinheiro, founder and director of the Center for the Study of Violence at the University of São Paulo, discusses the center’s successes and challenges for the future. Macaulay describes the Brazilian human rights scene; Caldas, Carvalho and Cavallaro weigh in from the activists’ perspective.
Author(s): Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro

A View from the Inside 12/31/02
Carlos Basombrío offers a perspective on human rights, crime, and police reform in Peru from his new position as Vice Minister of the Interior.
Author(s): Carlos Basombrío

U.S. Civil Liberties In September 11's Wake 12/31/02
Dialogue met with U.S. rights leaders to learn how their work has changed since September 11, and how they are sticking to their guns in a climate of fear. Kit Gage and others organized one of the largest and coalitions of U.S. activists ever assembled following September 11.
Author(s): Jamie Fellner, Elisa Massimino, Michael Ratner

Israeli Exceptionalism? 12/31/02
Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom explains why, as an Israeli human rights activist, he is isolated in his opposition to the widely supported policy of targeted killing.
Author(s): Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom

Crackdown with a Blessing 12/31/02
Wong reports on the use and abuse of Malaysia’s Internal Security Act and its new-found international support in the post–September 11 world. Raslan, a Malaysian journalist, discusses how the Bali attacks forced him to reconsider his support for rights in these uncertain times.
Author(s): Elizabeth K. P. Wong, Karim Raslan

About Human Rights Dialogue

Human Rights Dialogue promotes a global discussion of human rights ideas and practices by presenting firsthand accounts of human rights issues as they arise within specific real-life contexts. In so doing, it helps to clarify the significant and ongoing evolution that is taking place within the human rights movement to make the human rights framework more relevant and effective in addressing the social, economic, and political challenges of the twenty-first century.

The entire publication is online, or you may purchase individual print copies.

Series One (1993–1998)examines all sides of the Asian values debate—the argument that Asian cultural values imply different human rights standards and priorities from those in the West.

Series Two(2000–2005)addresses the problem of the “human rights box”—the constraints that have enabled the human rights framework to gain currency among elites while limiting its advance among the most vulnerable. Specifically, the essays aim to locate the barriers to greater public legitimacy of human rights and to demonstrate how those barriers can be overcome.