How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law.

Introduction

The Co-operation of citizens in contemporary global politics has become a pattern of the changing world community today. The components of international regimes ( International Regimes are defined as principle norms, rules and decision-making, procedures around which expectations converge in a given issue-area), 1 includes now an expanding area of human rights and many NGOs have made it the core basis for their establishment. So far, NGOs, have proliferated in the last past century, and many of which have intrinsically acquired authority in the eyes of transnational actors. A good example of this area is on the issue of human rights. Amnesty International (AI) is a prime example of a human rights group who first began in 1961, with technique of letter-writing, efforts to free individuals imprisoned for non-violent expression of opinion. Since then, Amnesty International has developed other new techniques such as researching reporting and analysing global patterns of human rights violations, and therefore empowering it to be the most useful source of record in the U. N. sessions and national halls of power2. Although, much of international law and related jurisprudence on human rights started with the work of international and regional governmental organizations; such as the United Nation Declaration of Human rights, but Non-governmental organization such as Amnesty International have made important contributions. However apart from AI there are other NGOs similar in structure that have also made it their responsibility to fight against the violation of human rights; such as the international committee of the Red Cross and the Human rights watch. All of which have attempted to influence governments by applying general human rights principles to particular situations. In the course of this essay, I will be discussing these roles and showing how they have managed to shape human rights. The term prisoner of conscience is crucial in this essay, because since the first time that it was used by Benenson (1961)in his appeal to address prisoners that has been unjustly put into
1

Stephen D Krasner, Structural causes and regime consequences: regimes as Intervening Variables, Intl org.36 (spring 1983). 2 Ann Marie Clark, Non-Governmental Organizations and their influence on international society

1108354 51

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University

prison, for numerous reasons. The term has since gained a universal usage, and has become an expression used in the human rights field. This essay examines the scope of AIs principles and goals in a historical context and describes the organizations decision making processes in the development of human rights, and also how it differentiates them from all other NGOs. Universal Declaration Prior to the formation of the Universal declaration of human rights, (UDHR) its principle was stretched out with the need to protect individuals everywhere from unlawful imprisonment, the struggle for civil liberties was considered as what citizens had to undertake within their own countries3. Violent Crime against Humanity during the WW11, (Evan, 1967) promoted the development of the idea that Nations and States, should not keep quiet in the face of human rights violations anywhere. As such many Loci of international human rights concern have made appearance in humanitarian law, Minority protection, and other socio-economic areas. Nevertheless not until this had taken place, did the Universal Declaration became a priority in the international agenda.4 The UDHR, includes well defined rights which should be universally recognised, by all States, some of the most famous rights, includes Article 18 (everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression) Article 19 (everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression) Further Article 5, which states that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatments or punishment. Finally Article 3 (everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person)5. The listed rights above are an example of the rights that AI bases its work. From these Rights, AI establishes its principle goal to fight against the violation of human rights. Through the praxis of working closely with prisoners AI has developed a limited but expandable area to protected rights. Apart from focusing on the violations of human rights carried out by state government, AI has also widened its scope of concern to cover equivalent violations committed by Non-governmental Entities (simply described as armed opposition groups). Another expansion occurred when AI campaigned to hold Governments
3

Evan Luard, the international Protection of Human Rights (London: Thames and Hudson, 1967), 15. 4 Tom J. Farer, The United Nations and Human Rights: More Than a Whimper, In Richard Pierre Claude & Burns H. Weston, Human Rights in the world community : Issues and Actions (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,1989),194. Cited from Edy Kaufman, Prisoner of Conscience: The Shaping of A new Human Rights Concept: Human Rights Quarterly. Vol 13, No 3 (Aug 1991) pp. 339-367 5 Universal Declaration of Human rights, adopted on the 10th December 1948.

1108354 52

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University

responsible for their failure to act with due diligence against some human rights violations carried out by non-state actors6 To return to human rights, NGos like Amnesty International have been crucially involved in strengthening the expectations of States, which points out that they be held accountable for human rights practices. Their obligation is reflected in both within regional and international human rights norms, in response to problematic Cases. Therefore states are encouraged to adopt inter-governmental systems which reports and monitor the practices of states.7 For example the Committee against Torture (CAT)8 is an international Organ that monitors implementation of the convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, by its states parties. Human rights issues are a complex area to focus on, and for Amnesty which only focuses on few rights listed in the UDHR, it to an extent narrows down the number of research for this essay, As mentioned earlier, this essay adopts the concept of prisoner of Conscience to argue how AI has shaped International human rights law. Amnesty International undertook simply the defence of all Prisoners of Conscience, seeking fair and public trials for them. This began the era for its transformation to a transnational organization, which now has operations in more than one country. One way widely known and is considered effective is the use of diplomatic pressure, AI is widely known for adopting the help of members of states, by feeding the public and government channels information that they know would stir up discussions. Thus it is through this process that AI is able to formalise and develop meaningful impact, so this process has changed the scope of state sovereignty as it reconstitutes the relationship between the state, its citizens and international actors. I argue that Amnesty International is unique compared to other NGOs who also play similar roles. To justify this, I would use the attributes highlighted by Ann Marie (2001)9 to prove how that has been able to make it distinct Unique at shaping human rights. Ann Marie (2001) suggested that AI contains 3 key attributes, which allows it to effectively challenge States, at
6 7

Decision 5 of the 1997 International Council Meeting. Menno T. Kamminga, Inter-State Accountability for Violations of Human Rights (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1992). 8 Convention Against Torture and other cruel, Inhuman or degrading Treatment or Punishment- adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984, entry into force 26 June 1987, in accordance with article 27 (1) 9 Ann Marie Clark, Diplomacy of Conscience: Amnesty International and changing human rights Norms (2001)

1108354 53

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University

the same time remain as a global actor and become a supervisor for human rights. These attributes are known as (a) its ability to remain loyal to its principles; (b) political impartiality and finally (c) attention to facts. These attributes, I believe are crucial in this essay because it speaks of the characteristics employed by AI, in attaining its positions amongst its counterparts. Moreover apart from these attributes, I Consider other attributes which through extensive research, I have come to conclude that it is relevant when discussing its roles; these are (d) the power which it holds and (e) the network structure. So coupled with the attributes listed by Ann Marie plus the latter that is just listed, I intend to make my analysis by critically evaluating how effective these underlined factors are. Loyalty to Principles Amnesty Internationals principles is rooted from the UDHR, (Article 5 Torture), Article 9 (arbitrary arrest/exile), Article 18 (belief/ religion and Article 19 (opinion). it could be argued that these rights have allowed AI to set its agenda, vision and missions. Amnesty Internationals vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal declaration of human rights and other international rights instruments. Furthermore, in pursuit of this vision, AI undertook research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of these rights.10 By having a narrowed focus on these sets of rights; it gives it autonomy to focus deeply on the inconsistencies of state behaviours. Furthermore, it is argued that these principles make it unique and successful as a generator of international human rights norms. Many accounts have been driven by the analysis of its campaign (Larsen 1979, power 1981, 2001, Hart 2001, korey 1998, Clark 2001). Amnestys reliances on the Universal Declaration of rights is very significant as the Universal claim of human rights is perceived to have derived from moral values and norms. Thus incorporating the universal rights provided a shield for AI, enabling it to pursue independent action regardless of political alignments. Amnesty internationals investigation of Tunisia on the question of Torture and Illegal detention and unfair trials11, criticised governments who sent their detainees to places like Tunisia12, knowing that they would be
10

Amnesty Internationals Statue- http://www.amnesty.org/en/who-weare/accountability/statute 11 Counter Terror With Justice: Amnesty International; Tunisia-Torture. Illegal Detention and unfair Trials(May 2008) 12 Counter Terror With Justice: Amnesty International; Tunisia-Torture. Illegal Detention and unfair Trials(May 2008)

1108354 54

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University

subjected to torture. AI argued that in theory, the Tunisian government at the time claim to have been abiding by its international human rights obligation. Still in practice, the laws that should have provided protection did not provide adequate safe-guard against torture, unfair trial and other human rights abuses. In light of this, action carried out by AI has created awareness by challenging members of the public from across States and boarders to publicly condemn violations of human rights and bring the Tunisian government to shame. The hope is that from encounter like this, other Inter- government societies would become aware of the situation and in the process of naming and shaming the Tunisian government might stop their act. Following this, approach, AI has been able to influence many State actions by pressuring them through developing new strategies to monitor and human rights and states behaviours. AI has also been instrumental in bringing attention to members of the public by highlighting events going on around the world. So this avenue thereby avails AI from its counterparts. Amnesty international commits itself exclusively to promoting the Universal declaration of human rights and related international legal instruments. So in taking up like mannered principles Amnesty International commits itself to issues that State priorities frequently subordinate to other foreign policy interest or ignore entirely. For example, on the issue of states derogation from certain rights, Amnesty through the participation of activist of local members at the state level as well as the international level, has been able to bring the opinions of the public to action. Such involvement allows AI to bring pressure on States internally, based on the domestic representation and legitimacy. Also internationally based on humanitarian principles and generalised public opinion. Independence and impartiality Today, NGOs face a choice of operating within arenas that are either related to them or arenas that are not in their manifesto. Some as agued have gained their influence from intergovernmental realm. Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) such as the United Nations, the European and the American Council are examples of Forum where international legal norms are created. So NGOs seeking influence and success go through these routes. For example, the experience of the Anti-Slavery Society, who chose not to publicise Slavery in the hope of securing a governmental and cooperation13. Again this is another example of the distinction and Autonomy that AI has over the rest of its counterparts. As Marie (2001) explained, AI has
13

Ann Marie Clark, Diplomacy Of conscience: Amnesty International and changing Human Rights Norms. ( 2001)p 13

1108354 55

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University

the ability to remain politically impartial because it takes no stand with any political governments. Furthermore, as the Logo for AI states; it is freed from any political interference, as it appears it shows that the organization is an independent and it stands alone. Although in 2002, AI attracted criticism which claimed that Amnesty International acted in closely related to United States and United Kingdom Foreign policy interest, which result to as failure in their part to criticises sufficiently the Massacre in Lebanon14. In other words, it suggest an act of bias. Another criticism was from non-western government15 who claimed that AIs reporting is one-sided, and failure to treat threats to security as a Mitigating factor. But Amnestys response to these claims suggested other wise, they argued that it is its intention to produce a range of reports that correlates with the number and severity of its human rights abuses, instead, its aims is to document what it can, to produce pressure for improvement. However one might argue that AIs adoption of universal declaration of human rights, to an extent have provided leverage, and also created a power relationship with the UN. On the other hand one might also argue that adopting the UDHR, as part of its principles, it gives it the power to openly criticise States that are party to the treaty. The transnational Status of AI has provided a consultative status, with the United Nation; as a result it has a direct access to the UN commission on Human rights, its sub commission on the promotion and protection of human rights. Interpretive capacity The third attribute that aids to Amnestys ability to play a role in the emergence of principles of international norms, is its ability to form new concepts about human rights based on collected facts. The most recognised technique used by AI is the ability to research and collect database. And what they seem to have done properly is to gain facts that are not fabricated and is consistent with its foundational principles. For most NGO, the ability to interpret facts that clarify normative concepts plays an important part in the emergence of norms. AI creates norms by being critical of states, behaviour and action. It compares states behaviour to a standard practice, and in the case of human rights, (UDHR); it compares states behaviours to
14

Bernstein (2002) interview: Amnesty On john-Dennis Bernstein and Dr Francis Boyle Discuss the politics of human rights. Covert Action Quarterly Archived.http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/articles/article0004573.html 15 DR Congo Blasts Amnesty International report on repression, the Namibian, 14 January 2000. http://web.archive.org/web/20060103214347/http://www.namibian.com.na/Netstories/2000 /January/Africa/aggression.html

1108354 56

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University

their obligations as states to protect. Thus when States fails to perform its obligation, it is left for NGOs to research and compile evidence that could create change. Although many NGOs have the technique of compiling evidences, and being critical, my arguments is that , AI sets the ground necessary to collate facts and normative standards. It is able to interpret findings in ways that coheres with previous norms. This is quite significant for an organization that does not rely on the funding from outside sources, and is built on volunteers and campaigns. On the contrary, in September 2011, Amnesty was allegedly criticised for fabrication of the truth, when they reported that an Anti-Assad protestors body was mutilated, however controversies tired up when in October 2011, the same claimed deceased protester, appeared on TV, stating that she was alive.16 this therefore proves to an extent an incompetency in the system of Research, or perhaps a hidden agenda from the opposing side. Nonetheless, AI however the case has been very successful in exposing States, behaviours, majority of which has been effective and today is considered one the most influential NGO in relation to world politics. Having looked at the highlighted elements (a) loyalty to principles, (b) independence and impartiality,(c) interpretive capacity. One can conclude the role of amnesty international in shaping human is more apparent because it is independent of any influence from the government which allows it to focus its attention on exposing the behaviours of states in violation of human rights. Not only does it expose human rights violations it also plays an educative role, by informing the citizens of states of their rights in which they are able to challenge States. AI has the potential to increase its influence over policy making agenda, and we see this with their scheme of Diplomatic pressure, to some certain extent, one might argue that its network structure, gives it autonomy to challenge States to change their practices. It has also been argued that the challenges for human rights, is not so much developing its international allegiance with other State organizations, or to compete with loyalty of States but to ensure that States respect principles of human dignity as a matter of practice. The independent potential for AI accomplishments outside the intergovernmental realm, such as the use of transformative and citizen-based politics, suggest that AI focuses on changing specific state practices, which have the ability to influence other NGOs whose primary goals are also human rights. In staying true to its principles, AI has been able to pursue independent action regardless of political alignments. Playing the role of an advocate, upholds the concept
16

Syrian Woman reported Dead By Amnesty Is Alive: TV, Reported by Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Amman Newsroom; Edited by Michael Roddy http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-syria-woman-idUSTRE79405020111005

1108354 57

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University

of human rights in society as something of a high status in society. In terms of network structure, the History of Amnesty International (AI) and other international human rights network have produced a structure that has influenced human rights activities. From an existing pool of normative understandings of human rights AI crystallised around the option of an emphasis on the prisoners of conscience and more broadly civil and political rights. Consequently this led to the attraction of numerous activists (from across borders). So to this very point, AIs approach has gained dominance within emerging human rights movements and within human rights discourse.

Bibliography
Buchanan, T. (2004). "Amnesty International In Crises: 1966-7". Twentieth Century British History , 15(3): 267-289. Buchanan, T. (2002). The Truth will set you free: "The making of Amnesty International.". Journal Of Contemporary History , 37 (4): 575-597. Clark, A. M. (1995). "Non-Governmental Organization and Their Influence On International Society". Journal Of International Affairs , 48 (2): 507-525. Clark, A.-M. (2001). Diplomacy Of Conscience: Amnesty International and Changing Human Rights Norms. United Kingdom: Princeton University Press. Evan, L. (1967). The International Protection Of Human Rights. London. Grant, R (2000). World Organization: Amnesty International :United Kingdom: Franklin Watts Hart, S. (2001). Cultural Dilemas of progressive Politics: Styles of Engagemnet Among Grassroots Activists. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kamminga, M. T. (1992). Inter-State Accountability For Violations Of Human Rights. U.S.A: University Of Pennsylvania Press. Korey, W. 1998 (NGOs and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Curious Grapevine). New York: St Martin's Press. Korey, W. (1968). The Key to Human Rights Implementation. Nwy York: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

1108354 58

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University

Krasner, S. (1983). International Regimes. In S. Krasner, "Structural Causes and Regime Consequences: Regimes as interveneing Variables (p. 1). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cornell University Press. Larsen, E. (1979). A Flame in Barbed Wire: The Story of Amnesty International. New York. Leonard, A. H. (1999). A Human Rights:An Agenda For The 21st Century. London: Cavendish Publishing Limited, The Glass House. Power, J. (1981). Amnesty International: The Human Rights Story. . New York: McGraw Hill. Power, J. (2001). Like Water On Stone: The Story Of Amnesty International,. Boston: Northeastern University Press. Sikkink, K. (1993). "Human Rights,Principled Issue-Networks, and Sovereignty In Latin America.". International Organization , 47 (3): 411-441. Sikkink, K. (2004). Mixed Signals: U.S.A Human Rights Policy and Latin America. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Websites
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1996-2011). Committee Against Torture. Retrieved May Wednesday, 2012, from OHCHR: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/- accessed on the 9th of May 2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-syria-woman-idUSTRE79405020111005Accessed on the 9th May 2012 http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/articles/article0004573.html http://web.archive.org/web/20060103214347/http://www.namibian.com.na/Netstories/2000 /January/Africa/aggression.html http://www.amnesty.org/en/who-we-are/accountability/statute---- Amnesty International Statue, Accessed on the 4th May 2012

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ ----- Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Accessed on the 4th may 2012

1108354 59

How does Amnesty International Shape Human Rights law. | Oxford Brookes University