The following piece was selected as one of two winners of the Harvard Human Rights Journal’s Winter 2021 Essay Contest. The contest, Beyond the Headlines: Underrepresented Topics in Human Rights, sought to share the work of Harvard University students with a broader audience and shed light on important issues that popular media may overlook. […]
Algorithmic Detention and International Human Rights Law
Algorithmic Detention and International Human Rights Law Hannah Kannegieter[*] Two regimes in international law regulate detention—international humanitarian law (“IHL”) and international human rights law (“IHRL”). Both regimes may operate simultaneously and in the same place.[1] The International Court of Justice has explained that “the [non-derogable] protection[s] offered by human rights conventions do not cease […]
Venezuela: From Human Rights Transgressions to Constitutional Paradox
Venezuela: From Human Rights Transgressions to Constitutional Paradox Humberto Briceno Leon[*] I. Introduction In 1999, then-President Hugo Chávez introduced an anti-democratic socialist regime in Venezuela: socialism of the twenty-first century (SXXIC). While the SXXIC campaign comprised wide-ranging economic reforms, it also sought to replace “representative democracy” with an ostensibly “participatory democracy” through a Constituent […]
Limitations on Political Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in South Africa: Perspectives from International Law
Limitations on Political Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in South Africa: Perspectives from International Law James McGovern[*] Introduction On January 1, 2020, South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced the introduction of new regulations which could have significant implications for engagement in any political activity by refugees or asylum seekers in the […]
Consequential Human Rights Diplomacy
Consequential Human Rights Diplomacy Knox Thames[*] Visiting the U.S. Holocaust Museum with a Rohingya Muslim activist brings the reality of 21st century persecution into stark relief. I experienced this when touring with Wai Wai Nu, a brave young woman we had brought to the State Department in 2019 to share about her imprisonment in […]
Case Comment: Atamanchuk v. Russia (Application No. 4493/11)
Case Comment: Atamanchuk v. Russia (Application No. 4493/11) Stephanie Wayne Tung Tai[*] Circumstances of the Case On March 1, 2008, a local Russian newspaper with a circulation of approximately 10,000 published an article written by the Applicant titled “Why I will not vote in these elections” (“the Article”). The contents of the Article included […]