Human rights as conflict management: The unionist use of human rights language in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Instruments for protecting human rights can help to channel tensions and manage intense communal conflicts. This understanding was reflected in the Good Friday Agreement acceded to in April 1998 in Northern Ireland. The utilization of human rights language by the Unionists under pressure illustrates the important role that third parties and non‐governmental actors can play in facilitating ethnic conflict management, yet the ‘ethnic’ use of this language calls for cautious endorsement. Because human rights are often seen as the property of one particular community, human rights may make a limited contribution to building peaceful political institutions in situations of intense communal conflict.