Rebellion: The Ultimate Human Right?

Abstract

The idea that ordinary citizens are somehow entitled to revolt against oppressive rulers is common and can be found in varying cultural contexts or intellectual traditions throughout history. However, this idea was not supported when the construction of the global human rights regime started after the Second World War. The question addressed in this article is whether the time is ripe for a change, and arguments for and against a right of rebellion are analysed. In the process we also focus on the possible operationalisation of such a right, which involves further arguments. It is hard not to conclude that the prospects for such a right are bleak.

Notes

1. The UK prime minister expressed this quite clearly after the so-called Azores Summit, ‘PM statement following the Azores Summit (16 March 2003)’, http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page3282.asp.

2. ‘PM interview with the BBC World Service 04/04/2003’, http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page3423.asp.

3. John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, ed. by Peter Laslett (New York: Mentor Books, New American Library, 1965), Second Treatise, §155.

4. See James Turner Johnson, Just War Tradition and the Restraint of War. A Moral and Historical Inquiry (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981).

5. Kenneth W. Kemp, ‘Just-War Theory: A Reconceptualization’, Public Affairs Quarterly, Vol.2.2 (1988), pp.5–74, esp. p.59.

6. Fundamentals of Marxism–Leninism: Manual, 2nd rev. edn. (Moscow: Progress, 1964), p.505.

7. Fundamentals of Marxism–Leninism: Manual, 2nd rev. edn. (Moscow: Progress, 1964), Ibid., pp.518 f.

8. Déclaration Générale de la Première Conférence de Solidarité des Peuples d'Afrique, d'Asie et d'Amérique Latine, Première Conférence de Solidarité des Peuples d'Afrique, d'Asie et d'Amérique Latine (Havana: Secretariat Générale de l'OSPAAAL, January 1966), p.151.

9. Résolution Générale de la Commission Politique sur le Colonialisme et le Néo-colonialisme, ibid., p.83.

10. Frantz Fanon, Les damnés de la terre. Cahiers libres nos.27–28 (Paris: François Maspero, 1961), p.70.

11. Bertil Dunér and Hanna Geurtsen, ‘The Death Penalty and War’, International Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 6/4 (winter 2002), p.17.

12. Quotation from Henry J. Schmandt, A History of Political Philosophy (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1960), p.146.

13. Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV), UN GAOR, 25th Sess., Supp.No.28, at 121, UN document A/8028 (1971), adopted 24 October 1970, Appendix.

14. Michael Akehurst, A Modern Introduction to International Law, 6th edn. (London and New York: Routledge, 1992), p.299.

15. Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, Article 6.

16. See Hurst Hannum, Autonomy, Soverignty, and Self-Determination: The Accommodation of Conflicting Rights (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990).

17. Bertil Dunér, ‘Cyprus: North is North, and South is South’, Security Dialogue, Vol.30.4 (1999).

18. Similar formulations are used at solemn occasions; cf. the preamble of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the Worlds Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 14–25 June 1993.

19. Bertil Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2002), ch.3.

20. Bertil Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2002), ch.3. Ibid.

21. The Foreign Minister of Singapore, quoted in Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (note 19), p.66.

22. Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Washington, DC, Brief on Iran, no.1121, 12 April 1999, http://www.iran-e-azad.org/english/boi/11210412_99.html.

23. Mike Ritchie, ‘Coiste Korner: Decolonization’, 15 June 2002, posted on the home page of Irish Northern Aid, http://www.inac.org/irishpeople/headlines/2002-06-15/.

24. For analyses of the background of the UDHR, see e.g. J. Morsink, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting and Intent (Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999); and Gudmundur Alfredson and Asbjorn Eide (eds), The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A Common Standard of Achievement (The Hague/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff, 1999).

25. A draft submitted by Panama (prepared by the American Law Institute) contained a similar formulation. UN document E/CN.4/W.8, 20 January 1947 (Textual Comparison of the Proposed Drafts of an International Bill of Rights).

26. Summary Records, 3rd Committee of the General Assembly, UN document A/CN.3 (1948), pp.773ff.

27. Summary Records, 3rd Committee of the General Assembly, UN document A/CN.3 (1948), p.65. These lines are quoted from the official Records, but they do not necessarily reproduce the UK delegate's statement verbatim et litteratim.

28. Antonio Cassese, Human Rights in a Changing World (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990), p.44.

29. Moreover, many delegates mentioned their fear of a resurgence of fascism when they spoke out for a right to rebellion. Cf. Gudmundur Alfredsson, ‘Different Forms of and Claims to the Right of Self-determination’ in Donald Clark and Robert Williamson (eds), Self-determination: International Perspectives (London: Macmillan, 1996), ch. 4, p.66.

30. Conflict-solving strategies are discussed in Ashild Samnoy, ‘The Origins of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, in Alfredson and Eide (note 24), pp.3–22. One of the most problematic human rights negotiations in later years was linked to the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993: cf. Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (note 19), ch. 3.

31. Conflict-solving strategies are discussed in Ashild Samnoy, ‘The Origins of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, in Alfredson and Eide (note 24), pp.3–22. One of the most problematic human rights negotiations in later years was linked to the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993: cf. Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (note 19), ch. 3. Ibid., p.88.

32. ‘A Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities, Proposed by the InterAction Council’, 1 September 1997, Preamble.

33. Cf. Salma Hasan Ali and Diane d'Arcis, Our Global Neighbourhood: The Basic Vision (Geneva: Commission on Global Governance, 1995); and Our Global Neighbourhood: The Report of the Commission on Global Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp.55ff.

34. Leandro Despouy, ‘Report by the UN Special Rapporteur, Mr Leandro Despouy, on the question of Human Rights and States of Emergency’, UN document E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/19, 23 June 1997, introductory section.

35. World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 14–25 June 1993, Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, UN document A/CONF.157/23, 12 July 1993, principle 17.

36. On Human Rights and Terrorism, 85th plenary meeting, 20 December 1993, UN document A/RES/48/122.

37. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and Terrorism, Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/47, UN document E/CN.4/1998/47.

38. Address by Mr Lamberto Dini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, http://www.venice.coe.int/site/main/10_anniversary/10_dini_e.htm.

39. Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (note 19), p.206 ff.

40. Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (note 19), ch.7.

41. Amartya Sen, ‘Democracy as a Universal Value’, Journal of Democracy, Vol.10.3 (1999), pp.3–17.

42. Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (note 19), ch.7.

43. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Remarks by the President to Raytheon Missile Systems Plant employees, Raytheon Missile Systems Plant, Andover, Massachusetts, 15 February 1991, http://www.fas. org/spp/starwars/offdocs/gb910215.htm.

44. Published in extenso in International Herald Tribune, 9 January 2003 (by the National Association of Iranian Academics in Britain).

45. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee quoted in Iran Liberation, News Bulletin of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, no. 158 (25 November 2002).

46. Cf. El Nacional (Caracas), 7 March 2003.

47. El Tiempo (Bogotá), 8 March 2003.

48. Absolute pacifists would rather maintain that wars put innocent lives in danger, and are therefore immoral; there can be no weighing of suffering.

49. National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, ‘Statement of Pacifism and Non-Violence’, http://www.napawf.org/front/non_violence.html.

50. Stephen Zunes, ‘Unarmed Insurrections against Authoritarian Governments in the Third World: A New Kind of Revolution’, Third World Quarterly, Vol.15.3 (September 1994), pp.403–26, esp.pp.406 ff.

51. Article 2.1. Article 2.4 forbids states to use force or the threat thereof against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

52. Cf. ‘Typical Acts Considered Interventionist by Some and the Motives that Drive Them’, in Ernest B. Haas, Beware the Slippery Slope: Notes Toward the Definition of Justifiable Intervention, Policy Papers in International Affairs No.42 (Berkeley, Cal.: Institute of International Studies, University of California, 1993), pp.6–10.

53. International Court of Justice, Case Concerning the Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua V. United States of America), Merits, 1986, 27 June, General List No.70, para. 242. http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/Icases/iNus/inus_ijudgment/inus_ijudgment_19860627.pdf.

54. Cf. Robert O. Kolb, ‘Origin of the Twin Terms jus ad bellum/jus in bello’, International Review of the Red Cross, no. 320 (1997), pp.553–62.

55. Cf. James Turner Johnson, Just War Tradition and the Restraint of War. A Moral and Historical Inquiry (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981), ch. X.

56. ECOSOC Resolution 1503(XLVIII) of 27 May 1970, Procedure for dealing with communications relating to violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Article 1. However, this resolution was intended to open up the possibility of using human rights complaints for the identification of serious human rights situations, and was not linked to any particular pattern of action.

57. Traditionally, it has been understood that governments are to be held responsible for such violations, but since the beginning of the 1990s (and the crisis in Somalia) it has also been underscored that situations that are equally serious for the population could be due to the collapse of a central government. Accordingly, in the Security Council new grounds for action have been articulated. India has stated: ‘The sheer magnitude of the problem and its continuation constitute a threat to the peace and security of the region. The Somali situation is thus sui generis and … has eluded conventional solutions’. Quoted in Bertrand G. Ramcharan, Human Rights and Human Security (The Hague/London/New York: Martinus Nijhoff, 2002), p.26.

58. Michael J. Mazarr, ‘The Military Dilemmas of Humanitarian Intervention’, Security Dialogue, Vol.2.2 (1993), pp.151–62, esp. p.152.

59. Our Global Neighbourhood: The Report of the Commission on Global Governance (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), p.72.

60. Fernando R. Tesón, Humanitarian Intervention: An Inquiry into Law and Morality, 2nd edn (Irvington-on-Hudson, NY: Transnational, 1997), p.315.

61. Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace, UN document A/RES/39/11, 12 November 1984. In the (earlier) Declaration on the Preparation of Societies for Life in Peace, A/RES/33/73, 15 December 1978, the right to live in peace is (indirectly) denoted a ‘human right’.

62. Independent International Commission on Kosovo, The Kosovo Report. Conflict. International Response. Lessons Learned (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).

63. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977.

64. Cf. Georges Abi-Saab, ‘Non-International Armed Conflicts’, in International Dimensions of Humanitarian Law (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, for the Henry Dunant Institute/UNESCO, 1988), ch. 14, pp.217–39, esp.p.223.

65. Cf. ‘It can be argued, however, that the code for a guerilla struggle should differ from that governing conventional warfare. Should people who are leaders of a repressive government, or torturers and murderers in the employ of that government, be exempt from attack in their civilian habitats, while ordinary conscript soldiers who follow the rules of war are fair game?’ Ted Goertzel, ‘The Ethics of Terrorism and Revolution’, Terrorism: An International Journal, Vol.11 (1988), pp.1–12, esp. p.10.

66. Cf. ‘Hostage to the FARC’, The Economist, 10 May 2003, p.47; and David L. Grange, ‘Asymmetric Warfare: Old Method, New Concern’, National Strategy Forum Review, Winter 2000.

67. Cf. Carol Migdalovitz, ‘Turkey's Kurdish Imbroglio and US Policy’, CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 18 March 1994; and Jonathan Rugman and Roger Hutchings, Atatürk's Children: Turkey and the Kurds (London and New York: Cassell, 1996), p.93.

68. ‘PKK Statement to the United Nations, Geneva, 24 January 1995’ (statement at a press conference in Geneva), http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/51/009.html.

69. The organisation's philosophy of violence is expounded in a secret document, called the IRA's Green Book, http://www.residentgroups.fsnet.co.uk/greenbook.htm.

70. Some notable efforts have been made at formulating minimum rules for the behaviour of all groups and persons irrespective of the level of the conflict. Cf. ‘Declaration of Minimum Humanitarian Standards’, Adopted by an expert meeting convened by the Institute for Human Rights, Åbo Akademi University, in Turku/Åbo, Finland, 30 November–2 December 1990 (list of participants annexed), http://www.abo.fi/instut/imr/publications_online_text.htm. Cf. Colm Campbell, ‘Peace and the Laws of War: the Role of International Humanitarian Law in the Post-Conflict Environment’, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 839 (2000), pp.627–51, notes 48–53.

71. It is worth mentioning that this meeting was sponsored by UNESCO, which at the time was led by its highly controversial Director-General, Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow.

72. UNESCO, Violations of Human Rights: Possible Rights of Recourse and Forms of Resistance (Paris: UNESCO, 1984), p.222.

73. Ken Booth, ‘Ten Flaws of Just War, The International Journal of Human Rights, Vol.4.3/4 (Autumn/Winter 2000), pp.314–24; esp. p.322. In fact, intervening states quite openly conceded that they had selfish motives in Kosovo, including the need to uphold the credibility of the NATO alliance. Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (note 19), pp.186 ff.

74. Cf. R.J. Vincent on humanitarian intervention: ‘But the weakness of the rationale for humanitarian intervention lies in the assumption that states are able to operate or cooperate to uphold human rights with a surgical precision having no side-effects and no ulterior motives’. R.J. Vincent, Nonintervention and International Order (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1974), p.308.

75. On the UK position see Dunér, The Global Human Rights Regime (note 19), pp.197 ff.

76. Sergio Vieira de Mello (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), ‘World Civilization: Barking up the Wrong Tree?’, Third Annual BP World Civilization Lecture, British Museum, 11 November 2002, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/0/624D2CCBAA0205AEC1256C75003052C4?opendocument.

77. Cf. International Council on Human Rights Policy, ‘Ends and Means: Human Rights Approaches to Armed Groups’, September 2000, p.31.

78. Georges Abi-Saab, ‘Non-international Armed Conflicts’, in Henry Dunant Institute and UNESCO, International Dimensions of Humanitarian Law (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, 1988), p.229.

79. Mike Dennis, German Democratic Republic: Politics, Economics and Society (London and New York, Pinter, 1988), p.22 ff; and Charles S. Maier, Dissolution. The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997), pp.15 ff.

80. Terrorism and Human Rights, Progress report prepared by Kalliopi K. Koufa, Special Rapporteur, UN document E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/31, 27 June 2001, paras 24 f (quotation from para. 25).

81. ‘C. Arabe.-El presidente sirio justifica los atentados palestinos contra civiles israelíes’, Europa Press– Servicio Internacional, 27 March 2002; ‘Le président Assad justifie les assassinats de civils’, Le Monde, 29 March 2002; and ‘Speeches delivered at Arab Summit in Beirut’, The Daily Star (Beirut), reprinted by Lebanon Wire, 28 March 22002, http://www.lebanonwire.com/aa-lebanon/02032803DS.htm.