Human right

The massacre of almost 50 Maidan protesters on February 20, 2014 was a turning point in Ukrainian politics and a tipping point in the conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. This mass killing of the protesters and the mass shooting of the police that preceded it led to the overthrow of the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych and gave a start to a civil war in Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, Russian military intervention in Crimea and Donbas, and an international conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine. A conclusion promoted by the post-Yanukovych governments and the media in Ukraine that the massacre was perpetrated by government snipers and special police units on a Yanukovych order has been nearly universally accepted by the Western governments, the media, and many scholars. The Ukrainian government investigation identified members of the special company of Berkut as responsible for killings of the absolute majority of the protesters, but did not release any evidence in support, with the exception of videos of the massacre.
              The question is which side organized the “snipers’ massacre.” This paper is the first academic study of this crucial case of the mass killing. It uses a theory of rational choice and a Weberian theory of instrumental rationality to examine actions of major actors both from the Yanukovych government, specifically various police and security forces, and the Maidan opposition, specifically its far right and oligarchic elements, during the massacre.
          The paper analyzes a large amount of evidence from different publicly available sources concerning this massacre and killings of specifics protesters. Qualitative content analysis includes the following data: about 1,500 videos and recordings of live internet and TV broadcasts from mass media and social media in different countries(some 150 gigabytes), news reports and social media posts by more than 100 journalists covering the massacre from Kyiv, some 5,000 photos, and nearly 30 gigabytes of publicly available radio intercepts of snipers and commanders from the special Alfa unit of the Security Service of Ukraine and Internal Troops, and Maidan massacre trial recordings. This study also employs field research on site of the massacre, eyewitness reports by both Maidan protesters and government special units commanders, statements by both former and current government officials, estimates of approximate ballistic trajectories, bullets and weapons used, and types of wounds among both protesters and the police. This study establishes a precise timeline for various events of the massacre, the locations of both the shooters and the government snipers, and the specific timeline and locations of nearly 50 protesters’ deaths. It also briefly analyzes other major cases of violence during and after the “Euromaidan.” This study includes two video appendixes.
            This academic investigation concludes that the massacre was a false flag operation, which was rationally planned and carried out with a goal of the overthrow of the government and seizure of power. It found various evidence of the involvement of an alliance of the far right organizations, specifically the Right Sector and Svoboda, and oligarchic parties, such as Fatherland. Concealed shooters and spotters were located in at least 20 Maidan-controlled buildings or areas. The various evidence that the protesters were killed from these locations include some 70 testimonies, primarily by Maidan protesters, several videos of “snipers” targeting protesters from these buildings, comparisons of positions of the specific protesters at the time of their killing and their entry wounds, and bullet impact signs. The study uncovered various videos and photos of armed Maidan “snipers” and spotters in many of these buildings. The paper presents implications of these findings for understanding the nature of the change of the government in Ukraine, the civil war in Donbas, Russian military intervention in Crimea and Donbas, and an international conflict between the West and Russia over Ukraine.

Policy decisions at the organizational, corporate, and governmental levels should be more heavily influenced by issues related to well-being—people’s evaluations and feelings about their lives. Domestic policy currently focuses heavily on economic outcomes, although economic indicators omit, and even mislead about, much of what society values. We show that economic indicators have many shortcomings, and that measures of well-being point

This article sets out to show that the popular view of the slave case of James Somersett as epitomising the common law's tenderness for individual liberty is mistaken, and through discussion of that case, this article seeks to shed light on the efficacy of the common law as a vehicle for the protection of pluralist individual rights in the modern world. The integrity of the common law is questioned when it gives primacy to economic rights. In this context, there is a discussion of the infamous Yorke and Talbot Opinion. The use of human rights instruments to redress the shortcomings of private-right based law is advocated.

More than a decade after Latin America's most recent turn to democracy, unchecked police violence and torture continue and in some cases have increased. This study examines police killings in 19 Brazilian states from 1994 to 2001 and finds that democracy has not substantially reduced these types of human rights violations, for two reasons. First, underlying social conflict has continued

Background  Trafficking in women is a widespread human rights violation commonly associated with poor mental health. Yet, to date, no studies have used psychiatric diagnostic assessment to identify common forms of mental distress among survivors returning to their home country. Methods  A longitudinal study was conducted of women aged 18 and over who returned to Moldova between December 2007 and December 2008

In 1984 the Supreme Court held in INS v. Lopez-Mendoza that the exclusionary rule did not ordinarily apply to respondents in immigration proceedings. However, the Court suggested that its opinion about the applicability of the exclusionary rule might change if constitutional violations by immigration officers became a widespread problem. First, this paper proposes that constitutional violations by immigration officers have become both geographically and institutionally widespread in the years since Lopez-Mendoza. Second, this paper argues that immigration law and the practice of immigration enforcement have changed fundamentally in the twenty-four years since Lopez-Mendoza was decided, undermining the assumptions on which the majority in 1984 based its arguments against the use of the exclusionary rule. The paper therefore concludes that, in the modern context, remaining faithful to Lopez-Mendoza requires the reintroduction of the exclusionary rule in immigration proceedings.

Amnesty International welcomes the UK Government’s undertaking to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic law, to put human rights at the heart of its foreign policy and to be guided by human rights principles in its treatment of asylum-seekers, its policy on arms exports and its policy towards international development. This paper reviews the subject of international human rights standards and demonstrates their importance. It then offers advice as to the steps the UK Government should take in order to implement its undertakings in full. It comments on the significance of the incorporation of the ECHR into UK law and summarizes the state of the debate over whether or not there should be a Bill of Rights for citizens of the UK. It argues that the incorporation of the ECHR into UK law should be accompanied by the creation of a (UK) Human Rights Commission equipped with effective powers to strengthen human rights protection within the UK. It concludes with a list of specific recommendations pertaining to the UK Government’s conduct of international affairs.

This article reassess Rorty’s contribution to human rights theory. It addresses two key questions: (1) Does Rorty sustain his claim that there are no morally relevant transcultural facts? (2) Does Rorty’s proposed sentimental education offer an adequate response to contemporary human rights challenges? Although both questions are answered in the negative, it is argued here that Rorty’s focus on suffering,

PurposeTo discuss the gender dimension of migration and human rights, and to provide an assessment of how to improve human rights protections for migrant women workers in janitorial services and night clubs across registered and unregistered migrant women workers in North Cyprus.Design/methodology/approachA survey is done to establish the employment conditions of migrant women workers in both sectors. The conditions are evaluated to assess the compliance with North Cyprus labor and immigration legislation and international human rights protocols.FindingsRegistered and unregistered segment of the janitorial services and unregistered segment of sex industry are dominated by Turkish migrant women. The registered part of sex industry is dominated by Eastern European migrant women mostly due to the legislative framework within which these two activities operate, primarily with respect to immigration requirements and also as it pertains to the remunerative potential of activity. No eviden...

The Constitution provides the ground rules to create obligations on the state and to transform the education system by introducing human rights in line with the best developed democracies. This article is not about state-compelled school attendance, but rather the ...

Public health and human rights are complementary—and, at times, conflicting—approaches to protecting and promoting human well-being and dignity. Public health addresses the needs of populations and seeks, through intervention and education, to prevent the spread of disease. Enshrined in international law, human rights describe the obligations of governments to safeguard their citizenry from harm and to create conditions where each individual can achieve his or her full potential. Human rights norms lie at the core of public health theory and practice, and their enforcement can help to ensure an equitable distribution of health resources.

Abstract This article chronicles the promise and limitations of social movement networks as mechanisms of political voice in Mapuche Chile. Although protest has largely fallen from favour in post-authoritarian Chile, environmental conflicts have shaken the southern ...

With privacy enhancing identity management, end users are given better ways for managing their identities for specific contexts. One could easily argue that the need to implement identity management systems that are privacy enhancing follows from the EU data protection ...

The data are in; women are still insignificant. Even after more than a decade of experience with UNSCR 1325, women have made only insignificant gains in peace processes. While the UN has repeatedly renewed its commitment to “mainstream” gender, most notably with its Millennium Goals and the creation of UN Women, all of these exhortations have thus far counted for little. The lens of this paper is focused on the conflict and post conflict terrain, because it, in theory at least, provides multiple opportunities for transformation on many different levels – including accountability for human rights violations committed during hostilities, reforming local and national laws, reintegration of soldiers, rehabilitation and redress for victims, the establishment or re-establishment of the rule of law, the creation of human rights institutions and new governance structures, alteration of cultural attitudes, the improvement of socioeconomic conditions and transformation of gender roles and wom...

... This in turn means inad-equate numbers of role models for younger women in the process ofbecoming computer scientists. ... This “hacker elite” system, along with the relatively new academic structure of com-puter science which may seem cha-otic and confusing to students, re ...

Ethics is always a fundamental issue in Psychology as a profession: it guides decisions and actions in all fields, being the core of profession itself. Teaching professional ethics in our contemporary society, incorporating the questioning of modern and permanent questions in a conscious, responsible and yet interesting approach, beyond educational fads, is a challenge we must address, implicating students from the very beginning. Using active methodologies and realistic situations help fill the gap between theories, ethical codes and everyday situations, and their critical employment prepare students to deal with daily ethical problems, helping to promote human rights consciousness.