Meryem Bahadir – RightsViews

Dismantling Democratic Norms in an Unstable Peru

September 30, 2023 by Meryem BahadirNo Comments

By Guest Writer Winston Ardoin Image: "Protest in Cusco, Peru" by illuminaut is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Over the last decade, the concept of “democratic backsliding” has captured the attention of political scientists seeking to explain the unsettling increase in government overthrows and authoritarian behaviors around the world. In the Americas alone, several countries have faced democratic instability in recent years, from infamous cases like El Salvador and Venezuela to regional hegemons like Brazil and the United States. In retreating from democratic norms, states have begun institutionalizing authoritarian practices while further targeting political dissent by restricting rights and access to justice. In recent months, interim President Dina Boluarte and the Peruvian government’s response to political instability and nationwide protests exemplifies this worrisome trend. 2022-2023 Peruvian Protests & Government Response Following the ousting of controversial leftist president Pedro Castillo in December 2022 succeeding an attempted power grab, thousands of Peruvians took to the streets. At its core, protesters’ demands have been primarily political, focused on new elections...

Tackling Terrorism or Suppressing Dissent? Sri Lanka’s Controversial ATA Bill

September 30, 2023September 30, 2023 by Meryem BahadirNo Comments

By Guest Writer Nishka Kapoor Recently, the government of Sri Lanka published the new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), a new legislation intended to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979. This is the second attempt to introduce a replacement bill, following the initial 2018 effort that was met with widespread criticism and subsequently rejected. The latest ATA has also drawn significant criticism nationally and internationally due to concerns regarding its non-compliance with human rights principles. In early 2022, Sri Lanka faced a severe economic crisis which had a devastating impact on the Sri Lankan people. There is a shortage of essential goods and unprecedented levels of inflation. Millions of people were pushed into poverty, and there have been numerous anti-government demonstrations. In an attempt to quell dissent, the Sri Lankan government has proposed a new ATA Bill. This is because the country’s economic problems have triggered widespread protests against the government, and the administration has responded by detaining and arresting...

A Frog in a Slowly Boiling Pot: The Status of Russia’s Judges, Lawyers, and Human Rights Defenders

September 30, 2023September 30, 2023 by Meryem BahadirNo Comments

By Guest Writer Nevin Kamath Photo Attribution: James LeeFormerIP at en.wikipedia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Perhaps an underreported tragedy of Russia’s war in Ukraine is the ongoing evaporation of freedoms within Russia itself. I recently moderated the American Bar Association’s (ABA) “Challenges Facing Judges, Lawyers, and other Human Rights Defenders in Russia - Where are we now?” presented to the ABA and the general public by the ABA’s International Law Section, International Human Rights Committee in June 2023. What we heard from three experts was a grim reminder of why Russia scores at a 16/100 (Not Free) and dropping in Freedom House’s 2023 research. What does the current situation in Russia look like for judges, lawyers, and human rights defenders? We first heard from Daria Korolenko, a lawyer and researcher with OVD-info, which is an NGO that defends the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of speech by “monitoring the detention of activists at rallies and providing politically persecuted citizens with...

Manipur Violence: The Weaponizing of Sexual Offenses During Conflicts

September 30, 2023September 30, 2023 by Meryem BahadirNo Comments

By Guest Writer Prabhu Gupta The small Indian state of Manipur has been engulfed in intense civil conflict due to ethnic tensions. The primary Meitei population, along with the smaller Kuki minority, are engaged in a struggle for control and territorial dominance, leading to violent clashes. Recently, a video went viral showing two naked women being paraded naked, molested, and raped by a mob in the violence-inflicted areas resulting in a huge uproar from both within and outside the nation. Factual Backdrop and issues leading to the crisis The northeastern Indian state of Manipur, situated to the east of Bangladesh and sharing a border with Myanmar, has a population of approximately 3.3 million people. The majority population belongs to the Meiteis, while around 43% belong to the Kuki and Naga tribes, which make up the predominant minority groups. In Manipur a situation of ongoing violence began in May, resulting in the death of at least 130 people and injuries to 400 more. The conflict...

The Role of Gendered Perspectives in the Context of Crimes Against Humanity

August 31, 2023 by Meryem BahadirNo Comments

By Guest Writer Shagnik Mukherjea Image by the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid In April 2023, the Sixth Committee of the United Nations initiated a two-year process to deliberate and negotiate the draft articles on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity. At the forefront of the multitude of issues being tackled by the International Law Commission (ILC) and numerous States are gender-based issues, with a particular emphasis on reinforcing legal obligations and ensuring safeguards for victims of sex and gender-based violence. Over the past few decades, significant strides have been made in achieving justice for gender-based crimes. However, most of these legal frameworks have required incorporating gender-specific concerns into existing structures that were not originally designed to address these issues. For instance, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) investigated and prosecuted individuals for wartime sexual violence, considering rape and sexual enslavement as crimes against humanity in the Kunarac et al. Case. Furthermore, the Furundžija Case emphasized that instances...

Indonesia’s Military-Democracy Interplay is a Lesson Never Learned

August 31, 2023September 20, 2023 by Meryem BahadirNo Comments

By Guest Writer Rafsi Albar Image by Arkananta Dhimas Naufal For 31 of its 78 years, Indonesia was ruled by the iron fist of the “smiling general,” Suharto. His leadership, known as the “New Order,” originally focused on economic development in order to make up for the losses suffered as a result of President Sukarno’s political manoeuvres. Despite being arguably successful in improving the welfare of its more than 100 million people across three decades, his military background eventually found a way to intervene in the young nation’s supposed democracy. The dual function of the armed forces, more commonly known locally as Dwifungsi ABRI, is a doctrine developed around the same time as Suharto’s rise to power following the political upheaval caused by the Indonesian Communist Party’s insurgency in 1965. The armed forces—or ABRI—then encompassing both the military and police, saw civil administration as ineffective. As such, they believed that former and active ABRI personnel should be able to assume strategic positions in...

Hijab Mandate and Women’s Agency: Navigating Autonomy in Afghanistan

August 15, 2023August 15, 2023 by Meryem Bahadir1 Comment

Article by Staff Writer Nazeela Elmi Image by Kiana Hayeri from The New York Times In September 2021, a few days after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, a group of women in black head to toe niqab covering went out in Kabul University and Kabul streets to demonstrate their support for the Taliban regime. Many rightfully assumed that, as all of the signs held by the protestors had the same blueprint and all of them wore the same article of clothing, the demonstrations were staged by the Taliban against women who held anti-Taliban views and who protested following the collapse of the former Afghan government. This kind of covering was unprecedented in Kabul or anywhere in Afghanistan. Women’s veiling varies across Afghanistan given their roles in society, agriculture, throughout their historical junctures, and in various geographical and cultural regions. Veiling has not been mandated under the law in the former government in Afghanistan, though the burqa was imposed during the first rule of...

Accountability Dilemma: The Use of AWS in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

August 10, 2023August 10, 2023 by Meryem Bahadir3 Comments

By Guest Writer Harsh Bansal INTRODUCTION The Russia-Ukraine conflict has reached an unprecedented level of intensity, fueled by advancements in military technology and modern warfare systems. As the possibility of the conflict being brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) looms – which is likely in the backdrop of the issuance of Arrest Warrants by the Pre-Trial Chamber II – questions regarding assigning responsibility and accountability for the use of Autonomous Drones such as the USA's Switchblade, Turkey's Bayraktar TB2, Iran's Shahed-136, and most recently Ukraine's UJ-22 on the Kremlin Senate will arise. AWS These drones possess the remarkable capability of autonomous functioning, allowing them to operate independently without direct human control, hence dubbed Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS). USA’s Defense Directive No. 3000.09 defines AWS as a system that "once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator.” All drones have different degrees of autonomy, hence making it more difficult to identify the perpetrator. Degrees of autonomy can be divided...

Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda: A Decade of Negotiations and Unfounded Judgment

August 10, 2023August 11, 2023 by Meryem BahadirNo Comments

By Guest Writer Pritika Negi and Eilin Maria Baiju By honoring and upholding the victim’s right to receive remedies and reparations, the international community maintains strong empathy for the victims of gross violations of International Humanitarian Law. After more than a decade, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on February 9 2022, delivered a contentious judgment with respect to the international armed conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda after the failure to reach a consensus in negotiations. Contrary to the goal, the mode of reparation was restricted to a mere $325 million in monetary compensation. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were to pay this amount in five annual installments instead of the initially claimed lump sum of $11 billion. The court awarded this compensation on an exceptional basis in the form of “global sums''—a rough estimate of the amount of damages that a court may grant when there are serious evidentiary difficulties, after denying all the...

Voices from the Turkish Rubbles: From Natural Disaster to Humanitarian Crisis

August 10, 2023August 11, 2023 by Meryem BahadirNo Comments

By Guest Writer Ayush Singh and Yuvraj Mathur The earthquake that rocked Turkey in 2020 not only caused widespread catastrophe and loss of life but also resulted in a severe human rights crisis. Beyond the fundamental right to life, the disaster infringed upon other fundamental rights, including the right to privacy, a healthy environment, property, education, and housing. Inopportunely, the Turkish government's response to the earthquake was inadequate, exacerbating the suffering of vulnerable populations and leaving them exposed to the rudiments. This article explores how the earthquake in Turkey turned from a natural disaster into a humanitarian crisis and sheds light on the Turkish government's derelictions in managing the repercussion of the disaster. The earthquake laid bare a severe deficiency in the enforcement of building regulations in the country. The 6.6 magnitude earthquake wreaked havoc in the western Turkish province of Izmir, causing significant damage to infrastructure and resulting in a considerable loss of life. The aftermath of the disaster exposed the...