Reconceptualising the Impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System / Reconceitualizando o Impacto do Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos

This article offers a reconceptualization of the impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS, or the System). To understand the impact of the IAHRS, and the continuing demand for it from across the region of Latin America, in particular, we need to look beyond rule compliance models of international human rights law. This article examines how, in what ways, and under what conditions the IAHRS impacts on domestic human rights. In a nutshell, the IAHRS is activated by domestic stakeholders in ways that transcend traditional compliance perspectives, and that have the potential to provoke positive domestic human rights change // Esse artigo oferece uma reconceitualização sobre o impacto do Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos (SIDH, Sistema). Para entender o impacto do SIDH e a continuada demanda de toda a região da América Latina ao Sistema, é necessário olhar para além dos modelos que focam a observância do Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos. Esse artigo analisa como, de que maneiras e em que condições o SIDH impacta os direitos humanos no plano doméstico. Em síntese, o SIDH é ativado por atores domésticos de maneiras que transcendem as perspectivas tradicionais de observância legal, com potencial para produzirem mudanças positivas nos direitos humanos no plano doméstico

Between Hope and Despair: Progress and Resilience in the Inter-American Human Rights System

The inter-American human rights system (IAS) faces a region that has turned distinctly hostile to human rights. For many, the ongoing crisis in Venezuela is ground zero, demonstrating the ineffectiveness of international human rights when confronted with an entrenched regime supported by major powers such as Russia and China. In this multipolar world, reinforced by a transactional and antiliberal U.S. foreign policy, human rights concerns seem to have little salience. Moreover, the regional Right-wing trend and the so-called populist resurgence underpin a political vision in the Americas that is distinctly antirights. And to make matters worse, some argue, we are anyway in the end-times of human rights—the age of international courts and liberal cosmopolitanism is over. While recognizing that these overlapping political trends pose clear challenges to the IAS, this essay offers a more cool-headed analysis to suggest that the system's future is likely to be less apocalyptic than the doomsayers predict. The first part of the essay takes a sober look at the multiple political challenges facing the IAS today and their implications for human rights advocacy. In the second part, against the background of the inhospitable conditions facing human rights activists in the region, I highlight the role of civil-society actors in strengthening and embedding the IAS. As it is precisely the regional embeddedness of the IAS on which the system's future hinges, the third part highlights the need not only to defend progress, but also to strengthen resilience

Illiberalism: A Primer and Call to Action for Social Workers

Liberal democracies had been ascendant in the post-World War II era. President Trump is part of a wave of nationalist, anti-immigrant politicians with autocratic tendencies who are challenging liberal democracy. The term given to the governing philosophy of these leaders is illiberalism. This paper is meant to be a primer on illiberalism for social workers, describing this ideology and the threat illiberalism poses for democracy, our social welfare system, and the interests of social work clients. We conclude with a discussion on what social workers can do to defend democracy in light of the historic mission to advance social justice

Transition Probabilities Of Astrophysical Interest In The Niobium Ions Nb+ And Nb2+

Aims. We attempt to derive accurate transition probabilities for astrophysically interesting spectral lines of Nb II and Nb III and determine the niobium abundance in the Sun and metal-poor stars rich in neutron-capture elements. Methods. We used the time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence technique to measure radiative lifetimes in Nb II. Branching fractions were measured from spectra recorded using Fourier transform spectroscopy. The radiative lifetimes and the branching fractions were combined yielding transition probabilities. In addition, we calculated lifetimes and transition probablities in Nb II and Nb III using a relativistic Hartree-Fock method that includes core polarization. Abundances of the sun and five metal-poor stars were derived using synthetic spectra calculated with the MOOG code, including hyperfine broadening of the lines. Results. We present laboratory measurements of 17 radiative lifetimes in Nb II. By combining these lifetimes with branching fractions for lines depopulating the levels, we derive the transition probabilities of 107 Nb II lines from 4d(3)5p configuration in the wavelength region 2240-4700 angstrom. For the first time, we present theoretical transition probabilities of 76 Nb III transitions with wavelengths in the range 1430-3140 angstrom. The derived solar photospheric niobium abundance log epsilon(circle dot) = 1.44 +/- 0.06 is in agreement with the meteoritic value. The stellar Nb/Eu abundance ratio determined for five metal-poor stars confirms that the r-process is a dominant production method for the n-capture elements in these stars.Integrated Initiative of Infrastructure RII3-CT-2003-506350Swedish Research CouncilKnut and Alice Wallenberg FoundationBelgian FRS-FNRSFRIAUS National Science Foundation AST-0607708, AST-0908978Astronom

Perspectivas Comparadas sobre Sistemas Regionales de Derechos Humanos

Este informe se basa en las principales conclusiones del tercer taller de la Red Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, efectuado en el Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Gante, en enero de 2016. El taller constituyó un innovador intento de análisis comparativo por parte de académicos y profesionales, respecto de los desafíos que enfrentan los sistemas de derechos humanos en todo el mundo. Los participantes del taller examinaron y compararon críticamente una amplia gama de organismos internacionales de derechos humanos con la finalidad de evaluar en qué medida sus políticas y procedimientos han contribuido a la realización de los derechos humanos, y cómo sus mejores prácticas pueden ser adaptadas a través de los diferentes sistemas. El debate se centró principalmente en el funcionamiento de los sistemas regionales de derechos humanos en las Américas, África y Europa, pero también se dio la debida consideración a los mecanismos disponibles ante las Naciones Unidas. En este informe se describen las principales conclusiones del taller y una serie de recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones sobre el análisis comparado de los organismos internacionales de derechos humanos