week 7 Flashcards
(40 cards)
Until second world war the protection of rights was
seen as a sovereign prerogative of state and not an
international concern
Globalization of human rights began after WWII
Individuals should not be left at the mercy of a domestic legal system and more protection should be afforded to individuals when states tend to abuse their rights
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
member states of the United Nations subscribe to.
– Its preamble presented itself as ‘a common standard of achievement for all peoples and nations.
– starting point of universality of rights
– defines human rights as universal, inalienable
and indivisible
UDHR Article 1
says ‘that all human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights
UHDR universality of human rights
means that human rights apply to every single person by virtue of their humanity; it applies to everyone equally, for everyone is equal in simply being human
Indivisible
rights are interrelated and interdependent, no right is to be considered more important than another
Inalienable
it is impossible for anyone to abdicate his/her human rights or deprive of these rights
Bangkok Declaration
Asian group of nations opposed what they saw as Western imperialism and urged the international community to take into account their cultural differences as regard to human rights
1993 UN Conference of Human Rights
a delegation led by China, Syria, and Iran officially challenged the universality of Human Rights
– human rights as currently defined are not universal but based on Western morality; that human rights should not therefore be imposed as norms on non-western societies in disregard of those societies’ historical and economic development and in disregard of their cultural differences and perceptions of what is right and wrong and that the imposition of one’s standard on another culture is unjust and imperialist in
nature
Tunis Declaration
African groups while admitting the universality of human rights declared that ‘no ready-made model can be prescribed at the universal level since the historical and cultural realities of each nation and the traditions, standards and values of each people cannot be disregarded’ (Report on the Regional Meeting for Africa of the World Conference on Human Rights 1992).
– “Different societies throw up different systems of moral beliefs depending on such things as their history, traditions, geographical circumstances, and views of the world; we have no means of judging them for there are no objective and universal criteria available for the purpose, and even if there were, we would be too deeply conditioned by our own society to discover them
Western Thought
Argued that ‘if cultural tradition alone governs state compliance with international standards, the widespread disregard, abuse, and violation of human rights would be given legitimacy
Human Rights in China
The practices outlawed by UDHR, such as slavery, torture, and arbitrary arrest, are commonly found in China
- China has the highest number of reported executions of any country
China abstained from signing AU-UN hybrid operation & passively supports
– Sale of arms
– Active support for abuses
– Commission of abuses by Chinese agents
– Massacre, torture, slave labor in support of economic enterprises
– Shielding an abusive government
– Veto in UN
China’s labour practices and poor working conditions have ignored
the human rights of African citizens
have been a source of concern
Examples of human rights abuses by China in Africa
the issue of the Zambian Copper Mine has been pointed. The Chambishi Copper Mine, in the heart of Zambia’s copper belt, had been closed for more than a decade when the China Non-Ferrous Metals Corporation (CNMC) bought 85 percent of the mine in 1998 for $20 million (Brautigam 2009). The project was hailed as a prime example of how foreign investment can bring jobs and new technologies to Africa.
● Then, in April 2005, an explosion at the mine killed fifty-one Zambian workers due to poor safety
standards.
● A year later, after the Chinese had banned union activity and began paying Zambian employees
less than the $67-a-month minimum wage, six Zambian workers were shot at a labour demonstration by a Chinese supervisor.
● In Namibia, South Africa and Zambia it was found that Chinese managers repeatedly ignore local minimum wage laws and affirmative action requirements, while refusing to pay social security and allowances (Jauch and Sakaria 2009
For China, freedom starts with
food
- the right to survival is paramount because it is only after survival that other rights follow
Culture behind mining
There is a proud mining culture in the country, where copper mining extends back generations in families, and many miners attend trade schools to learn the mining craft.
– There is also a strong union tradition, with the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) and the
National Union of Miners and Allied Workers
(NUMAW) representing more than 50,000 miners
throughout the industry.
– Finally, there is a detailed
and robust set of mining regulations, safety
standards, and labor laws that, at least on paper,
control every aspect of the industry and generally
conform to International Labor Organization
standards
Economics of Mining
Dating back to 1928, when the country was the
British colony of Northern Rhodesia, copper
mining—particularly along the Zambian-
Congolese “Copperbelt” border—has long been
essential to the country’s economic development.
– Times are good at the moment, with record high copper prices in late 2010 and 2011: on July 1, 2011, the World Bank declared that Zambia had moved back up from low to low-middle income status
Investment of Mining
In 1997, after decades of control by Zambian state-owned enterprises, or “parastatals,” the government sold the copper mines to private investors. Two decades of falling copper prices and low capital investment had left the industry a shell of its lucrative past.
History of Chinese Mining in Zambia
1998: China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Corporation entered the Zambian Mining Sector
2003: CNMC began mining operations through its subsidiaries
2011: Sata elected and in response miners go on strike. the main chinese-run cooper mine responded by firing at least 1000 workers
2023: Zambia Landslides kill 7 miners digging tunnels and more than 20 missing
President Sata
Social Democrat who led the Patriotic Front (PF)
Hong Kong as a country, Taiwan as a Soverign State
2006
Elected in 2011 (41%)
April 2008 heart attack and Mwanawasa’s death
Vote counting
2011 increase anti-Chinese rhetoric
Investment climate in China uncertain post victory
Sata Campaign Promises
Protect Chinese Investments
Cleanse Zambia of “imperialists, the capitalist-roaders”
revoke licenses for foreign investors if they resisted his orders to give at least a 25% stake in their companies to Zambians
Outcomes for Miners
Regulations to explosives
chinese companies must provide PPE at each shift change
increased mapping requirements
outcome for patriotic front
Triple mineral production in the next four years
capital inflow at an all-time high
Zambian research andventures at an all time high
Removal of double taxation policy
