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Presentation

Presentation

This fifth issue of Sur - International Journal on Human Rights examines a broad spectrum of issues. First, two international human rights protection bodies are studied: (i) the recently created UN Human Rights Council and the main obstacles it faces (Duran), and (ii) the International Criminal Court, or more specifically the role of the frequently neglected parties in criminal cases - the victims - in this Court (González). Indigenous issues are tackled once again, this time focusing specifically on the protection of the right to cultural identity in the Inter-American System (Chiriboga). Another paper makes a critical analysis of post-conflict justice in Sub-Saharan Africa, questioning the models imposed by foreign nations (Bosire). Finally, three topics are addressed relating to human security: (i) democratic policing in the Commonwealth Pacific (Prasad), (ii) the democratization of public security in Brazil (Cano), and (iii) the impact of the Bush administration on the international doctrine of states sovereignty (Farer).

We would like to thank the following professors and partners for their contribution in the selection of articles for this issue: Alejandro Garro, Christophe Heyns, Emilio García Méndez, Fiona Macaulay, Flavia Piovesan, Florian Hoffmann, Helena Olea, Jeremy Sarkin, Josephine Bourgois, Juan Salgado, Julia Marton-Lefevre, Julieta Rossi, Katherine Fleet, Kwame Karikari and Roberto Garreton.

Created in 2004 to promote debate on human rights and dialogue across the southern hemisphere among activists, professors and staff of government agencies, Sur - International Journal on Human Rights is published by Sur - Human Rights University Network, an initiative of Conectas Human Rights (a Brazil-based international non-governmental organization).

Besides being available online at www.surjournal.org, approximately 12,000 copies of the journal have been printed between 2004 and 2006 and distributed free of charge in three languages - Portuguese, Spanish and English - in over 100 countries. The critical debate has, therefore, already enjoyed an encouraging start. Aiming to move away from a homogeneous view of human rights in the global south, the journal addresses issues that reflect the diversity of the conflicts and challenges related to the protection of human rights in the Southern Hemisphere nations. This diversity of the debate stems from the diversity of the geographical, historical and cultural context in which these rights are (or are not) upheld.

Our intention is to continue to broaden this debate. As an illustration, of the approximately 100 countries that receive the journal, the following have already submitted contributions in the form of articles: South Africa, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ecuador, United States, Hungary, India, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya and United Kingdom. We have also received contributions from the staff of intergovernmental agencies, such as the United Nations and the Organization of American States. In order to elicit responses to the calls for papers already submitted, and to develop an even richer dialogue, we hope to receive articles primarily from all the nations where the journal is read. Therefore, we are calling for contributions particularly from the following countries that are still missing: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Congo, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Philippines, Finland, France, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liberia, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Netherlands, Palestine, Panama, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Porto Rico, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Herewith we renew our request for a wider and more meaningful debate.

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    22 Sept 2008
  • Date of issue
    Dec 2006
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E-mail: contato.sur@conectas.org