Intersections: Where Human Rights and Democracy Meet

This week’s episode focuses on human rights and democracy news from across Africa: the results of the presidential election in Kenya, the release of the U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa, and the recent visit by Secretary Blinken to South Africa, Rwanda, and the DRC. We speak to Mvemba Dizolele, Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Program at CSIS, who explains the implications of these events and further steps the U.S. can take to support democracy on the continent. The news segment also covers the UN High Commissioner Michele Bachelet’s trip to Bangladesh and the one-year anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. 

Additional Resources: 

U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/U.S.-Strategy-Toward-Sub-Saharan-Africa-FINAL.pdf 

CSIS Analysis of the Africa strategy: https://www.csis.org/analysis/potential-and-limits-new-us-strategy-sub-saharan-africa  

CSIS White Paper on Enforced Disappearances: https://www.csis.org/analysis/addressing-continuing-phenomenon-enforced-disappearances 

CSIS Commentary on the Taliban's crackdown on women’s rights in Afghanistan: https://www.csis.org/analysis/new-century-old-taliban  

Michelle Bachelet’s remarks on her visit to Bangladesh: https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/08/un-high-commissioner-human-rights-michelle-bachelet-concludes-her-official-visit

This week’s episode focuses on the shocking executions of four pro-democracy activists in Myanmar. To understand the implications of this event for Myanmar and U.S. policy in Southeast Asia, we speak to Erin Murphy, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow in the CSIS Economics Program. We also discuss the fallout over Hungarian Prime Minister’s remarks about race and a class action lawsuit against Hyundai over allegations of child labor at a factory in Alabama in our news segment. 

Additional Resources: 

Burmese Haze: US Policy and Myanmar’s Opening – and Closing, by Erin Murphy: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/burmese-haze/9781952636264  

Orban’s remarks and international responses: https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-parliament-condemns-orbans-racist-anti-europe-speech/  

Report on the use of child labor at Hyundai subsidiary in Alabama: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-hyundai-subsidiary-has-used-child-labor-alabama-factory-2022-07-22/ 

Class action lawsuit against Hyundai: https://www.alabamanews.net/content/uploads/2022/08/v/b/Class-Action.pdf

This week’s episode is focused on two important court cases – in India and West Africa – that will help define the relationship between social media companies and government regulation in efforts to protect fundamental freedoms. We talk to Allie Funk, Research Director for Technology and Democracy at Freedom House, about strategies to counter growing government efforts to block access to social media, as well as expectations for the private sector to develop their own rights-respecting policies and practices.  

Additional Resources: 

Changes to the foreign agent law in Russia: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-signs-off-harsher-foreign-agent-law/31943645.html 

ECOWAS ruling on Nigeria: http://www.courtecowas.org/2022/07/16/ecowas-court-orders-nigeria-to-guarantee-not-to-repeat-of-the-unlawful-ban-on-twitter/ 

Freedom House 2021 Freedom on the Net Report: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2021/global-drive-control-big-tech 

Op-Ed: What Twitter’s lawsuit against the Indian government could mean for global free expression: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-07-16/india-twitter-suit-freedom-censorship-internet 

The White House Declaration for the Future of the Internet: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Declaration-for-the-Future-for-the-Internet_Launch-Event-Signing-Version_FINAL.pdf

How do international institutions and fora help defend human rights? This episode discusses the human rights-related outcomes of the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau, the first arrest warrants to come out of the ICC’s investigation into Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia, and the U.S. role in the recently concluded session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC). Joining us to talk about the Biden Administration’s goals for the HRC is Allison Lombardo, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the State Department. 

Additional Resources: 

Backgrounder on the G7: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/where-g7-headed  

G7 Leaders’ Joint Communique: https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2022/06/28/g7-leaders-communique  

G7 Leaders’ Statement on Democratic Resilience: https://www.g7germany.de/resource/blob/974430/2057608/61edf594f5ca30fb7b2ae4b79d16f1e6/2022-06-27-g7-resilient-democracies-statement-data.pdf?download=1  

On Prosecuting War Crimes in Ukraine: https://www.csis.org/analysis/justice-ukraine-may-be-slow-must-be-steady 

U.S.’s return to the Human Rights Council after its withdrawal under President Trump: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/14/us-wins-seat-on-un-human-rights-council.html  

China’s role on the Human Rights Council: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/02/25/un-human-rights-council-as-the-us-returns-it-will-have-to-deal-with-china-and-its-friends/

This episode of Intersections reviews the human rights news of the week, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act going into effect, and the initiative by the UK government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Human Rights Initiative Director Marti Flacks also discusses major developments in the world of sports and the unexpected human rights connections there with Mary Harvey, CEO of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights.

Additional resources:

Centre for Sport and Human Rights: https://www.sporthumanrights.org/

The Fan’s Guide to Human Rights: https://www.sporthumanrights.org/news/cshr-and-football-supporters-europe-release-fans-human-rights-guide/

FIFA Human Rights Policy: https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/1a876c66a3f0498d/original/kr05dqyhwr1uhqy2lh6r-pdf.pdf

BHRRC Qatar World Cup Portal: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-parallel-portal/

US-Mexico-Canada “United” Bid Human Rights Strategy: https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/35837f1073bdad15/original/s2xnrvfjg9kp0zelhxnt-pdf.pdf

Dignity 2026 coalition: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/group-asks-for-living-wages-labor-rights-for-2026-world-cup/2022/06/25/44723046-f44f-11ec-ac16-8fbf7194cd78_story.html

Ignoring human rights risks in supply chains comes with serious consequences, both for companies and the global economy. In a live event hosted on May 10, 2022, Human Rights Initiative Director Marti Flacks hosted U.S. and EU policymakers, civil society activists, and journalists to discuss tools to address particularly forced and child labor in global supply chains. As the United States and European Union build out their enforcement regimes, what best practices can they learn from one another?

 

Additional Resources:

Glimmerland: Human Rights in the Mica Supply Chain: https://www.zeit.de/wissen/2022-05/glitter-indien-illegale-minen-english?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Washington, DC: https://us.boell.org/en

Terre des Hommes: https://www.terredeshommes.org/

International Corporate Accountability Roundtable: https://icar.ngo/

FACT SHEET: G7 to Announce Joint Actions on Forced Labor in Global Supply Chains, Anticorruption, and Ransomware: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/13/fact-sheet-g7-to-announce-joint-actions-on-forced-labor-in-global-supply-chains-anticorruption-and-ransomware/

European Union Releases Draft Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence Directive: https://www.csis.org/analysis/european-union-releases-draft-mandatory-human-rights-and-environmental-due-diligence

What's driving the current wave of worker organizing across the United States and around the world? How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the game for how companies and governments engage with workers? Human Rights Initiative Director Marti Flacks discusses the growing popularity of trade unions and the implications for global supply chains with Cathy Feingold of the AFL-CIO and Paolo Marinaro of the Solidarity Center.

Additional Resources:

AFL-CIO: https://aflcio.org/

Solidarity Center Mexico: https://www.solidaritycenter.org/category/americas/mexico/

Starbucks Workers Drive Nationwide Surge in Union Organizing: https://www.npr.org/2022/05/01/1095477792/union-election-labor-starbucks-workers-food-service-representation

GM Silao Facility Workers Vote Overwhelmingly in Favor of the SINTTIA Union: https://aflcio.org/2022/2/4/gm-silao-facility-workers-vote-overwhelmingly-favor-sinttia-union

Work That Pays Off: The Strategic Dimension of Labor Obligations in Trade Agreements: https://www.csis.org/analysis/work-pays-strategic-dimension-labor-obligations-trade-agreements

This episode of Intersections discusses the global reverberations of the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and what that has meant for efforts to address bias in policing. Dr. Tracie Keesee and Ojeaku Nwabuzo join Marti Flacks to discuss how equality data collection can be used to drive development of evidence-based strategies, and what the U.S. and Europe can learn from each other in this effort.

Additional Resources:

The European Network Against Racism: https://www.enar-eu.org

The Center for Policing Equity: https://policingequity.org/

Law Enforcement and Human Rights: https://www.ohchr.org/en/law-enforcement

OHCHR Agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality: https://www.ohchr.org/en/racism/agenda-towards-transformative-change-racial-justice-and-equality

The George Floyd Protests: A Global Rallying Cry for Democracy: https://www.csis.org/analysis/george-floyd-protests-global-rallying-cry-democracy

How can we protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples to make decisions about their lands and livelihoods amidst growing demand for land-intensive renewable energy and critical minerals? Join us as we discuss the status of indigenous land rights with two prominent indigenous rights activists, Joan Carling, Global Director of Indigenous Peoples Rights International, and Janene Yazzie, Southwest Regional Director, NDN Collective.

Additional Resources:

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html

Information on Free, Prior, and Informed Consent: https://www.ohchr.org/en/indigenous-peoples/consultation-and-free-prior-and-informed-consent-fpic

Indigenous People's Rights International: https://iprights.org/

NDN Collective: https://ndncollective.org/

CSIS Commentary “The Biden-Harris Administration Should Engage Ecuador” https://www.csis.org/analysis/biden-harris-administration-should-engage-ecuador

Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/renewable-energy-human-rights-benchmark-2/

What rights do refugees have, and how can states protect them? The first episode of Intersections discusses Ukraine, Afghanistan, the two-year anniversary of Title 42 and the global health crisis, and other current issues in refugee rights with Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, and Jon Hoisaeter, Deputy Representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, DC.

 

Additional Resources:

LIRS: https://www.lirs.org/

UNHCR: https://www.unhcr.org/ceu/

Rights of Refugees: https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/publications/brochures/3b779dfe2/protecting-refugees-questions-answers.html  

On Title 42: https://abcnews.go.com/US/title-42-amid-backlash-biden-administration-defends-trump/story?id=80149086

Truth of the Matter Podcast: The Haitian Migrant Crisis and the Bigger Picture: https://www.csis.org/node/62683