The Dual Imperative to Enhance National Security and Foster Human Rights: The United Nations and the Adoption of Resolution 1373
Morarji, Maitri
2005
- Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: On September 28th, 2001, the United Nations (hereafter, the UN) Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1373, through which it codified abstract and specific rules pertaining to terrorism which are obligatory and binding on all member states. While ... read moremainstream discourse has pointed to the opportunities provided by Resolution 1373 to build a consistent and coherent global anti-terrorism regime, international human rights advocates have raised grave concerns over its sanctioning of human rights violations by state authorities under the guise of countering terrorism. This dually descriptive and prescriptive paper will investigate the impact of Resolution 1373 on the global human rights regime, its actors, and its institutions by exploring the following three questions: 1) Does the mandate of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 pose a threat to the international human rights regime?; 2) What precedent does the Security Council's legislative act set?; and, 3) Do the implementation and enforcement mechanisms, and obligations contained within Resolution 1373 condone state behavior that is ultimately detrimental to states' citizens? By examining the philosophical, structural, and functional components, as well as the political factors that led to the establishment of Resolution 1373, the study proposes that the resolution poses a threat to the international human rights regime by providing states with the façade of UN sanction to implement sweeping anti-terrorism measures. Albeit lofty in its objective to build a global standard to assist states in taking practical measures to prevent the scourge of terrorism both domestically and internationally, the Security Council and the institutions of Resolution 1373 lack the current capacity to monitor states' compliance in a manner that recognizes and reinforces global human rights norms. Through the adoption of Resolution 1373, the Security Council circumvented the traditional use of treaties and conventions to develop broadly-agreed upon international norms under the guise of multilateralism, and essentially provided an avenue for US unilateral assertions. More honest multilateral endeavors provide the only true mechanism to foster a more holistic conception of security that seeks to protect citizens from the vastly complex threats to their human security, including those posed by the threat of terrorism.read less
- ID:
- rn301c056
- Component ID:
- tufts:UA015.012.DO.00102
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
- Usage:
- Detailed Rights
