International Relations

C17(b) - Human Rights and Justice

Date: Jun 14 | Time: 10:15am to 11:45am | Location: 680 Sherbrooke St. West 1047

Chair/Président/Présidente : Karl Trautman (Central Maine Community College)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Karl Trautman (Central Maine Community College)

FOR an Inclusive Borderland Discourse: Assessing Developmental Paradigm in India's Northeast TERRITORIES: Soham Das (O.P. Jindal Global University), Sreeradha Datta (O.P. Jindal Global University)
Abstract: Understanding borderlands through the lens of traditional securities espouses the conflict management approaches of suppression, sometimes assimilation, but rarely integration. While the strategic goals of a state in administering borderlands are to ensure connectivity, develop effective regionalism and sub regionalism, and warranty internal stability, we argue that they cannot be successful without addressing the non-traditional security aspects. To verify this theoretical argument normatively and empirically, we assess the infrastructural and developmental aspects of India’s Northeast territories in this paper. While the structural aspect of difficult terrain in the northeast has been detrimental for trade and economic opportunities, the aspects of security perceptions, socio-political isolations, alongside ethno-lingual complexities gave rise to furthermore challenges. Earlier northeast India was the domain for the security establishment to engage with, but this narrative changed with the advent of India’s ‘Look East Policy’ in 1991 and boosted thereafter with ‘Act East Policy’ in 2014. Since then, the developmental programs, including infrastructure and economic initiatives directly impacting the non-state actors, organizations, and political entities have been playing a significant role in ensuring security of the area. The two border towns of Moreh and Tamu between India and Myanmar respectively are the reference cases in this study. This international border follows a liberal regime allowing free peoples’ movement without visas up to 16 kilometres on both sides without any security apprehensions. We argue that the developmental programs and the interconnected international boundary organically develops cooperation between the communities, correlating with relatively lower instances of violences in these areas.

Justice Delayed: Exploring Barriers of Transitional Justice Practices in Sri Lanka: Mythreyi Vijayakulan (Ontario Tech University)
Abstract: Sri Lanka’s civil war, with its catastrophic bloodshed and violence, ended 14 years ago, but grievance and injustice has not. The nation’s ethnically polarized government continues to subjugate the Tamil population and there has been minimal attention to transitional justice practices, such as truth and reconciliation commissions. Although there is substantial literature which explores the mixed effectiveness of transitional justice practices in states such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, South Africa, and Sierra Leone, this research is more limited for cases in South Asia, including Sri Lanka. This gap in the research prompts the question: What barriers and opportunities exist to the development of effective transitional justice practices in Sri Lanka? This research is interested in understanding why there has not been a push for transitional justice in Sri Lanka as well as exploring what these practices could achieve there. Through a qualitative systematic review, this proposed study identifies three barriers to transitional justice in Sri Lanka: (1) fundamental inequalities persistent within the state; (2) a lack of international pressure stemming from Sri Lanka’s geopolitical position; and (3) the state's emphasis on political development. This analysis will explore opportunities to overcome these barriers and the role transitional justice mechanisms could have in the Sri Lankan context. Furthermore, this study will identify factors that contribute to the success and failures of these mechanisms while evaluating their appropriateness to differing post-conflict environments.

Failures of Reform: Overlapping Systems of Human Rights Violations During The War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) and the Undermining of Rights Reforms: Ahmad Sadam Siam Panah (Wilfrid Laurier University)
Abstract: The backdrop of the United States (US)-led intervention in 2001 in Afghanistan was marked by promises of democratization, the establishment of a just society, and the protection of human rights. However, despite these intentions, the decades-long endeavor witnessed the development of a persistent vicious cycle of human rights abuses, raising critical questions about the efficacy of the reform agenda. This paper asks: “why did post-2001 human rights reforms fail in Afghanistan?” The intricate web of human rights violations, encompassing issues such as civilian casualties, torture programs, governmental corruption, lack of due process, and the impact on vulnerable populations, that persisted throughout the War in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021 which undermined human rights reform efforts. By analyzing the actions and policies of the US coalition forces and the Afghan government, this paper uncovers underlying factors that contributed to the failure of post-2001 human rights reform efforts. Importantly, to help explain and predict failures of human rights reforms in Afghanistan and other conflict-divided societies, this paper introduces new conceptualizations of human rights hypocrisy. This paper shed light on the intricate dynamics at play during the implementation of human rights reform efforts, and posits on the root causes of why rights reforms can fail.