OpenUCT :: Browsing by Subject "human rights"

Browsing by Subject "human rights"

Now showing 1 - 16 of 16

Open Access
A Critical Examination of Zambia's Democratic Performance since 1991
(2021) Banda, Mabvuto; Akokpari, John
A qualitative research approach and the reliance to a large extent on existing literature are used in this study to demonstrate Zambia's stagnant position in becoming a true democracy. While the country is seen as a beacon of peace in Africa, reflected in the peaceful transfer of power after elections, police brutality is rampant. Those with divergent views are not spared and suffer at the hands of police using the Public Order Act in instances of ‘breach of peace' and as an excuse for maintaining ‘public order'. Zambia continues to have a poor human rights record, reflected in the perpetration of violence against its citizenry with impunity by government officials and the political elites. Alleged cases of corruption rarely end in convictions despite overwhelming evidence of illegal practices. The Electoral Commission of Zambia and the judiciary are often accused of being biased towards the political establishment. A failure to appear autonomous has not only negatively affected their operations but has created negative perceptions and a loss of public confidence in these critical institutions. This, in turn, has resulted in the further undermining of democracy, as these important agencies are seemingly ineffective in ensuring that Zambia becomes a true democracy.
Open Access
Asserting Dignity: revolution and love
(2012) Govender, Pregaluxmi
This lecture examines the possibility of asserting dignity in a world ruled by hate, greed and fear. Can love help us assert our ‘inherent dignity’ (Bill of Rights) in a world where the greedy are often rewarded by bailouts, the poor are seldom protected by governments, and many of us are consumed by fear. For those interest in human rights and gender issues.
Open Access
Case study: The Health and Human Rights Programme
(2009-02-28) Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl
This case study provides an overview of the Health and Human Rights Project (HHRP), which was established and run collaboratively by the University of Cape Town’s School of Public Health and Family Medicine and a human rights NGO, the Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture from 1997 to 1999, to devise a submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on health-related issues. The HHRP subsequently assisted the organisation of the commission’s health-sector hearings. This collaboration resulted in the publication of a book based on the submissions and stimulated the inclusion of human rights in undergraduate teaching. After the project closed in 1999, the focus of the department shifted to research on human rights issues and the training of university educators of health professionals. The HHRP provided the basis for the development of the Health and Human Rights Division within the School of Public Health and Family Medicine.
Open Access
Conceptualising the right to enjoy benefits of scientific progress and exploring its potential to enhance access to effective diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis in South Africa
(2019) Shawa, Remmy Malama; London, Leslie; Coomans, Fons; Cox, Helen
The lack of access to effective diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains a persistent global challenge. Human rights arguments for access to treatment mostly focus on the right to health. However, a key challenge in access to effective diagnosis and treatment is the glaring absence of scientific research in neglected diseases such as TB. This thesis sets out to elaborate the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and explore its potential to increase scientific research in DR-TB and consequently enhance access to effective diagnosis and treatment in South Africa. This research project was conducted using three interrelated sub-studies; a legal analysis sub-study which examines the current conceptualisation of the REBSP in international law; a policy analysis sub-study which interrogates South Africa’s legal and policy efforts towards the realisation of the REBSP and access to diagnosis and treatment for DR-TB; and a qualitative sub-study which explores the South African context regarding research and development (R&D) in general, and in DR-TB in particular. The qualitative sub-study included 17 stakeholders who are active in TB R&D, advocacy and policy work, from human rights and research institutions, government agencies, civil society organisations, and donor agencies. This thesis finds that the REBSP essentially ensures two things, namely the production of science and access to the benefits of scientific progress. However, most countries including South Africa have systems, policies and resources aimed at advancing the production of science but lack similar systems, policies and resources to purposely ensure the enjoyment of the benefits from scientific progress. Internationally, there is no clear guidance on the interpretation of the REBSP, making it difficult for states to domesticate it in their national policies and framework laws. A General Comment by a UN human rights monitoring body is therefore urgently needed to secure global consensus on the interpretation of the REBSP. In the meanwhile, South Africa can still draw inspiration for the REBSP and together with the right to health, use it to advance access to DR-TB diagnosis and treatment alongside many other interventions. To enable better access to effective diagnosis and treatment of DR-TB, this thesis recommends that South Africa i) develops systems that would make scientific progress and results accessible, and affordable; ii) removes system and regulatory barriers that hinder the conduct of research or that delay registration of new drugs; iii) monitors and regulates the conduct of third parties and prevent them from exploiting communities; iv) encourages pharmaceutical companies to provide free access to successful treatment and tools in communities where trials are conducted; and v) mobilises financial and technical resources and allocates them to DR-TB researchfrom drug discovery through to implementation science.
Open Access
Health and human rights pamphlets
(2010) Learning Network for Health and Human Rights, School of Public Health & Family Medicine
A series of 7 pamphlets exploring different aspects of the right to Health. These pamphlets are available in three languages: English, Xhosa and Afrikaans, and cover topics of patient and human rights, rights to healthcare and healthcare information, and community involvement in health. The Learning Network pamphlets have been developed using principles of popular education and are suited for use by academia and community organisations' with other members of civil society.
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The Human Rights Key
(2014-08-20) Mitchell, Veronica
The link between health and human rights is clear. Yet, questioning how we can better facilitate students' personal meaning-making in higher education was the catalyst that led to my interest in seeking alternative approaches to teaching. While working as a facilitator in the Health Science Faculty at the University of Cape Town I noticed students frequently grappled with conceptual and practical issues in human rights education even though they had learnt about human rights in their Life Orientation course, a compulsory topic in all South African high school curricula. Within the Faculty I queried and evaluated the strength and relevance of the medical curriculum's "golden thread" of human rights. This led to opportunities to engage with students in their clinical years, in an unrestricted way -- without assessment demands and in an authentic manner where students could draw on their own experiences. Taking risks and teaching in uncertain spaces has been a rewarding experience. I witness the opening of students' minds and eyes when alternative perspectives are considered. In the process I developed the metaphor of a Human Rights Key which highlights the connection between the students' experiences and the United Nations' human rights framework. The Key is a graphic tool that gives structure and tangible visibility, showing the relationships between theoretical and intangible concepts, and practical realities. Through an iterative process I have had pleasure in developing this as a visual representation for teaching and learning with colours and shapes assisting students to make meaningful connections and interpretations. The Key is memorable and promotes dialogue and discussion. Students feel motivated to think about the issues that face them and to question their own understanding. The Key emerges as a valued tool that each person can relate to within the context of their own lives and use in their present and future practice. By using the Key in different places and spaces, I have been gratified to realise the impact it has on other educators too. Each individual engages with the concept from their own frame of reference. Through Creative Commons licensing I am pleased to offer the Key and its themes for reusing and remixing in different contexts. As other educators take up their Key to teach and advocate for human rights, reviews and suggestions will be most welcome. The Key is an entitlement and it is up to us to become advocates for change. Teaching through this interactive tool is fulfilling. It turns and shifts attitudes and values.
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Human rights key: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex themed key
(2013) Mitchell, Veronica
This resource aims to provide information to promote the health of sexual and gender minorities. The LGBTI Key is a new theme on the Human Rights Key with links to numerous multimedia resources. It can be a useful teaching and learning tool for educators, students and healthcare providers. It can also assist individuals who may experience discrimination and stigma when wishing to access health care.
Open Access
Human rights, modernity and culture: understanding the position of lobola as a form of VAW and the current human rights normative standards and discourse on VAW
(2022) Mubaiwa, Pretty; Manjoo, Rashida
As the feminist movement in Africa continues to question and dismantle long-held religious and cultural beliefs and practices, this has influenced critical debates on the validity of their co-existence with human rights norms and standards on violence against women and discrimination. This dissertation aims to critically interrogate the relationship between culture, violence against women (VAW), and women's rights in Africa. Specifically, it delves into the cultural practice of bride price (also known as Lobola) to understand whether the practice is a cause and/or consequence of VAW in family relations. This dissertation hypothesises that Lobola is both a cause and consequence of VAW and should be explicitly identified as a form of VAW, a human rights violation. This dissertation adopts a theoretical analysis using Heise's Integrated Ecological Framework (Heise's framework) on VAW, which provides a valuable tool to analyse and deconstruct the systemic causes and influences of VAW. Heise's framework is adopted to analyse how certain cultural practices at the macro systemic level may relate to and influence VAW practices. To conduct this analysis using Heise's framework, this dissertation uses available literature on previously conducted focus group discussions on experiences, opinions and perceptions of Lobola by both young people and adults. The theoretical analysis highlights a positive correlation between Lobola and the violence women face in marriage and upon divorce. However, the research also establishes that the practice of Lobola itself does not present as a form of violence against women - but because of the perceptions, beliefs, and power systems it creates, the practice becomes an aggravator of VAW. The results from the analysis show that Lobola creates rigid gender roles, skewed beliefs of entitlement and ownership of women's lives and bodies, and asymmetrical power relations that influence VAW. Since the theoretical analysis proved that Lobola aggravates the violence women face in marriage and upon divorce, the dissertation also carries out a legal analysis to understand the position of harmful practices and the legal consequences using international human rights norms and standards on women's rights and VAW. In line with fulfilling its mandate, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), after receiving four state periodic reports from Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda between 2010 and 2012, in its concluding observations expressed MBWPRE001-Pretty Mubaiwa concern over the persistence of harmful traditional and cultural practices that affect women. In each instance, the Committee reiterated that Lobola is a harmful practice that aggravates discrimination against women. These concluding observations ushered in an expanded narrative on harmful traditional and cultural practices that disproportionately affect women and thus promote gender-based discrimination. Using these four case studies, this dissertation, therefore, looks at these countries' customary and civil laws to understand the legislative landscape around traditional and cultural practices. The findings include that in all four states, Lobola is required to recognise and register a customary marriage. This means that legally, Lobola is recognised as a legitimate requirement for a marriage to be recognised and registered. Additionally, an appraisal of the standard-setting frameworks protecting the right of women to be free from violence and discrimination shows that, even though there are legally binding standards and mechanisms at the regional and international levels that are mandated to protect these rights, there are normative gaps that continue to impact the protection of women from violence negatively. The CEDAW Committee has called Lobola a harmful practice. However, as the principal women's rights body within the UN system, the Committee has failed to take further steps towards standard-setting or follow-up with states to continue encouraging the elimination of this practice. This gap limits the scope for women to pursue justice when they experience multiple and intersecting forms of violence in general. This dissertation thus concludes that Lobola should be specifically recognised as a form of VAW within the realm of harmful traditional practice. It is inconsistent with the current international standards on equality, non-discrimination, and violence against women.
Open Access
Participation in work: A human rights issue for people with psychiatric disabilities
(2008) Van Niekerk, Lana
The article will endeavour to situate discrimination against disabled people in the world of work as a human rights issue. An argument will be made for occupational therapists to give more attention to recent developments in the literature, policies and legislation in order to develop services that will best promote the participation of people with disability in work. Recommendations for service models will be made, each based on a case study that was developed using an interpretive biography research design.
Open Access
Prison Reforms in Mozambique Fail to Touch the Ground: Accessing the Experience of Pre-trial Detainees in Maputo
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2012) Lorizzo, Tina
This article presents the findings of research on pre-trial detention in the Mozambique capital city Maputo. Conditions of detention and access to legal representation of a group of pre-trial detainees are analysed within the context of development of the prison system in Mozambique. The research shows that while progress has been made at the legal and institutional level of the prison system, reforms have yet to impact on pre-trial detainees’ lives.
Open Access
Professional incompetence voluntariness and the right to a fair trial
(2014) Schwikkard, P J
It is obvious that the right to legal representation, guaranteed in s 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa must include competent legal representation. The right to legal representation is traditionally viewed as a pre-requisite for the protection of the privilege against self-incrimination.1 If this line of reasoning is pursued it follows that competent legal representation is required to uphold the privilege against self-incrimination. But the following questions arise: how does a court determine incompetence and when will incompetence render a trial unfair?
Open Access
Protection of the right of asylum-seeking children not to be unlawfully detained: a look into the laws of Botswana
(2021) Slave, Oratile; Khan, Fatima
Botswana acceded to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and entered a reservation on section 26 relating to the freedom of movement of refugees within its borders justified on reasons of national security. As such, Botswana adopts a restrictive detention policy which requires that asylum seekers, whether alone or accompanied by their children, be held at the Francistown Centre for Illegal Immigrants pending transfer to the Dukwi Refugee Camp if their application for refugee status is successful or deportation if unsuccessful. Botswana is therefore notorious for detaining asylum seekers including children for prolonged periods, in undesirable physical conditions, and in the process violating the asylum-seeking children's rights to among others, not to be unlawfully detained, the right to an adequate standard of living, family unity, the highest attainable standard of health, and basic education. The study therefore seeks to explore the laws safeguarding the right of asylum-seeking children not to be unlawfully detained in Botswana in an effort to assess the extent to which such laws comply with the standards set by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as the core international standard for the protection of children's rights, and other relevant international and regional instruments. In addition, the study will assess the extent to which such laws are given effect in practice. The study will also explore best international and regional practices on the protection of the right of asylum-seeking children not to be unlawfully detained with specific emphasis on the laws of Sweden and South Africa. The study concludes with recommendations based on standards set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant international and regional instruments, and best practices in the laws of Sweden and South Africa which Botswana may draw valuable lessons in order to effectively safeguard the right of asylum-seeking children not to be unlawfully detained.
Open Access
Sexual violence against children in South Africa: the protection of child victims in the criminal justice system
(2024) Peter, Ayabonga Nangamso; Omar, Jameelah
The prevalence of sexual violence against children in South Africa continues to rise. Child victims experience further violation within the criminal justice system despite the comprehensive laws in place. The purpose of this study is to evaluate protective measures available in the legal system to protect children from secondary victimisation. Furthermore, critically analyse the existing legal framework, governing the further victimisation children experience in the criminal justice system. Due to their vulnerability and uniqueness, children must be protected by South African courts, and this protection can be achieved through upholding their legal rights. The aim is to examine the role of courts as a criminal justice actor in providing effective protection for children. This study will use a desktop based qualitative research and will be based on available literature and jurisprudence on the subject.
Open Access
The benefits of a United Nations Standing Army: Using Article 43 of the UN Charter to improve international human rights and peace
(2025) Chigona, Thandizo; Woolaver, Hannah
The purpose of the United Nations (UN) as set in the UN Charter is to protect the ‘people' of the world and provide the necessary freedoms and security for them to flourish in their own ways. This has been expressed through the UN Charter's various chapters and articles that have been brought into practical effect by the UN's institutional and administrative bodies such as the General Assembly and the Security Council. Despite this, the world continues to witness humanitarian crises flaring up at consistent (if not growing) levels, and in most cases these humanitarian crisis situations occur in conflict zones. In attempts to curb this, the UN had initiated several peacekeeping missions, some of which had success in the early stages of the organization's peacekeeping agenda. However, the broader failure of these peacekeeping operations is mainly attributed to the disorganized and decentralized nature of current UN peacekeeping operations. These failings lead to perpetual cycles of mistrust/dissatisfaction which result in reduced support by states which then precipitates further failures and this again fuels the mistrust and dissatisfaction of member states and the public opinion. However, an organized standing army under the UN would arguably do far better at ensuring the protection of human rights across the world. Based off the cohesive and structured nature of a standing army, a UN army would likely find far more success in promoting international peace and security than current methods of peacekeeping or awaiting approval for collective action from the Security Council. The structure to allow such a force already exists within the UN charter, most notably under article 43. However, there are other far-reaching avenues to achieve this which are explored in this study. Ultimately, a UN Standing army would improve international peace and security as well as increase the protection of human rights.
Open Access
Training trainers for health and human rights
(2010) Ragaven, Laurel Baldwin; London, Leslie
Manual for South African health professional trainers originating from the Train-the-Trainer course at UCT. The aims of this manual are: To provide those interested in doing human rights teaching with a framework for training of trainers in health and human rights To provide resources which will be of use to the training of trainers and students To support alumni of our Train-the-Trainer courses, who now number nearly 200 people To share our eight years of experience in running this course with others so as to begin a dialogue around educational issues in teaching human rights To build additional teaching capacity in health and human rights.
Open Access
(Un)-African: queering South Africas approach to SOGI rights
(2022) Berry, Neil Alexander; Smith, Karen
This study uses Queer Theory to explore the inconsistencies in South Africa's approach to the international protection of people of non-normative sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI). It seeks to understand why South Africa's support for SOGI rights in the international system has been inconsistent, by answering the following question: How can we understand South Africa's inconsistent approach to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) rights in the United Nations using Queer Theory? Using queer critical discourse analysis and Weber's queer logics of statecraft (Weber, 2016a; 2016b), SOGI rights discourses were studied at three levels. Firstly, the genesis of SOGI rights adoption within the post-apartheid South African policy and legislative frameworks. Secondly, providing contextual background, across the African continent since 1994. Thirdly, within dedicated SOGI debates at the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council since 2011, focussing on South African and African Group contributions. This analysis determined that SOGI rights have been challenged by claims of cultural, historical and religious traditions, which on the African continent have been framed as un-African and a rejection of neocolonialism from the global North. Despite the fallacy of this un-African claim, it has impacted on South Africa as it sought to re-establish its Africanness and anti-neocolonial credentials whilst also promoting its moral leadership on human rights. It has further been established that the South African approach to SOGI rights was informed by the demands of local rather than international SOGI rights NGOs. This approach has disappointed those who anticipate the Western model of SOGI rights promotion, which South Africa has critiqued for its coercive and counter-productive punitive measures. By using Queer Theory, this study concluded that South Africa's identity can be understood beyond monolithic binaries, that South Africa's support for SOGI rights in the UN has endeavoured to find a balance between the competing aims of SOGI rights and African solidarity by presenting itself as an African and/or un-African state. This study contributes to the emerging Queer Theory literature within International Relations and to literature on queer African sexualities and genders, human rights, and foreign policy.

Browsing by Subject "human rights"

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