Volume 3 No 2

Contents

Editorial

Editorial of special focus: The impact of new technologies on human rights
by Diego Lopez & Veronica Gomez

Articles

The right to development and internet shutdowns: Assessing the role of information and communications technology in democratic development Africa
by Deborah Mburu Nyokabi, Naa Diallo, Nozizwe W Ntesang,Thomas Kagiso White & Tomiwa IIori

Are smart walls smart solutions? The impact of technologically-charged borders on human rights in Europe
by Bronagh Kieran, Fuensanta Amoros Cascales, Laura Thomi & Meredith Veit

Online assemblies between freedom and order: Practices in South-East Europe
by Andrea Jovanović, Edo Kanlić, David Savić, Goran Stanić & Kristina Ćendić

Big Brother in the Middle East and North Africa: The expansion of imported surveillance technologies and their supportive legislation
by Ola El-Ashy, Ilaria Maroni, Hazem Mizyed, Razan Nammar & Mohammed Al-Maskati

The impact of new information and communication technologies on the enjoyment of human rights in Latin America
by Andrea Arriola, Felipe Rivadeneira, Carlos Guzman, Mailen García & Claudio Nash

Dystopia is now: Digital authoritarianism and human rights in Asia
by Mark Anthony V Ambay III, Neha Gauchan, Mahesti Hasanah & Numfon K Jaiwong

Sustaining human rights in the era of new technologies: Case studies of Armenia, Belarus and the Kyrgyz Republic
by Aisuluu Abdubachaeva, Kristina Vavrik, Karen Ayvazyan, Mariam Mkrtchyan & Yuriy Nosik

Recent regional developments

Selected developments in human rights and democracy in 2018: Migration and asylum in Europe
by Lorenzo Durante Viola, Cristina Pugnale, Federica Russo,Tamara Siwczyk & Paloma Torres Lopez

Selected developments in human rights and democratisation during 2018: Could it have been worse? Mixed messages for democracy and human rights in the Asia Pacific
by Ravi Prakash Vyas, Mike Hayes, Nanang lndra Kurniawan & Longgina Novadona Bayo

Child protection and EU cooperation between Eastern Partnership countries during 2018, with focus on Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine
by Mariam Muradyan

Recent developments in sub-Saharan Africa during 2018
by Ashwanee Budoo, Adem Abebe, Stephen Buabeng-Baidoo & Henok Ashagrey

Democracy and human rights developments in South East Europe during 2018
by Odeta Berberi

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 5 of 15
  • Item
    Global Campus Human Rights Journal, Volume 3 No 2
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2019) [...]
    This is the fifth issue of the Global Campus Human Rights Journal. It consists of two parts. The first part provides a special focus on ‘technology and human rights’, an area of growing interest and concern. In seven articles devoted to this topic, authors from across the globe investigate this issue. These seven articles are based on papers that were presented at an event of the Global Campus of Human Rights at which students, lecturers and other scholars interrogated the topic ‘The impact of new technologies on human rights’. The Global Campus of Human Rights consists of the Global Campus Europe, South East Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, Caucasus, Latin America and the Arab World, with the participation of post-graduate students from their respective Master’s programmes in Human Rights and Democracy. The second part of this issue of the Journal contains a discussion of ‘recent developments’ in the fields of human rights and democratisation in five of the regions covered by the Global Campus of Human Rights. In this issue, developments during 2018 in five regions are covered: Europe, the Asia Pacific, the countries making up the Eastern Partnership, sub-Saharan Africa and South East Europe.
  • Item
    Editorial
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2019) [...]
    This is the fifth issue of the Global Campus Human Rights Journal. It consists of two parts. The first part provides a special focus on ‘technology and human rights’, an area of growing interest and concern. In seven articles devoted to this topic, authors from across the globe investigate this issue. These seven articles are based on papers that were presented at an event of the Global Campus of Human Rights at which students, lecturers and other scholars interrogated the topic ‘The impact of new technologies on human rights’. The Global Campus of Human Rights consists of the Global Campus Europe, South East Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, Caucasus, Latin America and the Arab World, with the participation of post-graduate students from their respective Master’s programmes in Human Rights and Democracy. The second part of this issue of the Journal contains a discussion of ‘recent developments’ in the fields of human rights and democratisation in five of the regions covered by the Global Campus of Human Rights. In this issue, developments during 2018 in five regions are covered: Europe, the Asia Pacific, the countries making up the Eastern Partnership, sub-Saharan Africa and South East Europe.
  • Item
    Editorial of special focus: The impact of new technologies on human rights
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2019) Lopez, Diego ; Gomez, Veronica
    The profusion of new technologies and of information and communication technologies in many aspects of individual and collective life is one of the defining features of our times. The advancement of new technologies in the twenty-first century – also known as the fourth industrial revolution – along with the expansion of the internet, social media and artificial intelligence has a direct impact on the way in which the public and private sectors and individuals interact. These new and transformational environments present opportunities and challenges when their practices are analysed in terms of rights.
  • Item
    The right to development and internet shutdowns: Assessing the role of information and communications technology in democratic development in Africa
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2019) Nyokabi, Deborah Mburu ; Diallo, Naa ; Ntesang, Nozizwe W. ; White, Thomas Kagiso ; Ilori, Tomiwa
    The right to development is generally assessed as an all-inclusive right. It is regarded as a rallying right in which all other rights are mostly realised. The progressive nature of the right to development in realising other rights as a benchmark to a society’s development has become popular even beyond legal jurisprudence to include other qualitative fields of knowledge. The role played by information and communications technology in the realisation of this right has also been acknowledged, particularly in the digital age. However, this progress has not been even across regions in the world. While some regions have experienced a fast-paced development due to ICT, several countries in Africa have been held back due to unfavourable state and non-state policies that have had negative impacts on human rights and democratic development on the continent. This article assesses the impact of ICT on the right to development, particularly as a rallying right, and the way in which the internet, a major component of ICT, has affected the right. The article especially considers the effects of network disruptions on human rights and democratic development that have become rife in the region. This study finds that there have been several human rights violations through ICT by many state and non-state actors in Africa. Most importantly, the article finds that these violations impede the right to development and pose threats to democratic development in the region. A conclusion is based on these findings and proffers feasible solutions to resolve the challenges posed by these violations. Key words: right to development; Africa; information and communication technology; digital age; internet shutdowns; democratic development
  • Item
    Are smart walls smart solutions? The impact of technologically-charged borders on human rights in Europe
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2019) Kieran, Bronagh ; Amorós Cascales, Fuensanta ; Thomi, Laura ; Veit, Meredith
    This article reviews new technologies on the external border of the European Union, and the human rights ramifications of these developments. It utilises a multi-disciplinary approach, writing on the emerging technologies themselves, their impact on vulnerable groups, legal developments relating to privacy, and the political context informing migration policy. The first part outlines emerging trends in border technology. The discussion relies on examples beyond the European Union to inform its analysis, including case studies from the United States border with Mexico. Technological developments considered include thermal imaging; biometric data; virtual reality; artificial intelligence; and drones. The second part explores how vulnerable groups will be affected by the collection of biometrics at the external border of the European Union. This part explores how algorithms, far from being objective arbiters, in fact are repositories for the bias of the manufacturer. The article postulates that to tackle the proliferation of bias, it is necessary to have a diverse workforce creating these systems. Third, the article addresses the regulatory framework on data privacy in the European Union. The significance of a right to privacy post-9/11 context is described. The conception of data privacy of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is set out. This part first analyses how GDPR has affected the processing and storage of data in the EU and, second, draws out the implications for the data of migrants. Special emphasis is placed on the concept of consent, and the ability of migrants to refuse the collection of their data is put into question. Finally, the article turns to the political context. Arguing that right-wing populism is not inherently opposed to new technologies, the article points to populists’ reliance on social media to garner support. Furthermore, it is advanced that the potential for migrants’ human rights to be impinged by new technologies is compounded by the influence of right-wing populism on migration policy. Key words: smart borders; surveillance; consent; privacy; biometrics; human rights; vulnerable groups; securitisation; technology; artificial intelligence