Jueves, 15 de diciembre de 2005

Jessica Almqvist, Researcher in the Human Rights Section, FRIDE Madrid and Adjunct Instructor, New School University, New York (JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICIE, DIC/05).

This article analyses the impact of cultural diversity on international criminalproceedings, and what may be done to counter the unfortunate conditions ç limited(or lack of) understanding, alienation and disagreement ç resulting from this diver-sity.Eachoftheseconditions,ifignored,seriouslyunderminesnotmerelytheefficacy of international criminal tribunals, but also their worth fromthe standpoint of those who are supposed to benefit from them, i.e. actualparticipants (accused, witnesses and victims) and affected populations. At present,international criminal tribunals primarily understand the problem of culturaldiversity as one of how to cope with linguistic variations. However, a persistentfocus on culture as language hides differences in terms of other culture-specificcomponents of equal relevance to their work, notably socio-cultural norms andconvictions about justice. These variations are especially difficult to tackle. In thiscontext, the article examines whether national courts, which are assumed to conducttheir proceedings in more culturally homogenous settings, offer more appropriatefora of adjudication of grave crimes under international law.

Leer artículo completo en formato PDF.

Mikel Azurmendi es sociólogo y antropólogo. Profesor de la Universidad del País Vasco (Cuadernos de Pensamiento Político nº 8, FAES, DIC/05).

El significado de las migraciones cambia de signo desde el momento que la demarcación entre el yo/nosotros y el ellos/otros está situada en la perspectiva de los derechos humanos. Tras la Shoah ha emergido una nueva era para los emigrantes (1945, Carta de San Francisco; 1948, Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos; 1976, Pactos Internacionales, de «Derechos Civiles y Políticos» y de «Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales»). Ser extranjero ya no implica no tener derechos. Existen, pues, diferencias sustanciales entre emigrar a USA entre 1860-1920 (25 millones de europeos emigraron allá) y emigrar ahora a Europa.…  Seguir leyendo »