International organizations, particularly after the Cold War, intervene increasingly into intra-societal processes and enter into direct authority relationships with individuals. Interventions for the purpose of building political institutions in societies emerging from violent conflicts are among the most obvious examples of this trend. In the course of such development, international organizations have sometimes violated the human rights of individuals that were affected by their policies. Among the most evident and pernicious of such violations are the cases of sexual exploitation in the context of UN and NATO peacekeeping operations. UN and EU sanctions regimes have also frequently been associated with human rights violations. Further, it is argued that the IMF and World Bank’s structural adjustment programs have also entailed human rights violations. Direct authority relationships between international organizations and individuals have simultaneously given rise to international organizations being directly approached with normative demands to protect the fundamental rights of individuals. This project investigates when it is that international organizations accept such demands and consequently introduce provisions that ensure the protection of human rights. More precisely, the project’s aim is to find out under what conditions international organizations respond to the criticism that one of their policies violates human rights by creating the necessary provisions to safeguard these rights. In doing so, we attempt to identify a causal mechanism as well as related pathways and general conditions. We also seek to determine whether reforms can be viewed as an indicator of the emergence of a new general norm. The project is intended to make a contribution to the research on the new modes of operation of international institutions in the era of globalization. Further, we hope to contribute to the advancement of research on the diffusion of norms, in general, and of human rights and the rule of law, in particular, by exploring the possibility of both vertical diffusion and horizontal diffusion on the international level.

Participating Researchers

Michael Zürn

Monika Heupel

Gisela Hirschmann

Theresa Reinold

Publications

Heupel, Monika/Hirschmann, Gisela/Zürn, Michael (2018): International Organizations and Human Rights: What Direct Authority Needs for its Legitimation, Review of International Studies 44:2, 343-366.

Heupel, Monika/Zürn, Michael, eds. (2017): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Heupel, Monika (2017): EU Sanctions Policy and the Protection of Due Process Rights: Judicial Lawmaking by the Court of Justice of the EU, in: Monika Heupel/Michael Zürn (eds.): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 129-151.

Heupel, Monika (2017): EU Sanctions Policy and the Protection of Subsistence Rights: Learning from the Forerunner, in: Monika Heupel/Michael Zürn (eds.): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 111-128.

Heupel, Monika (2017): Human Rights Protection in World Bank Lending: Following the Lead of the US Congress, in: Monika Heupel/Michael Zürn (eds.): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 241-272.

Heupel, Monika (2017): UN Sanctions Policy and the Protection of Due Process Rights: Making Use of Global Legal Pluralism, in: Monika Heupel/Michael Zürn (eds.): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 86-110.

Heupel, Monika (2017): UN Sanctions Policy and the Protection of Subsistence Rights: Fighting Off a Reputational Crisis, in: Monika Heupel/Michael Zürn (eds.): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 66-85.

Heupel, Monika/Hirschmann, Gisela (2017): Conceptual Framework, in: Monika Heupel/Michael Zürn (eds.): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 40-65.

Heupel, Monika/Zürn, Michael (2017): The Rise of Human Rights Protection in International Organizations: Results and Theoretical Implications, in: Monika Heupel/Michael Zürn (eds.): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 297-331.

Zürn, Michael/Heupel, Monika (2017): Human Rights Protection in International Organizations: An Introduction, in: Monika Heupel/Michael Zürn (eds.): Protecting the Individual from International Authority. Human Rights in International Organizations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1-39.

Heupel, Monika (2016): Human Rights Protection in International Organizations in the Era of Multi-level Governance and Legal Pluralism, in: Monika Heupel/Theresa Reinold (eds.): The Rule of Law in Global Governance, Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan, 149-179.

Heupel, Monika/Hirschmann, Gisela/Zürn, Michael (2014): Internationale Organisationen und der Schutz der Menschenrechte, Politische Vierteljahresschrift, Sonderheft 49: Internationale Organisationen: Autonomie, Politisierung, interorganisationale Beziehungen und Wandel (eds. Eugénia da Conceição-Heldt/Martin Koch/Andrea Liese), 423-451.

Heupel, Monika (2013): With Power Comes Responsibility: Human Rights Protection in United Nations Sanctions Policy, European Journal of International Relations 19:4, 771-795.

Heupel, Monika: Judicial Policymaking in the EU Courts: Safeguarding Due Process in EU Sanctions Policy against Terror Suspects (2012), European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 18:4, 311-327, Special Issue European Anti-terror Policies Ten Years after 9/11 (Eds. Donatella Della Porta/Lasse Lindekilde).  

Heupel, Monika (2009): Multilateral Sanctions against Terror Suspects and the Violation of Due Process Standards, International Affairs 85:2, 307-321.