The Weaponisation of Human Rights - Chase Madar, SOAS University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2015-10-26

http://www.soas.ac.uk/law/
This lecture titled "The Weaponisation of Human Rights" was given by   Chase Madar, Author of The Passion of [Chelsea] Manning: The Story behind the Wikileaks Whistleblower (Verso) at the School of Law, SOAS University of London on 14 October 2015. 

Discussants
Kevin Jon Heller, Professor of Criminal Law, SOAS 
Heidi Matthews, British Academy Newton Fellow

Human rights, once a rallying cry to free prisoners of conscience and curb government abuses, is now increasingly deployed as a case for war, from Yugoslavia to Iraq, from Libya to Afghanistan. Human rights lawyers in and out of government are weighing in on how wars should be fought: in the United States, the phrase "human rights-based approach to drones" passes without much comment in the legal academy and mainstream media. As the grandees of the human rights movement enter high office throughout North America and Western Europe, what is the effect of this legal doctrine on warfare–and vice versa?Will this blossoming relationship bring about more humanity in warfare? Or is human rights being conscripted into ever more militarized foreign policy?

We would like to apologise for the poor lighting of this recording.