International Law and Human Rights Values in Foreign Policy
By: Jason Ferdinand Wijaya
Tags: International Relations, International Affairs, Human Right Law, Human Rights, International Law

By: Jason Ferdinand Wijaya

Image Credit: shutterstock.com

International Law and International Human Rights Values both of them had shared a similarity as the international factors determinants in decision-making of foreign policy. As many nation-states adopting the liberal democracy ideology in the last decades, which led to significant development of international law and international human rights in international system.

The international law is generally defined as a set of rules that regulates the interactions and relations between states. The existence of international law which become the international norms limits the freedom to maneuver of states in the system. It is constituted by interstate agreements and treaties and thus, does not entirely favor every states interest. That been said, international law regulates the foreign policy of states and has a binding function in foreign policy as it offers a legal framework through which states should interact. According to the Positivist view that states actually obey and comply with international law as the set of rules, because its constraints the making and enacting of their foreign policy (As, 2018).

Meanwhile, the international human rights values are internationally agreed values, standards or rules regulating the conduct of states towards their own citizens and non-citizens. Human rights are in the words of the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”. The international human rights values help as a policy for governments in protecting the rights of people of their own countries. Human rights have similarly become part of the foreign policy of many nations (Khara, 2018).

Both of international law and international human rights values act as the constraints in enacting of their foreign policy and the state conducts. As the international human rights values become part of international law as international human rights law which lays down obligations to the states that are bound to respect. By becoming parties to international treaties, states assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfil human rights. The obligation to respect means that state must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights. The obligation to protect requires states to protect individuals and groups against human right abuses. The obligation to fulfil means that states must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights. The human rights concern by policy makers in foreign policy also can affect other government to improve the respect for human rights (International Human Rights Law, 2020).

The U.S human rights foreign policy always play the role in America’s foreign policy history. Because this country was founded on a constitution and bills of rights that proclaimed freedom and individual liberties. In the late 1970s human rights were explicitly made a major part of U.S foreign policy formulation. The U.S President Jimmy Carter declared human rights to be a “central concern” of foreign policy. President Jimmy Carter embraced the human rights policy proposed by Congress, which aim to advancing freedom internationally in line with America’s values and would serve the national interest; following the principle of international law, in which the United States had a legal right and responsibility to promote human rights; together with other objectives such as political, economic, and military goals in its bilateral relations (Cohen, 2008). The U.S become the main actor championed the human rights values in their foreign policy following their own principle (America’s Values) and the principle of international law, in which also become the role model for other countries to follow the suit.

For instance, in the case of South Africa under apartheid regime face the public uproar and criticism during the violence erupted in 1983. As the result, U.S Congress in 1986 enacted the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which introduced trade and financial sanctions against South Africa and lent support to the anti-apartheid opposition. Moreover, this sanctions in time helped influence the South African government to end the apartheid system (Cohen, 2008). That why the writer concluded that international human values and the international law could shaping the foreign policy of the states in international system as the main guiding moral principles.

References

As, B. (2018). The Study of Foreign Policy in International Relations. Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs, 06(04). https://doi.org/10.4172/2332-0761.1000337

Khara, N. K. (2018). Determinants of Foreign Policy: A Global Perspective. 5(3), 11.

Cohen, R. (2008 ). Integrating Human Rights in US Foreign Policy: The History, The Challenges, and The Criteria for an Effective Policy. Foreign service Institute .

International Human Rights Law . (2020, October 14 ). Retrieved from United Nation Human Rights Office of High Commisioner: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/internationallaw.aspx