Rendering Justice to the Vulnerable

Those involved in human rights, whether on a theoretical or a practical level, sometimes cannot help feeling that they are dancing on a tightrope stretched between two high trees above a deep ravine. On one side of the ravine, a jungle stretches out as far as the eye can see; a jungle which is ruled by the laws of the fittest; laws that have no regard for justice and vulnerability. On the other side of the ravine, justice has, in the course of time, changed the laws of the jungle into laws which include and protect vulnerable individuals in society. In this second volume in celebration of Theo van Boven's 65th birthday, a number of Theo's friends try to come to grips with the tension between the jungle of exclusion' and the ideal of inclusion', in the full knowledge that Theo has preceded them in a great deal of pioneering work. The volume opens with an interview with Theo van Boven. Topics covered in the present volume include (inter alia): pre-20th century bills or rights, Mandelstam as forgotten pioneer of human rights, racial and gender discrimination, the rights of the child and child abuse, the right to reparation, the role of bystanders, globalization of economic power, economic and social rights and the European Union, tobacco use as a human rights issue, illegally obtained evidence, human rights policies, cultural diversity, human rights funding, the African human rights system, follow-up action to state reporting, character of the views of the Human Rights Committee, the Human Rights Committee and gender mainstreaming, the UN Commission on Human Rights, and the International Criminal Court.