Failing to Protect: The UN and the Politicization of Human Rights

by Rosa Freedman

Every year tens of millions of individuals suffer grave abuses of their human rights. These violations occur worldwide, in war-torn countries and in the wealthiest states. Despite many of the abuses being well-documented, little seems to be done to stop them from happening. The United Nations was established to safeguard world peace and security, development, and human rights yet it is undeniable that currently is it failing to protect the rights of a great many people from the victims of ethnic cleansing, to migrants, those displaced by war and women who suffer horrendous abuse. This book looks at the reasons for that failure. Using concrete examples intertwined with explanations of the law and politics of the UN, Rosa Freedman offers clear explanations of how and why the Organisation is unable, at best, or unwilling, at worst, to protect human rights. Written for a non-specialist audience, her book also seeks to explain why certain countries and political blocs manipulate and undermine the UN s human rights machinery. Failing to Protect demonstrates the urgent need for radical reform of the machinery of human rights protection at the international level.

Genres: International Development

238 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2014

About the author

Professor Rosa Freedman researches on the United Nations, and has a number of interests within that area: human rights bodies, creation and implementation of international human rights law, human rights of vulnerable groups (with specific focus on women's rights, SOGI rights, and freedom of religion/belief), accountability for human rights abuses committed by UN actors, preventing sexual exploitation and abuse in conflict and crisis zones, and the intersection between international law and international relations.

Reviews

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enlightening and digestible introduction to the governance of int. law & human rights, including what works and what doesn't under existing mechanisms and treaties. Started reading it to better understand the work of the UN, the ICC and the ICJ concerning ongoing situations in Palestine, DRC, Sudan, Ukraine and similar. Especially liked that the author is pragmatic, scrutinised countries and situations across the globe, and often made visible biases / positionalities behind arguments. It is not an exhaustive or flawless exploration, but it is a helpful overview of the UN system for those without a background in law or politics. As someone working in the climate space, I actually found various similarities with the UN's environmental processes (UNFCCC, CBD), including hard truths about a system that isn't working but which we can't do without until something better is built.

[Arina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting read. As for someone who knows the field of human rights, I thought the book was a little bit repetitive and simplistic at times, however, I realise the target audience is not human rights specialists.
The arguments are illustrated by many examples (I really liked how diverse they were, the book doesn't talk only about Human Rights problems in the third world, which many books do, but inclusion of the West as well), with a sprinkle of personal stories of the author.
Good book, gives a new perspective and something to think about.

[Peacefully Snoozing by the Fire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew nothing really about the UN and its involvement in human rights until I read this book. If you’re a beginner to the subject it’ll be a little confusing and hard to digest. But I picked up many insights into how the system works and how it fails.