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Chapter overview - conflict

1 August 2007, 07:47PM

Human rights and conflict

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"Conflict" includes conventional war, rebellion against an occupying power or dictatorship, clashes between ethnic groups, terrorism, and the responses to terrorist attacks. In each situation, governments, communities or individuals see others as a threat and take action to protect themselves.

These are situations in which human rights often come under pressure. Words may be censored, movement restricted and people imprisoned without a fair trial. Torture is one of the extreme human rights abuses that can occur in conflict situations.

This chapter explores how fundamental human rights can both be threatened and defended in times of conflict.

The chapter features:

  • Introduction: Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya
  • Scenario: investigative journalism
  • Human rights and conflicts in the AsiaPacific region: Lao People"s Democratic Republic, Vietnam and Nepal
  • Investigation: news coverage of human rights in the AsiaPacific region
  • Human rights under pressure: human rights and the "war on terror"
  • Should human rights be suspended at times of national emergency?
  • The "War on Terror": timeline
  • Australian counter-terror laws
  • Investigation: human rights and conflict
  • Attitudes to torture
  • The ladder of torture
  • Australia"s attitude to torture
  • A Human Rights Act for Australia and the New Matilda campaign
  • Human rights defender: Jumana Musa