Global Campus of Human Rights Journal vol 2(2018)

Abstract

This is the third issue of the Global Campus Human Rights Journal. It consists of five articles of a general nature, covering a diversity of geographic and thematic concerns, and five reviews of recent regional developments in human rights and democracy, covering 2017.
The articles in the first part of this issue deal with global concerns, in the process placing the spotlight on countries in three regions in particular: Europe, Latin America and Africa. One of the articles, by Vancutsem, is a complement to the special focus on securitisation in the immediately preceding issue (2017 No 2) of the Global Campus Human Rights Journal. This contribution analyses three proposals impacting on freedom of religion following terrorist attacks in Flanders, which is one of the federal units making up Belgium. In his article, Orago examines the role of legal and policy frameworks in more effectively addressing one of the most pervasive global challenges: food insecurity. Two articles deal with Latin America. Taking an expansive view, Mazzei situates his contribution against the background of increasing populism and new democratic leadership models in the region. Gómez Isa focuses on a particular issue (the forced displacement of indigenous peoples) in a specific country in the region (Colombia). Naluwairo traces developments in the Ugandan military justice system, posing the question of to what extent the right to a fair trial has been and continues to be compromised within the setting of military trials.
As in earlier issues, the second part of the issue reviews and analyses regional developments related to human rights and democracy during the previous year (2017). This issue covers developments in the Arab world, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Asia Pacific and the countries making up the Eastern Partnership (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine).
In all five regions, rising populism, fundamentalism and extremism challenged the tenets of democracy. In Europe (The Netherlands, France and Germany), right-wing, nationalist and Eurosceptic parties rode the wave of populism to increase their political influence as a result of elections. In Zimbabwe, a dangerous precedent was set when the removal through military intervention of the incumbent, President Mugabe, was met with little international condemnation.