Human rights crises: VCE Politics Unit 3

What this dot point is asking

If your class studies a human rights crisis, you must analyse its causes, the actors' perspectives and interests, responses, challenges and effectiveness. The design stresses that under current international human rights law, rights are inherent, indivisible and universal, but not all states agree or abide by their obligations. Violations may flow from conflict, discriminatory policy, interconnectedness, economic imperatives or environmental degradation.

The answer

The legal and institutional background

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and binding treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights set standards.
• The UN Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights investigate and report.
• The International Court of Justice hears disputes between states. The International Criminal Court prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, but only has jurisdiction over crimes committed by nationals of, or on the territory of, states that have joined it (or accepted its jurisdiction), or when the Security Council refers a situation. The Myanmar investigation rests on crimes committed in part in Bangladesh, a State Party.
• Regional bodies such as the African Union and ASEAN have their own norms and sometimes mechanisms.

Case 1: the Rohingya in Myanmar

• Causes. Decades of discrimination against the Rohingya, including denial of citizenship, escalated into a military campaign in northern Rakhine State in August 2017 that forced more than 700,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. The February 2021 military coup and later fighting between the military and the Arakan Army added new violence.
• Cross-border effects. About 1.2 million Rohingya refugees live in Bangladesh, mostly in camps at Cox's Bazar (UN figures for 2026), which strains Bangladesh and affects the wider region.
• Responses. The Gambia, a state not directly involved, brought a case against Myanmar to the ICJ in 2019 under the Genocide Convention, and the court held hearings on the merits in January 2026 (check for the court's later judgment). The ICC has pursued the situation, and its prosecutor sought an arrest warrant for Myanmar's military leader in November 2024. ASEAN's "Five-Point Consensus" on Myanmar (April 2021) has produced little change, reflecting its policy of non-interference and the divergent interests of its members.
• Effectiveness. Legal processes keep the issue alive and set precedents, but have not ended violations or allowed safe return, and Myanmar's military government and its supporters have blocked pressure.

Case 2: Afghanistan

After the Taliban takeover in August 2021 the new authorities restricted women's education and employment. In July 2025 the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Taliban's supreme leader and chief justice for the crime against humanity of gender persecution. The Taliban do not accept the court's authority, which illustrates the gap between law and enforcement.

Challenges and stability or change

State sovereignty and non-interference; Security Council vetoes; limited ICC reach; access problems for investigators; competing interests of neighbours and great powers. The consequences include mass displacement, instability in neighbouring states and pressure for legal accountability.

Worked example

Question. Evaluate the effectiveness of international legal responses to a human rights crisis you have studied.

Model answer (Rohingya). Legal responses have been significant: the ICJ case brought by The Gambia, held to hearings in January 2026, and the ICC's actions against Myanmar's leadership show states and courts treating the abuses as matters of international concern. However, neither process has stopped abuses or enabled safe return, because Myanmar rejects accountability and enforcement depends on states. Judgement: legally important and normatively effective, practically limited.

Try this

Q1

What does it mean to say that human rights are universal? Model answer: They belong to all people everywhere regardless of nationality, so a state cannot claim that treatment of its own people is purely its own business.

Q2

Explain why ASEAN's response to Myanmar has been limited. Model answer: Its principle of non-interference and divergent member interests make it hard to apply pressure on a member state.

Q3

Describe one limit on the ICC. Model answer: It can only act over crimes committed by nationals of, or on the territory of, states that have joined it or accepted its jurisdiction, or where the Security Council refers a situation, and it relies on states to arrest suspects.