Human Rights Quarterly
Volume 37, Number 2, May 2015
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/human_rights_quarterly/toc/hrq.37.2.html

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After Amnesties are Gone: Latin American National Courts and the new Contours of the Fight Against Impunity
Naomi Roht-Arriaza
pp. 341-382
Abstract
Latin America is the one region that, in the wake of massive and systematic violations of human rights, has made inroads into trying such crimes in national courts. After decades in which cases were dismissed on grounds of amnesty, statutes of limitations, or other impediments to trial, these barriers have fallen in a majority of countries. This turnaround—while fragile and incomplete—is remarkable. It provides important and inspirational lessons for lawyers, judges, and advocates in other regions, and for international justice efforts. Cases involving international crimes in the courts of Latin American countries have experienced distinct phases. In the first phase, advocates confronted barriers to bringing the cases into court at all. In the second and current phase, courts are facing the challenges of organizing trials that involve hundreds of defendants and victims, or using the elements of crimes like genocide to show overall patterns of atrocity. A final, emerging phase shifts the focus from trial to punishment. This phase has led to creative—and controversial—propositions about reduced sentences, suspended sentences, and alternatives to imprisonment in cases involving international crimes.

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World Poverty: Rights, Obligations, Institutions, Motivations
Michael Freeman
pp. 439-463
ABSTRACT:
A common criticism of international human rights declarations is that they lack an adequate account of the corresponding obligations. This criticism is often thought to be particularly apt when applied to economic and social rights. International human rights law imposes these obligations on states, but critics object that this treats the problem (state behavior) as the solution. This article examines the question of the obligations corresponding to economic and social rights in the context of debates about world poverty. It argues that the legal and philosophical emphasis on obligations must be supplemented by an understanding of both institutions and motivations if practical progress to eradicate world poverty is to be made.

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Business and Human Rights Indicators to Measure the Corporate Responsibility to Respect: Challenges and Opportunities
pp. 511-555
Damiano de Felice
ABSTRACT:
Business and human rights indicators, ratings, and indices have proliferated in the past few years. Yet, measuring respect for human rights by corporations is not an easy task. This article offers an overview of the most prominent business and human rights measurement initiatives and draws attention to the normative, methodological, practical, and political challenges related to the production of valid and emancipatory measures of corporate respect for human rights. The objective is to move the debate forward, from the “if” (whether to use indicators) to the “how” (how to create better initiatives).