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PRESENTATI ON
Sur – I nt ernat ional Journal on Human Right s is a biannual publicat ion t hat pr esent s
an analytical and balanced standpoint on human rights in Southern Hemisphere countries.
With the aim to str engthen the South-South and the South-Nor th dialogue among human
right s act ivi st s, scholar s and UN of ficials, t his journal promot es a crit ical debat e on
several issues r elat ed t o t he t heme. I t br eaks away f rom a pseudo-consensus and opens
up spaces t o improve t he qualit y of t his discussion. I t t her efor e invit es dissent , since we
believe t hat a consist ent human right s doct rine will only be put int o place af t er a
wide-ranging exchange of ideas.
We fi r mly beli eve t hat t he infor mat ion t hat i s being pr oduced must be widely
publi ci zed and, for t hi s r eason, t hi s j our nal i s i ssued in t hr ee l anguages ( Engli sh,
Por t uguese and Spani sh) . Appr oximat ely 6,000 copi es of t he fi r st t wo i ssues have
been di st r i but ed f r ee of char ge in over 100 count r i es and, t o ensur e an ext ended
r eader shi p, we have made an unabridged ver sion avail abl e at <www.sur j ournal .or g>,
in t he t hr ee l anguages.
For t his edit ion, paper s have been submit t ed f rom t hir t een count ries ( Ar gent ina,
Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, I ndia, I r eland, Namibia, Nigeria, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda,
Uni t ed Kingdom, and Uni t ed St at es) . Af t er a sel ection by an I nt ernat ional Edi t ori al
Boar d, whose member s ar e human right s scholar s, specialist s and UN of ficials, we ar e
publishing eight cont ribut ions, one of which r epor t s on a r esearch project . The subject
mat t er s dealt wit h ar e: securit y and human right s; t rade and human right s; access t o
just ice on domest ic and int ernat ional levels; and land r eform.
Two paper s cont ri but ed by par t i ci pant s of t he Knowl edge Devel opment Gr oup,
or ganized by Sur in April 2005, focus on t he subject of trade and humanrights. Caroline
Dommen discusses mechanisms t hat , by prot ect ing human right s, act ually f avor t he t rade
process t o lend mor e flexibilit y t o t he TRI PS Agr eement for medical dr ugs, and shows
how t he Doha Declarat ion and t he 2003 Decision of t he TRI PS Boar d ar e insuf ficient t o
ensur e a r educt ion in prices and t he negot iat ion of volunt ar y licenses.
Tracing a bridge bet ween security and human rights, t he ar t icle of Bernar do Sor j
deals wit h t he concept of human securit y applied t o L at in American problems.
Four ar t icles – cont ribut ed by Alber t o Bovino, Nlerum S. Okogbule, M aria José
Guembe and José Rober t o Cunha – discuss dif f er ent aspect s concerning access to justice,
on domest ic and int ernat ional planes. From an int ernat ional per spective, Bovino dwells
on t he peculiarit ies of evidence evaluat ion conduct ed by t he I nt er-American Cour t of
Human Right s, underlining t he flexibilit y shown by t his jurisdict ional body in dealing
wit h grievous inf ringement s of right s. Okogbule weighs t he specific obst acles hampering
access t o just ice in t he Nigerian cont ext . Guembe discusses t he decision of t he Supr eme
Cour t of Ar gent ina, whi ch deemed unconst i t ut ional t he amnest y l aws t hat benefi t ed
milit ar y per sonnel involved in violat ions of human right s during t he dict at or ship. Cunha
pr esent s t he r esult s of his sur vey among magist rat es in t he st at e of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, as t o t he ext ent of t heir f amiliarit y wit h and t heir act ual use of int ernat ional law
in issues involving human right s.
L and r eform in Namibia is t he t heme of t he t ext by Nico Horn, who consider s t he
implicat ions of t he colonizing process and cust om-law.
Al t hough ver y vari ed in t hei r t hemes and approaches, al l t hese paper s shar e a
common point of depar t ur e – t he cont ext ualizat ion of human right s – at t empt ing t o
cont ribut e t o t he r econst ruction of t hese right s, wit h a view at t heir implement at ion,
and t o ensur e a bet t er coverage of local and r egional demands.
We ar e wrapping up t his issue wit h a summar y of t he plan of action submit t ed by
t he High Commissar y for Human Right s, L ouise Ar bour, who proposes mechanisms t o
