How Amnesty International Shaped Human Rights Politics Through Its Transnational Network

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Centralizing Principles: How Amnesty International Shaped Human Rights Politics through its Transnational Network A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science by Wendy H. Wong Committee in Charge: Professor David A. Lake, Chair Professor William J. Aceves Professor Fonna Forman-Barzilai Professor Peter A. Gourevitch Professor Miles Kahler Professor John D. Skrentny 2008 Copyright Wendy H. Wong, 2008 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Wendy H. Wong is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2008 iii To my parents, Boon and Carrie, and my sister Eileen. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……………………………………………………………………. iii Dedication………………………………………………………………………… iv Table of Contents……………………………………………………………...…. v List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………... vi List of Figures……………………………………………………………………. viii List of Tables…………………………………………………………………….. ix Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………… x Vita……………………………………………………………………………...... xiii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………… xiv Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter 2: Network Structure and the Political Construction of Norms…………. 27 Chapter 3: Liberal Discontents: The Struggle over Human Rights in Britain and the West……………………………………….…………….…... 63 Chapter 4: The Formation of Human Rights Norms in Amnesty International’s Network, 1961-1980…………………………………………………... 97 Chapter 5: When do Principles Become Norms? Comparing the International Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Oxfam International…….. 145 Chapter 6: Amnesty’s Rights as Norms: The Case of Economic Sanctions……... 192 Chapter 7: Conclusion…………………………………………………………..... 237 References………………………………………………………………………… 248 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AI Amnesty International ANC African National Congress BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CAAA Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act CAT United Nations Convention Against Torture CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CHF Swiss franc ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council FO British Foreign Office HRC Human Rights Commission IAHCR Inter-American Court of Human Rights ICM International Council Meeting (Amnesty International) ICCPR International Convention on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IEC International Executive Committee (Amnesty International) IGO Inter-governmental organization IISG International Institute of Social History vi IMF International Monetary Fund IS International Secretariat (Amnesty International) MFN Most Favored Nation MSF Médecins Sans Frontières NGO Non-governmental organization OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OHPP Oral History Pilot Project (Amnesty International) POCs Prisoners of Conscience PRC People’s Republic of China TAN Transnational advocacy network UA Urgent Action UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UK United Kingdom UN United Nations US United States USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics WTO World Trade Organization vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Three Archetypal Networks………………………………………….. 42 Figure 4.1: A Visual Representation of Amnesty’s Early Network……………… 111 Figure 6.1. Ratification Rates of Human Rights Treaties, 1973-2003…………… 199 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 5.1: How Network Structure Affects Norms………………………………. 148 Table 5.2: NGO Structure, Principles, and Norms……………………………….. 191 Table 6.1. Economic Sanctions Episodes by Decade, 1910-1999……………...... 205 Table 6.2. Human Rights Sanctions, 1910-1999: Amnesty’s Rights in International Politics………………………………………………….. 207 ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing a dissertation, like most things in life, require lots of help. I have been fortunate to have plenty of that, and hope that one day I will repay the energies that others have devoted to me. I would like to thank the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, the UCSD Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies, the Rohr Chair for Pacific and International Relations, and the Dean of Social Sciences for financial support that contributed to the completion of this dissertation. I was very fortunate in selecting open-minded and supportive individuals to serve on my committee. First and foremost, I would like to thank David Lake, who as chair of taught me how to think and act as a scholar. He read countless drafts, answered many more emails, made insightful editorial suggestions, and never wavered in his support of my project. Thank you for pushing me to be myself, and own my ideas. Miles Kahler, thank you for challenging me at critical turns, and taking my academic work to the next level by always being my most formidable and honest critic. Your support over the past four years was indispensable. Thank you to Fonna Forman-Barzilai, for being nothing but encouraging in my years in San Diego. You helped me through some tough early years, and I hope I have done you well as your “first student.” Peter Gourevitch for asking the some of toughest (perhaps unanswerable) questions, and for pushing me to think harder about NGOs. John Skrentny has pushed me to carry my ideas to their logical limit. Thank you for always reading, and your ever-incisive comments. Last, but x not least, William Aceves helped set up Amnesty connections, and gave me a legal lens through which to answer some of my questions. A number of faculty not on my committee also provided support. Thank you to Kristian Gleditsch, my go-to statistics professor and friend. Tracy Strong, who always pushed me in seminar, and continued in his encouragement of my work and development throughout my years. Harvey Goldman, who to this day has not ceased in giving warm words of encouragement. Thank you to all of the individuals in Amnesty International who contributed their time to this project, in particular, Scott Harrison and Ellen Moore. The world, and human rights activists, would be lucky to have more people like them. A big group hug to “IR writing group” – Lindsay Heger, Danielle Jung, Rob Brown, and Laura Wimberley. I learned a lot from all of you, particularly how to explain myself to people from varying empirical and theoretical perspectives. It means a lot that some of the most apt criticisms came from such good friends. Lindsay and Danielle – thank you for introducing me to violent non-state actors. Others who have helped along the way in less “work-related” capacities, without whom this project would not have been completed, either from despair or lack of people to pester with my ideas: Emily Matthews, for being a super roommate and a better friend through good times and bad; Lissa Ziegler, for excellent company and instant messaging to make work go faster; Nancy Gilson, for listening and delicious dinners; Cullen Hendrix, for being a good neighbor; and Andrew Poe, who on top of being a friend and conference buddy, read my work and fed my cat. xi Finally, this dissertation would not have been completed without the most important people in my life to give me love and support when I needed it most. Mom and Dad, of course, were right: I did have it in me, but sometimes I needed a little reminder and a little help with my progress in the form of restaurant meals and going home. Dad always has the perfect anecdote and perspective on graduate and academic life, and Mom has always been there to listen and reassure. Thank you for believing I could do this, and for making sure that I did. To my sister, who is more grown up than I ever was at her age, and to whom I owe a great debt, for staying up late nights to talk, and never saying no to ice cream. And to Theo, for being a fervent fellow sports spectator, an enthusiastic and formidable intellectual sparring partner, and most importantly, making sure I never stop learning. xii VITA Education: 2008 Ph.D., University of California, San Diego 2004 M.A., University of California, San Diego 2002 B.A., University of California, Berkeley Teaching: 2002-2008 Teaching Assistant, Department of Political Science and Dimensions of Culture Program, Thurgood Marshall College 2008 Associate in Political Science xiii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Centralizing Principles: How Amnesty International Shaped Human Rights Politics through its Transnational Network by Wendy H. Wong Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science University of California, San Diego, 2008 Professor David A. Lake, Chair International relations theory has posited that transnational advocacy networks (TANs) affect international human rights norms. Human rights norms are created through a political process that involves both state and non-state actors. I establish in this project the importance of network structure as a determinant for how well human rights principles advocated by transnational networks transition into international

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