Human Rights in the Global South (HRGS)

From Comfort to Conflict: Hotel Responsibilities and Water Rights in Yogyakarta

Yesaya Sandang — 2025-02-28

This article provides a socio-legal analysis of hotel responsibilities in upholding the human right to water, with a focus on Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It explores the obligations of hotels beyond legal compliance, examining relevant regulations and integrating primary data from interviews and observations of government agencies. The study identifies a significant disparity between statutory laws and their practical implementation, revealing tangible societal impacts. Furthermore, it highlights a gap between sustainable tourism discourse and the application of sustainable practices in hotel operations. Constraints and challenges within the existing legal framework for sustainable tourism are critically analysed, emphasising the need for reform. This research underscores the urgency of integrating water governance into the broader agenda of sustainable tourism, aligning with government priorities on tourism development. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative approach, utilizing socio-legal analysis to connect regulatory frameworks with real-world practices. By advancing discussions on sustainable practices in the hospitality sector, this study contributes significantly to the broader discourse on aligning tourism development with human rights and environmental sustainability. Its urgency lies in addressing the escalating water resource challenges amidst tourism growth. The study concludes by emphasising the need for policy adjustments to address the disconnect between legislative frameworks and practical implementation, providing actionable insights for policymakers and stakeholders. Its novelty lies in reframing water governance in hotels as a central issue within sustainable tourism, rather than a peripheral or niche concern.

Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Document Abuses and Amplify Marginalised Voices in Conflict Zones: Lessons from Afghanistan

Murtaza Mohiqi — 2025-03-06

This study critically examines the specific role of emerging technologies in safeguarding human rights amidst conflict, with a focus on Afghanistan as a compelling case study. Technology is explored not merely as a passive recorder but as an active agent of accountability, employing innovative applications like artificial intelligence and blockchain to ensure evidence integrity and strengthen legal recourse. Beyond traditional social media, the research highlights the transformative potential of technologies such as virtual reality and immersive storytelling in amplifying marginalised voices, providing these communities with platforms to share their experiences more effectively and engage global audiences.

The study also investigates context-specific communication strategies, showcasing how secure channels, mesh networks, and satellite communication help overcome barriers in conflict zones and ensure resilient information flow and emergency response. By analysing the Afghanistan case study, the research offers a critical examination of the ethical challenges, operational barriers, and practical implications associated with deploying these technologies. This analysis underscores the importance of a balanced and contextually nuanced approach, addressing not only the opportunities but also the limitations and risks—such as ethical concerns, sustainability, and accessibility—in leveraging technology for human rights protection. The findings offer actionable insights for policymakers, human rights practitioners, and technologists, providing a roadmap for strategically integrating technology into human rights efforts to create a more just and equitable response to conflict.

Violence and Democratic Backsliding in the Philippines under Duterte

Sol Iglesias — 2025-03-08

The administration of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte oversaw a systematic and widespread campaign of mass violence against civilians, raising concerns over potential crimes against humanity. While repressive violence often intensifies alongside democratic decline, the relationship between state-led violence and democratic backsliding remains insufficiently understood, particularly in weak democracies such as the Philippines. Existing scholarship on democratic erosion predominantly emphasises the weakening of electoral competitiveness and institutional checks and balances, often neglecting the role of state violence in facilitating backsliding. This study contributes to the literature by examining the impact of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign on democratic decline in the Philippines, arguing that state-led mass killings functioned as a mechanism for autocratisation while circumventing institutional resistance due to strong public support. To assess the relationship between violence and democratic backsliding, this study compares measurements from multiple democracy datasets, including the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset and the Democratic Erosion Events Dataset (DEED). By incorporating state violence as an analytical variable, the study demonstrates that democratic erosion commenced earlier and persisted longer than typically recognised. The findings reveal that while standard indicators of backsliding emphasise electoral decline, violations of civil rights—such as extrajudicial killings—must be systematically integrated into democracy assessments, particularly in contexts where democratic quality is already fragile. The Philippine case provides broader theoretical insights into how state-sponsored violence, framed as an anti-crime campaign, enables democratic backsliding without direct electoral repression. The study underscores the necessity of more comprehensive measures of autocratisation that account for coercive tactics beyond electoral manipulation, particularly in hybrid or weakly institutionalised democracies. Future research should further investigate the role of state violence in shaping democratic trajectories, refining the methodological approaches used to capture its impact on governance and institutional stability.