Материал: Гольцева О.Ю. Международное право в официальных документах. Под ред. И.А. Горшеневой

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Exercise 12. Look at the headline of the article.

What do you think the article is about? Read the following article and see whether you guesses are correct.

Official: Al Qaeda hasn't gotten far in getting nuclear weapons

By Pam Benson.

Presidential adviser John Brennan said al Qaeda has been trying to get a nuclear weapon for 15 years.

Washington (CNN) – The president's top counterterrorism adviser says there is indisputable evidence that dozens of terrorist groups have sought weapons of mass destruction. But a U.S. intelligence official who is not authorized to speak for attribution said although al Qaeda clearly wants a nuclear weapons capability, it hasn't gotten very far.

"At this point, they don't appear to have made much progress, but we continue to review every bit of information that comes in to determine whether they've advanced their efforts in any way whatsoever," said the official. "Developing a nuclear device involves a highly sophisticated technical process, and al Qaeda doesn't seem to have mastered it based on what we know now".

The concern that terrorists will get hold of nuclear material and use it in an attack is a far greater threat than the older concern of global nuclear war, according to the president's Nuclear Posture Review.

At a briefing kicking off President Obama's nuclear security summit on Monday, presidential adviser John Brennan said al Qaeda in particular has been actively trying to acquire a nuclear weapon for the past 15 years.

"Al Qaeda is especially notable for its longstanding interest in weapons (of) useable nuclear material and the requisite expertise that would allow it to develop a yieldproducing improvised nuclear device", said Brennan.

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With a nuclear capability, al Qaeda would be able to achieve what Brennan called its sole objective.

"They would have the ability not only to threaten our security and world order in an unprecedented manner, but also to kill and injure many thousands of innocent men, women and children", he said.

Organized crime and criminal gangs are well aware of the terrorist group's interest in acquiring bomb-making materials, which has led criminals to pursue getting those items for their own profit, according to Brennan.

When pressed by reporters about whether there was specific intelligence indicating an active threat now, Brennan would only say, "I think you can point to a lot of al Qaeda activities and public statements that underscore their determination to carry out attacks against the U.S. and western interests".

Nuclear weapons expert David Albright said it is unclear what terrorists are up to and when they might act.

"That makes the problem urgent to try to remove or better secure the one thing we know they have to get, and that is either plutonium or highly enriched uranium," said Albright.

A new report released on Monday indicates there have been 18 documented cases of theft or loss of the two key ingredients of a nuclear weapon.

"Securing the Bomb 2010," a report from the Nuclear Threat Initiative, cites two incidents in particular. In November 2007, a group of armed men attacked a nuclear facility in South Africa that contained hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium. The men were stopped, but escaped capture. And in February 2006 a Russian man was arrested in the country of Georgia with nearly 80 grams of highly enriched uranium. There was some evidence suggesting the uranium came from a Russian nuclear fuel plant.

Albright also worries about whether Pakistan's nuclear stockpile is secure, despite assurances from both the U.S. and Pakistan that it is.

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Pakistan "has had many leaks from its program of classified information and sensitive nuclear equipment, and so you have to worry that it could be acquired in Pakistan", said the author of "Peddling Peril".

However the U.S. intelligence official said there is no indication that terrorists have gotten anything from Pakistan, and added there is confidence right now in Pakistan's security apparatus. The Pakistanis store their nuclear stockpile in a way that makes it difficult to put the pieces together; that is, components are located in different places. The official said Pakistan has put the appropriate safeguards in place.

Exercise 13. Debate the following questions.

1.Is the threat that terrorists will get hold of nuclear material and use it in an attack real?

2.What steps should be taken to prevent this threat?

OVER TO YOU

Comment on the following quotation. What modern global challenges are referred to? How should the governments combat terrorism and piracy? Do you agree with the ideas expressed?

“Because of their outlaw conduct, pirates – and modernday terrorists – put themselves outside protection of the law, according to military strategy expert Dave McIntyre, a former dean at the National War College."On the high seas if you saw a pirate, you sank the bastard," he says. "You assault pirates, you don't arrest pirates".

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LESSON 13

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION Starting up

Discuss the quotation.

“It has long been recognized that an essential element in protecting human rights was a widespread knowledge among the population of what their rights are and how they can be defended”.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Sixth UN Secretary-General, 1992-1996

Exercise 1. Answer these questions.

1.What are the basic human rights?

2.What international Human Rights organizations do you know?

Exercise 2. Read the text to see whether your answers were correct.

Human Rights organizations

Human rights organizations argue that basic moral standards should not depend upon where a person happens to live, especially since many of the governments of the world do not have popular political support among their citizens.

Moreover, in purely legal terms, most countries of the world have signed international agreements concerning the treatment of individuals.

Two examples of such agreements are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 without a dissenting vote, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted in 1966.

However, only half of the members of the United Nations have so far signed the Convention, and only 34 coun-

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tries have agreed to an Optional Protocol which allows individuals to seek redress in a court of law against violations of the Convention.

Human rights are recognized as fundamental by the

United Nations and in 1993 the General Assembly created the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR). When researching human rights issues, a distinction has to be made between Charter-based and treaty-based human rights bodies. The former derive their establishment from provisions contained in the Charter of the United Nations, hold broad human rights mandates, address an unlimited audience and take action based on majority voting. The latter derive their existence from provisions contained in a specific legal instrument, hold more narrow mandates, address a limited audience (i.e., only those countries that have ratified the legal instrument in question) and base their decision-making on consensus.

Charter-based bodies

The Human Rights Council was established by GA resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006. The Council meets at least three times annually and reports to the General Assembly (GA).

The Commission on Human Rights was established by the

Economic and Social Council resolution 5(1) of 16 February 2006. The Commission met in annual and, when required, special sessions and reported to the Economic and Social Council. The Commission concluded its final session in March 2006; its work is continued by the Human Rights Council.

Treaty-based bodies

The Committee against Torture was established pursuant to Article 17 of the Convention against Torture and Other cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to supervise the implementation of the Convention. The Committee meets in two sessions each year in Geneva.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was established to supervise the implementation of the In-