Reading Comprehension

What would be required for successful direct protection of human rights?
The authority to command violating parties to do otherwise? The ability
to enforce such a command? Overwhelming political pressure directed
against human rights violations to the exclusion of other interests? No
United Nations human rights body has such authority and power.


The United Nations' primary raison d'etre in the human rights field as
acted upon by the Human Rights Committee is long-term. It may be that
the sum total of UN activity in this field is supposed to socialize or
educate actors into changing their views and policies on human rights
over time toward a cosmopolitan human rights standard as defined by
United Nations instruments. Conversely one can say that the entirety of
UN human rights activity is to dispense or withhold a stamp of legitimacy
on member states according to their human rights record. It can be
persuasively argued that in some cases a ruling regime lost ground in its
struggle for legitimacy in the eyes of important actors because of
violations of aforementioned rights. The United Nations' definition of
human rights probably contributed to the process.


At some point, socialization and manipulation of legitimacy must
directly change specific behaviour and must lead to direct protection by
some actor. In a few situations this linkage can already be demonstrated.
In the case of Filartiga v. Peña Irala in the United States, a federal court
held torture to be prohibited by customary international law, using United
Nations instruments and actions as part of its reasoning. "•Once a tort can
be considered to be in violation of the law of nations, Sec. 1350 allows
immediate access to a federal court.... It is now generally accepted by the
United States and the vast majority of other member nations of the
United Nations that gross violations of human rights are, as a matter of
international law, a legitimate concern of the world community."– This
case opened the possibility of express prosecution of torturers of any
nationality who appear in the jurisdiction of the United States. Other
courts in the U.S. have also used United Nations instruments and
activities as part of their decisions, and other states beyond the U.S.
show some influence from UN instruments in their legal and
administrative decisions. The 1998 Pinochet extradition case in London,
described by Human Rights Watch as a "•wake-up call"– to tyrants
everywhere, was decided on the basis that both Britain and Chile had
ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture.


1. According to various points made by the author of the passage, all of the
following are ways in which the UN can exert influence over human rights
EXCEPT:
A. by persuading member states to change certain laws to avoid
human rights violations.
B. by enforcing a UN command to cease any behaviour that does not
adhere to UN standards.
C. by recognizing certain countries based on their human rights record.
D. by affecting the legal and political policies of member states.
E. by providing a stamp of legitimacy to some member countries


2. The passage suggests that the author would most likely agree with which
of the following statements?
A. The UN has done little to affect the protection and establishment of
human rights.
B. Human rights violations should be the primary concern of the UN.
C. International policies can be influenced by UN activities and
proclamations.
D. Future human rights court cases may turn to UN policies for
assistance.
E. The UN needs to be given military powers


3. The author mentions the case of Filartiga v. Peña Irala primarily in order
to:
A. describe United Nations human rights activity that led to direct
protection by an actor.
B. demonstrate the dangers of the UN's concentration on long-term
effects.
C. provide evidence that torture is prohibited by international law.
D. cite a case in which the UN withheld legitimacy from a target state.
E. cite a case wherein UN intervention proved futile


4. Regardless of what the rest of the passage might be arguing, the author's
principal concern in the first paragraph is most likely to:
A. propose changes that would increase UN effectiveness in enforcing
human rights.
B. indicate indirectly the shortfalls of UN human rights activity
concerned with short-term change.
C. explain the UN's function in the field of human rights by giving
examples.
D. describe the major activity of the UN in the field of human rights
E. to praise the policies of the United Nations

OA BDAB

I would like to know how tough u found this passage and the time required to complete the passage .