Montesinos' Legacy

Defining and Defending Human Rights for Five Hundred Years

Contributions by Pablo Adrián Arrocha Olabuenaga, Gregory Baum, Eve Bratman, Chelsea Clark, Erin B. Corcoran, Lisette Acosta Corniel, Kevin Edmonds, Kevin W. Gray, Charlotte Hulme, Betcy Jose, Ambrose Mary Little, Kenneth F. Maffitt, Daniel Mandell, Deirdre Martinez, David T. Orique, Karen A. O'Rourke, Arielle Pardes, Vincent J. Pastro, Rishi Rattan, Father Ezra Sullivan Edited by Dana E. Aspinall, Edward C. Lorenz, J. Michael Raley

Publication date:

21 January 2015

Length of book:

264 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

235x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781498504133

Montesinos’ Legacy brings scholars together in honor of the 500th anniversary of Dominican Antonio de Montesinos’ famous sermon in defense of the rights of the indigenous Amerindians. The collection addresses the historical context for this sermon, but also the continued relevance of Montesinos today. Montesinos’ Legacy examines the origins of human rights concepts in the West, the rights of indigenous peoples, the role of the Church in human rights, and human rights in Latin America.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Foreword: A Conference and a Celebration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Edward C. Lorenz
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Dana E. Aspinall
I. The Origins of Human Rights in Europe, Africa, and America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Foundation of Human Rights in Natural Universals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Ambrose Mary Little, O.P.
Vox legis in Bartolomé de Las Casas’ Brevísima relación de la
destruición de las Indias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Appropriateness of Juridical Approach to the Brevísima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Practical, Theoretical, and Analytical Juridical Approach in the Brevísima . . . . . . . . . 000
Structure of the Tract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Epistemological Rationale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Analytic Framework: Divine, Natural, Human Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Divine Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Natural Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Natural Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Human Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Justice, Equity, and Conscience: The Basis for Las Casas’
Ethical-Juridical Judgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Justice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Equity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Conscience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
A Voice on Behalf of the Suffering Voiceless of the New World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
David Orique, O.P.
Colonial Hispaniola: Fray Antonio de Montesinos and Spanish
Women’s Human Rights (1498-1549) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Lissette Acosta Corniel
Practice Makes Prejudice: Why the Conquistadors Did Not
Acknowledge Human Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Ezra Sullivan, O.P.
Would the Protected Please Stand Up? Historical Ambiguity in the
Distinction Principle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Distinction Principle in European Jurisprudence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Distinction Principle in Islamic Jurisprudence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Distinction Principle in African Jurisprudence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Betcy Jose
II. Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Indian Tribes and the Conundrum of Individual and
Collective Rights in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Communal Reserves and Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Community Challenged. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Indians and the Conundrum of American Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Daniel R. Mandell
Human Rights in Third Place: The Green Economy, Environmentalism, and
Social Justice in the Brazilian Amazon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Development Priorities and the Brazilian Amazon: 1966-1990. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Sustainable Development Takes Hold: 1990-2005. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Amazon’s “Green Development”: 2005–Present. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Brazil’s Record: Human Rights in Third Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Eve Z. Bratman
Thai Citizenship: An Issue of Imagined Communities
and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Chelsea Clark
III. The Role of the Church in Human Rights Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Catholic Church and Human Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Tension between Personal and Collective Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Religious Liberty and the Right to Proselytize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Gregory Baum
Antonio de Montesinos: Preaching Prophetically in Our Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
A Case Study of Injustice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Holy Preaching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Lessons for Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Vincent J. Pastro
IV. Human Rights in Latin America Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Aligning the Mexican Constitution with Its International
Human Rights Treaty Obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Pablo Adrián Arrocha Olabuenaga
Partial Truths: The Government and NGOs in the Construction of
Memory about Mexico’s Dirty War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Kenneth F. Maffitt
The United Nations and the Origin of Cholera
in Haiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Rishi Rattan and Kevin Edmonds
MINUSTAH and the Tragic Consequences of Peacekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Flawed Justification for a Continuation of MINUSTAH’s Mandate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Human Rights Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Post-Earthquake Human Rights Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Stabilization or Occupation? Geopolitical Influence within MINUSTAH. . . . . . . . . . . 000
Addressing the Roots of Insecurity in Haiti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Rishi Rattan and Kevin Edmonds
V. Governmental Public Policies, Non-Governmental Agencies, and
Human Rights in Theory and Practice Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Co-Originality of Public and Private Autonomy: Empirical or Theoretical . . . . . . . . . 000
Discourse Ethics and Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Co-Originality Thesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
The Status of Human Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Kevin W. Gray
The Crossroads of Globalization, Human Rights, and Rule of Law:
Proposing a New Taxonomy for the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Karen A. O’Rourke
The Special Court for Sierra Leone: A Critical Analysis of Efforts to
Address Impunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Sierra Leoneans’ Perceptions of the SCSL’s Limited Indictment Mandate. . . . . . . . . . 000
Research Methodology, Results, and Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Education Deficiencies and Gender Inequality in Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Charles Taylor’s Trial as a Case Study of the Court’s Limited Indictment Mandate. . . 000
War Victims’ Experiences and Their Perceptions of the SCSL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Implications of the SCSL Relevancy Question. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Choosing Between Multiple Audiences of International Criminal Courts
Choosing Goals for International Criminal Courts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Charlotte J. Hulme
Thwarting Justice: How Current U. S. Policy Fails to Hold
Human Rights Abusers Accountable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
U. S. Congress Acts: Opening the Courthouse Doors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Barriers to Charging Human Rights Violators Criminally: Prioritizing
Deportation over Prosecution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Statute of Limitations Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Recent Strides by the U. S. Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Expanded Jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Offices Dedicated to Investigating Human Rights Abusers
Living in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Strategic Deportations/Extraditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Erin B. Corcoran
From Condition to Problem: Forced Marriage in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Forced Marriage as Human Rights Abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Problem or Condition? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Rethinking Forced Marriage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Drawing Comparisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Transforming Cultural Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Introducing New Categories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Conclusion: Forced Marriage as a Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Deirdre Martinez and Arielle Pardes
About the Contributors and Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000

These proceedings constitute a truly extraordinary collection of essays on the legacy of Antonio de Montesinos’s sermon of 1511, arguably the most significant sermon in the history of the Americas. There is something for everyone here, from theologians to lawyers, priests and pastors, human rights activists, and all those devoted to the timeless theme of justice in its many manifestations.