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This is a sequel to Human Rights and Scientific and Technological Development (UNU Press, 1990) and takes the studies further - from the generic to the specific -by exploring, through case-studies, the impacts of scientific and technological developments on human rights. The contributions by Aart Hendriks and Manfred Nowak (the Netherlands), Vitit Muntarbhorn (Thailand), Pawel Bozyk (Poland), Edgardo Lander (Venezuela), and Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabber (Ethiopia) touch on the complex relationship between human rights on the one hand and agricultural and industrial technology, biomedical technology, firearms technology, and the economic impact of technology on the other. They all stress the importance of technology for self-reliance and utilization of its advances to supplement rather than supplant traditional technologies, as well as a careful consideration of the potential and unintended implications for human rights. These case-studies will offer new grounds and avenues for furthering theories and promoting practical policy recommendations in the area of science, technology, and human rights.
Professor C.G. Weeramantry, who served as editor of the first volume, continued to coordinate the research and edit the results included in the present volume. In 1990 he was elected a judge of the International Court of Justice in the Hague. We wish to congratulate him on his election to this important international position and express our heartfelt gratitude for his excellent and dedicated work as editor of this volume.
We are happy to record with appreciation the support provided for the project by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Japan. We are also grateful to the UN Centre for Human Rights for its encouragement and cooperation in undertaking the research.
Roland J. Fuchs
Vice-Rector
The United Nations University