Temporal Inequalities and International Human Rights Law

The presentation aims to shed light on the need to consider colonial temporalities when researching international human rights law, especially in relation to indigenous peoples. Temporal concepts are integral to the language, function, and monitoring of human rights treaties. In the context of economic, social, and cultural rights, the role of time is particularly significant. The notion of progressive rights-realisation, as outlined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, creates a temporal space where subjects of rights need to remain until it is their turn to have their rights fully realised. The timing of this realisation is influenced by a variety of constantly changing factors: for example, how different actors – states, civil society organisations, and the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – use time in imagining human rights.

Despite the Sámi people’s long-lasting presence in the area which is currently recognised as Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, their recognised presence in the realm of economic, social, and cultural human rights is quite recent. In the context of Sweden, it was not until the mid-1990s that the Sámi were explicitly mentioned during the review process of Sweden’s implementation of the ICESCR. Moving from being made invisible in the earlier years, to being included in brief statements, the Sámi people's rights-concerns are becoming increasingly centred. Similarly, various actors engaging with international human rights law are increasingly invoking time. However, the uses of and control over time in the context of the Sámi people are impacted by the colonial legacies in the region. Thus, the focus of this presentation is to reflect on the way (legal) times operate in relation to the use of power within the context of Nordic states and the Sámi people's human rights.