...Human Rights (Week 3) * Most important document in the history of human rights: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed in 1948, following WW11 and its horrors (Holocaust: Systematically killing of people who are not considered pure (Aryan)) * Nazi’s perception: The Aryan is the most extreme form of the White Man’s superiority * None voted against the UDHR, 8 abstained. China did not enter the UN until 1971, China did not have a say in the UDHR. * Middle Eastern countries had a problem with declarations like Freedom to change Religion. A few ME countries signed UDHR, but have their own laws that supersede the UDHR. * Singapore’s own constitution supersedes the UDHR. * UDHR gives humanity a lot of freedom, however, this also goes against some of the world’s most prominent societies and religions. * ICCVR and ICESCR signed in 1966 plus a lot of individual conventions on human rights (genocide, women’s rights, children’s rights etc) Ignatieff: * Different interpretations of Religious Texts lead to different societal norms. * Is it the economic base that determines the culture and laws of society or is it the other way around? Is it both ways? * Prolong imperialism through moral and cultural means, intellectual hegemony, and devious attempt to extent cultural hegemony over the rest of the world. Criminal Justice * The social contract * Punishment: Authoritative Imposition- Who decides what is deemed as inappropriate...
Words: 286 - Pages: 2
...or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18, http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml, accessed 14th March 2014) This essay will show that the rights protected in Article 18 - as with many other Articles of the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) are protected to varying degrees – to not at all, depending on where you live, the level of democracy in your society, culture and lastly; external factors that dominate ordinary democratic processes and because of the forces applied by the geopolitical and economic forces of the day. The essay will show this by illustrating often controversial and disputed examples of violation on religious freedom in France, Saudi Arabia and Burma (Maynamar) and testing the principles of UDHR on those cases whilst also considering the socio-economic and political drivers. Simply defining human rights and its elements can be complex. This is shown in the minor disagreement between the drafters of the UDHR as described later below. This essay will also use the European Convention of Human Rights and UN Resolution 36/55 - UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief as a yard stick to also measure and show religious intolerance in the above cases. Drafting UDHR The end of the Second World War ushered in a period global self-reflection at the horror inflicted on millions of...
Words: 2172 - Pages: 9
...Case for the Human Rights Principles "Social responsibility is a matter of hardheaded business logic. It’s about performance and profits, and attracting the best people to work for you." John Browne, Chief Executive, BP How does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights relate to business? * Many human rights listed in the UDHR are directly relevant to business and concern issues which many companies routinely address in their day-to-day operations. These include the labour-related rights, freedom from discrimination, the right to health, the right to privacy, to mention but a few. * States have a duty to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of their citizens and of people living in their territories. However, it was understood by the Member States of the United Nations when adopting the UDHR that achieving universal enjoyment of the rights would require immense efforts by all, including business. States therefore included in the UDHR a call on "every individual and organ of society" to strive to promote respect for the rights included in the UDHR and "to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance." * The UDHR also makes it clear that everyone – and this is considered to include business – have duties to the communities with regard to human rights How can business benefit from promoting and respecting human rights? Business increasingly needs a stable international environment in which to operate. Many companies have realized the benefits...
Words: 1057 - Pages: 5
...Congress Jeanine Cali writes, during the 19th century, Britain placed a sedition law in its colonies of India; today, that law is being used to deny Indian citizens their freedom of speech and opinion. In India, underage and forced marriage and the freedom of expression of opinion are ongoing human rights abuses; they violate articles 16 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, also known as UDHR. Currently, in India, children of young ages are being forced into illegal marriages which all violate Article 16 of the UDHR. “Because the wedding was illegal and a secret, except to the invited guests, and because marriage rites in Rajasthan are often conducted late at night, it was well into the afternoon before the three girl brides in this dry farm settlement in the north of India began to prepare themselves for their sacred vows” (Gorney). Gorney explains that the three weddings were to occur during the night as all of the marriages were illegal under Indian marriage laws. Although underage, forced marriage is illegal in India, the country is violating the tenets of the UDHR because as the article later states, they are aware that there are daily ceremonies happening country-wide, but they still have not taken many actions to stop this violation of human rights (Gorney). According to Rohini Mohan, an India based journalist, UNICEF has discovered that one in three of the world’s...
Words: 768 - Pages: 4
...countries are fighting to have their abortion laws repealed. There are many laws that answer to the question of abortion. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article (6) says “Every human being has the inherent right to life, this right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of their life.” The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a General Assembly Declaration adopted in 1948 and it includes provisions such as: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Article 3- Everyone has the right to life and liberty. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel and in-humane treatment. Both the UDHR & ICCPR set out the right to life and that is very clear. Also both the UDHR &ICCPR evidently don’t adequately address the issue of abortion, primarily because these two aspects of international law do not speak decisively on the issue of abortion. This “lack of decisiveness” is most evident because neither the UDHR nor the ICCPR state when life begins. So it can be stated that a level of ambiguity surrounds the UDHR & ICCPR as it relates to the issue of abortion. The question/issue of abortion is better addressed by the American Convention on Human Rights. American Convention on Human Rights Article 4(1)-“every person has the right to have his life respected; this right shall be protected by law and in general...
Words: 1349 - Pages: 6
...Critically evaluate the proposition that all human beings possess equal and inalienable rights, and that they are entitled to such rights without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that each individual human being is entitled to. Human rights assert that humans are given certain entitlements simply for being a human. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscious and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 2010). They were developed in a democratic and universal manner. Throughout the world, human rights are acknowledged in various ways, such as shared norms of human moralities, justified moral norms, natural rights, or legal rights which are enforced at either a national level or within international law. However, the concept of human rights has been a heated topic of debate, as there is no consensus as to what should or should not be considered a human right. Human rights are relatively modern, only being in force for just over 50years, however the foundation of this concept is seen in the history of philosophy and concepts of natural law, rights and liberties in classical Greece and the development of Roman Law. Human rights concepts have existed for a lot of human history; however these liberties...
Words: 2183 - Pages: 9
...examine the various roles played by United Nations in fueling the genocide. The third section will examine 21 century events, and how United Nations has chosen a back player in preventing the occurrences of these genocides. The secondary section will attempt to examine the role played by International Criminal Court and how it has been challenged in limiting genocide events. Background Research has attempted relate the end of the holocaust and the emergence of non-allied political movements and arms race to contemporary genocide. Besides, a close consideration of this discussion is the commencement of 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and how they took center stage in political philosophy. Primarily, the global community was integral in empowering the UDHR. The discussion will on category attempt to examine how UDHR was...
Words: 3536 - Pages: 15
...The Rwandan genocide seems to be the forgotten civil war that the world does not talk about. The conflict between the Tutsis and Hutus dates back centuries and has escalated until it reached a boiling point in 1994 when the hundred-day genocide was planned and executed by the Hutus onto the Tutsis. It was an utter disregard for human right by the world when no one responded to this atrocity and even abandon and proposals to assist. On December 10th, 1945 the United Nations (UN) approved the Universal Declaration of Human Right (UDHR) following the atrocities of World War II. The UDHR was to ensure that such atrocities would never happen again, and just a short forty-nine years later the UN pulls peacekeepers out of Rwanda because of the genocide that was in direct violation of...
Words: 1583 - Pages: 7
...Nations Human Rights Council. Topic: The Question of the Abuse of Foreign Labourers in the Modern Society. Main Submitter: Peru Signatories: Denmark, India, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Cambodia, Ecuador, Uganda, Kenya. The Humans Rights Council, Affirms that all humans are entitled to their rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Deeply concerned with the Human Rights violation on foreign labourers in today's society. Reaffirming this council's commitment to resolve the issues pertaining to the abuse of foreign labourers. Trusting that the council should be aware of cases that violate human rights amongst foreign labourers. 1. Encourages all states to recognise that foreign labourers should be observed under the same laws of that of a worker from that state itself in accordance with article 6 of the UDHR 2. Emphasises additional authoritative bodies and increase establishments of Non-Governmental of Organisational to oversee the rights are not isolated, and to provide equal means of justice in accordance with Article 10 of the UDHR. 3. Calls upon all states to ease the process of gaining permanent residency for foreign labourers who have been serving in that particular state for a period of at least 5 years, hence a) further invites countries to push up the barriers of entry (immigration) for foreign labour by examining I. the occupancy of basic language skills - depending on which country the potential...
Words: 380 - Pages: 2
...According to the UDHR article 2, every nation is entitled to it's own freedom and independence and no distinction shall be made on the basis of political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs to. This emphasizes that a nation has no right to interfere in the affairs of another's such as Syria where the conflict of the country is with its own people and their government. In Rwanda which began with the colonization by Belgium and the segregation of the minority of the Tutsi and majority Hutus and the empowerment of the minority group. And finally in Ethiopia where the work force is dominated by children and young adults which is essential to their economy. Therefore it is important that a country should be entitled as nation to govern its own affairs and grow independent of the international community inference. The uprising in Syria is an internal conflict between the opposition ( Syrian citizen ) and the military group. In the opposition there are different groups who are fighting against each other and the half who are opposing the military to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad. Although the Syrian army are persecuting the rebel groups some innocent Syrian citizen are caught in the cross fire. The International community should not get involved because it is an internal conflict that should be resolved by the country. Due to the lack of knowledge of the underlying problems and there limited understanding of the countries'...
Words: 672 - Pages: 3
...The UDHR was adopted on 10 December 1948 by the General Assembly by a vote of 48 in favour, none against, and eight abstentions: the Soviet Union, Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, People's Republic of Poland, Union of South Africa, Czechoslovakia, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On the one hand, according to some authors, each of them had their own reason to abstain. Saudi Arabia probably did not agree with articles 18, everyone has the right “to change his religion or belief”, and 16 that talks about equal marriage rights. Furthermore, in the case of South Africa, they were trying to protect their system of apartheid since they were violating many of the articles. Moreover, from the point of view of the communist nations, the UDHR did not condemn enough fascism and Nazism (Danchin). Additionally, the USSR based their abstention on article 13, which states the right of citizens to leave their countries because they did not agree with it. (Glendon, 2001) On the other hand, other authors, such as Hofstede, classify them as a group when it comes to cultural value dimensions. Two of the values he remarks is the masculinity and the power distance there is between individuals in those cultures. For example Saudi Arabia and South Africa have a cultures were masculinity prevails in front of femininity, what is the same, they have a strong masculinity side. These cultures tend to be more competitive, have preference for achievement, assertiveness...
Words: 431 - Pages: 2
...need for us to understand what they really mean. The purpose of the present essay is to bring forward the differences between Human Security and Human Rights, regarding the fact that they are very similar and complementary, and also to understand the implications that the emphasis in the concept of Human Security have for the States foreign policy and for the international order and justice. The essay is composed by an introduction, a main body where we develop the answers for the research questions, a conclusion and finally the references. 2. The Prominence of the Concept Human Rights in International Relations 3.1. Human Security different from Human Rights? Despite the fact that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in 1948, due the debate raised because of the Holocaust, the WWII and many others factors, it is known that Human Rights gained more emphasis in the post-Cold War period, when the emergence of new wars (no longer conflicts between nation-states, but intra-state conflicts opposing individuals or communities inside the State mainly characterized by ethnic causes or political identity issues) started to threat the fundamental rights of the individual, such as the right to live. And the...
Words: 1597 - Pages: 7
...Human Rights (UDHR) number 26, each person has “the right to go to school and everyone should go to school” (UDHR). Children that do not go to school, because they are busy working for their parents, helps to portray that these rights are being violated. Both women and children are having their education rights violated. Malala Yousafzai tried to speak out against the education rights in Pakistan, and when she did she received death threats from the Taliban, which develops on the absence of education rights for women and children. While the Taliban had a brief rule over certain places in Pakistan, they “…destroyed more than 400 schools” arguing that “Women (and girls) should stay in the home” (Vutz 1). The Taliban was so against the concept that women do not need an education, that they deprived not only women, but children from their rights toward an education. This should be considered totally wrong, and should not be supported. Malala tried to speak out against the education abuse that was happening, but instead “Malala and her father were receiving death threats…” for McKittrick 4 speaking out against the lack of education rights in Pakistan. She had only been 11 years-old when she began receiving death threats. The Taliban openly threatened to kill an innocent young girl, only because she had an opinion. This violated the UDHR number 19, stating that “you have the right to think what you want, to say what you like, and nobody should forbid you from doing so” (UDHR). The Taliban...
Words: 1115 - Pages: 5
...Human Rights 1. The nature and Development of human rights The definition of human rights * Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) sets out the fundamental purpose for recognizing human rights * In the general sense, human rights refer to basic rights and freedoms that are believed to belong to all human beings * As stated in the UDHR, these rights differ from ordinary rights under domestic law as they are considered to be universal, inalienable (cannot be taken away) and inherent to all people. Developing recognition of human rights * The abolition of slavery * The campaign for universal suffrage * The trade union movement and labour rights * The right of a group to self-determination * Emerging environmental rights * The attempt to establish a right to peace The abolition of slavery * Slavery is a type of forced labour where a person is considered to be the legal property of another * Slavery was practiced legally until the 20th century * Common forms of slavery involved: debt slavery (forced to pay off a loan with labour), slavery as punishment for crime, prisoners of war committed to slavery * Moves to abolish slavery and slave trading began in the 12th century, e.g. Iceland abolished slavery in 1117 * During the 17th – 19th century, the transatlantic slave trade (the trading of African people by Europeans, transporting them as slaves from Africa to the colonies of the New World) was in action as Europeans...
Words: 4879 - Pages: 20
...ASSIGNMENT TOPIC “Organizational theories” SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO: Maria Ashraf Ma’am Saima BS VIII SEMESTER POL.SC / IR LECTURER POL.SC REG. NO: 10050615-033/2208 COURSE: regional organization FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GOVT.POST GRADUATE COLLEGE (W), S/ TOWN, RAWALPINDI APRIL 2014 HUMAN RIGHTS I. OBJECTIVES A. Understand the history and development of international human rights law and how it interacts with the law of war. B. Understand those human rights considered customary international law. C. Understand major international human rights treaties, their scope and application, as well as the Unites States’ approach to human rights treaty law. D. Understand different regional international human rights systems. INTRODUCTION: Human rights law focuses on the life and dignity of human beings. In contrast with most international law, international human rights law protects persons as individuals rather than as subjects of sovereign States. International human rights law exists in two forms: treaty law and customary international law (CIL). Human rights law established by treaty generally only binds the state in relation to persons within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, and tends to be more aspirational. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW:...
Words: 2819 - Pages: 12
