This article was located in the "Good News" section on the Amnesty International site. I thought it would be a nice change of pace.
According to the article, 20 nations have signed an agreement that addresses "violations of economic, social and cultural rights." This agreement, termed "the Optional Protocol," essentially offers a platform for those wishing to communicate on an international stage that their rights are denied or violated at a national level. Hopefully, this will provide an honest and open outlet for those who have suffered from numerous discriminations on various grounds, violence, mis(or no)representation, and other abuses by their domestic governments (including poverty). This has been hailed as a "decisive step forward" in the area of international justice, and has generated a substantial amount of support from over 300 non-governmental organizations. Still, the step forward still has some way to go, as those who have already signed the Optional Protocol have now established a petition to promote other nations “who are eligible” to become supportive members of the Optional Protocol.
I think the concept behind this policy is really quite awesome. Taken to the utmost, you might imagine that atrocities such as genocide, slave labor and numerous forms of persecution could come to an end (as apparently indicated in the video). However, since the world is not so… 2-D, some questions that came to mind were: why has the U.S. - and many similar post-industrial nations - not signed the Optional Protocol? Are they “ineligible,” or unwilling, or simply too busy? Would the platform provided by the Optional Protocol have any power in nations such as these, where no support for the Optional Protocol has been granted? I think the Protocol is indeed an awesome “step forward,” It’s just interesting that one of the most “progressive” nations in history (the U.S.) has apparently not ratified it.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/good-news/governments-sign-defend-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-20090924
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