UN Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Simonovic went
on a fact-finding visit to Mali and told of the horrible violations of human
rights he witnessed. The Islamic extremists took over Mali in March after a
military coup took the country into chaos. Mr. Simonovic found cases of
children being sold as child soldiers, women being sold as “wives,” or in
actuality sold into forced prostitution as well as allegations of torture and
inhumane conditions in the prisons. The Islamic extremists are garnering money
from drug trafficking and ransoms, as well as imposing a strict adherence to
Sharia law. Mr. Simonovic urged
authorities to investigate the cases of human rights violations further if they
wish to receive aid from the UN. The Security Council of the UN seems ready to
support an international intervention when they feel the conditions are right,
and they are worried about al-Qaeda linked extremists taking advantage of the
current situation of anarchy in northern Mali.
These human rights violations in northern Mali are an
example of state terror, small groups taking advantage of times of
revolutionary upheaval in an already unstable country, and religious extremists
enforcing their fundamentalist beliefs on a government system and society. One
may ask them self, why is the UN waiting for the “right conditions?” Would the
selling of humans, drug trafficking, torture and inhumane prisons not constitute
the right conditions for some sort of intervention? While these are horrific
things and I do believe the UN ought to step in, and sooner rather than later,
the element of religion and instability are cause for caution. Stepping in at
the right time is important to avoid worsening the conditions inadvertantly, or causing more violence to
take place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia
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