Blog 10: Rights for China's Second Children

A twenty year old girl in China, named Li Xue, has never been to school a day in her life. She has also never legally had access to healthcare. How is this possible? According to an article for CNN, it is because she is a second child. China has had a one child policy in place for three decades that allows for every family to have one child. This policy is said to have helped curb china’s population. An exception to the one child rule is that in rural areas a second child can be had if the parents then pay a fine. Li’s parents could not afford the fine and in return they were not given the legal household registration documents that would allow Li access to public health care, subsidized housing, and education. The family is now petitioning for a hearing to get Li’s documents. 

Human Rights are meant to be universal. No one person should be left without what should be a basic guarantee. Li Xue has not been afforded many rights, that according to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, she should have been granted since birth. First and foremost, “Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law” and since she was not given her documentation she was not recognized for healthcare and when she fell ill she had falsely use either her mother or sister’s documentation to be considered a citizen to receive aid. By not having her documentation she was not allowed to receive healthcare or education, both rights as defined by the declaration.  Basically as a second child she is barely considered a person and without her documentation isn’t at all in the eyes of her community. Her birth order is an ascribed status; she did not actively work for it, so why is she being punished? A one child rule seems extreme from the viewpoint of someone from an electoral democracy, like America where the rights of individuals are held sacred. At what point in a population crisis is it ok for a government to step in and say what individuals are allowed to do or not? According to Hans Rosling, providing education is a huge factor in controlling populations, as it will keep women in school longer thus delaying the need for a family. So how does a keeping second child, like Li, from education keep them from repeating the same thing as their parents and having multiple children? Ultimately this article brings forth more questions than it does answers. It begs to question China’s population control techniques and from there it questions human rights to the core. Whether or not this girl’s birth went against policy, she is still a human being and as such should be granted access to these basic rights. To not allow her these rights draws an arbitrary line of who is granted these rights and when it is ok to strip someone of them instead of the intention of a human right being a right afforded to all.

:Nicole Egna

 8:30 am 

11/15/2013

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/10/world/asia/china-second-child/

Blog 9: Domestic Abuse in Hungary

According to the Human Rights Watch the nation of Hungary has a large amount of domestic abuse. The report outlines women who have suffered terrible abuses ranging from beatings to being locked in sheds during the winter.  The organization has released a report stating that the nation doesn’t provide adequate aid or protection for women. The nation had up until a recent reform in July, not even considered domestic violence to be a crime for prosecutors to handle but left any legal responsibility to the victim. Now the law does require prosecutors to get involved, but only if it has been reported two times. The reports however are hard to come by considering there are no national standards for doctors or social workers to follow. The report also tells of how police are not properly trained and often accuse the victim. There are also not enough shelters in Hungary, should a victim decide to leave her abuser.

The article and subsequent report outline terrible abuses to human rights. According to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law”. By making laws discriminatory by making it harder for victims of abuse the government of Hungary is falling short of protecting this right. The fact that legal retribution is hard to come by for victims Hungary is also falling short of the human right that states “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law”. By not providing the protection of these rights Hungary is allowing these abuses to occur and essentially giving the ok for its citizens to abuse others without fear of legal action. If they allow for this type of abuse to occur how can they then protect others from other atrocities, how do they then have authority to draw a line? All human rights should be upheld because they are essential to maintain fairness and order and are universal. To not uphold them in one place is saying its ok to ignore all the others and that anyone anywhere can do as they please.

Nicole Egna 

1:20pm 

11/8/13

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/11/06/hungary-chronic-domestic-violence

Blog 8: Woman Sells Own Daughters Into Prostitution

The Bogota Metropolitan Police in Colombia have arrested Margarita de Jesus Zapata Moreno, a mother of fourteen, and charged her with selling twelve of her children into prostitution. The police have been investigating the mother for over a year after one of her daughters reported her. According to her daughter, once all of her daughters would reach the age of twelve she would sell their virginity for 300,000 to 400,000 pesos which only equates to around 200 US dollars. She denied all of the charges when she was shown to a crowd in front of the police station (a common occurrence when there is a high profile suspect is arrested in Columbia). The police are still trying to find all of the men to whom her daughters were sold to.

This article not only brings forth to light a heinous crime but shows gross disregard for a basic human rights. “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms” and “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” are both basic rights listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that were violated when this mother sold her daughters virginity, making them slaves. The article also talks about how in Colombia it is commonplace to show accused criminals to a crowd after their arrest. This is very different than how the process for arrests occurs here in the United States where the motto is “innocent until proven guilty”. It can be assumed that showing the accused is a form of deterrence to keep others from committing similar deviance in fear of the public ridicule. Ultimately, this article shows how this type of crime can affect anyone and that we have a long way to go to protect people around the world from these human indecencies.

Nicole Egna

11/1/13

3:30 pm

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/25/world/americas/colombia-mom-sells-daughters/index.html?hpt=wo_bn5

Blog 7: US drone Strikes in Yemen and Pakistan

Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have released reports that chronicle U.S. drone strikes killing civilians in both Yemen and Pakistan. Together the reports maintain that in multiple strikes in each nation, innocent civilians were killed. Both groups claim that the uses of these drone strikes violate international war crimes law. The Pakistani foreign ministry is in agreement and has released an announcement stating "The government of Pakistan believes drone strikes are against international law and the sovereignty of Pakistan". The United States, however says that they are clear of any wrong doing and that drone strikes are necessary to counter terrorism efforts.  Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch counter this claim saying that these attacks that have killed civilians have created a culture of fear rivaling that of the fear of terrorists.

Ultimately, if the use of drones has killed many civilians in multiple incidents, it would seem that the US is violating international law. This is because the Geneva conventions state that civilians are under protection from attack and inhumane treatment. It is inhumane for a group of people going about their day to day lives being attacked and killed or maimed by a missile overhead. The United States is a signer of the Geneva Conventions and as such should uphold its values. More importantly, by killing innocent people these attacks have created violations of the basic human right to life. The use of drones also exemplifies the change in means of war. This is an example of the more recent development of total warfare as the strikes are a surprise strike which is vastly different than the limited warfare of the past. Nonetheless, the culture of fear that the strikes create are counterproductive. The point of the war against terror is supposed to free the world from needless violence and fear, not create it. Plus if a major power like the United States gives the ok to use drones that is to say that any other country isn’t justified in using them for their own purposes?

Nicole Egna

9:30 am

10/25/13

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/22/world/asia/us-drone-strikes-reports/index.html?iref=allsearch

Blog 6: Slavery Around the World

A new report of The Global Slavery Index has been published listing out the worst places in the world for slavery. According to the report India has the highest number of slaves throughout the world, while the West African nation of Mauritania has the highest percentage, with four percent of its own population enslaved. This report used not only the traditional definition of slavery but redefined it to be "the possession and control of a person in such a way as to significantly deprive that person of his or her individual liberty, with the intent of exploiting that person through their use, management, profit, transfer or disposal. Usually this exercise will be achieved through means such as violence or threats of violence, deception and/or coercion." The high numbers in India are said to be due to the cultural “debt bondage” would is tied to their caste system. Many of the reported cases in the Middle East and North Africa were due to trafficking of women. The report concluded that many people are enslaved because of socially accepted exploitation such as forced marriage, child labor, or exploitation of migrant workers. So generally people are enslaved as means of some sort of labor around the world.

This report has brought to our attention just how many people around the world are being enslaved in one way or another. All of which are violations of basic human rights, according to the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights which states “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms” and “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. This all coincides with our discussions on crime as well, because human trafficking or corporations taking advantage of their workers are each different forms of crime that we have discussed. The fact that the report has an all-encompassing definition of what constitutes slavery also allows us to see that while the numbers are astronomical not all of these people are enslaved in an illegal way and that some are enslaved due to what these individual societies see as deviant or not. For example since many of these cases are contributed to child labor, we can see that while in our society that child labor is very much looked down upon, around the world it is still very much a cultural norm. Most importantly, this article brings forth the fact that as human beings we still have a long way to go to raise the standards around the world to protect people’s most basic rights.

Nicole Egna

10/18/13

2:40 pm

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/17/world/global-slavery-index/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

Blog 5: Syrian Government Uses Incendiaries Against it's Own Citizens

Over the past several months much attention has been paid to the civil war in Syria. There were great discussions and calls for investigation by the UN whether or not chemical weapons had been used against citizens. This article from CNN reports that in one particular attack those incendiary weapons were used. Rola Hallam, a doctor who was working in a Syrian hospital back in August describes that within a short time period a large group of people were suddenly rushed into the hospital with severe burns. The victims stated that incendiary devices were dropped from a government fighter jet onto a school and local residences. A United Nations report created about this attack says that fifty people suffered from burns and eight students died. Hallam and her colleagues happened to have been filming for a BBC production that day so they have now released the footage to show the victims of whom most had burns over eighty percent of their bodies and were not expected to survive.

According to our textbook, in chapter six, incendiaries are a type of weapon of mass destruction that uses chemicals to ignite hard to extinguish flames. The United Nations has laws against the use of chemical weapons. These weapons are used to create terror which is a control mechanism for those in power. The UN Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” This attack was a direct violation of this right. These citizens were not actively defying the government or taking part in the country’s civil war, they were at home and at school. This example of total warfare shows the dramatic shift of the nature of war. These people were maimed and/or killed, but for what purpose? If attacks like these occur without anyone stopping them or finding ways to prevent them in the future? Who is to say that these attacks will not grow to an even larger scale or that another nation or group could not do the same? The purpose of human rights are that they are rights for all and that in our ever narrowing world we must all work to protect each other because what effects one can effect anyone.

Nicole Egna

10/11/13

1:15 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/10/world/meast/syria-incendiary-attack/index.html?iref=allsearch

Blog 4: Amnesty International Report Brings to Light Many Human Rights Abuses in Turkey

The human rights group, Amnesty International has issued a report about human rights abuses that occurred in Turkey back in May and June of this year. According to the report protesters had gathered in Istanbul to protest the demolition of Gezi Park and its subsequent replacement with a shopping mall. In response to the protesters occupying the park, riot police were dispatched. These police allegedly used live ammunition and tear gas on the protesters. These police also are said to have beat and sexually assaulted the protesters. Two men died from the beatings. This report was released as the same time that the Turkish government announced its own investigation into the incident and unveiled several reforms to democratize Turkey. However, Amnesty International states that these reforms fall short of preventing these abuses from occurring in the future and brings to light many other human rights issues that are still problematic in Turkey. One major problem these reforms did not address is the treatment of the nation’s Kurdish people (an ethnic minority). Turkey has banned the teaching of the Kurdish language in public schools and has in recent years arrested many Kurds accused them of being part of a Kurdish militia group. The reform also curtailed dealing with hate crimes based on gender or sexuality.

 First of all, the protest in Istanbul shows several sociological concepts. The protest itself goes against normative behavior. Protests are anti-normative behavior used by people to draw attention to an issue. The abuses incurred by the protesters illuminate several concerns. If the riot police are guilty of killing and sexually assaulting protesters and are not punished there is corruption. The fact that the police have reportedly sexually assaulted women protesters shows genderization of crime. The other abuses in Turkey such as the incarceration of many Kurds and the banning of the Kurdish language being taught in schools puts Turkey on the far end of the continuum of intergroup relations, opposite of the ideal of multiculturalism. Ultimately, this article shows that Turkey is violating many ideals set forth in the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights. They are violating the rights of protection from arbitrary arrest, inhumane treatment, the right to security of person, the right to peaceful assembly, and most importantly the right to life. If these abuses are continued to be allowed, where will the line be drawn? If these abuses are allowed, corruption and inequality could spiral to absolute extremes and then these essential rights would be meaningless. A human right is a right for anyone, anywhere and if violations are allowed to happen in one nation, the rest of the world is green lighting these abuses to occur anywhere.

Nicole Egna

10/4/13

2:30 pm

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/world/europe/turkey-human-rights/index.html

Blog 3: Iran has many steps to take to stop human rights abuses

The president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, has been attempting to smooth international relations and internal support for the government by making promises of reform within the nation. He has done this by trying to reach out to the United Nations, Jewish leaders, and the United States. Within Iran, he set many political prisoners free and promising greater freedoms to his citizens. However, this article points out that if he is to stay true to his intentions he must work on the relations within Iran with the Baha’i people. Iran has a long history of abusing people of the Baha’i faith. Baha’i is a world religion with its origins in Iran and Shiah Islam. After the creation of the Iranian republic in Nineteen Seventy Nine the Baha’i faith was not even recognized as a legitimate religion. Over the years many have been imprisoned and some have been executed for practicing the faith because it is seen as heretical. Students of Baha’i faith have been kept out of schools and the government has often shut down businesses owned by followers of Baha’i.

The promises that President Rouhani has made to further the rights of his people are a step in the right direction considering the historical restrictiveness of Iran. However, the abuses of the Baha’i should be stopped. To treat another group horribly due to ascribed statuses such as religion goes against the vein of human rights. As a human being, according to the Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance”. To not offer them the same protection under the law or to threaten their economic well-being is a huge injustice. To harm someone or to go as far as to kill members of a group for their beliefs trends toward genocide and as seen in history that has not ever ended well. Not only do these types of abuses fare badly in a historical context but violate the very basic human right that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”.  Hopefully, the President will remain true towards his promises and will aid Iran in moving along the continuum of intergroup relations closer to the multicultural ideal, because if the abuses are allowed to continue who is to say they will not go as far as genocide just because of this groups differing beliefs.

Nicole Egna

9/27/13

3:30 pm 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/09/25/for-irans-rouhani-the-human-rights-of-bahais-are-the-ultimate-test-of-reform/

Blog 2: U.N. Report Brings Abuses to Light

The United Nations has sent investigators on behalf of the Human Right’s council to investigate possible human right violations in North Korea. The UN estimates that at least two hundred thousand people are being held in prison camps to keep them from going against the current government or as punishment for doing so. The United Nations investigators listened to former prisoners’ testimony as to what has been occurring in these camps. Testimony included claims of torture, starvation, and murder. Some of these former prisoners were not even guilty of crimes but were forced into the camps due to familial association with dissenters of the government. The North Korean government claims that all of the testimony and findings are slander and refused to take part in the investigation. The investigators claim that international forces will be needed and should step in to stop these violations from occurring. But, there is also the problem of finding a way to prosecute the abusers (as North Korea is not an official member of the International Criminal Court).

This article brings forth many issues. First and foremost, the according to the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. According to the testimony heard, prisoners were tortured, starved to death, and there was one instance of a woman being forced to drown her own child. These violate that distinctly stated human right completely. The very fact that the North Korean government is denying that these victims’ abuses occurred creates a whole other issue, as how is the international community to stop these violations from occurring if the North Koreans not only deny but call the claims “slander”, without further angering them or making things worse for current prisoners.  The actuality that these political prisoner camps exist for the purpose of detaining the citizens of the country for disagreeing with those in power goes against the whole ideal of freedom of expression or as it is put in the Declaration of Human Rights “the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” By imprisoning and torturing dissenters, the government is using a form of terror tactics to control its citizens.

Although a difficult task, the world community should step in and find a way to stop these abuses. If these abuses continue how can any leaders say they uphold human rights? The very definition of a Human Right is that it stands for all people the world over and world leaders cannot pick and choose to whom they are willing to protect from abuses.

Nicole Egna

9/20/13

2:00 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/world/asia/north-korea-human-rights-kirby/index.html?iref=allsearch

Blog 1: Kenyan Deputy President to be tried by the International Criminal Court

The international Criminal Court which was created with the intent of trying those indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity have begun the trial against the Deputy President of Kenya and plan to hold a trial for the President in the coming months for crimes against humanity. In 2007 an election was held in Kenya. Following the election in which the current Deputy President William Ruto lost, widespread violence occurred that displaced many and killed thousands. The ICC claims that Ruto formed an alliance with others to propagate violence against ethnic groups that had supported the winning party in order to end up gaining power for himself. Ruto is said to have used media to spout anti- Kikuyu messages and use the media to send out coded messages for coordinated attacks.

In addition to all of this, the court has faced many setbacks to the trial due to the fact that the accused is now the deputy president and claims that he cannot leave Kenya at the same time as the President for the trial. Many witnesses have also dropped out due to intimidation. The Kenyan government has even tried to remove itself from association with the International Criminal Court as a means to stop the trial.

This article brings so many problems to light. Ruto is charged for causing violence based on ethnicity. He was drawing on ethnocentric principles to create an “us” versus “them” mentality among the citizens of Kenya. If history is any example, allowing for the lines to be drawn between peoples only leads to discrimination and worse. According to the UN declaration of human rights “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” and “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” by helping to create violence that terrorized and harmed so many, he violated their most basic rights as human beings.  He is now using his power as a means to escape trial and punishment for his actions and intimidate victims into staying quiet. Since the trial is being held by an international court, by avoiding the trial or just trying to remove Kenya from its jurisdiction just gives a green light for other leaders around the world to the same and it undermines the whole ideal of the international agreements to certain rules and regulations. If the world sits idly and allows these atrocities to happen, who is to say someone else cannot do the same thing somewhere else?

Nicole Egna        

9/12/13

1:50 pm

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/10/world/africa/kenya-icc-trial/?hpt=wo_c2