The Challenge of Human Rights
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The Challenge of Human Rights
1
It is true that the concept of human rights majorly developed in the Western Countries, and then spread to the rest of the world. Human rights are concepts that emanated from the Greeks; from philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. Thereafter, there was the famous British document in the form of Magna Carta. Besides, the US Declaration of Independence introduced summarized view of human rights. By stating that human rights are universal, it is vital to examine the US Declaration of Independence. This document sought to find inalienable entitlements that every human being deserved. In this respect, human rights are viewed as universal. However, the UDHR has always been contradictory in its concept of Universalism to human rights. This is because it does not regard the cultural differences that define different world communities. In spite of the dominant Western liberal and socialist thought in the UDHR, it is crucial to note that inalienable rights occur regardless of cultures. Furthermore, there are cultures that infringe on the liberties and freedom of its community members.
2
The US war on terror is a major current human rights issue in the world. This is implicit in the two different of lines of debate that has emerged as concerns its execution and vision. To begin with, the US has essentially declared a crackdown on the Al Qaeda group members who were the main suspects on the 9/11 bombings of 1998. Thereafter, there has always been skepticism as regards whether US has been executing rightful killings and arrests. Notably, there has been the Guantanamo prison that has been suspected to house a significant number of innocent Arabs in deplorable conditions. Besides, the US has attained criticism on its drone attacks that kill innocent individuals in the Middle East countries.
3: HYPERLINK “http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22710061″http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22710061
The UN human rights council criticized Syria for involving foreign troops in killings and atrocities. The Qusair fights had been going for days and the government engaged its troops to drive out rebels out of the area. The town is a strategic area for the rebels who attain weapons from Lebanon. Similarly, Assad highly regards the area because of its links to areas such as Damascus and city of Homs. There are critical concerns in this article. To begin with, it emerges that countries possess double standards as concerns human rights. For instance, Qatar has been issuing battle supplies to both the rebels and the government forces. This is because there is considerable economic value in war weapons. It is crucial to note that human rights should be defended from all measures: politics, religion and economics. There are always different politics, but not rational interests, which divide individuals in the fight for human rights. This is evident in the case of Venezuela who opposed the condemnation of the Syrian government.
4: Human trafficking
The UNODC defines human trafficking as the seizure of a person, transport and receipt for exploitation. The definition is comprehensive to avoid loopholes in laws that make suspects escape justice. Exploitation includes sex slavery, extraction of organs, forced labor and luring victims into debt bondage. This is a lucrative trade that presents average annual earnings of $32 billion in a year. Women and girls are at a considerable risk of becoming victims of trafficking more than men. ILO projects that girls and women form the largest proportion of forced labor victims in the figure of 11.4 million victims. This is comparable to the annual figure of 9.5 million in boys and men. In addition, children form 26 percent in the proportion of forced labor victims.
During armed conflicts, girls and women face increased risks of trafficking and sexual violence. When armed groups make sexual attacks on women, they perceive such acts as intimidating to respective communities. Besides, armed groups traffick children into war regions to work as spies, cooks, porters, providers of sexual services and fight as combatants. It is also notable that there are groups that traffick women and girls for domestic servitude in foreign countries. This increases their exposure to risk of abuse, sexual harassment, and vulnerability to sexual abuse.
Notable legal guidelines and instruments have been employed at ending human trafficking and slavery. The core challenge regards translating these instruments into nationalized laws. In spite of the idea that many countries have adopted trafficking laws, there are still conflicts as regards interpretation of trafficking. The private is a vital actor in this situation since they possess the capcity to links various parts of the society. Notably, the UN has established Trafficking protocol to control human trafficking as an international crime.
