The Third World Countries: Human rights Violation - Research Paper Example

The Third World Countries: Human rights Violation Introduction Human rights are norms or moral principles that express certain principles of behavior of human beings. Protection of human rights is under legal rights bills in most nations. In the international level, they are in the international laws like the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) or regional bills of human rights as the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights or the European Convention on Human Rights. Human rights protect people, especially those from minority groups by requiring equal treatments for all people. In almost all bills of rights, which are usually under human rights laws, there are requirement like protection of human life, provision of basic human needs, promotion of gender equality, and promotion of general respect of human rights, which every government must ensure. Different organizations are in fostering human rights in all parts of the world. There are Non-governmental organizations that are dedicated to ensuring that they perform a watchdog function towards human rights violations. The organizations are quick to raise an alarm in case of any violations. The paper discusses human rights violation in third world countries. It narrows the discussion to three countries, which are Libya, Syria, and South Sudan. There is a detailed analysis on the conflicts that is ongoing or has happened in these countries. Human right violation is the infringement of any human right. However, before the developments of the idea of human rights, many atrocities were committed on a large scale with no later justice for the oppressed. For example, during the slavery, there was a large-scale commitment of atrocities, which went unrecognized as human rights violation, as the idea of human rights was not in existence at the time. At the time, human rights belonged only to the strong and the powerful. However, through the actions of the nationalists, and human rights activists like Martin Luther junior, the situation changed, but through bitter struggles between two forces. The force was trying to maintain the status quo and the one concerned with bringing a complete change to the world. The spirits of these great men and women grew stronger despite the opposition they faced in their quest. The idea of human rights came into the limelight of the world after the end of the Second World War. During the second world, the Axis and the Allies committed many atrocities. The World War II introduced the world into a new social structure and political alignment. It let to the formation of the United Nations, which fosters cooperation between nations and aims to stop future conflicts. The war also introduced a new perspective towards human beings. For example, it led to universal laws and rights, which forced countries to set standards based on universally acceptable principles. For example, the Nuremberg trial of 1965 led a code, which guides use of human beings in research. After the war, developed nations with democratic governments, fostered the adherence to the requirements of human rights bills. They were able to improve human rights adherence to a high degree. After being successful in their soils, these governments have tried to foster devotion to human rights in others nations especially is developing nations with international bodies like UN and their influences. Nonetheless, they have not succeeded as they did in their nations. The lack of governmental support in developing nations and the lack of human rights like freedom of speech that can help in the exposure of any breach of a human right led to the failures. Human rights violation is noticeable in a number of stages in the history of Libya. Between the 1969 and 2011, there are various claims of human rights violations. However, they are not clear because of the lack of evidence and the improved state of human rights by Muammar Gaddafi. After the establishment of the Libya Arab Jamahiriya in 1969, the history of Libya changed extremely. Before 1969, there were high levels of illiteracy, homelessness, and extensive poverty in Libya. However, after Muammar Gaddafi took over power, literacy levels rose to 90 percent. Welfare systems introduced by the government led to free healthcare, free education, and financial assistance for construction of homes. The construction of the Great Manmade River led to clear water accessibility for many citizens. In 2010, the Human Development Index for Libya was the greatest in Africa and higher than Saud Arabia’s index. Despite these positive characteristics of Gaddafi’s regime, there are a number of allegations of human rights violation. In 2006, there were claims of a massacre of 1,270 prisoners in Abu Salim prison. Despite the constants investigations, no one has ever proved it true. During the revolution of 2011, many Libyans experience clear violations of their human rights. During the period, many nations blamed Muammar Gaddafi and his government for an extensive mistreatment of citizens through use of force. On 26 February of 2011, the United Nations Security Council unanimously resolved to enforce strict sanctions against Gaddafi and his government. In June of 2011, Amnesty International asserted that allegations against the Gaddafi and his government were exaggerations or lacked evidence. However, in January of 2012, self-governing human rights groupings wrote a report that blamed NATO, pro-Gaddafi, and anti-Gaddafi forces for human rights atrocities. Unlike Libya, Syria is experiencing an elongated civil war. The war began in March of 2011 as part of the revolution that swept through the Islamic countries. Since the start of the civil war, pro-government forces and anti-government forces have killed and displaced many Syrians. According to the United Nations, armed groups have killed over 140, 000 people and displaced another group of 2.5 million people out of their homes. There are also claims of a massacre, detention, and systematic torture of civilians in centers like the Al-Raqqah detention center. In the now over 3-years conflict, the government limits civilians’ access to medical care, clean water, food, and the humanitarian assistance ban on movements. Bashar Assad’s government refused in several occasion the entry of the UN into Syria. As the government was doing so, allegations were coming about continues violations of human rights by government forces. In the city of Homs and Damascus, claims have emerged about the conduct of Assad’s forces. According to some eyewitnesses, the government forces, executes organized torture, rape, enforced disappearance, and murder of its citizens. Many women have claimed the disappearances of their children. Many reports claim that there are a large number of Syrians in prisons. Many news stations have reported the use of chemical weapons by the government’s force. In one instant, reporters and many world governments such as the U.S government claimed that Assad’s government used chemical weapons in Homs. However, chemicals experts commissioned by the UN failed to attribute any blame to any side even though it confirmed the use of chemical weapons against civilians. The world cannot attribute all human violation committed in Syria to Assad’s forces. The anti-government forces consist of different groups of insurgents. They thus do not usually fight against the government in a control and a united way. It is thus hard to attribute any particular human rights violation to any group. However, claims from eyewitnesses have also claimed that insurgencies have committed several violations to the human rights as Assad’s forces have done. In several incidents, eyewitnesses have raised claims about religious intolerance of some antigovernment forces. In one incident, two antigovernment soldiers shot dead a fourteen years boy for shouting the name of Mohammed in a disrespectful way. Even though the boy could have wrong in a religious sense, the two soldiers executed him promptly without offering him an opportunity to explain himself. Such an action is unacceptable according to the human rights, as the soldiers did not give the boy a fair treatment (Neistat, Anna, and Solvang, 2011). In South Sudan, human rights violations have happened almost throughout the history of the country. Before the formation of South Sudan, the country of South Sudan was part of the larger Sudan. The South Sudanese people experienced terrible human rights violations in the hands of the Sudanese people. Over 1.5 million individuals lost their lives during the North-South civil war that led to mass movements of displaced people from their residents. The conflict led to the secession of South Sudan in July of 2011. During the formation of South Sudan, many South Sudanese hoped for peace and economic, social, and political developments. However, on December of 2013, conflict erupted between Dinka and Nuer communities. The conflict erupted due to a misunderstanding between the president Salva Kiir, who is a Dinka and Dr. Riek Machar, who comes from the Nuer community and the vice president at the time. The conflict between the two led to large-scale violations of human rights. The international community blamed the government side and the opposition side led by Dr. Machar, for their extensive use of force. Armed forces killed many people in towns like Bor and Bentiu. The fight has led to massive extrajudicial killings and displacements of people. The war has exposed many people to extreme inhuman conditions yet the two sides are advancing their differences. In conclusion, human rights violation is the infringement of any code that foster the recognition of the importance of every human being. Human rights did not exist before, but they were created due to certain situations like the Second World War and through the action of people like Martin Luther King. Many developed nations have fostered human rights. However, in third world countries like Syria, Libya, and South Sudan, many people have suffered due to violations of their human rights. In these countries, people live in extremely inhumane conditions. They lack basic needs like water, food, shelter, and treatments. They also survive through these conditions while also shielding themselves from death due to high insecurities. The trend of the human rights violation in these countries can be linked to three main components unequal distribution of resources, greed for power and extreme positions based on religion and political view. The three facts play a big role were the perpetrator use the excuse to start wars and oppress those they think do not follow their ideology. The international community is tasked with controlling and preventing the human rights abuse in these countries. Sanctions and warrant of arrests are some of the tools used to slow down leaders who perpetrate the crimes. However, every member of the third world countries to ensure that they observe the human rights. That is regardless of their position in leadership or poverty that is evident in the above scenarios. Reference Neistat, Anna, and Ole Solvang. 2011. "By all means necessary!": individual and command responsibility for crimes against humanity in Syria. New York: Human Rights Watch. Read More