Current Human Rights Issues Essay
Human rights can be viewed as international norms that help to protect freedoms which are inherent and universal to people in the world. The aim is to protect them from severe political, legal and social abuse of their rights (United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR], 2012).Current Human Rights Issues Essay
They are therefore perceived to be universal in nature and include freedom of religion, the right to fair trial, freedom of association, the right to engage in political activities, right to vote, and protection from torture among others. These rights are actualized in morality (and) law at the national and international levels” (Nickel, 2010: p. 3).
In order to make them fully recognized, the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights and other documents and treaties have been enforced by different nations around the world (International Services for Human Rights [ISHR], 2012).
Current Human Rights Issues
There are various forms of abuse of human rights. The rights can be violated by the actions of the state, for example, when the government denies the citizens their basic human rights. For example, according to Human Rights Watch [HRW] (2012) world report, China continues to violate human rights by perpetuating an authoritarian one-party state which imposes various restrictions on freedom of expression by censoring the internet, compromising judicial independence and controlling the freedom of the press.Current Human Rights Issues Essay
Social rights are also referred to as welfare rights and deal with matters such as employment, education and food security where desirable goals are set so as to be achieved. Social rights go hand in hand with human rights since most of them are defined in declarations and treaties of human rights.
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This is, for example, the right to education for all (HRW, 2012). There is a difference between the two forms of rights where social rights are enacted through social covenants which define how parties should commit to their realization. It involves seeking international assistance and collaboration as well as maximizing the use of the available resources. On the other hand, human rights’ declarations and treaties only address how these freedoms should be upheld.
Civil and political rights are associated with freedom of thought, expression, association and peaceful assembly. These rights include the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through various platforms such as writing, spoken word, print, art or any other form of media.
All of the three human rights (civil, political and social rights) are related to one another. Human rights entail the full realization of the above named forms of freedoms (Aljazeera, 2012). Their connection is such that if one of them is abused, human rights as a whole are undermined.Current Human Rights Issues Essay
Conclusion
The current conflict between the militia and the government in Syria according to Aljazeera (2012) is an indication of violation of human rights. Social rights such as right to education cannot be guaranteed because of the fight. Civil and political rights have been disregarded since there is no freedom to associate or assemble.
Rights’ activists have been killed. There are also cases of massacre and assassination of opposition leaders. These actions amount to violation of treaties and declarations on human rights. All these factors reveal the strong connection between civil, political and social rights on one hand, and human rights on the other.
References
Aljazeera. (2012). UN says rights abuses spreading in Syria. Web.
Human Rights Watch. (2012). World Report China-2012. Web.
International Services for Human Rights. (2012). Simple guide to the UN Treaty Bodies. Web.
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2012). What are human rights? Web.Current Human Rights Issues Essay
