Sunday, September 26, 2010
Applying Human Rights Standards 101
Russia, Islam and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
In a special commentary titled "Everybody's Misery Matters," William Schulz, the former head of Amnesty International USA, notes that "dozens of states, from every religious and cultural tradition, have incorporated the principles of the UDHR into their national constitutions." He calls the declaration "a revolutionary document exactly because it is universal and thereby takes precedence over every political ideology and every parochial claim." [Read the full article]
RFE/RL's Jeffrey Donovan tells the story of Sabatina James, a 26 year-old Austrian of Pakistani heritage who, since converting to Christianity, "is at the center of a storm between Islam and international human rights law." Her case "dramatically illustrates Islam's growing challenge to the principles enshrined in the world's most translated document, including the freedom of thought, conscience, and worship -- and the right to change one's religion." [Read the full article]
And Radio Svoboda, RFE/RL's Russian service, interviewed former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky about the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its role in the demise of the Soviet Union, and its potential to influence the situation in Russia.
"The fact that the declaration spawned numerous legal acts and international agreements...has given this document moral authority," he said. "Since its articles have come to be considered the norm, nobody is able to ignore them. Even the Soviet Union pretended to respect these norms. Although, of course, it violated them massively on a daily basis." [More in Russian or English]
human rights universal
I work to protect and promote the rights of people. The government and groups with different names and notions challenge me. Most associate themselves with different races, religions, colors, and political and national identity. I also like to identify with my nation and notion, but I don’t want to forget that my first identity is I am a human and my responsibility is seeking rights for humanity. Unfortunately, human rights are denied in times and places where human led crisis cause maximum hatred for a minimum of reasons.
Human rights are the birthrights of all human beings, which are inherent and inalienable and not granted or bestowed by a sovereign power and are not capable of being given or taken away. But it is very sad that there is no place in the world where one can enjoy all rights. Rather, there are many places where people have bare minimum rights.
In the early ages when nature was out of control, man fought against animals and nature. Today, the same man is fighting against the system of suppression and brutality waged by the powerful towards the powerless.
Powerful people are the fuel source of powerful institutions like the state and sometimes they indulge in immoral acts, which are the sources of suppression and oppression.
Some states dictate rights like God edits our wants through our prayers. When we pray, God edits and corrects them and brings them in line with his will. He detects our rights and the boundaries, which according to him should not be crossed at any cost.
Through the charter of the United Nations, almost all sovereign states have recognized the existence of human rights and understand that such rights should be promoted and protected.
The universality of human rights is closely related to the promotion of public moral imperatives under the notions of equality or non-discrimination without distinction to race, sex, language or religion.
But sometimes, religion and political system become a burden before fulfilling any human rights standards. The Abraham religions clearly violate human rights standards by taking the position that men are created higher than women while others like Islam say that those who desire any religion other than Islam will never be accepted.
In some countries dominated by Abrahamic faith believers, the ignorance of believers is causing serious human rights violations in different ways and degrees.
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of others, which is seen in India’s democratic system.
On Mar. 17, 1998, the then Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi at a commemorative ceremony of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Geneva appealed for a “revision of the Declaration.”
While Islamic criminal laws have a vast official and informal jurisdiction, the UDHR and other U.N. instruments are promoting human rights in countries like Iran.
For example, in 1986, Section 295-C was introduced in Pakistan’s penal code, making the death penalty mandatory for anyone convicted of blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad. Over 200 Ahmadi Muslims were charged with “blasphemy” between 1986 and 1993. The prominent human rights activist John Joseph, Bishop of Faisalabad killed himself to protest against the law. Christians are continuously facing suppression, detention and torture in Pakistan.
The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam defends its own Declaration but challenges the UDHR, “All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Sharia and the Islamic Sharia is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration.”
While such divisions only help to dissolve human rights, there is still a good opportunity for the world to unite and promote human rights.
60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On this the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, events around the world are taking place on this day and for the remainder of the month to celebrate the UN's anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Human Rights Day, which was also declared for December 10th.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
As we approach the 60th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of these rights one of Australia's leading book publishers, Allen & Unwin, has published in conjunction with Amnesty International, the first ever illustrated book of The Universal Declaration.
The illustrations by Michel Streich are quite charming and provide a beautiful and fresh interpretation of this important and remarkable document. Sreich was born in Germany, worked in London for several years, but since 200 has lived in Sydney where his work has appeared on The Bulletin, The Australian Financial Review and other newspapers and magazines. He has also illustrated a number of other books.
Religiosity - partly inherited by Genes
Of course, we don't have specific Genes inheriting the specific musics of Jazz and Beethoven or the languages of French and Chinese. But there is no scientific doubt that we have the genetically heritable traits of musicality and the abilities to speak - which then have to be acquired and formed into concrete, cultural forms in order to confer their benefits. And the same is true of religiosity and religions...
How do we know?
For one, religious behavior is a human universal - it is observable among people in all human societies known to us (since at least the middle paleolithic). Even totalitarian, atheistic regimes have not been able to wipe out religiosity - instead, they developped quasi-religious behavior themselves (as by ritually venerating deceased leaders, simulating omnipresence by pictures and monuments etc.). Of course, there's great individual and sociocultural variation in religious behavior, some people abstaining from it consciously and others never having had the chance to acquire much of it - exactly as we observe it with music and language. You can lose interest in all of these heritable traits, but if you didn't even learn to develop them as a kid, you'll seldom get an expert as an adult.
And second, we have a whole bunch of Twin Studies as presented by Thomas Bouchard and Laura Koenigs, which are measuring observable differences between genetic Twins reared together and apart. And they discover percentages of heritability of many human traits as Intelligence, Musicality - and Religiosity (40 - 60%).
If you think about it, that's the finding we would expect. Through evolution, religiosity became a part of human nature. And the process is going on, as in all free societies, religious people tend to have (on average) more offspring than their secular neighbours of the same educational and income classes.
For one, religious behavior is a human universal - it is observable among people in all human societies known to us (since at least the middle paleolithic). Even totalitarian, atheistic regimes have not been able to wipe out religiosity - instead, they developped quasi-religious behavior themselves (as by ritually venerating deceased leaders, simulating omnipresence by pictures and monuments etc.). Of course, there's great individual and sociocultural variation in religious behavior, some people abstaining from it consciously and others never having had the chance to acquire much of it - exactly as we observe it with music and language. You can lose interest in all of these heritable traits, but if you didn't even learn to develop them as a kid, you'll seldom get an expert as an adult.
And second, we have a whole bunch of Twin Studies as presented by Thomas Bouchard and Laura Koenigs, which are measuring observable differences between genetic Twins reared together and apart. And they discover percentages of heritability of many human traits as Intelligence, Musicality - and Religiosity (40 - 60%).
If you think about it, that's the finding we would expect. Through evolution, religiosity became a part of human nature. And the process is going on, as in all free societies, religious people tend to have (on average) more offspring than their secular neighbours of the same educational and income classes.
Universal Periodic Review
Every 4 years your country has its human rights record (and its compliance with its related international obligations) reviewed by its peers, other countries. This mechanism is arguably the jewel in the cap of the new Human Rights Council, which recently replaced the allegedly toothless Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations. The lack of impact was reportedly to do with the ability of Commission members to use this status to avert the Commission’s critical gaze away from their own human rights records.
The resulting UPR is an intergovernmental process where every state is placed on an equal footing, as each will take its turn under the spotlight once within the 4 year cycle. With the help of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, reports are submitted in time for the tri-annual Council sessions where 16 states are reviewed in 48 hours over a fortnight. The state itself submits a report; the UN compiles a report from its sources; and finally, a summary of information provided by NGOs is also included.
These concise documents alone provide a wealth of reliable and up to date information on a particular state’s human rights issues and even without any actual review are surely a welcome development - well worth a read.
The review itself, however, provides an opportunity for dialogue between the state under review and the other states, where a presentation by the state under review is followed by other states’ comments, recommendations and then its own response to these.
This intense 3 hour review is followed-up a few weeks later by a plenary session, where further dialogue ensues regarding which of the recommendations have been accepted or rejected by the state. The interesting element of the plenary sessions is that some time is also set aside for the oft more candid NGOs to enter into the interstate dialogue.
Why is any of this important? Well the good thing is that this mechanism provides a very solid basis upon which you and I can hold states to account. The information is all public. It is all recorded in writing (and via multimedia webcast) and one can clearly see which recommendations a state has voluntarily accepted and sometimes which of these it has actually implemented on the ground.
The UPR may be very new, but its youth should not disguise its serious potential. The UK went under the spotlight in the 1st UPR session, last year. Check out the documents - in particular the UK’s responses to the recommendations made to it by other states - you may be shocked. Now I may be wrong, but I don’t remember reading anything about any of this in the press! Hopefully this will change, perhaps even in time for the states coming up for review this November, in the 6th of the 12 sessions of the first UPR cycle. The involvement of civil society (through the press) is necessary for several reasons, including: for developing real accountability and enforcement, for improving the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the facts and for ensuring that the development of human rights generally is representative of the global community. Under its acronym, UPR, the Universal Periodic Review has the potential to be both short, and sweet.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
German Human Rights Projects
Germany has signed all the main treaties of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations on the protection of human rights. Germany contributes to the protection of human rights with projects and initiatives worldwide. In Central Asia, for example, the establishment of a human rights dialogue between the EU and the countries of the region within the framework of the EU-Central Asia strategy is founded on a German initiative in 2007. On a bilateral level, in Kazakhstan, for example, Germany has supported freedom of information and the press as well as projects against human trafficking and torture and contributed to ensuring that the death penalty is only imposed for terrorist acts and serious crimes committed during wartime through initiatives such as a round table made up of government and civil society representatives.
In its support for the reconstruction effort in Iraq, Germany has financed and organized human rights seminars for Iraqi judicial officers. The Berlin Centre for the Treatment of Torture Victims (BZFO) has developed an Internet-based platform for treating traumatized civil war refugees in Iraq. In various regions of the world Germany is also engaged in efforts to recognize the human right of access to clean drinking water and basic sanitary facilities. In Kenya, for example, Germany is backing the government in its reform of the water sector – and thus also the development of an improved water supply infrastructure. In Africa, Germany has been supporting a supraregional project against female genital mutilation since 1999. The populations of Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Mauritania and Kenya are being informed of the negative consequences of female genital mutilation and attempts made to convince them to give up this practice.
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations is the most important organization supporting respect for human rights worldwide. The United Nations did not only define the protection of human rights as one of its main aims in Article 1 of its Charter, but also created a special body for this purpose: the Human Rights Council based in Geneva. It is the United Nations’s central political body for dialogue and cooperation on human rights issues and replaced the Commission on Human Rights in 2006 to strengthen the human rights work of the United Nations. The 47 elected member states of the Council primarily consult on how the protection of human rights can be improved and discuss the human rights situation in individual countries. The most important foundations for their work are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the six international human rights treaties with their supplementary protocols. Germany was elected to the new body for three years on 9 May 2006.
Universal Decleration of Human Rights
UN Proclaims Universal Human Right to Clean Water
The resolution, tabled by Bolivia, received 122 votes in favor, with none against and 41abstaning, out of UN's 192 member-states.
The UN resolution declares that safe water and sanitation are “essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights.”
It also voices strong concern that about 900 M people across the globe lack access to clean water, and a staggering 2.6 B do not have proper sanitation.
It is estimated that this is leading to 2 M deaths yearly, mainly of small children.
The UN calls upon all states to steep up efforts to change that dire situation, setting a target of halving the number of people with inadequate access to water by 2015.
Universal Human Rights
One major dilemma we face as a human race is dealing with the approximately 2% of power seeking people who set the course for how our societies and the world function. That 2% is always maneuvering to gain more powers allowing them to dictate how the other 98% of us exist. Generally, the 2% have no concern for human life while feeling they are entitled to use any forceful means necessary to achieve their goals. We should take note that with all the powers the 2% have had through out history we have never witnessed that 2% suggesting or pursuing any legal entitlement for the people's Human Rights. When the opportunity presented itself 60 years ago it was the 2% of power seekers who buried that opportunity, thus condemning us to exist in a fear based military dominated world.
Our human race community's overall purpose is to empower the 98% of us with the legal right and means to determine how our societies and world functions, reversing what is today perceived as what that 2% of power seekers want is the normal course for human existence. Is it time for the 98% of us to take control of our global environment and dictate how the 2% will be allowed to function?
Our united human race community structure provides a practical and natural means where we can gather to develop an active and unified loyalty to our fellow humans within our human race community for the purpose of consolidating our powers in the event it becomes necessary to oppose any unwanted oppressive dictatorial political or corporate policies dictated to us by the 2% in the new global society.
Our human race community has existed throughout human history, although at the present time it is an inactive community not unified or structured. This inactivity in our human race community prevents us from taking full advantage of our enormous powers of unity needed to enhance and protect all human life on earth within a legally structured system.
As can be witnessed in today's ever increasing chaotic, corrupt, violent, and dysfunctional world, it is no longer feasible for us to totally invest our faith and trust in leaders or governments expecting them to provide for our personal or societal safety, security, peace, freedoms, and most important our Human Rights and the earth's environment. Governments or leaders are not the answers to the many Human Rights problems we face because governments are dividing factors where unity is needed, polluted with self-serving agendas, and limited by borders.
Our independent, united, and powerful people driven human race community structure will assume a higher legal position than the present governmental structures while possessing our right to authorize legal authority for adopting and enforcing a global doctrine of legalized Human Rights, which all leaders and governments will be legally bound to honor and provide for us.
Our united and active human race community will become the third most powerful force in this world next to God and Mother Nature. Without question, the force of over 6.5 billion of us acting in unison on our personal common interest issues will easily achieve anything we pursue intended to benefit the overall human race. The enormous power of our united human race community comes from the knowledge that nothing manmade including governments, religions, and corporate structures can exist or survive without the acceptance, support, and finances provided by the masses of people, who have built, managed, supported, or financed them.
Our human race by itself can survive without the governmental, religious, and corporate structures we created while those same structures we created could never exist or survive without the constant contributions from people; making us, the people, much more valuable then the structures we created and gave life to. There can be no justified arguments opposing activation of our human race community because its purpose deals with addressing and solving our common human issues on an elevated global level unattainable by our individual governments.
By nature of its unity and purpose, our human race community will only act on the issues intended to serve the overall good of all people equally; knowing we will not naturally unite to pursue issues harming ourselves, the earth, or the overall human race, or create policies benefiting some of us individually but not all of us collectively.
Lets face the fact that the corporate goal of merging us and our countries into one corporate controlled global society without boundaries or structured global law will eventually require us to learn how to think and function as one single human race society in the future; thus making it more logical and much smarter for us to ensure the policies of our new global society will be established and managed by us and not by the self serving corporate powers.
The many future problems facing us in this new corporate global society are going to be; dealing with and establishing acceptable rules for our global citizenship, our global Human Rights, our global Peace, our global freedom and democracy, our global safety and security, our global law and order, the earth's environment, and building the global management structure that values, honors, and respects all human life. Obviously, the only place with the natural interest, right, authority, and power to deal with these issues is within our united human race community. Further, our human race community must be activated to establish the rules and guidelines guaranteeing the sovereignty and security of all countries as well as accepting and honoring the cultural and religiou1s beliefs of all societies to ensure a tolerant and peaceful existence within the new emerging global society.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
In its yearly reports, Amnesty International describes significant human rights violations in almost 200 countries. The number of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights has soared by over 3,000% between 1988 and 2008.
Human rights are defined as “the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.”
More than fifty years ago, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Soon after, the Declaration inspired the European Convention on Human Rights, one of the most important Conventions in the European Community.
School of Human Universal Energy
The method is based on the "opening" (activation) of 6 chakras, which are the energy centers of our body. The activation of the chakras enables us to harness Universal Energy within our body and transfer it to other persons more effectively. The flow of Universal Energy in the body will help Human Energy system to regain its balance.
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
On Human Rights Day, which was established in 1950, the United States and the international community celebrate the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the declaration and honor those who work to promote and protect those rights.
The United States is a supporter of human rights worldwide, and throughout the year produces documents including the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which highlight successes and failures in the protection of the rights outlined in the declaration.
Today, human rights are recognized almost universally as fundamental freedoms that should be guaranteed to all people. Most nations now are committed to uphold and protect human rights, but this was not the case before the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the first international document to address in detail the notion that there exists a set of universal rights and fundamental freedoms that governments are obligated to secure for their citizens.
The declaration describes justice, equality and dignity as basic human rights of every man, woman and child. According to the declaration, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and protecting the “inherent dignity of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” The declaration became the foundation of international human-rights law.
After World War II, the international community recognized the need for an established statement of human rights. However, the drafters needed to create a document that would be approved by the then 58 member states, which had different political, ideological, religious and economic concerns.
The eight members of the declaration’s drafting committee – including U.S. first lady Eleanor Roosevelt representing the United States, and delegates from Australia, Chile, China, France, Lebanon, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom – all agreed that the idea of universal rights and freedoms must be codified. After two years of debate and drafting, the declaration included the right to life, liberty and security of person; the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, thought, conscience; and the right to be free from torture.
Despite some disagreement among member states as to the scope of the document, the declaration also held that these rights were inherent to all of humanity, regardless of race, sex or religion.
“We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind,” said Eleanor Roosevelt as the declaration was presented to the U.N. General Assembly for a vote. “This declaration may well become the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere.”
The General Assembly voted to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948.
The declaration, although not legally binding, is now regarded as a customary law, that is, one whose principles are supported by the international community as practices that are required by law.
The declaration has inspired more than 60 human-rights documents, including legally binding treaties such as the 1976 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the civil and political rights of individuals and nations, including the right to life and liberty and the right to self-determination. More than 150 states, including the United States, are parties to the covenant.
In addition, the principles outlined in the declaration have been enshrined in the constitutions of up to 90 countries, and the declaration has been translated into 300 languages.
The United States, on Human Rights Day and throughout the year, supports human rights in each region of the world.
Human Universal Load Carrier exoskeleton
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Like many other Web sites, http://humanuniversalrights.blogspot.com/ makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
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