Human Rights Violations

A research paper on human rights violations may begin:

Human rights are viewed as rights that apply to all people. Every person no matter where they live, who they are should have certain human rights if for no other reason he or she is a human being. According to the United Nations, there are certain rights that are fundamental to every human being. A few of these are:

• These rights include the right to live and not be murdered by someone else.
• Another right is the right to be free from torture.
• Freedom from being a slave is another one of humanity's inalienable rights.
• Everyone should have the right to a fair trial if charged with a crime.
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of religion

The conflict between the rights of the individual and the perpetuation of the state has been ongoing throughout known history. This conflict often brings into question the ethical aims of both the political policies of a society and the ends to which one may actively oppose those policies. This notion is at work in the way that the nature of protest is viewed, as it often becomes a question of weighing the means of protest to the ends that these efforts seek. It also informs the way that governmental agencies are viewed as constructs that must support the rights of all members of the culture.

While protest, at its core should always try to offer non-violent resistance to what are perceived to be oppressive strategies, there are times when violent actions may be necessitated. A source no less than the World Council of Churches, during a conference promoting their Decade to Overcome Violence, contended that there are times when violence is the only recourse in the overcoming oppression. Violence, in certain cases, becomes morally acceptable, when the force that precipitates the violence uses violence to impose a state of injustice. Often, pacifist aims at opposition are not powerful enough to overcome extreme organizations that suppress the rights and welfare of the individuals under their control. This state of existence, because of the extreme conditions to which it subjects human beings, often calls for measures beyond peaceful protest to enact change.

Human Rights Violations and Society

If the society is inherently unjust, and the rights of human beings or being violently repressed, often violent protest is the only means left to those who are being violently suppressed. If the individual involved in protest has reason to fear a violent reprisal or suppression of their rights, then it is morally acceptable to perform violent acts in order to overcome the conditions that threaten the well being of the individual. Violent protest should be a measure of last resort, but if, for example the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are violated in the treatment of individuals, then violence may be the only course of action.

Human rights violations occur when governments not only don't promote human rights, but also deny its citizens these basic rights. States and non-states are required to provide these freedoms to its citizens under United Nations law. The United Nations keeps an eye on governments to make sure they are abiding by human rights law. Any nations to be found participating in human rights violations are subject to intervention by NATO. War crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are considered to be the most severe violations of human rights.

Humans Rights Violations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Even with all of these organizations working toward freedom for all, there continue to be violations of human rights in many countries world-wide.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a very important document in the understanding of the rights of all individuals, which must be upheld by all sovereign societies. While the document is not formal law, the 1948 declaration does provide a template for the basic conditions that must be generally espoused by all societies. While the declaration itself is not law, it has led to legally binding documentation enacted by the U.N. that supports the premises of this declaration ("Universal Declaration of Human Rights" 2005). The power of the declaration is evident in the widespread translation and distribution of the document; it is the most translated document in the world after the Bible ("Universal Declaration of Human Rights" 2005). The widespread distribution of the UDHR shows its importance. While not a legal document, it does outline the minimal standards that any society must maintain to allow for the basic rights of the members of the society.
The document details the basic rights that are guaranteed to all human beings; as such, evidence within any society of the violation of this declaration illuminate the injustice inherent in any society, which then alerts the global community of the need to apply pressure to this society to change its human rights policies. When a nation is in clear violation, with regard to the way that it treats the individual, of the UDHR, censure and other means of bringing pressure to bear on that nation must be taken by other countries, in order to create a better set of conditions for those who live under the control of such a regime. While this is not a legal violation on the part of such a nation, it does suppress basic human rights, which must not be tolerated by the global community. Similarly, such violations also serve to allow the individual the right to act in protest of that society's policies, with the support of the larger global community. The UDHR outlines what should be the guaranteed rights of all men and women, and any individual that is not given access to these rights by the government under which they live should be allowed to resist that government's intent to suppress these rights.