FREE ESSAY ON HUMAN RIGHTS

HUMAN RIGHTS

Human Rights in the New Millennium
Human rights issues are taking on new focus in the new millennium. Economic and social
rights are a paramount concern as the link between adequate and inadequate living
standards. Governmental and non-governmental organizations are realizing that some
countries take precedent over other countries when it comes to human rights. In the new
millennium, cases that violate human rights are being taken more serious than ever
before. International prosecution against individuals and corporations will take place if
human rights charges are brought against them. Human rights have been an issue in the
international community since the beginning of time. Many bills and declarations have
been written to distinguish what rights humans have by nature and what constitutes a
human rights violation. The Bill of Rights in America, English Magna Carta of England,
and the French Declaration of Man of France all set forth what human rights each citizen
has in their respective country (Slomanson, page 494). Human rights have and will
continue to be a serious issue and concern of the international community. Poverty,
rights of women and children, and corporate and military involvement are only some of the
issues that human rights involves. 
Everyone has that right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of
himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and
necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment,
sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond his control (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN General Assembly Resolution
217A (III) of 10 December 1948. Article 25. The article above states that an adequate
standard of living is a basic human right. Yet, according to the United Nations
Development Program's (UNDP) 1998 Human Development Report showed that nearly
three-fifths of the 4.4 billion people living in the developing world lack basic
sanitation, one third have no access to clean water and one quarter of the people do not
have housing. These type of statistics are not only found in the developing world.
Currently in the United States 35 million people live in poverty. (Key Human Rights
Issues in the New Millennium, Human Rights Brief, vol. 27, no 3 (Summer 2000). 
Although poverty is an important issue, the international human rights agenda
historically has not focused on poverty. This negligence of the international human
rights community has stemmed from the division of human rights. Human rights have been
divided into two distinct groups: civil and political rights vs. social and economical.
One example of each would be freedom of expression vs. the right to adequate standard of
living. Two separate groups were formed to deal with each division's needs. The ICCPR
(International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) deals with the human rights issues
regarding civil and political violations. The ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic,
Social, and Cultural Rights) deals with violations to the individual or group of people.
(Key Human Rights Issues in the New Millennium, Human Rights Brief, vol. 27, no 3 Summer
2000). 
The gap between the rich and the poverty stricken is growing wider and wider each day.
According to the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) 1999 Human Development
Report the fifth of the world's people living in the richest countries had an income that
was seventy four times that of the fifth living in the poorest countries, up sixty times
since 1990. The United States is one of these rich countries. It's rather ironic that the
one of the countries with the richest population is the most reluctant to reorganize
economic rights and true human rights. Poverty is a universal human rights dilemma. There
is no reason why one person on this planet should go without. The resources and
opportunity are available. 
Today's children are tomorrow's future. That's all the more reason why children should
have the ultimate human rights protection. According to the United Nations Development
Program's (UNDP) 1999 Human Development Report one fifth of children are malnourished,
one fifth of children do not attend school past grade five, and child mortality is high,
and fourteen percent of children make up the labor force. These numbers are surprisingly
high since ten years ago the Convention on the Rights of a Child came into the
international stage. This is the world's most ratified treaty; the only two countries
that have not ratified it are the United States and Somalia. The convention includes the
following rights:
-The right to survival and development
-The right to be free from physical harm and neglect
-The right to the highest attainable standard of health
-The right to education on the basis of equal opportunity
-The right to be free from economic exploitation and from work that may interfere 
the child's education, health, or well being
-A child can not be drafted into the military until the age of 15. A recent Optional 
Protocol raised the age to 18 for the countries that chose to ratify the protocol.
This Convention aims high to correct and protect the human rights of a child, but the
actual effectiveness has been weak. The Convention on the Rights of the Child draws great
attention to the issues of human rights but does not do anything specific to correct
them. (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. General Assembly Resolution
A/RES/44/25. 20 November 1989.)
Another aspect of human rights on the international stage is involvement of the military.
As seen in Human Rights World Report 2000 abusive militaries subcontract atrocities to
irregular forces which the military [can] then claim were beyond its control. An example
of the mentioned above is in East Timor. Militia members conducted a campaign of killing,
torture, and destruction throughout the country. The militia began its terrible
destruction after the citizens of East Timor voted for independence against Indonesia.
The government of East Timor claimed there was police and government attempting to take
control of the militias but could not. This was not the case. It was proven that there
was actual police and government involvement in the militias. There have been many
positive strides toward prosecution of international human rights crimes involving
international organizations and individual. One example is the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda. This court has convicted five individuals, including Prime Minister
Jean Kambanda. Another note worthy indictment was that of President Slobodan Milosevic by
the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslav. The most important
indictment was the recent arrest of former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet. Although
the indictments of Milosevic and Pinochet did not lead to convictions, these two major
arrests have paved the way for further persecutions and the International Criminal Court.
Hopefully within the next few years a permanent international court will be established
to handle human rights violations. 
When looking at human rights from afar, it seems that the only issue at hand is the well
being and safety of people. A behind the scene player is the corporate world.
Corporations and nongovernmental organizations play an important role in human rights
development. Huge corporations have a direct impact on the human rights of individual
states. Corporations can go anywhere in the world and start business. This means that
they can find the cheapest land, and more important to them the cheapest help. This is
where major human rights violations come into play. It is very difficult to police
multinational corporations, most of the corporations do an adequate job of policing
themselves. Such as Nike, this large corporation created a its own code of conduct which
keeps executives as well as employees in good standings with human rights. There are many
other companies that have submitted to a monitoring system such as the Fair Labor
Association (FLA). These monitoring systems watch over the corporations to make sure
there are no violations occurring at the top or the bottom. For those companies who chose
not to police themselves a recent precedent has been set under United States Law in the
case John Doe vs. Unocal Corporation.(John Doe I et al. V. Unocal Corporation, et al.,
963 F. Supp. 880 (C.D. Cal. 1997). This is the case of a Burmese citizen who brought case
against the United States Corporation Unocal for a human rights violation that took place
under the operation of the company in Burma. The court ruled in a pretrial motion to
dismiss, there is jurisdiction under the United States Alien Tort Claims Act that may
allow other foreign nationals to sue for reparations from United States corporations
operating in foreign countries. If corporations are held responsible then they will be
less likely to operate in countries will poor human rights policy. 
Human rights problems, whether they are between people, states, or corporations, are not
going to be solved in one day. To even make a dent in preventing human rights violations
the international community needs to come together and work as one. The new millennium is
an opportunity for the world to come together and uphold the rights that the people were
given by their founding fathers. Within the next few years great strides will be taken to
protect the people of all nations in this world. Protecting ones inalienable rights is
life long conquest. The information above is just a fraction of the whole story of human
rights. Although there has been some progress, much more work needs to be done.
Works Cited
Unites States Constitution - Bill of Rights - 1791
.English Magna Carta - 1215
French Declaration of Rights of Man - 1789
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN General Assembly Resolution 217A (III) of 10
December 1948. Article 25
Human Rights Brief, vol. 27, no 3 Summer 2000). 
John Doe I et al. V. Unocal Corporation, et al., 963 F. Supp. 880 (C.D. Cal. 1997).
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. General Assembly Resolution
A/RES/44/25. 20 November 1989.
Slomanson, William R.,Fundamental Principles on International Law. 3rd Edition. West
Thomson Learning. 2000