Human Rights EQ2

Question 1

Human rights

Answer 1

The moral principles that underlie standards of human behaviour. They are universal in the sense of being applicable everywhere, and they are the same for everyone

Question 2

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Answer 2

• The UDHR sets out 30 human rights, ranging from freedom of speech, to education and justice
• It is a declaration, not a treaty, meaning that it is not legally binding. Some regard this as a fundamental weakness, due to the articles being unenforceable
• All 193 members of the UN are bound to recognise and respect all articles of the declaration

Question 3

Geneva convention

Answer 3

• A series of 4 treaties applied at times of armed conflict to protect people not taking part in the conflict (including prisoners of war)
• The current Geneva Convention (1949) has been ratified by 196 countries

Question 4

European Convention on Human Rights

Answer 4

• This convention, comprises of a number of articles, each setting out a specific human right
• It has played an important part in developing an awareness for human rights in Europe
• It was a response to serious violations in WW2, as well as the post-war spread of communism and the threat of communist subversion

Question 5

Democracy

Answer 5

Countries within a system of government in which power is held by regularly elected representatives or directly by the people

Question 6

Human rights vs economic development

Answer 6

• There are few countries that give human rights real precedence over economic growth
• Most democracies are committed to the principles of human rights, but almost inevitably there are occasions when the interpretation of one of those principles does not fall in line with that made by the international community at large
• While there are plenty of statistics relating to the economic wealth of countries, there are few measures relating to human rights

Question 7

North Korea

Answer 7

• They live in self-imposed isolation
• They spend a huge amount of their GDP on military forces and arrangements. As a result many North Koreans suffer food shortages and occasional famine. The last of these in the 1990s killed an estimated 2.5 million people (almost 10% of their population)

Question 8

China

Answer 8

• Economic reforms in 1979 have seen China become increasingly involved in the global economy
• Their human rights have been widely criticised. This includes: suppression of the internet and media freedom, unfair trials, torture, workers’ rights e.g trade unions are illegal, death penalty
• The Chinese government is a highly authoritarian one-party state. They prohibit trade unions and human rights organisations, and controls the judicial system. They also obstructs domestic and international scrutiny of it’s human right record

Question 9

India

Answer 9

• They are democratic republic with a parliamentary system of government
• It has some human rights issues: violence against minorities especially Muslims, discrimination and neglect of tribal communities, sexual abuse against women and children
• The Indian economy has not performed as spectacularly as the Chinese economy. Whether this difference is down to China having an authoritarian government is not entirely clear

Question 10

Political corruption

Answer 10

• Allowing private interests to dictate government policy
• Taking decisions that benefit those who are funding the politicians
• Diverting foreign aid and scare resources to the private pockets of politicians

All these malpractices result in corrupt politicians who can easily steer away a country from good governance, which may cause a threat to human rights

Question 11

Zimbabwe- example of political corruption

Answer 11

• During it’s time as a British colony, it became one of the most prosperous parts of Africa thanks to their agriculture and mining industry
• Since Robert Mugabe came into office in 1980, corruption and lack of human rights has been apparent
• One way in which this culminated was in the land reforms that occurred to redistribute land back to the black population from former colonial white settlers. The land ended up in the hands of Mugabe’s cronies or badly farmed
• The country is near the brink of bankruptcy, with a GDP per capita of only $1000, meaning there are only 22 poorer counties in the world