Human Rights Violation – What’s at stake?

Human Rights violation has been a pressing issue to our civilization since it’s inception. But
to get a proper perspective over this, one might need to understand what construes as
Human Rights. Is it something as simple as equality, or as vague as freedom?
Article 1 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states “All human beings are born
free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” And this might very well be the
whole essence of this proposal. Human Rights are the basic fundamental core values which
binds every single human being all over the world to the same family. It doesn’t pay
dividends to an anyone’s race, ethnicity, gender, nationality or political affiliation. It’s not
concerned whether if they are tax payer or not, good or bad - If they are human and if they
are alive, they have these rights. From a newly born baby to a prisoner of war, these are the
rights that’s making sure they are protected from barbarism and making sure any society on
this land does not descent to anarchy.
Human rights create a system of rights-holders and duty-bearers. But standing in 21 st
century, when in all over the world these rights are viciously attacked, the question remains
- What’s at stake? Everything. From the safety of our own lives to our neighbours. From the
well being of our friends to our family. Despite of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948) and its legal adoption all over the world, crimes against individuals or groups are ever
rising. These rights which are there to safeguard our very existence are vehemently curbed
and any conversations about them are often too little or too late.

Human Rights Violation In and Around the

Globe – The Political Prisoner Dilemma
In 1948, a generation tormented by war and genocide came together for a better future.
Carrying the weight of holocaust and two great wars, people from all around world, with
various political and religious believes gathered together to agree upon one common goal –
to not let the world descend into barbarism and war again. The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights was widely adopted by Nations all around the world and replicated in their
local institutions as laws – at least in principle. Though welcomed on paper, the reality of
the world is far and distant from the ideals once visioned in the declaration. Discrimination
is unrestrained and millions of people are put in prison for expressing their mind.
Under the influence of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Helsinki Declaration
was signed on the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.
The pact signed in 1975 proposed the 35 countries signed “will respect human rights and
fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, for
all without distinction to race, sex, language or religion.” This directly contradicts the state
of Human Rights preservice and the growing tendency towards keeping political prisoners.
What makes this whole practice more stained is the fact it is not only prevalent in the
developing countries of the world. Politically motivated imprisonment, often without any
evidence of a fair trial, is a common practice all over the developed nations around the
globe. Intellectuals respected and admired for their contribution to the community are put
behind prisons by insecure governments for expressing their thoughts. Activists often see
their life end behind bars just for exercising their right to dissent. As the world is stepping
towards development each day, this aspect of the society remains unchecked. Though
recognized as a serious dilemma for some time now, any solution is yet to be proposed.

RELEVANCE TO THE GLOBE

As pointed out earlier, the relevance of Human Rights Violation cannot be limited to any
certain sections of the world. Its presence supersedes any form of government or divisions
which might be prevalent in any other scenario. The following is a closer look on it’s impact
over various nations, irrespective of their socio-economic and political conditions.

CHINA
The Chinese government is notorious for its authoritarian regime. It’s tendencies to silence
anyone who speaks against the state makes it difficult to obtain any accurate and legitimate
information on its internal policies. But for what is known, the human rights condition is in
shambles. The worst of the scenario comes from it’s targeted campaign against Uyghur
women, men, and children and other Turkic minority Muslim groups in Xinjiang district. The
Communist Party of China has a history with violation of religious freedom. Documented
human rights violation includes heinous acts like forced abortion, forced sterilization and
involuntary implantation of birth control. More than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim
minorities has been sent to intermittent and detention camps. Some even got separated
from their family and forced to join labour facilities. Arbitrary detaining of its activists and
journalists have been a common practise for the Xi Jinping regime. As of 2021, there are 127
journalists that are currently detained. Zhang Zhan, a street journalist recently got detained
for 4 years when she travelled to Wuhan to cover the ongoing crisis of the pandemic. The
Chinese Government refuses to let her go despite repeated urges from the UN owing to her
deteriorating health conditions.

RUSSIA
Russia has been infamous for its human rights violations and the situation only deteriorate.
Plagued by widespread civic unrest, the government’s response has only been restoring to
its repressive laws and showcasing violence. And the recent pandemic gave Putin
government an excuse to impose new restrictions on its civilians. This recent year has seen a
sharp rise of political prisoners in Russia. It has listed more than 419 prisoners which is up
from 362 last year. This includes opposition leader and Kremlin critic Alexi Navalni who
survived nerve agent poisoning and was hospitalized in serious condition. Though detaining
state critics isn’t a new trend to the Putin regime. On 7th April CNN Correspondent Matthew
Chance along with nine other journalists were detained by Russian police for covering a rally
in support of Navalni. This move was largely condemned by the International Press Institute
(IPI). He was later released.

INDIA
Several instances of Human Rights violation took place in India the last year and the present.
India has never been able to champion human rights in it’s true sense. Various arbitrary laws
and repressive regimes has kept her away from it. In 2018, Father Stan Swamy along with
seven others were arrested by the NIA (National Intelligence Agency) for their alleged
involvement in the violence of Bhima Koregaon celebrations at Pune. As a tribal activist he
had working relationships with several indigenous communities and criticized the
government on several of their policies. He was charged by the NIA for alleged “waging war
against the country” and having connections with banned Communist Party of India
(Maoist). He suffered from COVID-19 in the prison and died three days later from cardiac
arrest. Political prisoners have been a recurring issue with India. Specially during the recent
times of the pandemic. Overcrowded prisons and poor sanitization pose terrible hygiene for
the incarcerated. 1,775 prisoners died in India in 2019 while being in custody due to illness
or aging. And despite of being such an alarming issue, there’s still no hurry for a
conversation yet.

WHY THIS PITCH!

UN Rights Committee and many other similar organizations are ever working to protect our
natural human right, for us to realize them. But that is their extent. To protect and enforce.
We don’t acquire human rights from anywhere, we are born with them. These are the rights
we carry with us irrespective of who we are. But somewhere down the line this thought has
got muddled. UN is a platform with proper representation and values. And we feel this topic
will certainly benefit from such an exposure.