There are many big human rights challenges today. On the one hand there are the mass atrocities – places like Darfur or Eastern Congo where . . . where many, many people are killed and displaced. There are highly repressive governments – say North Korea, or Burma, or Uzbekistan, or Turkmenistan – where just the severity of the government repression deserves attention. There are places where wars have become so chaotic that . . . that the lack of government is a problem. I think Iraq is an example of that. So in that sense there are many situations where . . . where violence and repression call out for urgent attention. But there are other, you know, quieter forms of abuse that we tend not to . . . you tend not to see in the headlines, but that nonetheless affect many, many people quite severely. And here I think about, say, the severe restrictions on the rights of women that exist in many parts of the world. I think about migrant workers who are forced to travel long distances, and in a foreign environment often are . . . exist completely without respect for rights, wholly at the whim of their employer. I think about, you know, children who may be drafted to be soldiers – you know physically seized and coerced to become soldiers. Or who have to serve as . . . as domestics in lieu of going to school. So there are many of these quieter issues that don’t get into the headlines, but that are also acute problems as well.
Recorded on: 8/14/07
Discuss
Raymond O'Connor on January 7, 2008, 6:33 PM
I agree with the major issues mentioned regarding human rights abuses but one ought not forget the sinister tactics, both government and private, against those who organize people to claim their rights. Many attacks, treats, intimidation have been employed to silence if not kill labor organizers in Columbia, China and other counters where works suffer unconscionable exploitation.
Raymond O'Connor on January 7, 2008, 11:33 PM
I agree with the major issues mentioned regarding human rights abuses but one ought not forget the sinister tactics, both government and private, against those who organize people to claim their rights. Many attacks, treats, intimidation have been employed to silence if not kill labor organizers in Columbia, China and other counters where works suffer unconscionable exploitation.
andrew kabbe on January 17, 2008, 11:34 AM
This is laughable. China couldn't care less about human rights. The only reason they need to get oil in Sudan is because they can't compete on the open market for oil in countries like Saudi because we've got it locked down. What do we say about human rights there? Whatever political nicety you see from them is to foster relations with western nations to which they pirate technolgy from. China will never play fair, but do we? Logically we'd need to clean up our own act to ask then to clean up theirs. Do you see that happening? Thats what I thought.
andrew kabbe on January 17, 2008, 4:34 PM
This is laughable. China couldn’t care less about human rights. The only reason they need to get oil in Sudan is because they can’t compete on the open market for oil in countries like Saudi because we’ve got it locked down. What do we say about human rights there? Whatever political nicety you see from them is to foster relations with western nations to which they pirate technolgy from. China will never play fair, but do we? Logically we’d need to clean up our own act to ask then to clean up theirs. Do you see that happening? Thats what I thought.
baraca yo-bama on January 26, 2008, 5:21 AM
Take a look at what the great Professor from Harvard, Atty. Dershowitz says in his video. His views on American human rights is down right scary.
baraca yo-bama on January 26, 2008, 10:21 AM
Take a look at what the great Professor from Harvard, Atty. Dershowitz says in his video. His views on American human rights is down right scary.
Norma Fares on October 6, 2008, 4:50 AM
I also agree on the major points mentioned. Living in MENA, make me think about certain regretable alliances with wealthy countries for the sake of money, money then money whereas Human values in such countries do not exist to speak about Human Rights.
Human being in those 5th-century-countries is an object that could be savagely displaced and destroyed.
The silence of the allied-west-countries and of their high-ranking-positioned-employees (to keep their position] is nothing but an approval on the violation of Human values-rights…until further notice.
Further notice for those allied-western-countries and their people is when they are personally touched with such a violation of their Human personal rights.
It’s high time that human consciousness be re-guided towards a global human rights thinking. Otherwise, it would reach those silent people/countries their families and their children one day i.e. Sept. 11…
Only then, we, the people of MENA, would be understood.
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