J. Lewis – The Human Rights Encyclopedia (3 Volumes)

Автор: J. Lewis
Название книги: The Human Rights Encyclopedia (3 Volumes)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Политология и Социология
Страницы: 396+386+354
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

A society that lacks human rights is a society that breeds
misery. If I am ever asked why I am an advocate of human
rights, I would like to answer that I simply do not like seeing
so much human misery around me. There are many people
today whose lives have been blighted by the sense of insecurity
and helplessness common to those who are at the mercy
of the whims of unjust, authoritarian rulers. People need to
be protected against the misuse of power. The articles of the
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights are
aimed at providing this all-important protection for all the
peoples of the world.
In the aftermath of World War II, already-established powers
and young nations newly emerged from the colonial
chrysalis gathered to lay out a set of principles that would
protect future generations from the scourge of violent conflict.
Burma was one of the original signatories of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights when it was adopted by the
United Nations in December 1948. But sadly, more than fifty
years later, the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights still remain paper promises to many peoples and
nations.
Coming as I do from Burma, a country that suffers from
the systematic violation of human rights by those in power,
I deeply appreciate the wisdom and vision of those who drew
up the articles of the Declaration. There is not one article that
we can choose to ignore without imperiling freedom, justice,
and peace. If we are to lead free and full lives, all the articles
of the Declaration must be respected.
The preamble of the Declaration proclaims that the
“advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom
of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want” is
the “highest aspiration of the common people.” It is also the
most basic need for all, regardless of race, religion, or nationality.
Our struggle for human rights has brought us very close
to all members of the human family who are striving for the
recognition of their inherent dignity and their inalienable
right to life, liberty, and security of person.
It is my hope that our common aims and sufferings will
create a strong sense of solidarity that transcends national
borders and cultural differences. We struggle with a sense of
purpose and an unshakable faith in the power of compassion,
endeavor, and universal brotherhood. As our gratitude goes
out to those who have so generously supported us in our
times of adversity, we would like to express the hope that one
day, our country may also be a source of strength and support
for those in need of peace, justice, and freedom.

On a bright June morning in Colombia last year, Venecia
Barona Mosquera went out to cut sugar cane to help earn a
living for her family. When she came home, she found her
father and two brothers shot dead and her ten-year-old daughter
lying with her skull crushed. Ms. Mosquera’s family had
done nothing to deserve their deaths. They were simply poor
peasant villagers. But their village had given some food to a
band of well-armed rebel guerrillas—they were afraid not
to—and as a consequence, local right-wing paramilitary
troops punished the village by killing more than twenty
people, including Ms. Mosquera’s family. Ms. Mosquera fled
to a refugee camp on the outskirts of Cartegena—a shantytown
nicknamed Nelson Mandela—and thereby became one of the
more than 2 million Colombians who have been displaced by
the brutal guerrilla war that has racked that country for years.
Ms. Mosquera’s story is a personal tragedy. It is also a
human rights tragedy. In Ms. Mosquera’s tragedy, you see
the human face of the struggle for human rights.
All too often, we see human rights as abstract ethical concepts
or dead words from the past. We read in the American
Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness,” and we should recognize that Thomas
Jefferson’s words are still true today. But sometimes the world
ignores them or pretends that they do not matter. To those
around the globe who are struggling against fear and oppression,
they matter a great deal. Venecia Mosquera’s family
had their right to life stripped from them; Venecia Mosquera,
forced to flee for her life, had her liberty taken from her, and
her chances of pursuing happiness seem slim. Perhaps none
of this would have happened if government officials in Colombia
and their allies in other countries—including the
United States—had shown greater respect for the idea of human
rights.
Despite tragedies like Ms. Mosquera’s, or perhaps partly
because of them, there has been a growing consensus over
the last decade that human rights must become an international
priority. From Haiti to Kosovo, international peacekeeping
forces have intervened to prevent human rights
catastrophes. In negotiations over trade deals, human rights
have become a key element of the debate. Those who have
previously been on the fringes of political questions—women,
children, the disabled—have begun to move closer to center
stage because of increased worldwide awareness of the importance
of human rights.
This increased awareness has led us to create this encyclopedia.
We think it is a necessary and long overdue resource
in this era of growing human rights concerns and abuses.
But what are human rights? They are a set of ideas and
beliefs that all people are endowed with certain privileges and
responsibilities. The privileges include everything from the right
to speak openly without fear, to the right to decent shelter and
healthcare. The responsibility associated with this idea is the
shared obligation that we all must defend one another’s human
rights. Each person has a set of human rights. Yet there are
some people who take these rights away. We have an obligation
to protect not only our own rights, but those of others.
Finally, rights are attached to people. All people have the same
rights. Just as there is a moral prohibition against murder, there
is also a moral imperative that requires us to defend the human
rights of all men, women, and children.
Not all people share this view. But then, not all people
obey laws against murder. We believe that more and more
good people are learning to view the world through the prism
of human rights. The roots of the modern belief in inherent
human rights is, after all, relatively young, dating back only
to the seventeenth century. It will take time before all people
embrace human rights as a world priority.
In this context of growing interest, our purpose is to bring
knowledge of human rights issues to a broader audience and
to serve as a resource on the subject for students, educators,
and general readers. To best accomplish this, we have divided
The Human Rights Encyclopedia into two main sections:
Countries, and Issues and Individuals.
Each country entry gives a brief outline of the country’s
history, society, and political makeup, and then goes into detail
about human rights problems in that country. The various
contributors were given the freedom to take their own approach
to the country entries—each country has unique characteristics
that may suggest differing methods of analysis—but
each was sure to supply basic demographic and political data
that place human rights issues in context. We also provide
sources for our information, which for the most part are respected
government and human rights organizations.
The topical entries delve deeply into the details of human
rights problems. In entries from abortion to xenophobia, we
confront the difficult issues surrounding human rights and try to bring to life the suffering of those whose rights have
been denied. Our contributors are qualified and respected
people in the field of human rights. Many of them are also
activists in this field, and bring to this set a unique blend of
passion and firsthand experience. They make it clear that they
are writing about living, suffering people. As with the country
entries, each topical entry has a bibliography giving readers a
starting point for further research. These entries also provide
cross-references to other related topics.
The appendixes provide two sets of resources. First, there
is a documentary collection of the most prominent and wellknown
human rights resolutions of the twentieth century. These
documents, which define human rights in the world of international
law, include the United Nations Charter of 1945, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
While these four are the most important human rights documents,
we have also included several more that pinpoint other
major areas of concern, such as racism, genocide, and
children’s rights.
In addition to these critical official documents, we also offer
a large sampling of some of the more important human
rights organizations around the world. Given the tens of thousands
of such organizations, a representative sample is all that
we can hope to provide.
We believe that our approach to human rights issues will
provide a useful tool for researchers and anyone who is interested
in understanding the meaning behind events that are
splashed across the front page of newspapers every day. If,
for example, a student were to read about Venecia Mosquera
and her problems and wished to learn more about them, there
would be many pathways available. The reader could first refer
to the Colombia entry and read about the long-standing
history of the guerrilla war there. Next, the user could turn to
topical entries such as War, War Crimes, and Refugees. If the
same newspaper mentions that Colombia is about to receive
billions of dollars from the United States in order to help stop
drug cultivation, the reader could turn to the Drug Trafficking
entry to read about how both drug use and the war on drugs
can lead to human rights violations, as they have in Colombia.
Each of these articles has cross-references that will lead
to other human rights issues. Finally, the appendixes will help
the researcher to discover which rights were guaranteed Ms.
Mosquera by international law and which were violated during
her ordeal.
Today, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, when the
goodwill of leaders and organizations around the world give
us hope that human rights will be more of a priority than they
were in the conflict-ridden, horror-filled twentieth century, it
seems particularly appropriate to launch this encyclopedia.
This reference work cannot hope to answer all human rights
questions—there is not enough ink in the world to do that—
but we hope that it will serve as a useful starting point, a beginning
that readers can use as a base from which to explore
the idea of a planet where human rights are fully respected,
protected, and enjoyed by all peoples.
I hope that, just as this project has opened my eyes to some
of the horrors and hopes that surround the issue of human
rights, this encyclopedia may succeed in opening a few more
eyes to the rights struggle. Where human rights are concerned,
we all still have a great deal to learn.
Carl Skutsch