"Finals Week is over and 2011 is the single most active year of my life."

To say that 2011 was an active year is actually a huge understatement. It is hard for me to think it has only been a year since I was sitting in my Senior Seminar class and Dr. Brooks put Al Jazeera on the projector to show us the Egypt riots in January. So much has happened this year both good and bad. Revolutions, wars, dead terrorists, protests, economic collapses, and so on. It blows my mind that the year I (finally) become a full fledged adult, the entire world changes. Of course, this post is inspired by the recent announcement of, the 'Dear Leader,' Kim Jong-Il's death. As much good as could come out of all of these occurrences, there are a lot of problems that could arise.

Left to Right: Osama bin Laden, Moummar Gadhafi, and Kim Jong-il. All have passed in the past year.

I picked the 'oh

crap faces.'

In 2011, we have seen three major oppressors pass away, some by normal means, some by not some normal means. The first was Osama bin Laden, who fell victim to SEAL Team 6 on the order of President Obama. He now rests in a watery grave to avoid major issues in relation to what country would take him and to follow his religious beliefs. Following him was Moummar Gadhafi, who was brutally beaten and killed by his own people. And just yesterday, Kim Jong-il was announced dead of a heart attack. He will be buried on December 28th. Each of these men have committed horrendous human rights violations and oppressed their people immensely (if they rule a people).

My personal favorite picture of the Arab Spring Revolutions

The Arab Spring of January is still going on now in December. Every Middle Eastern country has been effected regardless of whether there has been open revolt. Egypt and Tunisia started the chain reaction, but both are still without stable governments. Egypt is still dealing with violent treatment of protestors. A female protestor was recently dragged, partially disrobed, and beaten brutally in Tahrir Square. Does that sound like progress yet? Several other countries have yet to displace the leaders, but have been violently repressed by the leaders instead. For example, President Bashir Assad in Syria, who is even being sanctioned by the Arab League, has been ordering shooting at protestors and other horrible violent acts in his country. The stories are much the same in Yemen and Bahrain. Violent putdowns, but continued protest. I hope that the people continue until they get what they want be that democracy or not.

This is the picture that brought Occupy Wall Street to the forefront of United States news this year. These women had just been pepper sprayed in the face by police officers during their peaceful protest. Occupy Wall Street swept the country and inspired break offs in many of the countries major cities and on many college campuses. The Occupy Movement is the most free and diverse protest movement that has hit the streets in the United States in years and it has shed light on some real problems with the way that the US handles protests. There have been multiple occasions of police brutality like the one pictured. Pepper spraying people who were not threatening them at all, brutal arrests involving the tackling of people to the ground, clearing of tent cities and removal of protestors from the areas they had occupied for reasons like their health and the freedom of other people to use these areas. It is a tell that the United States is not quite as different from all the other countries in the world as it thinks it is.

2011 has been full of natural disasters. More than any year before (in my lifetime). The Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami, the Joplin Tornado, Hurricane Irene, fires, earthquakes on the US East Coast, and many others. People have died and been displaced more than ever this year by Mother Nature. I witnessed the East Coast Earthquake and though it was not of any huge intensity, it was not something that we are used to and it knocked out all the phone lines throughout the area. My roommate was in Japan during the Earthquake/Tsunami and it was terrifying to all involved. It destroyed much of northern Japan and heavily affected the entire country. Emergency crews have been constantly on the move due to these to try to return some normalcy to areas that had it forcibly ripped away. It will be a long haul for many of the people affected by these disasters to get back to a good place.

A couple pictures depicting the economic crises in Europe.

The world economy has been messed up way before this year, but several nations have began to feel the effects and crumble under the stress. The EU has felt it the most though. Recently, both Greece and Italy have fallen into economic collapse. The EU has bailed them out with the stipulation that they restructure their government. So far Greece has done so and Italy will likely follow. Ireland has also felt the stress though its has not yet fully crumbled. Interesting enough, the situation has gotten better in the United States, where jobs have slowly begun to open up and money is moving more than the past few years.

Last, but certainly not least, the end of the War in Iraq is finally here. Though there are still over 3000 troops in Iraq, the war has officially been declared over and military pull out has commenced. After 9 years, the US is no at active war with anyone. This a happy event for many military families in the country and will bring a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakah, Happy Kwanza, and so forth to all. It is nice to finally see a war that has lasted my entire young adult life end (it started when I was 13 and lasted past my 21st birthday). I hope this is the beginning of some period of peace.

Overall, this has been an eventful year and I hope beyond hope that it all turns out well. I worry so much that things are getting pushed and forced too quickly on people, like democracy in the Middle East, and it will only lead to more instability and violence than peace. I am not going to lie, in the past semester I have been very behind on US and World News because I have been focusing all my time to the Middle East and Lebanon in classes and interest. If there are any discrepancies that is on me and I'm sorry. If I left anything out that is why. These are the problems that stuck out for me this year and I can't say I don't worry for the future because I do, but I have hope and that is all we need for the future to turn out better than the past or present.

Trafficking Victims Treated As Criminals

In the UK, instead of sympathizing with them, the authorities have been treating human trafficking victims like criminals. Human Trafficking has been a problem in the world for centuries and often the victims are not treated with the sympathy and concessions they should to people who have been through such a traumatic experience. Lady Helena Kennedy QC investigated and found that police and immigration authorities fail to see these victims as victims because they are often brought out of the industry through criminal offenses. Trafficked people are typically forced into the work they do and are often unpaid. The authorities often treat them as part of the problem and their needs are put to the side. Obviously, there is something wrong with this picture.

The human rights involved here are security of self and safety from violence. The UK has not been taking these rights into consideration when dealing with the victims. They have already had these rights violated, why hurt them more by treating them as if they did it of their own choice. Their security of self is violated in the process of trafficking and the safety from violence can be violated either by the people trafficking them or the authorities afterwards.

Human trafficking is one of those issues in the world that saddens me more than any other. It is hard for me to understand how people could do things like what is done to these people to other human beings. And then, to treat the victims like they are the problem is just horrible. These people have been traumatized and forced into labor. They did not immigrate on their own terms and yet they are treated as if they have and are automatically deported. These people need sympathy and help once they are brought out of this system of organized crime. It just seems like it is wrong to treat them as they do in UK, and in most other countries, after they have already had such a terrible experience.

What can be done to help the UK and other countries be more understanding of the plight of the victims of human trafficking? Are they part of the problem? Is the UK in the right?

Women's Rights After the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring swept through the Middle East starting in January. Ageless authoritarian rules were toppled one by one. Men and women participated in the same numbers and with the same risk. Now two of these countries, the first two, are moving to create their new governments and women want a part in it. On Human Rights Watch, Nadya Khalife gives her perspective on women's roles in Tunisia and Egypt and what they are doing now to try and make their freedoms a reality in their homes. In Tunisia, there have been some significant steps for women, including the diminishing of the CEDAW, which restricted women's rights. Now women are operatively equal in the family and state. As long as it follows Islam. Tunisia has set a national religion, Islam, and has committed that all rights must be align with Shari'a Law. Tunisia has not seen much in allowance for female leadership in the new government, but they are still trying. In Egypt, women were some of the major pushers for the revolution. It would seem obvious that they would get representation, but it doesn't seem so. Egyptian women have dealt with verbal, physical, and sexual abuse throughout the revolution and some people are even saying that it is not the 'right time' for women's rights and equality. Only one women is part of the interim government and she was a minister under Mubarak, giving her a bad reputation to start with. There seem to be some mixed results on the issue of women's rights in the Post-Arab Spring world.

The human rights violated are pretty straightforward. The right to self determination, the right to safety from violence, and the right to equality between men and women. Women are not being given the opportunity to make their own future and decisions in these new governments. Women also should not have to worry about being harmed by their fellow protestors while marching either.

I am happy that there has been some progress in women's rights in the Middle East. Tunisia is the first to give women equal parity. Tunisian and Egyptian women voted in their elections this year. Many of them for the first time. I worry that these improvements may diminish over time with the election of the new governments. In Egypt, there was an obvious Islamist majority elected. I am not saying that Islam is not compatible with feminism, it is, but Islamists by and large tend to be very conservative in their beliefs and will shut out women entirely if they can. I only hope that I am wrong and women can gain the seat they deserve in the new governments of Tunisia and Egypt. Many of these women are my age and hoping to see their futures in a better light. I can only hope they are lucky enough to see that day.

Do you think that increases in Women's Rights will come upon the heels of the Arab Spring? Do you think that there will be a definite struggle before women will receive equality? Is it not the 'right time' for women?

UN Voices Concern Over Syrian Torture

Syria has dug itself into a whole that it may not be able to climb out of. Syria has been known for committing many human rights violations, including torture, but not excluding any others. The most recent accusation is that Syria has been involved in the torturing of children, which has caught the sight and interest of the United Nations. The Committee Against Torture has begun investigations into the accusations on Syria and what the international response should be to the problems.

In the realm of human rights this may be the most disgusting abuses I have ever encountered. The rights violated here are the right to security of person, freedom from torture and wrongful imprisonment, and right to life. On top of these, Syria is violating several human rights designated to children that are inexcusable.

I cannot justify violence against children in any theater. There is no reason because they are never in the wrong because they do not have full self determination. Syria has done nothing but violate people's rights in reaction to unrest within the country. There is obviously something very wrong with a country if the people are still trying to rise up with all this violent response coming from the government. There is a time when a government needs to understand that they need to step down for the good of their country and their people.

What do you think should be the international response to this issue? Should Syria's government step down at this point?

Egyptian Elections Lead to Violations By the Military

In the recent lead up to parliamentary elections this Monday, Egypt's military has been seen brutally breaking up peaceful protests, arresting demonstrators and bloggers, and neglecting policing operations in the country. The military has been targeting any military dissenters and either imprisoning them or informing them in a stern way that they should step back and reconsider their positions. The history of Egypt explains these occurrences because the military has been known to act in such ways in the past. Human Rights Watch only asks that they act as they said they would and protect the people and the democracy of Egypt rather than their own interests as they have promised.

The human rights violated here are the freedoms of assembly, peaceful protest, policing, wrongful imprisonment and security of self. The Egyptian military seems to have allowed the power they have to get to their head and human rights of the public have become a mute point.

The situation in Egypt has been a very interesting and sad one. The military and police have not been doing their jobs as they should and they should not be allowing the power that they currently have for the protection of the people. The military should not be acting as it is and should definitely not be limiting the freedom of assembly and speech in the position it has taken. It is presumed that the military took the side of the people and in that reality it should protect their rights and lives rather than infringe on them. The military is doing exactly what it promised not to do in taking the side of the people and helping them oust the former President and government regime.

What do you think the military should do? Are they responsible for the people and not infringing on their human rights?

Russia to Silence Homosexuals and Transexuals

Recently, legislation has come before the Russian government that would attempt to make it illegal to produce any form of written media that involved or created awareness about Gay, Lesbian, or Transgender people. President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin could silence an portion of their population by a simple approval. Several efforts are being made to make sure that this does not happen in Russia, including flashmobs, protests, and the sort, all of which could jeopardize activists' freedom.

This quite blatantly violates human rights. Freedom of speech, press, thought, and sexuality specifically. Speech, Press, and Thought all fall under the same category almost. The prohibition of any subject in media of any sort violates these immediately. Freedom of Sexuality is violated just in the act of silencing that entire section of the population. In what way is that fair to them as people?

I, personally, was surprised when this popped up on my facebook newsfeed. A friend of mine sent it to me, obviously knowing how passionate I am about this subject, earlier today and I was outraged. How could any country possibly think of censoring and whole sect of their population. What is so wrong about the subject? I do understand that this is a different country and there might be a context I don't quite have knowledge of, but it seems out of left field since Russia is supposedly considered on of the leading nations in the world (note its presence on the UN Security Council). It is unfortunate and unfair and I hope that the legislation does not pass.

Do you think that there are any grounds to censor such as this? What do you think the Russian government is trying to accomplish with this?

Are His Rights Being Infringed Too?

Welcome, to the wonderful world of Internet Memes (Fads). This one in particular is called the Pepper Spraying Cop Meme, in which Officer Pike, known for pepper spraying the peaceful Occupy UC Davis protest on November 18th, is shown pepper spraying some of our favorite art pieces. This meme has literally started over night and spread like wild fire. Officer Pike has been on indefinite leave since the incident, but, of course, someone caught everything on tape and it has now been seen by the whole world. Millions of people, including myself, have witnessed the madly increasing popularity of the meme almost instantly once it had hit Tumblr (a blogging social network). The meme seemingly originated sometime between late last night and this morning.

Does this raise issues with this man's human rights though? It is a picture of him, not something extremely anonymous, and it has been applied to hundreds of photos by now. The most clear violation of his human rights is the invasion into his privacy. His face has been plastered all over the Internet as part of a meme that may not fully express the best aspects of his character. Shouldn't he be allowed to chose whether his picture goes up on the Internet or on television? Of course, now it is on the Internet and will never go away. Also, I would then worry about his security of self, because now people know his face and can easily identify him and possibly cause him harm in retaliation.

I am no defender of the police in their action during these Occupy Wall street put downs, but I cannot help but worry about this man. He made a huge mistake, we all know that, but to put him through this type of ridicule is cruel. His children may see it, his family, the people he works with. It just does not quite seem fair. What he did was horrible and I do not excuse that at all, but that does not mean that people should lower them selves to a level where they subject someone to the most intense form of cyber bullying I can think of.

Was he asking for it? Is there any way to rectify it? What damages could this bring now that it is everywhere?

Police Shutdown Occupy Encampments

Another camp has been forcibly shut down now in Portland, Oregon. After a stand off between police and protestors attempting to reclaim their encampment, the police started to take down tents and remove them from the area. Protestors held a general assembly meeting in the morning when they were first pushed off the camp ground. Soon they relocated to the street and were told that they could be subject to 'chemical agents and impact weapons' to which their only response was "We are a peaceful protest." Eventually the protestors were cleared out of the street and the police have had the mayor's backing the entire time, he even tweeted a thanks to those who helped get the streets clear.

Human rights violations here encompass the right to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of peaceful protest, and security of self. Freedom of speech is the ever self explanatory right. If you stop them from Occupying you are stifling their political opinion. Assembly and Peaceful Protest go hand in hand here. It is an inherent human right that people are allowed to assemble in a group as well as protest in a peaceful manner without violence or any inherent harm to those around them. Security of self in this case has to do with the absolute lack of concern shown for these people's heath by the police who threatened to use weapons and chemicals against people who would not fight back. It's just unsavory.

I, personally, believe that as long as the Occupy protestors are not being violent or harming anyone that the police should not be allowed to touch them in any way. It is in their human and constitutional rights that they can gather and express their political opinion. Portland, and any other cities, that have attempted to shut down these movements are not working within their boundaries. it just seems ridiculous to me that they would shut these down so violently. To my knowledge, none of these people have caused harm to police, why are the police threatening harm?

Why are the police and the cities reacting in this way? Is it within the protestor human and constitutional rights to do what they are doing? Can an argument be made that it is not?

Syria Commits Crime Against Humanity

Syria, in the past few weeks, has been accused of crimes against humanity. Particularly in a industrial city named Homs, where several protests have broken out and security forces have been placed. Since November 2, it is thought that at least 104 more people have died at the hands of the security forces in Homs and that it could be more. Syria has been suspended from the Arab League pending further investigation and the UN is in talks to embargo arms and enact sanctions. In the article the author states that Homs is a microcosm to the entirety of Syria, making it just a small view of a larger picture that may be much worse than previously believed. With the deaths and seeming violent put downs of the protests what can be expected next?

In the arena of human rights there is the obvious violations of right to life and freedom of speech. The right to life is the most prominent and worrisome violation on the part of Syria. Many protests have broken out in Syria and it has not quite come out of its period of Arab Spring. Anti-government sentiment is high and if the government continues to react as it does, it can only be expected that it will violate the right to life of more and more of its citizens. On freedom of speech, it is pretty plain. The protests are being stopped by the means necessary and it seems that in some cases, if not most, that has been violent means.

I have never supported any sort of violence. I never will. al-Assad, in my opinion, should step down at this point. If there is so much strife in you country that even with the use of force protests will not stop reoccurring, maybe you should reevaluate your decisions. There are times like these where I am happy I live in the US because I know if someone tried to pull this in our own country they'd be evicted from the White House before the paper was out the next morning. Syria's government needs to take a hint from the Arab League and the UN and understand that if they are getting penalized so much they should cut their losses and figure something new out.

How do you feel about these deaths in Homs? Should security personnel be allowed such liberties? Can there be a solution in the future?

UN Scrutinizes Iran

Iran has come under scrutiny from the United Nations for targeted arrests and bad treatment of minorities and other designations. The United Nations Commission of Human Rights expressed concern over the continued discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities and homosexuals, as well as the capital punishment acted on juveniles. These allegations could lead to many problems for Iran if it does not try to relegate its offenses. The committee in question is made up of independent experts monitoring implementation of human rights conventions. Overall, Iran is being put under a spotlight at the moment.

The human rights violated here are right to life, right to religious freedom, and right to freedom from discrimination based on ethinicity, race, sexuality, etc. These are pretty straight forward. Capital punishment is against the right to life on principle. Religious freedom is a given as Iran is openly discriminating and arresting those of the religious minorities. Freedom from discrimination is hands down the most obvious violation from the ethnic and homosexual arrests and prejudices.

I personally have never really understood anything Iran does and often wonder why states sign human rights treaties they are not going to follow. Why not be truthful rather than asking for international scrutiny by signing the paper? Iran is one of many that have a long way to go before they will be up to snuff on human rights. I could not allow this to happen if I were in charge, but there is too much cultural and historical background for this not to have happened at some point in time.

What should be done about Iran? Why even bother making a statement? Will anything come of this scrutiny?

Misrata's Murder Militias

It has been discovered recently that militias in Misrata have been killing indiscriminantly any proposed supporters of Gadhafi. These militias have specifically targeted a town a few miles away named Tawergha. There were upwards of 100 such militias in Misrata and many still exist. The reason for most of the resentment is the continuous assault on the city that occurred during the end of Gadhafi's reign earlier this year. It is obvious that in this post-war time in Libya there is a need for accountability for human rights violations. To get the country back to running there needs to some form of authority and it needs to be shown in the refounding of a state. As the Misratan militia have been seen shooting and killing people of Tawergha unarmed. Their campaign has not been limited to this other city of Tawergha, but also to any other groups that were supporting Gadhafi.

The human rights violated in this case is right to life and the right to freedom of opinion. The right to life is violated in a very blatant sense in this particular case in Libya. There is not any way around it. The right to freedom of opinion is violated in the sense of killing purely because the person's beliefs are different than yours.

It is ridiculous to think that killing people is the only solution to some to get what they need. Though I understand their frustrations and their reasons with their situation and yet they should avoid bloodshed of this magnitude. Now that the war has ended there should have been a decrease in death and murder because now the whole country has a chance to rebuild. It seems that there may be a need for United Nations peace keeping forces to help quell the violence.

How can the murders be stopped? Are UN Peace Keeping forces needed? Should there be any intervention?

Israel is Moving In

Recently, Israel has declared new plans to accelerate settlement in the West Bank due to the admittance of Palestine as a voting member of UNESCO. This follows on a failed attempt at recognition by the UN Security Council by Palestine, which was vetoed by the United States, an Israeli ally. Palestinians have called for a full halt of settlements to continue peace talks, but Israel has not shown any sign of stopping. These settlements are a way for Israel to claim more and more land so to take over most of Palestine's terrirtory. Though Palestine is not considered a legitimate state due to its lack of formal government or territory, it still is seem as a nation due to the shared ethnic and cultural backgrounds of its people. Both countries think there is little chance at peace due to these recent events. These settlements, first and foremost, are illegal as declared by the United Nations and cautioned against by the United States. It is interesting that Israel would chance such a risk of negative consequences.

The human rights violated here are the Palestinians' rights to be a citizen of a country and to exist, in a sense. Israel is preventing Palestine from having its own country and land claim subjecting Palestinians to be people without a country. They are not really considered citizens of any existing country and that in itself limits the rights awarded them by the countries of the world. The right to exist is broken in the sense that to Israel it would be much better if Palestinians did not exist and they do their best to suffocate them as much as possible.

I, personally, have been appalled by many of the things I have seen come out of Israel on their treatment of the Palestinians. I know that it is a two way street, but in the Palestinians case it is almost justified because they have been kicked off their land and treated like second class citizens by the Israelis for several decades. Israel should be held to a somewhat higher standard because they are the most stable democracy in the Middle East and they are considered a relatively developed country. What right do they have to oppress an entire nation? Does it not seem as if they should be the last people who act out oppression on others?

Should the Israelis be allowed to build these settlements even though it is against international law? Why do people overlook these human rights violations so much? Why does the United States continuously support Israel when it continues to perpetrate these acts?

The Iran Paradox

The situation in Iran, for women, is an interesting one. Women in Iran are incredibly liberated in the sense of education, health care, and the like, but the women are still subject to old laws on marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance. One woman, Sussan Tahmasebi, went to her native country and stayed for ten years. She started the One Million Signatures Campaign, spreading a petition asking the government to pass and change laws for more equal rights to be awarded to women. The job of the people who work for her organization is to go into public places and ask normal Iranians to sign the petition. The women are very educated in Iran, holding jobs in medicine and politics, yet they are still subject to these seemingly primitive laws. In 2006, arrests began, but this only raised their resolve.

The human rights violated here have to do with right to liberty, freedom from forced marriage, free speech, and to think freely. It seems obvious that there should be something done in this case. Imprisoning people for showing an opinion and trying to peacefully see it fixed? It seems absurd. Everything that occurs in this situation is against some human right that is guaranteed to all people.

To me it seems ridiculous to give these women seeming economic liberty, but limit them socially by regulating their marriages, divorces, custody, and inheritance. They are educated women who understand that they are being treat unfairly. The government tries to justify it through religion, but that does not even work if one looks at the Koran deeply enough. It is violating these women's right to be a person and run their own lives. They were even imprisoned for trying to change it in the most peaceful way possible. What can a petition do? Is it a threat? I think not. I hope that one day Iran can take a step forward and equal out their women's rights.

Do you think that Iran is a paradox? Are women's rights as important in such a society as most would consider them? Is it religiously or patriarchically based prejudice?

Protecting Life?

Recently, the United States House of Representatives approved the Protect Life Bill, HR 358, which would allow hospitals to deny lifesaving abortions to women who might die otherwise. The bill leaves no stipulation for emergency situations at all. The bill passed through the house with a vote of 248 to 173, all republicans voting in favor and 11 Democrats also supporting. The Protect Life Act blocks subsidies for health insurance that includes policies that include abortion coverage. This bill is by far not the first attempt to block women from the procedure of abortion, which in some cases is necessary to survive.

The most prominent human right violated by this is the right to life. If this bill makes it into law it could cause even more women to die due to complications during their pregnancies and not even give them the option to choose to live. Not saving just kills both of the parties in consideration. Another is the right to health care. The bill would effectively remove the woman’s right to receive particular health care just due to the needed procedure allowing her to die for not good purpose.

This is ridiculous. I cannot for the life of me understand why someone would vote for this legislation since it promotes such a horrible message. All I hear is “Oh so you’re dying and we could save you by aborting your baby, but we won’t because that is against our beliefs. Sorry.” It is an unneeded loss of life and the truth is if you do not save the mother you are now letting two people die, rather than just one. I feel like the whole premise is counter productive and that the law should be vetoed if it even makes it through the Senate, which I hope it does not. I could never look at someone and tell them that we could save their wife, daughter, sister, or friend, but we are not going to because that would mean we have to remove what, at that moment, is not a person yet and that is more important to us than the living, breathing person in front of us. It just does not make sense.

Do you think that the United States Congress is justified in trying to pass such a controversial legislation? Is it okay to allow the mother to die because removing the potential baby is against your beliefs? Can you justify letting a woman die in this way?

Counter-Terrorism Is Not An Excuse

The United Nations, recently, had an expert release a statement expressing his belief counter-terrorism is used too much to curb human rights and justify violations of the human rights of the ‘enemy.’ It has been incredibly prominent in the past decade as the counter-terrorism fight has grown immensely and spread to many states throughout the globe. Ben Emmerson, the UN expert, is a citizen of the United Kingdom who serves as a jurist reporting to the Human Rights Council about such violations. The violations, according to Emmerson, are not only in states that are still developing, but also in states that have prided themselves with having strong democracies. He believes that the current implementation of human rights should be studied first and sees if prevention is a better tactic.

The connection to human rights is quite obvious because it is speaking of the violation and possible implementation of human rights in the states that are participating in counter-terrorist activities. Human rights that have been violated in the name of counter-terrorism include right to life, security of self, freedom from inhumane treatment in prison, freedom from torture, and many others. These have been violated by everyone from the very top of the food chain to the very bottom in the name of protecting the states and people.

I, personally, always felt that such measures are counterproductive to the purpose of counter-terrorism. If someone ignores their human rights they will reciprocate it and in many cases just grow to hate the group more over time. If the group respects their human rights and tries to instill more it will become harder to hate them and over time the incentive to participate in terrorist activity will fall. I think it is particularly despicable of the large, Democratic Western states to take part in such types of counter-terrorist measures since they have signed many documents promising to support human rights and should play to part of role model in such situations. It seems as if some many people speak one way, but act the other and in so many cases it does not fix anything, but makes it worse.

Is it okay to break someone’s human rights because they are party to a terrorist group? Is it counterproductive to do so? Would it be better to ‘kill them with kindness’?

Dear President Obama, Uganda Needs Your Help

On Human Rights Watch, recently, a video expressing a plea of desperation from the peoples of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. The Lord’s Resistance Army has plagued these people for decades now. The LRA is known for stealing children to be soldiers and prostitutes. They have run rampant through much of Northern Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Sudan causing all sorts of death and destruction for seemingly no purpose. The plea to President Obama is to act on the law he has put into place to aid and cease the LRA’s terrorizing of the people in these countries.

There are several human rights violated by the LRA and the governments of these countries through the lack of action. The first and foremost is the right to life possessed by all people. The LRA has gone around robbing people of their lives in more than one way from murdering hundreds of people to brainwashing and forcing children into their ranks and leaving them little to do once they have left if they can escape. Next is the right to safety from violence, which obviously is not observed by this group as seen in the needless killing and injuring of people all through their area of dominion. One that has been violated by the governments of the countries is the right to seek asylum from these horrors. Refugees live in horrible conditions in different countries and areas of their own.

I have followed the story in Uganda closely since learning about it when I was still high school. The LRA has been the most devastating terrorist group in recent years in my opinion. It forces young boys to be soldiers and young girls to be prostitutes for its soldiers. They have the children kill their parents so they feel they cannot go home because no one will accept them. Anything done to children I feel is the worst violation of human rights. These children cannot protect themselves from such horrific things and to target them is unforgivable. I feel that President Obama must keep up his end of the bargain and begin to act on his law to relieve the people of this area of Africa.

Do you think that Obama should hold up his end of the bargain? Why has this atrocity been allowed to go on for so long?

The Sadness of Senegalese Women

As in many African countries, Senegal has been plagued by the practice of genital cutting for ages. Recently, though, villages have been rising up and denying this old tradition. The tradition has been something believed to make women and girls pure and acceptable for marriage as well as to ensure that they would remain virgin until they were married. Many women, like Aissatou Kande, have declared that they will not cut their daughters and foster a new age in their villages. This phenomenon is a very recent occurrence, but it is a slow process though so many are standing against it. Aissatou Kande’s village has not yet pledged to stop the practice though.

The human rights violated here are many. The first is the right to security of self. Women and girls cannot feel safe as long as practices such as this exist because their bodies must change to be acceptable. Another is the right to safety of person from violence. Though is some cases people would consider it traditional, but it is a violation of a woman’s/girl’s safety of person. It also violates the right to equality of men and women, in which women have this extra expectation of them that men do not have. To be pure should not require a surgical procedure that is very dangerous.

I, personally, have never understood the practice of such traditions because they do more harm than good if you look at it objectively. Traditions like these often have come out of old religious practices and it is somewhat understandable why it has held so long. The problem here is that overarching international programs do not work as well, but grassroots programs do work. The grassroots program in question is Tostan, which focuses on the education of the populace within the villages. This has always been the best approach to human rights violations in Africa in my opinion and though it cannot be duplicated well for all countries, it does work better than any amount of money funneled into the continent.

Do you believe that due to its status as a tradition it should be overlooked? Is the initiative being taken by the villages and women themselves enough to change the situation?

Civil Wars Worst Crimes

In 2010, Côte d’Ivoire had a civil war between the former president and the newly elected president when former President Gbagbo refused to step down for President Ouattara. Recently, there has been a call for even human rights accusations and trials. President Ouattara has been diligent in handling human rights abused on Gbagbo’s side, but has slacked on his own where there many as well. There were several murders and armed conflicts during the civil war that must be brought to justice as well as hundreds of rapes on both sides. These rapes were often done on religious, racial, and political lines for the most part and many women would be gang raped by an entire group of soldiers, sometimes only for wearing a shirt in support of one president or the other. President Ouattara may create a new divide in the country if he does not take the action needed.

Violations here are the right to life, right to security of self, freedom of religion and political views. Right to life is pretty self explanatory due to the mass amounts of killings during the civil war. Right to security of self falls with the rape problems. Women should be able to feel safe when moving about their country and the mere fact that so many women were raped in such a short time. Freedom of religion and political views is obvious since people were targeted for these while choosing victims to the rapes and murders.

I cannot understand the reasons for Ouattara not charging everyone involved. I understand that several of these were also his supporters, but when it comes to human rights violations there must be a line drawn. It cannot be acceptable in any case for someone to commit such inhumane acts just because they support the winning side. There are just too many types of violations here to let it slide especially since it was a civil war situation. To make people understand that the President only worries about the people he must show that regardless of your affiliation if you commit a crime you will be tried. You must make the people feel safe.

Should Ouattara allow his supporters to slip through the cracks? What could the allowance of this cause in Côte d’Ivoire? What can be done to make the people feel safe?

Communism: You Are Doing It Wrong.

The New People’s Army is a Maoist communist faction in the Philippines that is in open rebellion against the Filipino government since 1969. The NPA has been attributing civilian deaths to their “people’s court” handing down ruling upon them as well as detaining several people for the same reason. The existence of the “people’s court” is not confirmed as a real body or a sham as of yet. The group is, as part of an intra-country conflict, required to follow the international humanitarian laws, such as the Geneva Convention that the Philippines have signed. Any violations of these can bring scrutiny from the international community. The most common violations have been murder of civilians and detaining individuals without fair trial. The NPA is currently under intense scrutiny due to their most recent civilian murder of Ramelito “Ramel” Gonzaga, accused of “crimes against the people.”

As for human rights violations, there are quite a few in this case. The right to life is violated by the unlawful killing of civilians for apparent “crimes against the people.” The right to a fair trial is not upheld in the least regardless of the apparent existence of the “people’s court” and their rulings. The right to security of self and right against violence to one’s self is obviously broken with the auxiliary causalities caused during these murders as well as the murders themselves. Another is the right to human treatment while detained or imprisoned, which to most people’s knowledge is not being given the prisoners of this group.

The problem with the NPA’s actions is that they are not a legal governmental body and thus have no authority to carry out death sentences against Filipino citizens or to detain them. I cannot fathom how this has been allowed to go on at all, let alone for forty years. The international community should have attempted to remedy the situation decades ago. No party or militant group has the right to target civilians, regardless of their intentions, especially when they are held to the standards of the Geneva Convention. Also, their court is not an official court that can sentence people and if the court does not first allow the person to argue their case then it is not a fair trial and thus void in the beginning. Overall, I do not believe that the NPA has any right to do what they have been doing for the past forty years and that it is a travesty that it has been allowed to continue so long.

Why has the NPA been ignored by the West? Is it okay for a group in open rebellion to target civilians? Should the “people’s court” be investigated on its existence?

Can You Hear Us Now?

Verizon may be the best wireless carrier, but are they the best employer? On the back of the recent CWA strike against Verizon, for attempting to take away the workers retirement and most of the health care, the company has had mandatory 12-hour days 7 days a week for almost a month. I know this because me stepfather works for Verizon and has not had a day of rest since they went back to work. This man in New York had been doing the very same thing and on September 14th it caught up with him. Though no one knows exactly how the line got loose, if the man had been fully alert he would have noticed the problem and very likely not died that day due to electrocution. On the back of this tragedy Verizon has now let their workers take weekends off, but it is still 12-hour days for the other 5 days of the week. This is an astronomical change compared to their usual hours, which were from 7am-3pm. It is causing many people health problems, but for fear for their jobs they will not take any days off. Verizon still refuses to comment in any capacity about these occurrences.

Many would ask what human right this violates, because it does not seem like there are any. But there are. Work under favorable conditions is the first. No one should be subject to an amount of work that could be dangerous to their health or well-being. Another is the right to rest and leisure. This is something that in developed countries often keeps us going. To have no time to get adequate rest and time away from work can be very dangerous to someone in a very physically demanding field.

Personally, I feel like Verizon is trying to punish the workers for not just lying down and accepting their terms during the strike and now. Unfortunately, big CEO types do not understand the full affect of their decisions on those below them. This man died. My stepfather's back problems are getting worse. Someone else is likely very sick, but to scared to go to the doctor. Verizon needs to be stopped. 12-hour days have not been the norm since the industrial period and there is a reason for that. Health workers are productive workers and for some reason Verizon is not registering that at the moment. There is a point when corporate gain over worker safety sentiments gets to be too much and I think for Verizon, that they have reached it.

Do you think that what Verizon is doing is okay? Should they be called out for it? Why are MNCs so unconcerned with their workers health and lives?

Protestors Meet Pepper Spray in Occupy Wall Street Rally

The women in this picture had just been pepper sprayed in the face by the New York Police Department while protesting at the Occupy Wall Street Rallies. Occupy Wall Street is a rally that wishes to push the financial sector to make financial reforms. They claim to know that the 'real power' is not in Washington, D.C. It is your typical protest (except larger), in which people carry banners and signs, yell a bit, and walk back and forth between two points. Peaceful enough and nothing illegal. Yet, last Saturday the NYPD corralled and pepper sprayed several protestors at the Occupy Wall Street rally, all while arresting eighty people for disturbing the peace. I may be looking at this wrong, but last I checked it was perfectly legal and, dare I say it, encouraged that the people assemble and protest in a democratic system. The NYPD has countered that the group did not have a marching permit and were doing so against the law. The problem with the police reaction to the protestors is that the protestors they pepper sprayed were young women carrying signs that were in no way threatening the officers. It seems that the police officers were also being over brutal in their arrests of people, tackling and shoving down protestors, who were unarmed, to cuff them. This, to me, seems very sketchy and the department is investigating it, but I worry that it will get swept under the rug.

Many people would wonder how this is a human rights violation and I can understand this sentiment, but it in fact is a violation of human rights and our own democracy. The right to peaceful protest is a human right and well as a democratic right. These people were not being violent and, though some did fight back when being arrested, they did not deserve the treatment they received from the NYPD. Another human right broken was the right to freedom from violence. These people did not infringe on anyone else's rights by marching and protesting. They did not deserve to incur such a violent reaction to their protests.

I, personally, cannot believe that all this has happened.

Something that is so engrained in the American psyche is now being violently oppressed in our own country. The history of the United States is that of rising up against things that were not right in our society and by now you would think that people would understand that and it would be upheld as the right it is. But it is not. This is one of the most absurd human rights violations I have seen in the Untied States. The right to peaceful protest should not be something we are still working the kinks out of in this country. We are supposed to be a role model for the rest of the world and, yet, we are still doing things like this to our own citizens when they decide to disagree with the government/private sector. I can't make good sense out of why the NYPD felt the need to mace the protestors or why they seemed threatened enough by the people to tackle them before arresting them. These people are UNARMED. The best they could do is hit you with their sign or scream in your face, excessive force is unneeded.

My question to you is do you think that the police were justified? Do you think that protests like this should be so regulated? Is the right to assembly and protest not the democratic right we thought it was?