Human rights violations

Since the Second World War and within the framework of the United Nations (UN), so much progress has been made in the area of human rights that they are now taken for granted by many of the world's populations. The mention of human rights violations, torture and suppression tends to conjure up images of "third world" countries and distant dictatorships. Human rights violations, however, are restricted neither to continents, political systems, society structures or religions. Hardly any country exists in which human rights violations are not discovered within the period of one year. On this page we will be addressing the following two fundamental questions:

You will find examples of different kinds of human rights violations taking place in differing countries as part of an advanced subject, as well as in the materials section.

The following extract from a book on the subject describes human rights violations as being a crime committed by the state against the citizen. It also details the instruments that may be established in helping to prevent these particularly serious forms of human rights violations

"The term 'human rights violation' is nothing other than a euphemism for the worst kind of crime that a state can commit against its citizens. Human rights violations, be they carried out on behalf of the state, with the approval of the state, or while being tolerated by the state, form crimes endangering the internal and external peace of any state system to the highest degree.

[Taken and translated from Helmut Frenz, Menschenrechte — Anspruch und Wirklichkeit, in: Gisela Klent-Kozinowski u.a. (Hrsg.), Das Recht, ein Mensch zu sein, Baden-Baden 1988, 21]

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If so many human rights violations are known about, doesn't this represent a failure on behalf of the institutions responsible for their monitoring? Aren't human rights, in reality, merely a nice idea?

In defence of the institutions responsible, it first has to be said that without these organizations many more violations would be committed and the majority of these would go undetected. Indeed, it is only because of the work carried out by the UN and INGOs working alongside it, that we know anything at all about the violations taking place. And this is an essential first step in reducing the number of violations. Of course, there remains a great deal to be done. We are only at the beginning of a process leading to effective worldwide protection of human rights. Nonetheless, if we bear in mind all that has been achieved since the end of the Second World War - a relatively short period of time - we have every reason to be optimistic about the future. Human rights now represent much more than a nice thought and a great deal is being done to ensure that ever more people enjoy their benefits.

To turn this into reality, however, it is of key importance that we all work towards this aim. Each and every one of us has the responsibility to respect the human rights and dignity of all others, in order to prevent human rights violations occurring in the first place. Everyone can make a contribution, in their own environment or perhaps by participating, supporting or actively working in campaigns initiated by the INGOs. This is incredibly easy to do and is described on the websites of these organizations. As already mentioned, you will find the addresses of these organizations on our link list.

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Subjects:  Human Rights  I  Democracy  I  Parties  I  Examples  I  Europe  I  Globalisation  I  United Nations  I  Sustainability

Methods:    Teaching Politics    II    Peace Education    II    Methods