Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (see appendix) states that all humans should have the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Violations of this such as bonded labour and slavery happen all over the world, even if we seldom see evidence of it. In this section, violations of this right will be explored in three countries in the Americas - Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil. There are approximately 5,000 to 6,000 forced labourers in the Brazil Nut industry. They are forced to work in dismal conditions, families having to build their own shelters without proper materials or tools. Women and children work, but receive little or no pay. This violates article number 23 in the UDHR. No drinkable water is available, and workers live on rice bought from the shop and anything else they can find in the forest. Most sign a contract, which states that debts are legitimate, and must be paid off with labour, not money. There have been many cases of fraud with how the nuts are weighed. In one case, it was found that every load of twenty-six kilos was weighed at twenty-two kilos. As they are in debt bondage to their employer, workers are not permitted to leave a site during the season. By the end of the season, if workers have paid off their debts, they are permitted to leave with their wages. If debts are not paid by the end of the season, workers forced to stay on site to carry out manual work, even asked to come back again for the next season. Workers who stay on site create further debts as they cannot earn money while not collecting nuts, but still have to spend it on food and basic goods. They do not have any kind of worker rights and are u... ... middle of paper ... ...news outlets if they publish material that is considered racist. Journalists can even be arrested if their content is deemed inappropriate. Media companies can face penalties even if the comment was from a source or interviewee, and not the company. In March 2012, journalist Rogelio Peláez was sentenced to 30 months in jail because of a 2010 article defaming Waldo Molina, a lawyer. The National Press Association (ANP) counted ten physical attacks on journalists, and twenty-seven verbal attacks in 2012. One particularly serious case resulted in the hospitalization of radio station manager Fernando Vidal and technician Karen Arce. Four intruders had poured gasoline on Vidal and set him on fire. Politicians in Peru frequently react to criticism by suing journalists, news companies and activists, and defamation is a criminal offence which can result in imprisonment.

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