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An essay on universal declaration of human rights
An essay on universal declaration of human rights
An essay on universal declaration of human rights
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Guatemala is among one of the countries that is suffering from major human rights violations. The topics that I will be covering include the three main laws of human rights that are being violated in the country of Guatemala, as well as evidence and stories of victims, and the changes that this country is going through. I will be bringing up the topic of Guatemala’s human rights violations and acts of injustice, including giving my opinion on these matters. Guatemala is a country that has yet to recover from past wars, and the country is lacking in peace between society, government and authorities. In the 1980's after Guatemala's "war resolution" state violence increased, reaching genocidal proportions, meaning that an extreme number of massacres and killings had begun to occur. The Guatemalan army inflicted 600 massacres, 200,000 deaths, the displacement of 1.5 million people and tens of thousands of disappearances. Clear evidence that it has been difficult to repair social structures and community ties in Guatemala. . "It combines fear of terror or repression with terror of the future-namely, a new situation that will be fraught with unknown dangers" (Manz, Beatriz.) The violations directly from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that are occurring in Guatemala include; 1. Nobody has the right to torture you, 2. You should be legally protect in the same way everywhere and like everyone else, and 3. You have the right to think what you want, say what you like, and nobody should forbid you from doing so. These are the three main rights being violated in this country that will be brought to topic. In this literature, true stories from victims as well as articles will be used to show evidence of violations. These are right... ... middle of paper ... ...cas 58.5 (2006): 6. ProQuest.Web. 10 Oct. 2013. "Human Rights in Guatemala Under Scrutiny by UN." Targeted News ServiceMar 16 2012.ProQuest.Web. 10 Oct. 2013 . Jones, Arthur. "Report on CIA in Guatemala 'Coy and Evasive'." National Catholic Reporter 32.34 (1996): 9. ProQuest.Web. 10 Oct. 2013. Lobe, Jim. "Rights-Guatemala: Rising Tide of Violence Spurs Call For Inquiry." Global Information Network: 1. Jan 17 2003. ProQuest.Web. 10 Oct. 2013 . Manz, Beatriz. "The Continuum of Violence in Post-War Guatemala."Social Analysis 52.2 (2008): 151-64. ProQuest.Web. 10 Oct. 2013. Raul, Molina Mejia. "Another Human Rights Worker Murdered in Guatemala." NACLA Report on the Americas 36.1 (2002): 2,2,45. ProQuest.Web. 10 Oct. 2013. Valladares, Danilo. "Rights-Guatemala: Declassified Records May Reveal Atrocities." Global Information Network.Feb 03 2010. ProQuest.Web. 10 Oct. 2013
When focusing on Nicaragua one will need to pay close attention to the rebel group called the Sandinistas who took over Nicaragua’s previous dictator, Anastasio Somoza in 1979, in which the United States Congress decided it would be best to provide them with aid that lasted till 1981.1 Nicaragua’s geographic location made it a big concern for President Reagan based on his philosophy that surrounded the Reagan Doctrine. At that point, President Reagan ended the aid deal and adamantly advised that support be sent to those who were trying to over throw the new socialized, Sandinista leadership.2 Furthermore, the Nicaraguan’s were dealing with some of the worst warfare ever, by the mass killings that took place, which were at the mercy of death squads.3 This gruesome realization allowed President Reaga...
As far back as Rigoberta Manchu can remember, her life has been divided between the highlands of Guatemala and the low country plantations called the fincas. Routinely, Rigoberta and her family spent eight months working here under extremely poor conditions, for rich Guatemalans of Spanish descent. Starvation malnutrition and child death were common occurrence here; rape and murder were not unfamiliar too. Rigoberta and her family worked just as hard when they resided in their own village for a few months every year. However, when residing here, Rigoberta’s life was centered on the rituals and traditions of her community, many of which gave thanks to the natural world. When working in the fincas, she and her people struggled to survive, living at the mercy of wealthy landowners in an overcrowded, miserable environment. By the time Rigoberta was eight years old she was hard working and ...
Immerman, Richard. The CIA in Guatemala the foreign policy of intervention. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985.
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Menchu dichotomizes the people of Guatemala into good and bad. The Indians are good; the ladinos (any Guatemalan who rejects Indian values) are bad. Her extreme polarity is the result of mistreatment by the ladinos she has worked for or encountered in her life. As an Indianist, she desires separation, but she has come to realize t...
Guatemala’s culture is a unique product of Native American ways and a strong Spanish colonial heritage. About half of Guatemala’s population is mestizo (known in Guatemala as ladino), people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. Ladino culture is dominant in urban areas, and is heavily influenced by European and North American trends. Unlike many Latin American countries, Guatemala still has a large indigenous population, the Maya, which has retained a distinct identity. Deeply rooted in the rural highlands of Guatemala, many indigenous people speak a Mayan language, follow traditional religious and village customs, and continue a rich tradition in textiles and other crafts. The two cultures have made Guatemala a complex society that is deeply divided between rich and poor. This division has produced much of the tension and violence that have marked Guatemala’s history (Guatemalan Culture and History).
The Guatemala genocide was completed in 1982 by the Guatemala Army, or as they refer to themselves, “killing machines” ("Talking About Genocide-Genocides-Guatemala 1982"). The army was targeting Mayan descendants, whom they accused of being communist” ("Talking About Genocide-Genocides-Guatemala 1982"). Whether they were or not, “Covert operations were also carried out by military units called Commandos, backed up by the army and military intelligence. They carried out planned executions and forced 'disappearances'.” ("Talking About Genocides-Genocide-Guatemala 1982"). The victims were tortured in various other ways as well, including rape and “death pits” in which they were thrown on top of each other into enormous holes in the ground ” ("Talking About Genocide-Genocides-Guatemala 1982"). As a result, many progenies of an ancient culture were lost. A decade later, another tradgedy would strike, this time in Eastern Europe.
Imagine yourself as an Ixil Mayan at the local marketplace. You wander around the stalls, viewing the hand-crafted goods. As the midday sun beats down on you, the sound of footsteps coming towards you becomes audible among the chatter of your fellow Mayans. Suddenly, the voices stop, and a gunshot echoes in the air. For what seems like an eternity, the marketplace is drowned in the slight whimpers of children as their mothers’ skirts muffle their moaning. You are still frozen in your place in front a stall. Then, a quick moment of common sense drives you to hide behind a wall. Before you know what is happening, the space around the market is filled with screams. A man falls down beside you with his eyes rolled back and a gaping wound in his chest. Blood trickles through the wall. The pleading cries of the women have a chilling effect. As more bodies fall down beside you, you suddenly become aware of an officer standing above you. A gun is pointed at you. Up until now, you didn’t think of running, but once the trigger is pulled, you know you don’t have a chance. Moments later, you are gone. The genocide that occurred in Guatemala tragically cost thousands of Ixil Mayan lives and ruined many others.
Barret, Alice. "Garífuna Voices of Guatemala: Central America’s Overlooked Segment of the African Diaspora."Council on Hemispheric Affairs. N.p., 14 July 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
...2009): 8-9. United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
The current century has witnessed immense improvement and re-conceptualization of standards and sovereignty of human rights in Latin America. With the endemic repression and violations of human rights throughout Latin American in the mid to late 20th century, the International human rights regime, an amalgam of international and intergovernmental organizations and bodies, expanded exponentially. By conducting investigations within certain countries, or simply monitoring overt violations of human rights, the international human rights regime stimulated global awareness of violations of human rights in different countries; soon to follow was change in domestic policy in response to international policy. This also led to increased opposition by domestic NGOs against repressive governments or dictatorships largely responsible for human rights violations. Just as well, a number of organizations and groups aided domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in their growing efforts to establish judicial practices that better protected human rights. Declarations, conventions, and charters, established a number of values that served as the credo for the organizations that constituted the international human rights regime. Over time, more and more countries were pressured and held accountable for these values, which developed into universal standards for human rights practices. Thus the International Human right regime and the pressure they imposed upon governments ultimately resulted in widespread positive changes in human rights.
Center for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University. (1994) Twenty-five Human Rights Documents. New York: Columbia University.
They were oppressed by this lack of power, and were unable to find a way to spark revolutionary change. The number of indigenous people that were murdered are in the thousands, many of which cannot even properly be confirmed because of this lack of power and voice. Journalists during this time were also very threatened by the violence, even though they were not indigenous people. This threat affected their reporting, severely skewing statistics of the indigenous genocide in favor of the government. Mass murder in rural areas was particularly undocumented— certainly under-documented— because of the violent threats that journalists received for trying to post legitimate reports. However, the ladinos were not the only institution that oppressed the Guatemalan natives. The United States government was also involved in the political oppression of these people. In 1944, the indigenous people successfully overthrew the reigning
Violence marks much of human history. Within the sociopolitical sphere, violence has continually served as a tool used by various actors to influence and/or to control territory, people, institutions and other resources of society. The twentieth century witnessed an evolution of political violence in form and in scope. Continuing into the twenty-first, advances in technology and social organization dramatically increase the potential destructiveness of violent tools. Western colonialism left a world filled with many heterogeneous nation-states. In virtually all these countries nationalist ideologies have combined with ethnic, religious, and/or class conflicts resulting in secessionist movements or other kinds of demands. Such conflicts present opportunities for various actors in struggles for wealth, power, and prestige on both national and local levels. This is particularly evident in Indonesia, a region of the world that has experienced many forms of political violence. The state mass killings of 1965-66 mark the most dramatic of such events within this region. My goal is to understand the killings within a framework of collec...
Brown, A. Widney., and LaShawn R. Jefferson. "VI. ILLUSTRATIVE CASES." Afghanistan, Humanity Denied: Systematic Denial of Women's Rights in Afghanistan. New York, NY.: Human Rights Watch, 2001. 16+. Print