How true is that the United States have a responsibility to protect human rights in other countries - Essay Example

?The Responsibility to Protect Introduction The questions on human rights protection has been a hot topic in the international community for a long time. Every person has fundamental rights such as the right to live, to freedom and security as described in every state’s laws and even in the international society. The global community strived hard to ensure that human rights protection is given importance not only in the national level but also universally or in the “world community.” According to Miller (2006), in instances that the states cannot protect the human rights of the citizens, the international community can act and assume the responsibility to ensure that these rights are protected. However, this idea poses the question of the responsibility to protect. This paper discusses the question about the states’ responsibility to protect human rights in other countries or in the international level. The United Nations A number of culturally diverse countries make up the world. To ensure that these countries will be protected against any unjust and unfair treatment by each other, there is a need for a global or international community that will stand as a world government. The United Nation is one of the major organizations that make up the international community. It is an “international organization designed to make the enforcement of international law, security, economic development, social progress, and human rights easier for countries around the world” (Briney, 2011). According to Briney (2011), this international organization is composed of 193 member countries and its head office can be found in New York. The fundamental purpose of United Nations includes saving future generations from war, protect human rights and establish equality for all persons (Briney, 2011). In Briney’s (2011) article entitled The United Nations, other principles of this international organization include upholding justice, freedom and social progress for all the citizens of all the member states. Thus it can be said that this international organization is one of the best that created or established in the world community. With the goals or purposes that the United Nations aim to do, the world is protected against any harm or threat from any countries. Thus economic progress can also be achieved by ensuring that all member states comply with the rules and regulations especially about fair competition and trade responsibilities. Aside from this, each person is granted the protection of his rights in the national and international level. Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights or UNDHR is described as the “foundation of international human rights law, the first universal statement on the basic principles of inalienable human rights, and a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a Living Document, 2007). The Preamble of the UNDHR includes the following: Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge, Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. This declaration serves as the universal contract binding to all member states and their citizens. Although it was observed that not all government are signatories to all human rights treaties, all countries on the other hand accepted and agreed to respect and obey the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration aims to respect all humans without any distinction for their kinds (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a Living Document, 2007). There are thirty (30) articles in the UDHR. The UDHR include that provision that everyone is born free and equal in dignity and rights thus everybody should act in the spirit of brotherhood. It is also emphasized that every human being is entitled to all these rights without prejudice to any kind, color, sex or race and any other distinctions. Every person has the right to live, free and secured. Provisions stressed that slavery in all forms is unacceptable and prohibited as well any form of torture, degrading and inhumane punishment. Any violation of this declaration entitles everyone to right to an effective remedy, and to fair and public trial. No person shall then be held guilty of any act which does not constitute a penal offense under either national or international law. Every person has the right to residency, travel, nationality, marriage and own a property. Aside from these rights, every person has the freedom of thought, conscience and religion which also include the right to change and practice religion as well as his belief. Every human being is entitled to freedom of opinion, expression and the right to join any association but may not be compelled to do so. A person is also titled to take part to government of his country of citizenship and has equal access to public service. As a member of society, every person has the right to social security and employment. Included also in the provisions of UDHR is the right to rest and leisure of every person and standard of living adequate for health and well-being. Every citizen is also entitled to a right to education which includes free education in elementary or fundamental stages. The declaration also includes the right of a person to freely participate in the cultural community, and is entitled to social and international order. Given all these rights, every person has a duty to the community which is free and these provisions must not be interpreted and aimed at the destruction of the provisions. The provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are protected and accepted by all the member states. But with the provisions of this declaration, the question of whom the right to protect human rights fall must be clearly addressed. Given all these rights, it is the duty of the all the member states to protect human rights even in other countries. The Responsibility to Protect The question of whose hands must the responsibility to protect fall has been one of the major issues that the world community has addressed all these years. We have the provisions given, the task of protecting these provisions is one big question to answer. However, in 2005 United Nations World Summit, our world leaders made a momentous commitment to protect humanity from genocide, human destructions by war crimes, ethnic cleansing and any other crimes against humanity (An Introduction to Responsibility to Protect). Because of the human destruction incidents written in our history, the commitment to the responsibility to protect by the nations is a huge to respond to the heinous crimes that are known to us. Stipulated in the UN World Summit 2005, the Responsibility to Protect provides that: 1. The State carries the primary responsibility for the protection of populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. 2. The international community has a responsibility to assist States in fulfilling this responsibility. 3. The international community should use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means to protect populations from these crimes. If a State fails to protect its populations or is in fact the perpetrator of crimes, the international community must be prepared to take stronger measures, including the collective use of force through the UN Security Council. Known as R2P, the Responsibility to Protect was first introduced in the Report of ICISS in 2001. The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty was created to address the question of when the world community can get involved in the protection of human rights. There are instances that a certain state has committed a violation on these rights and question of who can mediate or help the citizens of the state if the government is the one at fault has to be addressed, thus the R2P. For massive destructive attacks on humans such as the 9/11 attack at the World Trade Center in New York, there is a need for a global intervention to seek justice for the victims. Included in the UN World Summit 2005 are the following agreements that the head of States or leaders concurred upon (par 138-139): That each individual state has the primary responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. And it is also a responsibility for prevention of these crimes That the international community should encourage or assist states to exercise this responsibility. The international community has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means to help protect populations threatened by these crimes. When a state manifestly fails in its protection responsibilities, and peaceful means are inadequate, the international community must take stronger measures, including collective use of force authorized by the Security Council under Chapter VII. Given all the undesirable and unjustifiable phenomena in our world, the need for the R2P is the best solution to ensure that all human rights are protected. Even if the person is not in his or her country of citizenship, he or she has the right to be secured and protected. Thus the states must be responsible to protect every human being even if that person is not in his own country. Benefits of R2P There is no such thing as perfect solution because along the way, each and every action will always have a positive or negative reaction as what we always hear in cliche. With the implementation of the R2P or the responsibility to protect, the leaders who concurred in this decision already expected the different reactions that it will pose along the way. In the article entitled “The Responsibility to Protect: Human Rights and Humanitarian Dimensions” written by Cohen (2009), amongst the many questions posted when the R2P was stipulated are the following: How far does the application extend? When does R2P apply, and when does it not, in humanitarian emergencies? Will R2P politicize humanitarian operations? The first question focuses on R2P’s scope to protect. In Kenya’s case when almost 1500 people died and more than half a million were uprooted, it was said that the Responsibility to Protect was unsuccessful as a preventive measure (Cohen, 2009). However, despite this fact, the R2P was able to stop the violence in the country. The question was until when does the application R2P extend. Whether the Responsibility to Protect ends in stopping the violence or should it still act to protect the citizens in the aftermath (Cohen, 2009). Cohen (2005) discussed the second issue on when does Responsibility to protect be valid. There is a need to address the concern on when does R2P apply or when is it not valid. According to Cohen (2005), the R2P applies to many humanitarian situations such as human destruction and atrocity. There are many organizations such as NGOs who pushed for greater integration of humanitarian protection making this R2P political in nature. The third question is about R2P’s tendency to politicize humanitarian operations. There are many instances that R2P’s scope goes beyond just protecting human rights such as delivering food and medicines to the affected people (Cohen, 2009). These instances makes R2P become political in nature because it already interferes with the government’s responsibilities. However, even though these questions arise after R2P was signed and concurred upon by the member states, the Responsibility to Protect established international accountability (Cohen, 2009). R2P did not only provide the standards of human rights and its protection, it was successful in making the international community take action in making sure that each of the government will become responsible in their own actions. This particular project helped mold each state to become less self-centered and become more sensitive to all the people. Each state becomes more careful in its decisions because the international government will ensure that with each decision comes a responsibility. Conclusion Every human being deserves to be protected. To be able to live harmoniously and blissfully, each person has been granted human rights. The United Nations, an international organization created to enforce international law on security, economic and social progress, and human rights globally, has provided the finest tool to ensure that human rights are protected not only in the country of citizenship of every human being, but also in the international community. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights or UDHR became the basis of international human rights and serves as the universal contract or agreement to all member states and their citizens. In order to protect this declaration, the United Nations introduced R2P or Responsibility to Protect in 2005 World Summit. This ensures that all state members are responsible in protecting human rights. This is fundamentally important because this is so far, the most efficient and effective way to protect every human being. References: “An Introduction to the Responsibility to Protect.” Responsibility to Protect. n.d. Web. 12 March 2012. Briney, Amanda. “The United Nation.” 2011. Web. 12 March 2012. Cohen, Roberta. “The Responsibility to Protect: Human Rights and Humanitarian Dimensions.” Brookings. 2009. Web. 14 March 2012. Miller, David. “The Responsibility to Protect Human Rights.” 2006. Web. 13 March 2012. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” United Nations. n.d. Web. 11 March 2012. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a Living Document.” United Nations. 2007. Web. 12 March 2012. Read More