Maintenance of Human Rights in Contemporary Politics - Essay Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2012 Introduction The idea of human rights is today connected to the relationship that exists between a person and the government or the state. According to the united nations , human rights are the rights that are entitled to every human being , despite of their language , race , religion , sex , residence and nationality. The state is obligated to provide the individual with certain fundamental rights that are required for political, social and economic survival, in despite of the different attributes that they may posses. Ever since the 1948 implementation of the Universal Declaration of human rights, progress has been attained in terms of upholding human rights, however contemporary politics is still governed by tyrannical governments that violent the human rights of the their citizens. The concept of human rights in contemporary politics has therefore continued to raise a great deal of concern. This is based on the fact that as human societies have continued to progress and as modern society evolves, societies and even individuals have continuously revolted against oppressive governments that violet their rights. For instance, the recent uprisings witnessed in Arabic states. This particular essay seeks to evaluate how much importance should be accorded to the maintenance of human rights in contemporary politics. Beitz, (2001) argues that human rights is a ‘’common concern’’ in contemporary politics as a result it should be maintained in all societies. Beitz, ( 2001) suggests that the doctrine of human rights should be perceived as common in sense that it should be regard as the ‘’light of political purpose’’ . This implies that human rights are supposed to serve every person is a manner that can improve their well being in society. In addition the concept of human rights as a common concern in contemporary politics is grounded on the view that human rights must be considered as an aspect that binds all societies and people including states that are lawless and violent the rights of their citizens. The application of human rights as a common concern is therefore the basic reason why the universal human rights should be applicable to every individual across the globe; in addition every government should seek to maintain the declaration. Beitz, (2001) highlights that in a scenario where a particular government is constantly involved in the violation of human rights, by citing the covenant on political and civil rights, the contemporary or modern revolution of fighting for human rights calls for international military interference in such as society in order to ensure that that particular society is transformed and a new democratic governance that can uphold human rights is initiated. Beitz, (2001) asserts that upholding human rights is an aspect that should be a common concern for every individuals and state across the international framework. Great importance should be given on maintaining human rights because it is a significant aspect of enhancing good governance. According to Augie (2004) good governance is mainly liked to the revalidation or the search for democracy. Democracy has been described as the rule of the people, by the people and for the people. A democratic state or government has the attributes of giving all people the right to express their views on all issues that affect them. A significant quality of democracy and good governance is upholding of human rights (Bedi, 2009). A government can not allege that it is democratic and practices good governance when the human rights of the citizens are violated. For instance when citizens have no right to elect their desired leaders or they have no freedom of speech then the governance system of that particular society does not maintain human rights. The characteristics of Contemporary politics also call for great deal of focus on the aspect of maintaining human rights. Nash, (2010) highlights that contemporary politics is characterized by uncertainty whereby the policies and ideologies adopted by government have continuously changed, consequently there has been a rise in the emergence of tyrannical regimes that have compromised the human rights citizens. For instance the recent uprising in Arabic states has raised a great deal of concern concerning the concept of maintaining human rights. What is evident that, in despite of the existence of the universal declaration of human rights, the maintaining of human rights in certain regions is still a great challenge. Such societies have witnessed continued violation of human rights. For instance Mai (2012) reports that human right violations increased in Egypt despite the occurrence of the uprising which was mainly perceived as a means of liberalization. In 2011 alone, the Egyptian military subjected approximately 12,000 civilians to military tribunals, in addition a group of both local and foreign non- profit organizations were raided by the military and also numerous Christian protestors were killed in the streets of Cairo (Mai, 2012). All this events therefore imply that much focus should be enforced in order to ensure that human rights are maintained. However such an initiative is mainly depends on the existing regimes in these particular states. Souillac (2005) highlights that it is internationally recognized that maintaining of human rights should be the obligation or emphasis of the state to its people. As a result the state should put in much effort to ensure that the rights of the citizens are maintained and not violated. The state is obligated to maintain several levels of duty which include protecting, respect, promote and fulfill the rights of the people. At the primary stage the state is compelled to respect the rights of its citizens by abstaining from interfering with their fundamental rights of such as their liberty of action, their autonomy, freedoms, resources and their ownership rights. At the secondary stage the state is compelled to protect the rights the citizens by ensuring that their rights are protected against economic, political and social interference. Protection therefore involves maintaining and creating a framework or atmosphere whereby the regulations and the laws are effective and citizens are able to realize freely their freedoms and rights. At the tertiary state, the state is compelled to promote the human rights of the citizens. The promotion of human requires the state to raise awareness and promote tolerance among citizens. The last stage involves fulfilling the rights of people. This requires the state to develop machinery that will actualize the rights of the people. As a result the responsibility of the state is to put in place a lot of instruments that can fulfill the maintenance of human rights (Souillac, 2005). Although arguments have been raised to back the fact that much focus should be placed in maintaining human rights it can also be argued otherwise that in the contemporary political framework less focus should be enforced in maintain human rights. Nickel (2007) highlights that although governments have been restrained form various social, economic and political abuses , economic problems such as poverty, diseases, illiteracy and lack of economic opportunities is an evident factor that maintaining of human rights does not change the lives of people in society. Nickel (2007) further argues that contemporary notions of human rights are basically not only egalitarian but also they only guarantee the freedoms of a certain class of people. In addition human rights have been perceived as a gateway to positive rights that only increase social and economic inequalities. Human rights in contemporary society can therefore be linked to what Karl Marx stated as he denounced the adoption of the so called ‘’rights’’. According to Marx, human rights were a fabrication that was devised by the bourgeois society in order to protect their own rights as opposed to the rights of the working class or the peasants. Marx further argues that rights were needed in a capitalist state in order to protect the rights of the owners of production. It can therefore be argued that human rights in contemporary politics have been deluded by inequality as a result they do not require any sort of maintenance to great levels , based on the fact that human rights have in most cases had the objective of serving the interests of a certain class of individuals in the society (Nickel , 2007). Maintaining human rights should be accorded less importance or focus, based on the difficulties that arise in the fulfillment of human rights. Mertus, (2009) highlights that one of the fundamental difficulties that is associated to the implementation of human rights is that it is applicable to each individual and culture in a different way. Although human rights are supposed to be applicable universally based on the fact that they are stated to belong all people in all societies, the fulfillment of human rights has been a constant challenge . What is perceived as violation of human rights in a certain political environment may not be perceived a violation of human rights in another. The relativism in the application of human rights develops human rights in a manner that is appropriate to its society as opposed to being appropriate to all humans. For instance what is perceived to be the expression of autonomy, love and respect for individuals may have a different meaning in Japanese or German societies. As a result different governments have fulfilled human rights is different ways , in one state the detention of political prisoners by the government may be allowed and not perceived as violation of human rights , while in another state this may be viewed as the violation of human rights . As a result due to the divergent views concerning the fulfillment of human rights , less focus should be enforced in maintaining of human rights . This is why in despite of the existence of polices and laws such as the universal declaration of human rights and the implementation of the human rights charter in the constitutional framework of many countries, we still witness the violation of human rights in many countries (Heard, 1997). It can also be argues that maintaining human rights should be accorded less importance or focus in contemporary politics due to the difficulty that arises from the aspect of defining whose duty it is to protect the human rights of people in the society. Goodin (2012, et al ) highlights that in most cases human rights have been defined within the framework of the government protecting its citizens, however this alignment of the role of protecting human rights as a function of the government is limited and subjective. This is because the violation of human rights is also undertaken by corporations and even individuals themselves. For instance the Indian caste system has frequently been condemned for abusing the human rights of people that are part of the minor caste. In such a context the violation of human rights is largely perpetrated by individuals as opposed the government. Although the Indian government has tried as much as possible to end the human rights violations it currently seems apparent that such practices are deeply rooted in such a society and it is indeed difficult to eliminate them( Goodin 2012, et al ). Another complication further develops in a scenario whereby the government is unable to offer the required human rights to its citizens for instance many African countries are frequently faced with the problem of famine and drought . In most cases the African governments are usually unable to effectively provide food to their citizens. As a result many people die of hunger. The only option that such governments can take is to borrow food aid from more developed countries. In case the government that requires aid is non- cooperative with other international states then it may find it difficult to receive aid. However other governments may help due to the perspective that human rights unite all government. If the aid provided is not sufficient then the blame on violation of human rights is accorded to the government. The definition of who is in charge of the implementation of human rights therefore becomes a challenge, of whether it the government or is it the international community which is also liable to maintain human rights (Augie, 2004). Conclusion From the above discussion, what is evident is that human rights are significant for enhancing the well being of people in all society. The paper has presented various reasons why much focus should be laid in ensuring that human rights are maintained in contemporary politics. Some of the highlighted reasons include the fact that human rights promote the development of a democratic society, the uncertainty the political environment also requires the adoption of human rights and human rights are a common concern and thus should be maintained by all societies. The paper has also highlighted the fact that minimal importance should be enforced in maintaining human rights. However what is evident in despite of the arguments raised is that human rights are basically essential as a result much focus should be put in place in order develop a balanced political environment in the contemporary world. References Augie, A, 2004, Human Rights and Good Governance in Africa: A Critical Nexus Expanding Human Rights, Human Rights Forum. Bedi, S, 2009, Rejecting Rights, Contemporary Political Theory, Cambridge University Press, 2009 Beitz, C, 2001, Human Rights as a Common Concern, The American Political Science Review, 95(2),p269-282. Goodin, R, Pettit, P, Pogge,W, 2012, A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, John Wiley & Sons, 2012 Heard, A, 1997, Human rights: chimeras in sheep's clothing? Nash, K, 2010, Contemporary Political Sociology: Globalization, Politics, and Power, John Wiley & Sons, 2010 Mai Shams, 2012, Human rights violations escalate despite 2011 uprising , Daily News Egypt. Nickel , J, 2007, Making sense of human rights, John Wiley & Sons, 2007 Mertus, J, 2009, Human rights matters: local politics and national human rights institutions, Stanford University Press. Souillac, G, 2005, Human rights in crisis: the sacred and the secular in contemporary French thought, Lexington Books, 2005 Read More