Human rights in the United States
The human rights idea is that human rights are universal and that all human beings are entitled to them regardless of who we are or where we are (Berti, 2015). However, the practical application of these rights is not as straightforward as the idea of the rights as it gets complicated with regard to what they are, who and how they are enforced. After the Second World War, a treaty creating the UN was established to reaffirm the faith in the human rights that are fundamental. The UN National Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which was a document that laid the basis for the human rights laws that exist today on the grounds that all the human beings get born equal and free in rights and dignity (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). In the United States, these rights get provided for in the American Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration provides a list of thirty articles that recognize the non-discrimination principle like the freedom of movement, freedom from slavery and torture, which was a significant problem in the United States, rights like peaceful association and assembly, freedom of expression and opinion. Other rights are the right to education and to freely choose one’s profession. The UDHR made the fundamental rights indivisible, universal and independent, leading to the significant growth of the universal human rights law over the years, creating a better understanding of the rights and their enforcement. However, despite the provisions of the Declaration, the global rights get abused and ignored all over the world as the mechanisms that have been put in place to manage them are weak as the UN only investigates and monitors the violations.
Understanding human rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides for the universal Human Rights that every human being is entitled to. What stood out for me is the provision in Article 5 of the UDHR, which states that no one shall get subjected to cruel or to torture, punishment, or treatment that is degrading or inhuman. This stood out because, based on the news reports of the events that have been happening in some countries across the world, this is the right that has been violated like the George Floyd murder, among other cases that arose due to police brutality (Felbab, 2020). On numerous occasions, the protections from torture and degrading and inhuman treatment have been the center of the discussion, especially in the United States. The issues surrounding racial discrimination whereby the black race in the country has been subject to treatment that is inhuman and degrading as their rights are continually getting violated.
The most recent issues related to this have been with police brutality, whereby on several occasions, the police in America have been caught on camera violating the rights of citizens. Most instances have been those of torture where the police brutalize the citizens. The videos often show a white officer inhumanly treating a person of color. This caused a massive stir across the media prompting the Black Lives Matter movement to pursue the matter and demand for the punishment of the individuals involved in these violations. The same police force that is supposed to protect the rights of individuals is the same ones violating them. A similar situation happened in Turkey, where police were involved in ill-treatment and torture (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Video footage got provided an indication of the abuse that citizens were facing from the police. The events taking place in the two countries are a reflection of the violations happening in most countries across the world where the universal rights of humans get ignored.
References
Berti, B. (2015). What are the universal human rights? Retrieved from https://youtu.be/nDgIVseTkuE
Felbab, B. V. (2020). Hatred and police brutality in the U.S. and lessons for Mexico. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/06/08/hatred-and-police-brutality-in-the-u-s-and-lessons-for-mexico/amp/
Human Rights Watch (2020). Turkey: Police, Watchmen Involved in Torture, Ill-Treatment. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/29/turkey-police-watchmen-involved-torture-ill-treatment
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.com/what-are-human-rights/universal-declaration-of-human-rights/