Amnesty International in Defense of the Rights of All Human Beings The Name, the background, and the Mission of the Organization There are many non-governmental organizations around the world that are fighting on behalf of human rights; however, one non-governmental organization that has singled itself out to deal with human rights issues is Amnesty International. The reason I have chosen this organization is because its operations and activities are found in many, if not in all countries of the world. Founded in 1961 by the British lawyer Peter Benenson in London, the organization has grown to over 7 million volunteers who take injustice personally. (Amnesty International, n.d). Undoubtedly, there have been many problems …show more content…
The fundamental reasons for such Amnesty International assistance come down to the fact that where civil war and unrest prevails, that is where apparently, human rights abuses are heavily perpetuated. For instance, In West Africa, Amnesty International provided assistance in ascertaining human rights abuses in countries such as Ivory Coast when former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to relinquish power to the democratically elected candidate, which led to civil war in the country. According to (Doyle, 2011) it was Amnesty International that exposed the war crime inflicted on innocent civilian by both warring factions. As a result of the exposure, France intervened in what would have been a total anarchy in the country’s history. Libya is another country where the presence of Amnesty International was massively felt when the late Muammar al-Gaddafi killed and tortured his citizens and foreigners as well. (RefWorld, 2009). The organization has been very active in the Congo Democratic Republic, where women and children were raped and used as child soldiers. Through the campaign of Amnesty International, the leader of the armed group in the Congo Democratic Republic, Thomas Lubanga was brought to justice by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March 2012 for using children as child soldiers. (Amnesty International, …show more content…
As important and powerful as Amnesty International, the organization is confronted with enormous challenges and one of such apparent challenges the organization is confronted with is that of financial resources. Because the organization is non-governmental, all its financial resources come from freewill donations, and therefore, the organization is always faced with insufficient funds to implement its work to the maximum. Secondly, due to the nature of the work of Amnesty International, some of its volunteer staffs or workers come under intense threats of armed militia who oppose the work of the organization. Moreover, some hostile governments target some of Amnesty International workers and they even detained and tortured them for speaking against their practices. This is a massive challenge for the organization. The recent detention and expulsion of Amnesty International staff in Morocco attest to the challenges confronting this noble organization. (Amnesty International,
There is a problem in the world and something needs to be done of it. There are children, primarily in Africa, that are forced to massacre innocent men and women. These kids are called child soldiers. Child soldiers are kids who are associated in war. A popular book about child soldier is an autobiography by Ishmael Beah called A Long Way Gone.
From 1991 to 2002 Sierra Leone was terrorized by a civil war of corruption and brutality; the belligerents of such atrocities, the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). This book review will analyze the story of Ishmael Beah, an eyewitness to and participant in the civil war. What once went virtually unnoticed by the outside world, is now a subject of major debates, the use of child soldiers. In Sierra Leone child soldiers were used widespread and were heavily manipulated; children had no choice but to submit to either the SLA or RUF and fight for causes they did not necessarily support. Sadly, Ishmael was one of those children, he was forced to either join the SLA or be killed by the RUF while unwillingly leaving
In today's world, human rights still face many challenges and problems. There are still political systems and behaviors in the world that do not respect human rights, such as dictatorial regimes, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, poverty, hunger, and other issues. In addition, new technology and globalization trends have brought new challenges to human rights protection, such as privacy protection, digital rights, and other
Trevor Coulombe 26/9/15 Should civil liberties be suspended during national emergency? In the UK citizens are given several different civil liberties: the right to life; freedom of expression; freedom of religion and conscience; freedom of movement; freedom of association; the right to protest; freedom from arbitrary arrest; freedom from torture; the right to fair trial; political rights and property rights. In looking at these civil liberties a paradox is presented.
The child soldiers of Sierra Leone, Africa are a major issue today because they are forced to fight, they are being sexually abused or forced to serve in sexual behaviors and the affects of war on these children are psychological. Something has to be done in order to protect the children of Sierra
To many, violation of human rights is a serious issue. This shows that for every negative force, there is always someone who recognizes the wrong and seeks to correct
“Tens of thousands of children are estimated to be recruited and used by armed groups. In 2019 alone, more than 7,740 children, some as young as six, were recruited and used as soldiers around the world, according to the United Nations. Most are recruited by non-state groups.” (Wuilbercq). There are more than seven thousand forty children that were child soldiers in twenty nineteen alone.
In the 1800s, slavery in the South was common. African Americans were treated so horribly that they got whipped and beaten as a punishment. They were even allowed to have basic human rights. Basic human rights include having the right to have freedom and control of yourself. For example, in Document 1: A Speech by Frederick Douglas (1850), it says "The law gives the master absolute power over the slave."
As we look throughout history, governments have implemented policies and are partially responsible for the denial of human rights to a certain group. These groups include Ukrainians and Rwandans. The denial of human rights in these regions not only affect those in the region but internationally. Both Ukrainians and Rwandans were denied their human rights. Ukraine’s hope and will was in the hands of the dictator Joseph Stalin.
As Marcus Tullius Cicero once stated: “The safety of the people shall be the highest law.” Throughout the centuries there were a considerable number of attempts to preserve individual’s rights and safety. The Human Rights Act 1998 was one of the efforts to safeguard civil liberties and introduce them to the United Kingdom legal system. Human rights act 1998 came into force on 2nd October 2000 and the aims of passing this act were to give a greater power for domestic courts to apply the Convention principles straight to the English legal system, additionally to give different position for convention rights, make them enforceable and bring these rights “home” to English law, thus reducing number of cases going to Strasbourg and the European
Often referred to as “child soldiers,” these boys and girls suffer extensive forms of exploitation and abuse that are not fully captured by that term”
Society, human rights and the justice system: The Canadian experience The inclusion of human rights within a criminal justice system is the natural evolution of a criminal justice system that reflects societal expectations within a just society as to how we treat one another. These rights in Canada exists in two ways, human rights acts that protect citizens from each other and those that protect the rights of citizens from the state. This paper will explore, from a Canadian context, the development of human rights and constitutional rights, the purpose of these rights and how they operate within the current criminal justice structure. The paper will also address whether the current approach is reflective of Canadian society and the principles
You are surely aware that child soldiers have been used for centuries. Today, they fight mainly throughout Africa, South America, and the Middle East in countries such as Pakistan, Iraq, Israel, Columbia, Syria, Libya, and more. Experts believe thousands
“The Perfect Weapon for the Meanest Wars’’ is an article by Jeffrey Gettleman from the New York Times on the subject of child soldiers. All over Africa militias are fighting each other for control over certain areas. These militias have deployed four foot tall killing machine that terrorize, loot, and destroy village after village these weapons: child soldiers. Mozambicans have learned that children were the perfect weapon since they were easily manipulated, intensely loyal, fearless and most important in endless supply. There are 300,000 child soldiers worldwide experts say that the nature of the conflict changes especially in Africa.
Assignment page Video Where many children all over the world merrily and freely live under the protection of the law, for others, this is a distant reality, they live in a world where they’re battling poverty, stripped of their childhood and basic human rights are expunged, they’re the innocent victims of conflict, and war is made to seem their one and only duty, not to mention that these are children no more than 10 years of age. They are put into a situation where it’s to kill or be killed. The United Nations defines a child soldier as, “Any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity.” Since the past 15 years, child soldiers are being used in almost every region of the world. Unlike most children, who go to school, they’re abducted from their families and forced into becoming a child soldier, where living conditions are beyond imaginable.