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II.
III.
Introduction
What dictates the rules in peoples lives? Why do people live the lives they live? On
December 10th, 1948, a document that would factor into peoples daily aspect of life
was signed the Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration states that all human
beings are born with equal and inalienable rights including life, liberty, and security.
As such, members of the United Nations have a duty to uphold and protect the human
rights of every individual. Yet, though such a Declaration was signed, does that mean
all portions of the Declaration are followed? Every Article read to the last word? As
shown in incidents in almost every country, this is not the case. The Declaration of
human Rights is always being broken despite best efforts to adhere to it. Specific
events in Congo, the United States, and China attest to the fact that human rights as
listed in the Declaration are always being both broken and followed.
Congo
A. Rebel group M23 November 2012 (Violation of Article 5 no one should be
subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane treatment. Article 12 no arbitrary
interference of privacy)
1. They were looking for a prominent civil society leader in a village outside
Goma, a provincial capital in eastern Congo. When the rebels didn't find him,
they shot his colleague, killing him.
2. Fighters who had integrated into the Congolese army in 2009 but mutinied
earlier this year took control of Goma
a. The rebels targeted perceived opponents, including activists, government
officials and their family members. Many of those people went into hiding
after receiving personal threats.
3. M23 fighters shot a 4-year-old girl in the head after she asked why they were
taking her father away. An 18-year-old woman was beaten by M23 fighters
when they demanded money and cellphones.
a. He proceeded to rape her while her 1-year-old daughter lay next to her.
B. Bosco Ntaganda criminal warlord turned himself in to US Embassy March. 18,
2013. Faces trial at International Criminal Court (Partial follow/violate Articles 7,
10, and 11 full equality in court, innocent until proven guilty)
1. Ida Sawyer, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. The United States has
long been a strong voice for Ntagandas arrest. Now it can ensure that he
finally faces justice, as the victims of these abuses have waited far too long.
(Bias)
2. Ntaganda for the war crimes of recruiting and enlisting children under 15 as
soldiers and using them in hostilities when he commanded military operations
for the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), another rebel group, in the Ituri
district of northeastern Congo in 2002-2003. (Innocent until proven guilty)
The United States
A. The United States continues to detain individuals for indefinite periods without
charge or trial at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan
in violation of its obligations under international human rights law. Of the 779
IV.
educational plans for students with disabilities, said Brad Adams, Asia director.
However, the revisions continue to reinforce a parallel system of segregated
special education schools and do not remove the obstacles to regular schools for
children with disabilities. The amendments fail to clearly stipulate that local
governments and schools must provide reasonable accommodations to help
students overcome barriers related to their disabilities in mainstream schools. The
amendments reinforce the current situation in which only students with physical
or mild disabilities are allowed to study in mainstream schools, where few or no
accommodations are provided to students with disabilities. Other students are
effectively denied access to the mainstream education system, as children with
disabilities are entitled to access to mainstream education only if they are able to
adapt themselves to study in ordinary classes, meaning it is the students with
disabilities who have to adapt to the education system, not the reverse. (Violation
26: right to education, directed to full development of human personality)
C. Since its founding in 1997, Chinas Urban Management Law Enforcement (
), or chengguan, a para-police agency tasked with enforcing non-criminal
urban administrative regulations, has earned a reputation for excessive force and
impunity. The chengguan have become associated in popular opinion with
arbitrary and thuggish behavior, including assaults on suspected administrative
law violators (some of which lead to serious injury or death), illegal detention,
and abuses accompanying forceful confiscation of property. (Violation of 5 and
17)