Thursday 7 April 2016

Post 17 - A long lesson on Law / what we should be entitled to


We know that the people at the top / the people underneath them doing the dirty work aka politicians are full of words but no actions, and we know actions speak louder than words.

TLTR/conclusion at the top for the below: See, (this official-looking evidence) we have all of these 'acts' that are supposed to help us, but they are not enforced.


I was going through my old school books and ripping them up for paper recycling and I found some interesting notes from my citizenship book (sorry if anything is inaccurate I guess I'm a little sucky at taking notes off the board, I still got an A grade :P)


Countries have not signed for human rights, examples include Saudi Arabia, North Korea, China, Iran (there's more)

- The USA is critisised for it's human rights record because of violations.
- The American gov detained prisoners without charge, at military prison in Guantanamo Bay
- Algerians have little freedom to express their opinions
- Iranian authorities in 2012 made house arrests to opposition candidates, they weren't allowed to vote
- In Saudi law, women are forbidden from travelling, undergoing specific medical procedures, and conducting official business without permission from their 'male guardians'



Every citizen is supposed to have 'Human Rights' (there is a written: UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1945) (the UK Human Rights act 1998 is adapted from it)) UN stands for United Nations, an organisation that is like a global forum, it says that it seeks to achieve humanitarianism/peacekeeping/development goals are agreed by 192 member countries.


Aims of UN Charter:
- Maintain international peace and security
- Develop friendly relations among nations
- Co-operate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights
- Be a center for harmonising the actions of nations


Membership in the organisation in accordance with the charter: "is open to all peace-loving states that accept the obligations contained in the United Nations Charter, and in the judgement of the organisation, are able to carry out these obligations"


"Human Rights" (are supposed to) cover basic needs, whilst a "Legal Right" is more localised to a country's law.

Human Rights include:
- Education - To work - To fair working conditions
- To healthcare - To own property - To travel
- (Safe) food and clean water/drink - Safety
(Political/Civil Rights eg: Freedom of Speech, freedom to vote, freedom of equality)



However, after seeing the above, I think we can see that although countries have agreed to certain terms, they have not followed them. If the are not in the 'legal rights' or 'the law' of the country, then they do not feel as if they have to uphold the (terms) agreements. Human rights are supposed to be applied to every human on this planet / every global citizen "not to be subjected to inhumane or degrading treatment"

Some countries ignore rights because they may not respect their people with less power, they are lower, and the higher people want to control and manipulate the population (but if you've read the rest of my blog you may have got the jist of that) because they feel superior, they can't be bothered to help them.

- Rights cannot be separated from responsibilities (so they are not abused / written favouring the people in power/control)
- Moral obligations (opinionated; what you think/feel is 'right') may seem more important than legal responsibility because it is something which is dificult to control, for example, you can tell someone not to lie but you may not be able to tell if they are lying, but legal responsibilities have more/stricter 'right or wrong'
I felt like you (and everyone) have the 'right' to know this stuff ;D


Update 12/05/16 :
Two-part BBC Radio 4 programme on ‘Are Human Rights Really Universal?'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07756bn

Back to normal blog:
There is also a United Nations Convention of Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989The world leaders decided that children under 18 need extra protection/care than adults. It covers all rights (eg civil/political/economic/social/cultural/Articles - article 12: Participation (can have a voice)
The Sex Discrimination Act protects people at work because of their gender.
The Data Protection Act 1998 (supposedly) protects personal/your private data through legal obligations, to be fairly treated, to prevent public marketing use, unlawfully.
The annual budget deals with national tax and spending dealt by the government.
Censorship: This is when coverings are made in the media. Sometimes it is done to protect privacy. Dr Who for example was banned in China because protestors saw freedoms in the show and protested, as well, time travel in the show promoted ideology looked down upon by the Chinese government:
http://www.tydknow.com/did-you-know-that-the-chinese-government-banned-the-show-dr-who-because/


(UK) National Probation Service: Officers are responsible for: writing reports on whether they think that prisioners are suitable to be released, supervising drug rehabilitation schemes, sentence planning, supporting the victims of violent crime, etc.
Press freedom: The power to express anything through any way of communication (sometimes the opposite of censorship)
Spin Doctors: Spokespeople employed to deliver favourable interpretations of events in the media (eg of a political party)
Recidivism: Repeated crime
Globalisation: International expansion of business(es)
There are other organisations such as Amnesty International that stand up for those without a voice, or the Commonwealth.


You are certainly discriminated against depending on where you live. The type of passport can also determine where you are allowed and not allowed to travel:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2442398/UK-passport-holders-visit-173-countries-visa.html


Citizenship/law class over, I hope you didn't doze off!
- as always, from ICEM

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