As stated by the U.N. declaration of Human Rights in 1948 "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." The above declaration states that each and every human is entitled to certain basic human rights such as right to live, speech, freedom, justice, etc. irrespective of race,religion,color,creed and nationality and these rights are fundamental to human existence thus should be protected.
The sad part about honoring the simple basic rights enshrined in most countries constitution is the different interpretation of human rights and its protection. In some counties political and civil rights are not given or guaranteed to all its citizens or minorities while in some others, economic and social rights are not honored. To ensure promoting & implementation of rules safeguarding human rights international organizations like UN,Amnesty International and International Human Rights Commission(IHRC) were created and entrusted responsibility.
Recent contentious appointment of Saudi Arabia by the UN to head a key human rights panel United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has been deplored by human rights groups Worldwide. The reason being the disgusting human rights record of Saudi government. Saudi Arabia is notorious for worst kind of rights violations,repressive theocracy by discussing the open discrimination against women, public execution for petty crimes and harsh sentencing for government critics is cited as reasons by organizations for Saudi Arabia's omission from human rights panel.
According to the Amnesty, rights activists are labeled as terrorists in Saudi Arabia and their trials continue. The fundamental human rights respected world wide are not adhered to by Saudi regime.The organization adds that Riyadh imprisons people merely for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. Amnesty has also slammed the Saudi regime for violating international laws through its unilateral aerial war on Yemen that killed hundreds of innocent civilians.
The wife of imprisoned free speech blogger Raif Badawi, Ensaf Haidar, called the appointment “scandalous” and said that it meant “oil trumps human rights”.Saudi Arabia has been accused of human-rights abuses for decades, from suppressing dissent to beheading people for homosexuality,drugs,adultery and minor crimes. Saudi regime is accused of using draconian,medieval era laws to silence dissent in there country.
Ensaf Haidar, wife of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi
With angry human rights organizations calling Saudi appointment preposterous there had been past instances when despite worst human rights violations, China together with Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Cuba and Algeria won seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council. As UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said “It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel, “Petrodollars and politics have trumped human rights.”
Shia Activist Ali AlNimr
Western governments are always being accused for dubious conduct on penalizing human rights offenders. Saudi Arabia is an important Western ally in an increasingly tumultuous middle eastern region and that implies Saudi Arabia's appointment to coveted UNHRC .
No comments:
Post a Comment