Human Rights Day

December 10, 2011 will mark the 63rd anniversary of the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I think this anniversary will also mark many accomplishments in the 63 years since its inception. I could use this opportunity to mark all of the injustices that are still going on and the obstacles that are still stalling human rights legislation/action to end these injustices, but...well yeah I guess I am going to talk about that as well. 


Since the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, treaties, conventions, NGOs, resolutions, court cases and military action have been used to end the infringement of our basic human rights.  


We had NATO ignore the Security Council to intervene during the Bosnian genocide. 
We had  "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repealed AND New York was added to the list of states that allow same-sex marriage, plus D.C. 
We had the Arab Spring blow up in the Middle East.
We have had the majority of the European Council abolish capital punishment in all cases.


The list goes one. There have been many triumphs for human rights over the years and I think it is something to be celebrated.


63 years of a document inspiring more and more social, economic, cultural and political change. 


However there is still so much to do! 


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been promoting gay rights recently when she stated that "gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights." 

Photo from The Moderate Voice

"No practice or tradition trumps the human rights that belong to all of us, and this holds true for inflicting violence on LGBT people," she said. "It is a violation of human rights when people are beaten or killed because of their sexual orientation, or because they do not conform to cultural norms about how men and women should look or behave."

In March a document passed in the United Nations supporting rights for everyone, regardless of sexual identity or orientation. 85 states are now parties to this change. Laws are not only created by legislation but also by jus cogens, customary law.  Legislation such as the ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is viewed as a living document, meaning that as societal changes occur, so do the interpretations of the laws set forth in the document. It's plain to see that gay rights are becoming a prominent topic in the ever-evolving human rights discussion.

Hillary said it best: 

"Gay people are born into -- and belong to -- every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths. They are doctors, and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes...Being gay is not a Western invention. It is a human reality."

President Obama has also been taking action by sending a memo to U.S. government agencies that deal with foreign aid to help those being targeted for being gay or lesbian. 

Now if only more LGBT changes were made within the U.S. although I think there are many nations that make life completely unbearable and torturous if identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. 

Check this out:

The High Commissioner for Human Rights will host a global conversation on human rights through social media on Friday, 9 December at 9:30 a.m. New York time.

Torture gets you nowhere...literally

So I can't help but chuckle at the fact that George W. Bush can't really travel outside of the United States. After disclosing in his book, Decision Points, that he had given the ok to use certain interrogation techniques. Not the kind a person generally wants to go through. In February of this year Mr. Bush actually canceled a trip to Switzerland because many were calling for his arrest.   

Courtesy of the White House website

Now the reason Mr. Bush can't actually go to many countries is because 149 nations are a party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Even the United States ratified the document (although not without reservations that made it clear that America has a different definition of torture...).  The best part of this treaty is that when it is ratified, article 7 of the document makes it so that any court has jurisdiction over torture cases. This "universal jurisdiction" basically means that any state that has ratified the convention can arrest and place charges against a public official for torture and cruel/inhuman treatment. 


The UN Convention Against Torture defines torture as, "means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions."

Protesters demonstrate water boarding to 

volunteer Maboud Ebrahim Zadeh, 

Nov. 5, 2007, in front of the Justice Department. 

The demonstration was protesting the nomination

of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Now how do you justify torture? Is water-boarding okay as long as it protects a large amount of people? Or by giving up our morals and duty to protect all human life damage us as a nation more? 


A part of me wonders if Bush is just being targeted more for personal reasons. How many leaders in other nations have given the thumbs up on torture and gotten away with it? I doubt it is a small number. 


Some popular vacation spots that Mr. Bush probably won't ever visit include:


Australia
Costa Rica
Germany
Italy
Mexico
New Zealand
Sweden (not sure how popular this is but I desperately want to visit)...
and the list goes on...for 141 more states. 


On the bright side he can still go to the Bahamas, Comoros (wtf?), Dominican Republic, Gambia, India, Palau, Sudan(!!!!) and a couple of others. Hard to choose which list I'd rather pick my vacation from...


My question is this: Which country would actually arrest him and bring him to the international courts? I think it's smart for Bush to stay home and enjoy the splendors of Tejas.