There is an increasing interest in the international sector on the imputation of human rights on Multinational Corporations (MNCs). This issue is perpetrated by the flagrant influence MNCs have in the major sectors in the economy, especially the energy, information technology (IT), textile and finance industries. This paper highlights the importance of imputing human rights obligations on MNCs.
Human rights obligations which come into question in the operations of MNCs include: child labor, safe and healthy working conditions, employee discrimination, and employee trade unions. It raises an argument whether home countries of MNCs are responsible for ensuring these corporations adhere to upholding human rights, or if its upon the individual corporations themselves. International instruments however, address various states and thus it falls upon the state to engineer mechanisms to address violation of human rights orchestrated by these corporations. The law in addition, punishes natural persons rather than legal entities, thus maintaining the legal rights of the company, as opposed to bringing justice to the violation of certain rights (Muchlinski, 2000).
Host states are also responsible for regulating the activities of MNCs within their boundaries. However, host states may have their hands tied when imposing heavy restrictions on these corporations, lest they lose the services offered by the corporation.
The inclusion of conditions in international agreements which directly reflect on MNCs in upholding human rights is a useful method of imposing responsibility on individual companies. This is a developing aspect in law which acquired recognition in the United States case, Doe v Unocal. The court held that under the Alien Torts Claim Act, MNCs are liable for the violation of human rights in their duties (Muchlinski, 2000).
The argument of whether it is valid to impose obligations on violation of human rights on MNCs calls to reason the minimum caliber MNCs should maintain in their obligations towards human rights. The decision in the year 2000 in the above case of Doe v Unocal highlighted the fact that the corporations are only liable if they directly contributed to the violation of rights either by engineering the activities or participating in them. The court will not hold a company liable where it only knew of the violations (Muchlinski, 2000).
International organizations have in place guidelines to establish human rights obligations in MNCs for example, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD aims to ensure that through the regulations set down MNCs maintain ethical business conduct in their operations which are consistent with the international human rights laws. The OECD represents guidelines recognized by MNCs across different states. The International Labor Organization (ILO) also introduced a Tripartite Declaration whose aim is to implement and maintain certain labor standards among MNCs (United Nation Economic and Social Council, 2002).
The United Nations Commission of Human Rights stipulates the required conduct of MNCs including fair treatment of workers, provision of safe and healthy working conditions, collective bargaining and respect of the host nation policies (United Nation Economic and Social Council, 2002). Upholding these standards not only benefits the workers of the host country, but also boosts the companys national image.
The imposition of human rights on MNCs does indeed raise issues in terms of incorporation into the companys policies and the legal rights particular to MNCs. Taking into consideration the influence MNCs have in the international arena, and in the development of laws, the author views that MNCs should incorporate ways of upholding human rights in their activities in host countries and take responsibility for any failures on their part.
References
Muchlinski, P., (2000). Human Rights and Multinationals: Is There a Problem.
Police are the gatekeepers within the criminal justice system. They are held accountable in discharging their duties in a manner that protects individuals against human rights violations within the confines of the criminal justice system. It is widely believed that police as law enforcement agents possess both integrity and honesty virtues, and are obliged to uphold human rights standard and practices that guide them as they execute their duties. However, it is a matter of great concern that in as much as they are guarantors of an effective criminal justice system, they have also acted as principal sources of grave human rights violations including extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detention, and discrimination. In many occasions, they have failed to exercise their functions, powers, and duties impartially.
Main body
One such area is the wrongful convictions of suspects. Police misconduct leading to wrongful convictions occurs in a wide variety of forms which include but are not limited to false or coerced confessions, withholding evidence, and planting evidence. According to the National Registry of Exonerations (2017), as of 2016, there were a total of 166 recorded exonerations which was an increase from the preceding years.
Corey (2013) in his study and reflection on two mass exonerations, that is, the Rampart and Tulia exonerations, identified police misconduct, and in particular perjury as the primary cause for wrongful convictions. Some of the ways through which perjury was committed included filing of falsified reports and testifying detailed observations of criminal conduct in which the defendants never engaged in. This was facilitated through physically planting contraband materials on the defendants, or misstating that they had found contraband when they had not. The study focused on the Rampart and Tulia cases that met the actual innocence criteria utilized by other researchers in investigating known wrongful convictions. As a result, thirty-seven Tulia exonerees, and thirty-eight Rampart exonerees met this criterion. The results also illustrated that guilty pleas are not shielded from the risk of wrongful conviction. This is because, in more than 80% of the pooled Rampart and Tulia cases, innocent defendants had pleaded guilty.
While the Rampart case in Corey study was based on real crime, wrong perpetrator convictions, there exists another sphere which is the no-crime convictions. No-crime convictions constitute cases where innocent individuals are convicted of crimes that never happened. Police misconduct also plays a significant role in no-crime convictions, and this is idealistically presented in the Tulia case (Henry, 2018). According to the National Registry of Exonerations (2017), there were 94 recorded exonerations in 2016 with the trend increasing over the years. Elsewhere, Henry (2018) conducted literature research that explored no-crime wrongful convictions as an individual and unique phenomenon. The article examined official misconduct in the element of police lies and aggressive policing tactics as one of the factors leading to no-crime wrongful convictions. Moreover, the article demonstrated instances where police fabricate evidence for personal career advancement, for personal monetary gain or corporate gain. In the latter case, police are under substantial pressure to make arrests to raise revenues from fines.
Conclusion
The noble-cause corruption phenomenon has also been identified as a source of police abuse. Using the privileges bestowed upon them, police officers from time to time on perceiving a suspect to be guilty may take steps to remove them from the streets and confine them unjustly. At the level of organizational culture, weak enforcement of standard ethical codes that guide the conduct of police officers has resulted in corruption being entrenched into the police. It is therefore not surprising to find police officers unjustifiably pursuing low-level offenders and less serious criminal misconducts guided by the theory that offenders committing minor crimes maybe be caught committing more severe crimes for personal financial gain (Henry, 2018).
References
Corey, R. (2013). Police misconduct as a cause of wrongful convictions. Washington University Law Review, 90(4), 1133-1189.
Henry, J. (2018). Smoke but no fire: When innocent people are wrongly convicted of crimes that never happened. American Criminal Law Review, 55, 1-45.
The subject of human rights for prisoners generates ardent debate in contemporary society. The status of criminals in regards to their involvement with the law remains unclear. On the one hand, individuals who have broken the law have been isolated from the rest of society in order to prevent them from causing more harm and to punish them for their misdeeds.
At the same time, the inhumane treatment of prisoners by the justice system makes it that the punishment often outweighs the crime. Prisoners are not allowed to vote, have trouble voicing their complaints and protest about unfair treatment, and are subject to direct breaches of human rights, being exposed to torture, rape, and exploitation by inmates and by the prison personnel.
As a result, criminals are expelled from their civic duties, traumatized by inhumane treatment, and leave the correctional facilities as deeply broken individuals. Human rights watch is required to create a standardized list of rights and guarantees that should affect both domestic and international institutions in order to ensure the application of basic human rights, such as the right against torture, the right of equality before the Law, and the right to vote (under the right for Democracy). At the same time, the status of a prisoner as a citizen must be thoroughly investigated.
Background of the Issue
For the greater part of humanitys history, being a prisoner meant the effective abolition of all and any human rights extended by the state to the rest of its citizens. The popular view on the matter was that if an individual commits a crime, he or she was effectively exempted from any protection provided by the government to its people. In the early ages of antiquity, the first codes of law were largely based on the rule of vengeance.
The Code of Law of Hammurabi, as the first recorded law that considered the treatment of convicts, introduced the famous rule of an eye for an eye. If an individual caused bodily harm to another through ill intent or negligence, he or she would suffer the same treatment, often at the hands of the person they hurt. Such a rule was very simplistic and violated one of the crucial human rights, such as the right against torture. The right to live was also violated frequently, as the only satisfactory resolution to a murder (either on purpose or through negligence) was the death of the culprit.
The Greek and Roman laws were more elaborate and offered certain rights and protections to the criminals found guilty by the judges. In an event where the crime was of economic nature, such as debt and property damage, it was quickly discovered that locking up or injuring a person would not help compensate for the damage in any meaningful ways. Debtors and vandals, as such, were often made slaves in order to pay for the damages. Although such practices violated the prisoners right to freedom, they also provided certain protections, as the relationships between slaves and masters were regulated by the Greek and Roman codes of law.
During medieval times and all the way up to the second half of the 20th century, the rights of prisoners were largely absent from the political and legislative conversation. The prison was viewed by the general public as a place of punishment or a purgatory. It was supposed to intimidate the average citizen and prevent them from committing crimes through fear. Those who ended up on the wrong side of the law had to suffer both mentally and physically for their transgressions. Corporeal punishments, sexual abuse of prisoners, high death rates, and virtually no control over what happened inside the prison walls were typical. The only exceptions were made to prisoners of great wealth and nobility, whose rights as human beings were respected to a degree due to their outside connections.
In the US, the situation regarding prisoner rights was ambiguous up until 1974. The prisoners were considered slaves of the state, with no specific laws and regulations made to regulate their relationships with the supervisors or other inmates. Courts of law refused to handle cases regarding inhumane treatment and prisoner rights due to the ambiguous legal status of the prisoner. The argument was that, if the prisoner does not have any discernable rights, the regular application of law (which exists to protect individual rights) would not be appropriate. This changed in 1974 when the Supreme Court ruled out that prisoners did not lose all of their constitutional rights, such as the right to live and the right against torture.
Current Situation
Prisoners in the US are still considered citizens. At the same time, these citizens do not enjoy the same rights and freedoms when compared to free citizens. The prison system, by definition, suspends certain rights of individuals, such as the right to personal freedom. However, prisoners return certain human and constitutional rights in order to alleviate their condition. The right against torture and the right against cruel and unusual punishments protects prisoners from certain conditions in prisons, such as overcrowding, torture, and unsanitary conditions.
Prisoners are obligated by law to provide a minimal standard of living to all prisoners and are no longer allowed to use corporal punishments as a means of discipline. Violence is to be used in a measured way and only when an inmate is threatening public order or disobeying direct commands from their supervisors. In addition, prisoners receive protection against discrimination and the right to practice their religion freely. Lastly, all prisoners have the right to a fair trial and due process.
However, the degree to which they can protect their rights inside the prison is limited by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, which prevents the prisoners from filing litigation attempts against the prison and its wardens until all administrative measures of improving the situation are exhausted.
Important Definitions
The definitions regarding the subject at hand are as follows:
Prison sentence. A measure implemented by the court with the purpose of detaining and isolating a criminal from the rest of society. A prison sentence has four main purposes: retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. A prison sentence is meant to be a punishment for a crime against society. By incapacitating a dangerous criminal, society protects itself against repeated offenses. By offering harsh punishments for crimes, a prison sentence effectively deters existing and future criminals from breaking the law. Finally, during the prison sentence, an individual must be taught skills to enable reintegration into society upon release.
Prisoner. A citizen found guilty of a crime, whose rights have been restricted based upon the conditions of a prison sentence.
Suffrage. The right to vote, which enables the individual to participate in the political life of the country and expressing their opinions in a democratic way.
Disenfranchisement. The act of stripping a felon of their right to vote. Depending on the local legislation, disenfranchisement would end upon release or parole.
Conflict on Definitions
The main conflict on definitions, in this case, lies in the definition of purposes of the prison sentence. Although four purposes have been stated, it is not clear which purpose is the governing one, as the policy on prisons and prisoners changes with each passing administration. Before 1965, the main purpose of prisons was punishment and incapacitation. However, the introduction of the Prisoner Rehabilitation Act in 1965 significantly changed the domestic policy towards felons and introduced a variety of rehabilitation programs.
Those programs were not popular among the general population, however, and the debates regarding whether prisoners deserve to be rehabilitated or not continue up to this day. Trump Administrations First Step Act seeks to focus on the rehabilitation side of the prison sentence for individuals sentenced for minor offenses, such as drug usage, possession, and first-time distribution. However, this activity is focused on education and training rather than on the status of the prisoner.
Should Prisoners be Allowed to Vote?
The questions surrounding the prisoners rights to vote lay in the realms of both ethical and legalistic fields of study. While the right to vote is considered a fundamental human right, its implementation as a constitutional right remains an oblique prospect for the prisoners of many nations, including those sentenced in the US. The idea to allow prisoners to vote is not popular, and any politician to actively campaign for the rights of prisoners is likely to lose votes against candidates who advocate for acting hard on crime.
There are three main arguments against granting prisoners the right to vote. The first argument is that since the felon broke the law, they automatically lose their right and privilege to vote. This is a very old argument that has been around for at least a millennia. Until people started actively working for human rights and prisoner rights, the majority of prisons did not grant their felons any rights at all. The second major argument is that since a person broke the law, they should not be allowed to make laws. The common supposition is that prisoners would try to use their votes in order to get reduced sentences and make politicians bargain with the justice system for their votes.
The last argument is that felons are not informed enough to make a reasonable decision in regards to governing a country. It is notorious for prisons to limit the prisoners access to information. One or two major political parties sponsor the only channels available on public TV, and there are no rules or laws regarding access to different sources of information for prisoners. Thus, prisons have the potential to become political camps for whoever any individuals who are currently holding office. The US has over 2 million people in jail and over 5-7 million on parole, making it a substantial political force. The inability to vote, critics say, protects the prisoners from being used in political games.
However, these arguments can be rebuked from the legislative, ethical, and logical sides. The US was among the first nations to ratify the conventions of universal human rights. Article 29 of the UN convention of human rights states the following, In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
Allowing individuals to vote does not violate morality, public order, and respect for the rights or freedoms of others. This statement helps to understand the flawed nature of the first argument. Despite losing some of their constitutional rights, prisoners remain humans, thus entitled to every human right that does not violate the conditions of their sentence, in accordance with Article 29. As such, from a legal point of view, they should be allowed to vote.
The flaw of the second argument lies in the fact that it treats the law as a singular entity. In reality, there is a great number of laws that are applicable to almost any facet of our lives. While it is hypothetically true that an individual might vote on laws that benefit him or her and have the potential to reduce their sentence or allow earlier parole, such notions are not prohibited by the Constitution. At the same time, a prisoner who was arrested on charges of drug possession should not be excluded from deciding on the matters of internal policy, external policy, defense spending, prison spending, healthcare reform, and many other areas that would affect his or her life both inside and outside of the justice system.
The last argument regarding the qualifications of prisoners to vote is simply undemocratic. Our current legislation does not have any qualification tests for being allowed to vote to save from the qualification of biological age. This notion is reinforced by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which states that all disabled individuals are to receive assistance from their person of choice and be allowed to vote.
In addition, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) strictly prohibits the conditioning of the right to vote on passing a test. In other words, people are allowed to vote wrongly and not on how well-informed or mentally capable they are. The basic principles of the VRA can be easily translated to the situation with prisoners. Under the democratic system, people are allowed to make wrong, self-serving, and uninformed choices about public policy.
Discussion
The conversation about voting rights for prisoners should be based on the notions of Article 39 of the Universal Human Rights Convention. Clear definitions regarding morality, public order, and the general welfare must be provided and introduced into a legal context. As it stands, all three definitions are too vague and can represent a variety of issues. It is possible to argue the morality of giving all and any human rights to a serial killer or a rapist. At the same time, denying everyone voting rights based on a relative minority of incarcerated individuals is morally wrong. In the US prison system, over half of inmates are being held for non-violent crimes, such as drug possession, property crimes, disturbances to the public order, as well as detentions pending a trial.
At the same time, the prisoner population is one of the most vulnerable populations in the country due to limited mobility, complete dependence on their incarcerators, and restricted civil rights. Society has the potential to arbitrarily alter punishments, funding, supply, medical care, and other amenities provided to prisoners. It is also capable of changing laws regarding their sentence at will. At the same time, prisoners are considered one of the most hated subpopulations due to their real or perceived slights. Thus, the right to vote serves as the only protection against the tyranny of the majority.
Lastly, despite the objections and worries that prisoners might turn the tide of large-scale elections, the prisoner population constitutes less than 1% of the entire population of America. By definition, there is no such thing as a wrong vote, meaning that public order and general welfare would not be affected by their decisions. Thus, we have determined that withholding voting rights for the majority of the felons is immoral, that practicing these rights is necessary, and that it will not cause any civil disturbances.
What Should Be Done?
As it was already stated, the decision should not be based on the ever-changing and subjective notions of justice and morality but rather on the basis of a contribution to society, general welfare, and public order. Prisoners that are kept in custody are already isolated from the rest of society in a physical way and cannot affect society in a negative way any further. As it stands, the matter of voting for felons does not have a universal standing in the US. Some states allow convicted criminals to vote, others allow doing so on parole, while the rest practice disenfranchising powers until the prisoner is released and all charges are cleared.
A uniform federal law based on the Declaration of Human Rights Convention should enable all prisoners to exercise their voting rights. However, this kind of legislation would likely not find much support among law-abiding citizens. Therefore, these rights would likely be extended only to individuals with charges of non-violent crimes.
Conclusions
The ideas and arguments proposed in this paper have the potential to shape the US legislative field and grant major basic human rights to over 2 million inmates. It would signify a shift in the political landscape as well and force politicians to acknowledge prisoners as a vulnerable population whose rights need to be protected and observed. Despite losing some of their constitutional rights, felons remain human beings. Therefore, they should be granted the ability to exercise basic human rights that do not threaten to undermine public order.
Major opposition to prisoner voting rights does not have any legislative strength behind itself, whereas a case for prisoner rights could be made based on various acts and provisions, such as the Prisoner Rehabilitation Act, Voting Rights Act, and the Convention of Human Rights.
The existing system is dehumanizing the prisoner population in an effort to strip them of their basic rights, which results in high levels of fatalities, prison rapes, and other violations of their dignity as human beings. Treating prisoners as incarcerated citizens rather than slaves of the state would enable long-term rehabilitation as well as the fulfillment of civic duty in the broader context of society.
Works Cited
Bagaric, Mirko, et al. Technological Incarceration and the End of Prison Crisis. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 108, no. 1, 2018, pp. 73-135.
Behan, Cormac. Citizen Convicts: Prisoners, Politics and the Vote. Manchester University Press, 2016.
Damaska, Mirjan R. Adverse Legal Consequences of Conviction and Their Removal: A Comparative Study. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 59, no. 3, 1969, pp. 347-360.
Debeljak, Julie. The Rights of Prisoners Under the Victorian Charter: A Critical Analysis of the Jurisprudence on the Treatment of Prisoners and Conditions of Detention. UNSW Law Journal, vol. 38, no. 4, 2015, pp. 1332-1385.
Easton, Susan. Protecting Prisoners: The Impact of International Human Rights Law on the Treatment of Prisoners in the United Kingdom. The Prison Journal, vol. 93, no. 4, 2013, pp. 475-492.
Grady, Sarah C. Civil Death Is Different: An Examination of a Post-Graham Challenge to Felon Disenfranchisement Under the Eighth Amendment. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 102, no. 2, 2013, pp. 441-470.
Heath, Amy. Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Denying Ex-Felons the Right to Vote After Serving Their Sentences. American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law, vol. 25, no. 3, 2017, pp. 327-338.
Kalb, Johanna. The State of the City and the Future of Human Rights: A Review of Global Urban Justice. Columbia Human Rights Law Review, vol. 148, no. 3, 2017, pp. 75-97.
Meskell, Matthew W. An American Resolution: The History of Prisons in the United States from 1777 to 1877. Stanford Law Review, no. 51, vol. 4, 1999, pp. 839-865.
Okwerekwu, Jennifer A., et al. Voting by People with Mental Illness. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, vol. 47, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1-8.
Piacentini, Laura, and Elena Katz. Carceral Framing of Human Rights in Russian Prisons. Punishment & Society, vol. 19, no. 2, 2017, pp. 221-239.
Rountree, Meredith M. Criminals Get All the Rights: The Sociolegal Construction of Different Ways to Die. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 105, no. 1, 2015, pp. 149-202.
Rubenstein, Leonard S., et al. HIV, Prisoners, and Human Rights. The Lancet, vol. 388, 2016, pp. 1202-1214.
Swart, Mia. The Prisoner Voting Dilemma: A Comparison Between the Position in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Journal of South African Law, vol. 2015, no. 4, 2015, pp. 706-718.
Human rights movement and activists rely on historical information in finding the nature and extent of historical injustices in the society. The future of the society depends on their clear reflection and view of the historical background as the society tries to navigate the daily challenges.
The contemporary society is the product of the history hence historical events and injustices are integral factor that determines the bearing of the society. The importance of historical information begs a question of how valid is the historical information and how credible are the historians.
According to Zinn, everyone is biased, whether they know it or not, in possessing fundamental goals, purposes, and ends (48). Due to inherent biasness and partially in historical information, Zinn is caution us not to rely on historians and journalist but be flexible to consider omissions and de-emphasis of vital information before making any conclusion on a historical event (49).
Zinn conclusively argue that, All written history is partial in two senses. It is partial in that it is only a tiny part of what really happened &it is partial in that it inevitably takes sides, by what it includes or omits, what it emphasizes or deemphasizes (49). This essay is going to describe Zinns argument in detail and evaluate its validity using two major historical events: Ludlow massacre and the Valour and the Horror documentary.
The Ludlow Massacre
The events that lead to the Ludlow massacre were the series of coal workers strikes at the Colorado mines under Rockefellers Corporation. The workers were under strict watch by the police not to form any labor union to champion their rights and the Rockefeller Corporation detectives shoot dead the labor organizer Gerry Lippiatt.
His death enraged coal workers in the Trinidad, they held meeting to condemn his killing, and they vow to continue to fight for the rights. The organizer of the United Mine Workers, Mary Jones addressed them saying, What would the coal in these mines and in these hills be worth. Unless you put your strength and muscle in to bring them&.You have collected more wealth, created more wealth than they in a thousand years of the Roman Republic, and yet you have not any (Zinn 52).
The workers resolved to strike and were evicted from the Rockefeller company houses and they moved to the tents at the United Mine Workers where they were they were threatened by the gunfires at their tents so that they can end their strikes but they persisted. The workers were lured into the massacre after a series of fights with the detectives that made the mine owners to resort to massacre, by brutally attacking and killing innocent children, women and men because they demanded their rights (Zinn 54).
According to Zinn, the reason why this historical massacre was not in the historical books nor taught in the class is that, politically, the Rockefeller Corporation was a more important industry than workers rights and industrialization was everything no matter the bloody cost on the lives of the workers.
To harmonize the view of historians and industrialists, Zinn concluded that, there is a certain unspoken understanding lay beneath the writing of textbooks and the teaching of history: that it would be considered bold, radical, perhaps even communist to emphasize class struggle in the United States (58).
Hence, there is a culture or ideology of focusing only on economic achievement rather than social impacts of the industrialization because the objective a high school book entitled Legacy of Freedom is to aid the student in understanding the economic growth and development of our country (Zinn 59). So here, legacy of freedom is not human right but it is an economic growth and development, which is a partial and biased objective of the freedom legacy.
The Ludlow massacre is an example of a historical event that was omitted by the historians since the source of the story did not come from the historical books but from the song artist and English literature. The story is about labor struggles of the Colorado coal miners that eventually lead to the massacre.
The important historical event that shows how the Americans suffered and endured hardships during their labor conflict struggles. I wonder why such an important historical event that depicts the labor conflicts and the cost of the lives of the Americans was not part of the college history curriculum. I think is due to political and historian deliberate deception not to reveal how the government blundered in the brutal killings of innocent workers instead of championing their rights.
The valour and the Horror
The valour and the horror is a documentary showing Canadian involvement in the World War II. The documentary aimed at provoking the society to ask hard and critical questions about Canadian involvement in World War II where together with the Britain they bombed German civilians. The documentary summed up that, Let us celebrate the valour, but speak the evil and the horror (Dick 254).
The historical documentary has stirred differing views of interpretation from journalists, politicians and the public depending on their values and interests.
The documentary received great reception in the media and public arena but great resistance from political arena. The controversy ensued over the historical interpretation of the World War II participation by the Canada. The critics of the documentary argued that, the series was unfair and inaccurate and denigrated their role in World War (Dick 253) and they launch a strong campaign against the broadcast and the documentary.
This controversy evokes lot of questions as to why and how can a historical fact be subjective to many interpretations. The broadcast protested about the Senate subcommittee decision to investigate the controversial documentary arguing that, we believe it will be difficult for fair-minded people to take any notice of findings arrived at in such an obviously biased process and we regret that the Senate has chosen to proceed in this fashion (Dick 255).
With much pressure, they were compelled to review the documentary to reflect greater journalistic balance (Dick 256). The radio and television commission carried out their review and concluded that, history cannot be considered as a single immutable truth (Dick 256).
The historians were ironical in that they have been actively criticizing Canadian military involvement in the World War II in their own books and articles but this time round, they have strongly protested against the documentary (Dick 265). The controversy over a factual historical event, even by historians themselves has clearly proved beyond reasonable doubt that historians and their records are partial and biased in their entire objectives and can never be relied upon.
Conclusion
Basing on the two historical events, historians and historical records are biased. The reporting and analysis of an historical event depends on the historian interest and the overriding political interest. The Ludlow massacre was neither found in the historical books, nor taught in colleges, because the American political ideology was at that time focusing mainly on economic development, nobody had much concern about the civil rights, and champion for the interest of workers.
In the Valour and Horror documentary, the political interest overrides the public interests in the quest of the truth about historical injustices that led to bombing of innocent German civilians in World War II. Hence, the validity of any historical information is subject to powerful political figures and biased historians who would otherwise change history to suite their ends.
The great controversy that ensued in the documentation of the military involvement attracted more political interest and public to the extent of recommending the regulation of media. History deals with factual events but the problem lies in the subjectivity of the interpretation and documentation of important historical events.
Posters act as one of the many means of communication. To draw attention of the target audience, posters developers have to make sure that they design their posters in an attractive manner. Moreover, information conveyed by posters ought to be brief and precise, as audience never takes time to go through clogged posters. Good posters reduce the chances of the target audience spending most of their time critiquing the message.
Different people use varied designs when developing their posters based on the target audience and information they intend to put across. Moreover, an individual learns a lot about communication when developing a poster. This paper aims at commenting on lessons learnt about communication when developing three posters. Besides, the paper will comment on the strategies used in developing the three posters, reasons why I used certain design for specific posters, and improvements that can be made on the posters.
Poster 1
I learnt a lot about communication when developing this poster. First, I realised that placing the title or theme of the poster at a strategic point goes a long way to draw the attention of the target audience. Audiences do not have time to go through the entire poster to identify the theme or unravel what the poster intends to put across. Hence, to communicate effectively, it is imperative to place the theme of the poster at a place that all the target audiences will identify easily.
Apart from learning about the importance of placing the posters theme at a strategic position for effective communication, I also learnt that the order in which information is organised in a particular poster plays a crucial role in ensuring that the audiences understand the message. A jumbled poster turns off the desire by audiences to understand the posters message. One should organise his or her poster in a way that audiences can read it at the first glimpse. I learnt that it is imperative to use an appropriate font and font size to ensure that readers do not strain when reading a poster.
When designing the poster, I used a number of strategies. To start with, I identified my target audience. Identification of target audience is vital since it helps one organise his or her information in a manner that the audience will understand. After identifying the target audience, I went on to identify what I wanted the audience to do after going through the poster. This aspect helped me identify the kind of words to use in the poster. Identifying what one wants the audience to do after going through the poster helps in making sure that he or she uses the right words in his or her message, thus luring the audience to abide by what the poster says.
Upon identifying what I would like my target audience to do, I proceeded to breaking my information into blocks. By breaking information into blocks, I ensured that I could convey all the intended information comfortably. Besides, I ensured that I came up with the right size of the poster. The breakdown also helped me ensure that I placed my information in sequential manner thus helping the target audience to understand the information easily.
One of the main reasons why I decided to use this design in my poster was to ensure that I captured all the information I intended to put across in a single poster. The poster conveys a lot of information and thus putting all the information in a single block would have made it appear cluttered. Hence, I had to split the information and put it in different sections for easy reading and understanding.
I decided not to include many pictures since they would have compelled me to drop some of the vital information. I decided to use the black colour to make sure that my target audience is capable of reading the poster. Since the poster includes a lot of information, I avoided using many colours to avoid it looking cluttered. Using numerous colours in the poster would have made it appear too littered thus discourage people from going through it.
After reviewing the poster, I realised I could make numerous improvements on the poster and in the designing process. For instance, in the design process, I could come up with a sound changeover from one block of information to another. About the poster, some of the current photos are hard to decipher; hence, one of the changes I could make in the poster would be removing these photos and replacing them with others that are easily understandable.
Poster 2
When designing this poster, I learnt that pictures speak louder than words. I realised that most of the target audiences do not take time to read all that is written in posters. Including appropriate pictures facilitates in conveying message to the target audience. Communication does not entail including a lot of information within a poster. Instead, it entails the order in which the poster is organised. The language used in the posters really matters.
For instance, when passing across information about communication as one of the human rights, I learnt that I could only manage to put across my message if I presented my theme in a neutral manner. In other words, I learnt that the theme of any poster has to be captured in a way that it attracts all the target audience. Coming up with a discriminative theme may discourage even the intended target audience, which hinders successful communication. The colour used in developing a poster helps in communication. Too dull posters do not attract audience. On the other hand, audiences do not like posters that contain so many colours since they appear too cluttered.
When designing the poster, I started by identifying the information I intended to put a cross. One cannot develop a poster if he or she does not have a picture of what s/he intends to put across. Besides, identifying the message helps in coming up with the poster layout. After identifying the information, I split it into blocks and embarked on developing coherent switches from one block to another. The main reason for coming up with these coherent switches was to ensure that the audience has a clear picture of what the poster intends to convey. I then proceeded to look for appropriate photos to include in my poster.
I ensured that I did not include too dark or complex photos since it would be hard for some people to understand the meaning of the poster. In coming up with the final poster, I ensured that the most important things were captured first. Capturing the most important things first implied that even if a person did not go through the entire poster, he or she at least would get the message. To make the poster attractive, I used a grid to align the different blocks of information. This helped in making the layout appear attractive thus making it possible for target audience to go through the entire poster and connect the varied blocks of information for easy understanding.
The main reason I opted to use different colours in my poster is to make it attractive. Using a single colour would have made the poster look dull and thus not appealing to the target audience. I placed the photo of the man holding a placard advocating for human rights at the centre to make the audience understand the theme of the poster. I chose this photo because it is clear and easy to understand. Information contained in the placard is catching.
Hence, upon reading this information, an individual is tempted to go closer to the poster to understand the information it carries. I opted to split the information and organise it under different subheadings to make it simple to read and understand. If the information were compressed under a single block, it would have been hard for audiences to go through it and understand. Using different subheadings makes the poster attractive and even simpler to understand as the subheadings indicate the message contained in the blocks.
After reviewing the poster, I realise that I can make numerous changes in the poster as well as the designing procedure. For instance, the font size used in this poster is not so good. The font size is too small for most of the people to read. Hence, to ensure that people read the poster without straining, I can change the font size and make it bigger. In addition, the theme or title of the poster appears too big. I could change it to be shorter and captivating.
The colour I used at the top of the poster makes it hard for people to read the title. I could also change that colour to ensure that the title is readable. In designing the poster, I could come up with an appropriate text hierarchy. By using text hierarchy, my target audience would be in a position to identify the array of significance of the message conveyed by the poster. This aspect could facilitate in ensuring that people understand the message communicated through the poster.
Poster 3
When developing this poster, I realised that communication does not entail the number of words one includes in his or her poster or the number of colours used. Rather, communication entails how one presents his or her ideas in a poster and how the different blocks of information are organised and linked. A person may write a long prose and fail to put across the intended message because of not using the appropriate words.
Besides, I learnt that photos used in any poster help in communication. A poster without visual aids looks dull. On the other hand, a poster with visual aids appears attractive and is easy to understand. Besides being attractive, such a poster is capable of passing information to the target audience without one having to go through the text included in the poster. Hence, I learnt that including appropriate photos in any poster adds to the capacity of the poster reaching the target audience.
The order of information in any poster goes a long way in enhancing communication. As I was developing the poster, I realised that it is hard for people to understand the information contained in a poster if the information is not organised in the order of importance. Hence, it is important to have a certain hierarchy when developing a poster.
Before coming up with the poster, I had to make sure that the final poster carried all the intended information. I started by identifying the information I intended to convey and split it into blocks. I then arranged the different blocks in the order of their significance. In addition, I weighed various formats and settled on the column format, which I felt that it would accommodate all the intended information and make the poster appear uncluttered, to ensure that the poster looked attractive. I developed a sketch of the poster and used it to organise all the information I intended to convey through the poster.
The sketch helped me link the various blocks and come up with a coherent transition from one block to another. To make sure that the poster conveyed the information accurately, I decided to reinforce the text message with photos. Hence, I proceeded to look for the best photos to include in the poster. I ensured that the photos were in line with the posters title or theme. I tested various background colours to ensure that the text in the poster was readable.
Ultimately, I decided to use blue and white colours in writing the title of the poster as the two colours made the title clear and easy to read. Failure to have clear and easily readable title amounts to failure of the entire poster. I decided to use the same font throughout the poster to avoid confusion by the audience. Using numerous fonts in a single poster makes it hard for the audience to understand the order of significance of the information contained in the poster.
By using the same font with different font sizes, I intended to ensure that people understand the flow of information in the poster. Many people read articles from the upper left corner. Hence, using the column format helped me organise the message in the poster in the order of significance from the upper left corner downwards. I opted to use a gray background and blue colour in my text since the combination makes the text visible. Invisible text discourages people from reading the posters since it takes them a lot of time. Besides, the audience strain when reading the contents of a poster.
After reviewing the poster, I felt that I still needed to make some changes in the design process to make it more attractive and understandable. Instead of using a uniform font, I could come up with three fonts, one for the title, one for the subtitles, and one for the text. The different fonts would make the reader figure out the order of significance in the conveyed message. The photos included in the poster are hard to understand and cannot convey the entire message.
Hence, one of the changes I would make in the poster is replacing the current photos with other photos that are easily understandable. Including easily understandable photos in my poster would facilitate in reinforcing the text. Besides, the photos would help in drawing the audiences attention. The title of the poster is too long, but it should be short and precise; therefore, I would also reduce the length of the title and make it more precise.
It is crucial for any clinical expertise to be integrated with the best possible scientific evidence. Otherwise, it is impossible to provide patients with all the needed options. If patients have no choice, they are unable to express their preferences. Patient preferences include spiritual and religious values, cultural and social values, personal priorities, opinion regarding the quality of life and its constituents, and belief about health. Although healthcare providers realize the importance of patients input, it is often not included due to a number of barriers like literacy, race, gender, time constraints, previous knowledge, and sociocultural influences. Therefore, the use of scientific evidence only is not enough in terms of the evidence-based environment when it comes to caring for the patients (Ginex, 2018). Medical professionals should incorporate both patients values and preferences and clinical expertise, therefore, integrating science and art to improve the patient outcome.
During the Second World War and the Holocaust, Nazi researchers committed mass-scale atrocities against Jews and other prisoners under the name of medical research (Constantin, 2018). After the Nurnberg Code, a set of guidelines was developed to govern research on humans in order to prevent criminal harm to one person by another. Nevertheless, human subjects need to be duly protected till today, as there are still numerous unethical experiments performed all over the world. For instance, in 2018, Postobon, Colombias beverage company, distributed near 3,000 drinks containing uncertified chemicals to children of La Guajira (Constantin, 2018). Further, they were tested to reveal the potential effects of that product. Moreover, this research was held illegally, and its subjects were neither duly informed nor even unaware of the performed tests. Hence, it is imperative to provide appropriate protection to those being tested and make sure that they will not suffer from distress. The researcher should undertake full responsibility for protecting human subjects from mental and/or physical harm and minimize all the potential risks. Moreover, the participants of any research should have the right to withdrawal from it.
The theoretical literature on the topic of human rights education proves that it is an important and a crucial part in curriculum as it helps young people and adults to understand the problem of discrimination and protection of human rights. The book Human Rights Education for the Twenty-First Century by Andreopoukos abd Clande, (2003) states that human rights play a crucial role in social relations and relations between the state and citizens. In general, in the integral approach human rights are not made subservient to any ideology. Rather they constitute a basic political philosophy per se. the book is based on a theoretical approach and uses vivid real life examples to illustrate numerous cases. The book consists of several chapters devoted to theories and contexts of human rights, approaches to teaching, special training for human rights professionals, community-based education and available resources and funding. The authors shows that life must be livable, which requires both a reasonable standard of living and a decent quality of life. Man is both an individual and part of a community. In reality negative freedom cannot be separated from positive freedom ( freedom to ). A right to food, for example, is meaningless when people are not free to say that they are hungry and the press is not free to report on it. Freedom, on the other hand, does not mean much to those who are hungry while lacking any form of food entitlement.
The article Human Rights Education discusses importance and possibilities of human rights education at schools. The author concludes that civil/political rights, social/economic rights, cultural rights and ecological rights (a generation of human rights still to be created) all go hand in hand. It would be a fundamental mistake to set priorities in their implementation. The integral approach to human rights and their implementation is found more among non-governmental organizations than among states. In a world in which many states make human rights subservient to their own ideologies and their own views of the national interest, the concepts of sovereignty and non-interference would have to be rethought. An integral approach is severely hampered by the primary role of the nation-state. The article shows that despite the collective dimension of all human rights, and the fact that all individuals are part of a group, human rights should nevertheless be considered the rights of individuals as against the state or group.
The website, Human Rights Education (2009) is one of the best sources about real life cases and importance of human rights education today. While collective rights do exist, and can often be important, they should not be named human rights, as this would detract from the essential meaning of the term human rights and lead to conceptual vagueness. To the extent that human rights claims are politically effectivethat is, to the extent that political and legal relationships and practices are altered in conformity with the demands of human rightsthe need to make such claims is reduced or eliminated.
The three sources agree that human rights education should be part of curriculum as it helps millions of people to protect their respect and dignity. The idea to implement the human rights framework is based on necessity to improve internal culture and introduce new relations based on universal moral and human values. The framework should be of a functional nature. In some cases, existing framework should be divided into several units. But much more often the proper response is to maintain the sovereign unit but to organize partial, functional self-control by sub-state units of issues that are important to them and which do not constitute a challenge to the other sub-state units. In some cases, sub-state control over language and culture is enoughand this should be allowed to be coordinated with similar efforts by peoples of the same language or culture living inside other units.
References
Andreopoukos, G. J., Clande, R. P. 2003. Human Rights Education for the Twenty-First Century (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Human Rights Education Can Be Integrated throughout the School Day. 2005. Childhood Education, 81 (3), 158.
Human Rights Education. 2009. Amnesty education USA. Web.
It is a struggle to achieve comprehensive gay human rights in any society. In this context, gay human rights have attracted conflicts over the years. The struggle for gay rights is traceable since 1924 and has since gained momentum due to increased public awareness and debate. This research paper introduces the struggle for gay human rights and conflicts since history. An in-depth analysis of philosophical, psychological and political theories of nonviolence offers an insight into how conflicts can be solved. In addition, this research paper reviews the biography of Harvey Milk as a politician and gay human rights activist. Milks achievements in politics are critical in using political nonviolence to solve conflicts derived from struggles to achieve gay human rights.
Introduction
For many years, gay people have struggled to have their human rights respected. Since 1942, gay people have been subjected to inhumane acts by their heterosexual counterparts. However, the struggle for gay human rights has been championed through nonviolence efforts. The use of nonviolence in resolving conflicts is critical in maintaining peace. Historically, nonviolence has been used by civil rights organizations as recommended by renowned activists like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. In this research paper, an in-depth evaluation of the conflicts associated with gay human rights is well documented. An evaluation of nonviolence theories in relation to gay human rights struggle is discussed in this paper. Harvey Milk and his contribution in the struggle to preserve gay human rights are discussed from a theoretical perspective. This research paper provides an in-depth understanding of gay human rights as a historical conflict.
Conflict history
As indicated earlier, gay rights were first addressed in 1924 by the civil society. In this regards, gay people were subjected to discrimination based on their sexual behavior. Considering that gay people were discriminated at social places, a struggle for equality and social justice was inevitable. For many years, homosexuality was considered a crime and the federal law subjected the related activities to sodomy laws prohibiting oral and anal sex. In this regard, gay people were denied justice in courts and employment especially in government institutions. Activists compare the mistreatment of homosexuals to that Jews during the Second World War. From this context, homosexuals got inspiration from the African American Civil Right Movement to agitate for equal rights and protection using nonviolence.
For a long time, homosexuality has caused a conflict of culture, religious and national values. Many of the anti-gay activists perceive homosexual acts as unnatural. In this regard, gay people are victims of prejudice and hate from the heterosexual community. For years, gay people have been subjected to acts of violence, brutal kicking, social stigmatization and murder. On the other hand, mainstream religious factions have openly denied acts of homosexuality. In fact, the government uses religious beliefs as a point of reference when making anti-gay laws. In this context, majority of governments and respective states believe that homosexual acts erode national values that dignify the society and family unit.
Nonviolence theories
Holmes theory of nonviolence
This theory is based on a philosophical view that discourages physical and psychological violence (Mayton, 2009, p. 32). In this regard, Holmes theory of nonviolence has two categories of nonviolence. In addition, the two categories are based on the principles that one should not kill, wage war or use physical and psychological violence. In this regard, several acts of nonviolence emanate from this theory.
For example, gay human rights activists will be required to suffer willingly from discrimination, abuse and violence without action. Moreover, this theory of nonviolence encourages passive resistance where gay human rights activists will not cooperate with anyone. In addition, using militant nonviolence is also encouraged by Holmes theory. In this regard, gay human rights activists are urged to be aggressive and active when fighting for their rights. Militant nonviolence recommends use of moral actions when changing the status quo or perception about gay rights. Holmes theory perceives acts of violence as morally wrong, ineffective and only causes damage. This theory contradicts anti-gay activists, religious and government policy on the same since they use violence to fight homosexuality. In this regard, gay human rights activist seem to have a moral advantage in the conflict.
Brenes model of peaceful selfhood
This model is based on a psychological view that the culture of peace can be achieved through self improvement. This model seeks to improve peace in the society by recommending individuals to seek personal welfare, health and a balance of things (Mayton, 2009, p. 45). This theory assumes that the conflict between two parties can be achieved if each party contemplates on individual welfare before engaging in community matters. In this regard, all individuals will be in a position to treat others equally irrespective of cultural preferences and sexual orientation. In addition, this theory argues that an egoistic shift of ones orientation should focus on a collective approach towards equality.
Moreover, individuals are advised to lead an altruistic life. However, altruistic life practices are better initiated by anti-gay activists who should develop a concern for others in order to achieve social justice. This theory assumes that the common good is founded on the model of peaceful selfhood where anti-gay activists do not interfere with a balance of nature. It is no secret that homosexuality raises a critical issue regarding the nature of sexuality. However, homosexuality creates a balance between heterosexuals and gay people. In this context, gay human rights and their opponents must respect life and derive consciousness of sex orientation.
Gandhis political theory of nonviolence
Gandhis theory is based on a pragmatic political and religious view that human beings are innately nonviolent. Gandhis nonviolent theory asserts that ones goal is strongly related to that of others. In this regard, a common ground cannot be achieved through dominance, violence and injustice (Mayton, 2009, p. 46). Gandhis theory promotes self-reliance, refusal to surrender basic human rights, cooperation, persistence, dialogue, objectivity and progressive advancement of the human rights campaign. From this perspective, gay human rights activists have a foundation to negotiate for their rights using a political platform. The gradual advancement of gay human rights agenda can be done through civil disobedience or by issuing ultimatums to the government. Gandhis theory recommends that the oppressed should influence national issues by getting involved in politics.
Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk was born on 22nd May 1930 in New York. Born in a Jewish family, Milk schooled and graduated from high school in 1951. Milk joined the United States navy during the Korean War, but later worked as a teacher, stock analyst and banker after leaving the army. While in New York, Milk befriended gay radicals and got oriented into homosexuality by the time he moved to San Francisco (Shilts, 2008, p. 11). Although Milk knew his gay tendencies at a young age, he never acknowledged the same publicly until he was in San Francisco. By 1973, Milk became a public figure in political activism. In fact, Milk became the first gay person to be elected in San Franciscos City-County Board (Shilts, 2008, p. 12). In respect to this, Milk inclusion of gay activists in his campaigns was viewed as a great achievement for the American gay community.
Milk used his position to agitate for gay rights. In this regard, Milk used a political-based theory to engage the country in a national debate on gay human rights. Milk is renowned for his civic mobilization skills especially in leading the gay community to boycott businesses and companies discriminating against the homosexuals. Milk sought support from the straight working-class and other minority voters to galvanize the public to acknowledge gay human rights.
Conclusion
The struggle for gay human rights has attracted one of the most controversial conflicts in history. Gay human rights are a fundamental component of social justice. For example, gay human rights seek equal treatment in terms of employment and access to social amenities. However, such has attracted sharp criticism and conflict from religious, government and anti-gay activists. In this regard, effective conflict resolution theories are critical. Psychological, philosophical and political theories of nonviolence can resolve gay human rights conflicts. In this context, Harvey Milk is acknowledged as one of the historical figures who championed gay rights through political theory of nonviolence.
References
Mayton, D. (2009). Nonviolence and peace psychology: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, societal and world peace. Putnam, CT: Spring. Web.
Shilts, R. (2008). The mayor of Castro Street: The life and times of Harvey Milk. New York, NY: St. Martins Press. Web.
Originally, the HRA (Human Rights Act) was introduced in the UK in 1998 as a means of implementing an internal judicial method of addressing human rights concerns (i.e. cases which cross into apparent violations of human rights) as outlined in the European Convention on Human Rights without having to utilize the European Human Rights court to address them (Bowring, 2007). From a domestic policy standpoint, such a move made sense given the far more efficient route of addressing apparent violations of human rights within local courts instead of having to rely on the lengthy process of relying on international human rights courts to make a decision (Bowring, 2007).
However, practicality aside, various studies such as those by Warren (2002) have stated that there is a distinct need to overhaul the current system since it actually prevents the government from doing its job. Evidence of this can be seen in the nearly 70,000 foreign criminals in the UK criminal justice system which should have been deported to their foreign governments however the UK government is prevented from doing so under the human rights act due to the possibility of maltreatment.
Other apparent problems that became apparent only as a result of the revelations from the Edward Snowden case showed that the vagueness found in the HRA could actually allow a systemic violation of human rights based on the defence of what Skilling (2010) deems as superior rights which are often related to the protection of life. What this refers to are violations related to privacy and imprisonment due to the need to protect the population as a whole. While this paper does acknowledge the need for states to protect their respective citizens from internal and external threats, the repression of rights without sufficient justification can be considered as a slippery slope that could result in immoral and unethical actions (Skilling, 2010).
Evidence of this can be seen in the case of the U.S. government and the recent revelations regarding its systematic violations of the privacy of its citizenry through its surveillance program. Taking this into consideration, it is necessary to determine whether the Human Rights Act in its current incarnation is a useful tool in the protection of human rights in the UK. To accomplish such a task, an examination of current relevant issues will be conducted which focus on the positives and negatives of the HRA. It is expected that they by tend of this report, a sufficient conclusion can be reached regarding the continued viability of the HRA as a tool in protecting human rights.
Privacy and Protection of Rights
To better understand how the human rights act is a useful/defunct tool in the protection of human rights, it is important to delve into the article 8 of the HRA and how it applies to the present day political environment of domestic surveillance (as seen within the context of the files released by Edward Snowden) and the rights of the LGBT community. First off, one of the current pressing issues within the international community at the present has been the comprehensive domestic and international spying put in place by the NSA (National Security Agency) of the United States. As indicated by numerous news articles, the surveillance program encompassed not only the observation of foreign governments but also entailed significant domestic surveillance of the citizens within the U.S. resulting in a broad violation of privacy.
Such an act was done under the pretext that the agency was merely trying to prevent instances of terrorism within the country, however, the sheer level of privacy violations and the lack of judicial approval to monitor millions of people without proper legal validation is indicative of a considerable violation of the human right to privacy without probable cause. Within the context of article 8 of the HRA, it can be seen that it does contain provisions towards the protection of privacy both at home and in the work place, yet such provisions also exist within the laws of the U.S. however they were systematically violated by the NSA in favour of national security. Could such a level of violation also occur within the UK under the context of national security? The answer is yes and can be seen within the context of the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2005 (PTA) which enables the UK government to systematically violate the rights to liberty, freedom of movement, expression, association and privacy of people that are suspected of terrorist activities.
Such activities include, but are not limited to, extensive phone tapping, observation, and various violations of privacy with only probable cause being the justification behind their implementation. While there has yet to be any efforts by the UK government to implement the same level of systematic surveillance and widespread privacy violations as seen in the case of the U.S., the fact remains that when examining the phrasing utilized within article 8 involving the prevention of crime, the deterioration of morals and the protection of rights and freedoms, it can clearly be seen that the phrasing is sufficiently vague so as to necessitate the same widespread surveillance as conducted by the NSA. The inherent problem with the HRA as a tool to protect human rights is that it is far too similar to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which is described as a living instrument for the protection of human rights. The ECHR was worded in such a way that it was sufficiently broad and vague enough that interpretation of the law could be suited based on the development of societal values at any one time.
Yet, what the creators of the ECHR failed to realize is that societal values do not always conform to an ideal outcome. For instance, after the September 11 attacks in the U.S. along with the various bombings in the UK from outside and internal forces (i.e. Islam based terrorist groups and the radical faction of the IRA), societal values diverged significantly from the time in which the ECHR was first put into effect (Jay, 2000). One example of such a manifestation can be seen in the U.S. wherein through the development of the Patriot Act and the general paranoia of both the U.S. government and its citizenry, the end result was the massive violation of human privacy all in the name of protecting Americas citizens from those that would violate their right to life.
The irony of such a situation is that in protecting their right to life, the U.S. government violated their right to privacy and justified it under the pretext of necessity. A similar situation, albeit not as endemic, can be seen within the UK wherein the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2005 justifies the stripping of rights based solely on suspicion rather than outright fact. The fact of the matter is that the present day HRA (Human Rights Act) is far too vague when it comes to the protection of privacy in that it stipulates its necessity but does not have sufficient provisions to limit the actions of the government when it comes to protecting what can be describes as the hierarchy of rights (Farrant, 2009).
A hierarchy of rights can be described as a type of pyramid with the most important rights at the top which then subsequently descends into less important rights which make up the succeeding sections of the pyramid (Farrant, 2009). As it can be seen within article 8 of the HRA, the hierarchy of rights is at work wherein the right to privacy is subsequently eschewed in favour of protecting higher rights within the pyramid such as the right to life by protecting the local citizenry. While it is true that some rights are more important than others, the fact remains that there should not be an arbitrary means of violation in place wherein it is immediately assumed that just because one right is more important than the other it can thus be summarily violated in favour of the more important right.
This is the main problem with the HRA wherein the very wording and context of article 8, while protecting privacy, also summarily allows arbitrary violation under a supposedly justified pretext under the hierarchy of rights. This is one of the reasons why politicians such as David Cameron have called for a scrapping of the HRA which is based on the ECHR in favour of developing a more robust Bill of Human Rights that eliminates the arbitrary pretexts that exist within the current HRA (Fox-Decent, 2012). What this means is that as a tool of protecting human rights within the context of privacy, the HRA is far from effective in that it creates the possible justification for the same systematic violation of privacy rights as seen in the U.S. in favour of protecting citizens within the UK through systemic surveillance. The necessary solution in this case, as explained by Cameron, is to scrap the HRA and use it as a basis to create a more absolute and defined set of rights protection that outlines the actions necessary by the government as well as limits it actions when it comes to the hierarchy of rights.
This can be done by ensuring that the wording utilized focuses more on a less vague and more direct method of human rights protection rather than leave it up to the interpretation of judges and government organizations alike. While this section has so far focused on the inadequacies of the HRA, it is also important to delve into the positives that have come about as a result of it. Before proceeding it is important to note that the HRA, while being broad in terms of the various human rights that it sought to protect, is also somewhat vague in its wording leaving much to interpretation based on the situation at hand. Joo-Cheong & Ewing (2007) explain that this vagueness is one of the prime reasons as to why there has been a call to action regarding the removal of the HRA as a whole due to the increasingly cavalier interpretations of the HRA in regard to certain crimes and the protection of the rights of prisoners and insurgents (i.e. terrorist suspects) (Joo-Cheong & Ewing, 2007).
However, some interpretations have created positive results in the form of allowing gay marriage within the UK by the middle of 2014. To understand how the vagueness in some parts of the HRA applies to gay marriage, it is necessary to once again examine the context of the article regarding the respect for private life. While article 8 expressly protects the privacy of individuals, it has also been interpreted to encompass the protection of an individuals right to develop their own personality. This has encompassed to include the basis behind the protection of homosexuals and transsexuals within the UK. The reason this is being mentioned is due to the fact that this was the basis by which present day legislation within the UK was enacted to legalize same sex civil marriages within the UK. While the original ECHR did mention the protection of an individuals sexual orientation to a certain degree, it did not expressly focus on having same sex couples or transsexuals the right to marry.
It was only through an interpretation of the HRA based on the spirit behind the legislation found in article 8 that present day legislation allowed members of the LGBT community to be married. From a certain point of view, it can be stated that the HRA was partly responsible for enabling the passing of such a law since it acted as sufficient precedent which justified the implementation of gay marriage. However, proponents such as Nash (2005) state that the interpretations of the HRA have been far too overreaching as of late with the need for a clearer and far more direct method of implementing proper protection for human rights (Nash, 2005).
Summary
Based on this section, the one theme that has become apparent is that there is a distinct need to change the HRA into something that is far clearer and does not leave the implementation of human rights practices up for interpretation through judges. While it may be true that expounding on the HRA has lead to developments in better human rights practices as evidenced by the development allowing for gay marriage within the UK, the fact remains that its vagueness opens the door to potential human rights violations in the future. The interpretation of article 8 towards the violation of privacy in favour of protecting a citizenry has already been stretched to its limit via the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2005 (PTA) and as seen within the case of the U.S. has the potential to become a slippery slope that would lead to the creation of a method of surveillance aimed at the citizens of the UK without sufficient probable cause.
It is in the opinion of this paper that while the current HRA is sufficiently broad to encompass various aspects of human rights protection, the fact remains that it is still insufficiently focused so as to work as a proper tool for human rights protection in the long term. This is due to various interpretations of the HRA that have been brought about thus far which have actually created numerous problems in relation to litigation and the expedience of criminal procedures. The only problem with implementing such a change is the fact that in order to switch over to a UK based bill of human rights, the government would need to consider the HRA invalid which, under its ratification of the treaty behind the ECHR, would be considered a violation of its agreement with other states that have similarly ratified and accepted the tenets of Human Rights as outline by the ECHR.
This is one of the current obstacles as to why a UK based Bill of Human Rights is not simply implemented despite government and public acceptance regarding the necessity of implementing one and outright replacing the current HRA. While an examination of the factors of article 8 of the HRA has shown deficiencies in it acting as an effective tool, this is still insufficient as a form of conclusive evidence. What is necessary is to delve into other aspects of the HRA which will be explored in the succeeding sections of this report.
The HRA and Criminal Activity
Another of the problems related to the HRA being a proper tool for the protection of human rights is related to article 3 (rights preventing torture, inhuman or degrading treatment) and article 7 (rights to no punishment without law or sufficient lawful justification). While on the surface these rights are meant to protect the local citizenry of the state from unlawful actions of the government, the fact remains that these laws neglected to take into consideration the growing threat of foreign crime/terrorism and the need to address such a situation through adequate methods of prevention (Gale & James, 2005).
The main issue related to this are the 70,000 foreign criminals in the UK criminal justice system which should have been deported to their foreign governments however the UK government is prevented from doing so under the human rights act due to the possibility of maltreatment. The problem is that such individuals are a definite threat to the national security of the country and have proven themselves to be dangerous individuals and have committed serious crimes. However, under the current HRA, such individuals cite their human rights in order to avoid outright deportation and possible prosecution and death in their home countries (Geddis, 2010).
Given the mandates outline in article 3 and 7 of the HRA, the government cannot knowingly deport such criminals given the very real potential for torture and death. As such, despite the fact such individuals have committed serious crimes within the country and have shown that they are unconcerned about the human rights of others; they are subsequently allowed to remain within the country under the auspices of the protection of human rights. From one perspective it can be stated that the HRA is accomplishing its task in protecting human rights, from another it is apparent that it is an extremely flawed way of accomplishing such a goal. The establishment of human rights law is meant as a means of protecting people from violations of their inherent human rights, however, it was never meant as a means for criminals to escape justice.
Summary
Similar to what was shown in the previous section of this paper involving article 8, this section has shown that the application of the HRA at the present is severely flawed given the vagueness of its tenets and how judgements are summarily applied. What is necessary is a far more concrete and specific method of protecting human rights that does not have the same loopholes present in the HRA. This can only be achieved through the creation of a Bill of Human Rights that is created to specifically address such factors and replace the HRA.
Conclusion
Based on everything that has been presented in this report so far, it can be stated that the HRA at the present is an insufficient tool in protecting human rights at the present and needs to be replaced.
Reference List
Bowring, B 2007, Popular lore, unpopular law, Times Higher Education Supplement, vol. 1795, p. 9.
Farrant, J 2009, Is the Extra-territorial Application of the Human Rights Act Really Justified?, International Criminal Law Review, vol.9, no. 5, pp. 833-854.
Fox-Decent, E 2012, Contextual Constitutionalism after the UK Human Rights Act 1998 , University Of Toronto Law Journal, vol.62, no.1, pp. 133-150.
Gale, C, & James, H 2005, Terrorism, Human Rights and the United Kingdom, Conference Papers Law & Society, vol.1, p. 1.
Geddis, A 2010, Constitutional review under the UK human rights act, New Zealand Universities Law Review, vol.24, no. 2, pp. 302-307.
Jay, R 2000, UK Data Protection Act 1998 the Human Rights Context, International Review Of Law, Computers & Technology, vol.14, no.3, p. 385.
Joo-Cheong, T, & Ewing, K 2007, Limitations of a charter of rights in the age of counter-terrorism, Melbourne University Law Review, vol.31, no.2, pp. 462-498.
Nash, K 2005, Human Rights Culture: Solidarity, Diversity and the Right to be Different, Citizenship Studies, vol.9, no.4, pp. 335-348.
Skilling, G 2010, Prisoners or patients: does the trial of facts process breach human rights?, Journal Of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, vol.21, no.6, pp. 902-915.
Warren, A 2002, Right to privacy? The protection of personal data in UK public organisations, New Library World, vol.103, no.11/12, pp. 446-456.
The introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 was a watershed moment in Canadian history that made possible the transformation of the country into a world leader in the battle for the rights of LGBT community (Graupner and Tahmindjis 98). Canadian Studies integrate many stories, symbols and codes that have formed a unique cultural narrative through the process of cross-fertilization.
The history of Canada cannot be imagined without a chapter of same-sex struggle that in many ways defined the development of ethical principles of the country. Studying social ethos of Canada under a cisgender lens is tantamount to applying a set of Eurocentric beliefs and knowledge to the exploration of the culture of Indigenous people (Knopf 204). It can be argued that taking this approach is a form of mental colonization (Knopf 204). In a sense, it is very similar to the common notion that conquering and gradually transforming North America so it would fit a cultural paradigm of European colonizers was a natural and logical process (Knopf 204).
Interdisciplinarity is an approach toward a creative or scientific process that is associated with the intentional borrowing of different components from various disciplines. Applying this method to Canadian Studies and, particularly, to the exploration of LGBT communitys role in the cultural footprint of the country will help escape the lure of both national unity rationale and identification with a cisgender paradigm (Mookerjea, Szeman, and Faurschou 240).
It could also bridge the gap between the traditional approach to the exploration of the issue and its various angles that have to be considered. Moreover, Canadian Studies would benefit greatly from an interdisciplinary approach because it would allow reasonable application of useful methods and techniques from other disciplines. It is important to realize, that study of society requires a synthesis of knowledge, numerous areas of expertise and experiences that go beyond ones expectations and do not fit into a common social slot (Hoerder 358).
Canadian Study differs from other traditional disciplines because it is, first and foremost, a comprehensive discipline; therefore, it can only benefit from the application of an interdisciplinary approach to the exploration of same-sex relationships in the cultural paradigm of the country.
Cameron Report issued in 1996 stated that Canadian Study does not reinforce the idea of a collective will and that it is divorced from the identification with the country itself (Mookerjea, Szeman, and Faurschou 240).
Therefore, it can be argued, that there are no hidden pitfalls in applying an interdisciplinary approach to the issue of same-sex rights. Not only does it help to remove any underlying political agenda but it also moves the cultural policy discourse in a realm of sexual orientation and gender identity that transcends a bland, nationalist view of the Canadian society. The dichotomies that interfere with normative disciplinary practices could be avoided, and underlying contradictions could be bypassed (Graff 5).
It is important to recognize that disciplinary components of interdisciplinary study are interactive rather than adjunctive; therefore, skillful choice of appropriate methods, approaches and practices from various fields could only benefit overall comprehension of the subject. Moreover, the interaction between different disciplines helps to blur the sense of distance between them and bring together discursive constructions from the opposite ends of a disciplinary spectrum (Moran 109). It can hardly be denied that dynamic relationships between the range of organizing concepts of Canadian Studies testify to the contemporary relevance of interdisciplinarity.
Works Cited
Graff, Harvey J. Undisciplining Knowledge. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015. Print.
Graupner, Helmut and Phillip Tahmindjis. Sexuality and Human Rights. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 2014. Print.
Hoerder, Dirk. To Know Our Many Selves: From the Study of Canada to Canadian Studies. Edmonton: AU Press, 2010. Print.
Knopf, Kerstin. Decolonizing The Lens of Power. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2008. Print.
Mookerjea, Sourayan, Imre Szeman, and Gail Faurschou. Canadian Cultural Studies. Durham: Duke University Press, 2009. Print.