As defined the United Nations, Human Rights are those rights which all human beings automatically inherit from birth, whatever nationality, sex, religion, ethnicity, national origin and or place of residence, language or any other status. These rights and “freedoms” exist globally.
There are a number of positive effects of having human rights, as many of the written rights are now basic ways of life in many countries. The Right to Life for instance, is described as the essential right to live, particularly that individuals are not be killed by another human being or human beings. The concept of this particular often stirs up many debates on issues such as the death penalty (many human rights activists see this as direct violation of this right), capital punishment, war and abortions. In addition, The Freedom from Torture, Freedom from Slavery, Freedom of Speech, The Right to a fair Trial, Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Conscience, The Freedom of Religion are all important rights which often serve as protection for many people and guarantees the people of countries which abide to the rules of the Human rights certain freedoms.
However, when Human rights are written down as laws (The Bill of Rights) they are impossible to police (this can either be a good thing or a really bad thing) and in defining everyday practicalities, edges are blurred. Often times the wrong people are being protected by the loop holes of Human Rights. This is clearly seen in the case of Rohan Cecil William Winfield, an illegal immigrant, who went to England on a student visa and ended up overstaying his time. He was also convicted of raping a woman in 2008. Attempts to deport him back to Barbados failed due to his appeal. It was said that his removal from the country would “violate his human rights and those of his family” under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act. Even though it is known that he abandoned his family (his first wife and children) he was still allowed to stay.
In my opinion there is something terribly wrong with this picture. There are innocent people in the world being killed daily and are not being protected these Human Rights but here we have it a man who is clearly guilty gets off with a mere slap on the wrist and is being protected. Those Human Rights commercials and PSA’s which often times are emotional are all fine and dandy but they don’t let it be known the laws are being used with evil intentions and sometimes to the benefit of criminals.
While Human Rights are indeed positive, I however, think they need to be reevaluated in connection to the law because cases like Rohan Winifield’s will continue to arise as clever attorneys who represent people like him and in similar situations will continue to manipulate and exploit these Human Rights laws
Yes, totally agree with you here, specially in cases like the one you mentioned (Rohan Winifield). When people exploit deportation and extradition laws they essentially undermine the whole system in certain respects.
ReplyDeleteFor example, France will never extradite it's own citizens to any other country under any circumstances. Given that if you're a french citizen and you commit muder in the US you can claim a form of unlimited sanctuary in your own country, (Possibly seen in the case of Dominque Strauss-Khan who was almost desperate to get back to France after he knew he would be arrested. Although his innocence was later attested to, he wouldn't have had to go through the trial at all had his plane taken off.)
I may have gone slightly off topic, but there are problems across the whole spectrum, and they most certainly must be addressed. Laws must be reviewed, loopholes must be assessed and closed.
@TheRealNial Precisely my point. People who are brutally murdered for just being who they are not being protected, but through these loopholes criminals are those seemingly getting the protection. Like u said, these laws must be reviewed and loopholes tighten to stop this madness.
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