Human Rights/Humana

CONTRIBUTORS - Human Rights/Humana

"Mess with us - we'll raise a fuss" - "Si nos molestan - quejaremos

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Human Rights & The Third World

Until the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the Third World was defined as "undeveloped or developing countries not aligned with communist countries." When communism crashed and the "Soviet Bloc" disintegrated, the Third World (non-aligned) nations lost the defining relationship that had set them apart from the First World (Capitalist nations), and Second World (Communist Nations), for half a century. A new measurement is now arising to identify "civilized" governments from "uncivilized" political systems. It has little or no reference to the old surface labels like "capitalism" or "communism". It goes straight to the matter of political morality.

Through the prism of our new world view, the global neighbors are not so much grading each other on a basis of economic preferences, as they are on their "civilized" behavior - or lack of it. Under the moral suasion of the United Nations’ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" a group of major powers have foresworn such plain outrages as genocide, slavery, torture, female circumcision and child prostitution, and are now urging that everyone follow their example. There are teeth in the request.

Arguably, a better yardstick for measuring the differences between nations and societies is to be found in their demonstrated civilized inclinations, rather than mere economic systems and prefered methods of keeping the books of account.

Thus it is that, increasingly, we see "respectable" nations refusing to support or do business with countries that fail to measure up to rapidly developing international standards in the area of "human rights."

Political murder, expropriation of private property, incarceration without due process of law, cruel and inhuman punishments for crimes, and similar malum en se (read: wrong because they are wrong) crimes against inherent individual (human) rights and the developing universal public conscience, are no longer being gracefully tolerated. Nations that persist in victimizing the weak, poverty-stricken and socially unpopular among them, are increasingly having to pay a high price for their non-conformity to humanitarian, legal and accepted social norms.

Until quite recently, outside protests against shameful, inhuman, vicious and excessively draconian treatment of helpless citizens, were received in high dudgeon by the offending countries. Such efforts, they were quick to point out, constituted "interference in internal affairs," and were diplomatically "unacceptable" within the established protocols of national sovereignty.

This "cop out" is no longer viable in the company of civilized nations.

The world is learning to honor a higher authority than "national sovereignty". It is the rule of reason, and the refreshing idea that individuals are endowed with certain inalienable rights that governments may not invalidate or abridge, except under carefully applied legal processes.

The word is out that the international community will no longer countenance crimes against individuals and disadvantaged groups, on the part of vicious, vindictive, rapacious governments. The penalty for doing so is exclusion from the company and commerce of respectable nations.

This adds up to a higher price than most rogue nations are willing - or able - to pay.

Lorenzo Dee Belveal

CAPITALISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS By Luis C. Chirinos