Headscarf Ban - Violation of Human Rights?

Everyone has heard of the infamous headscarf ban in France. The French have proposed a law to ban Islamic headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools. The thought behind this is to try and make the learning environment a safe and equal environment for everyone. There should be no pressure to feel forced to believe something just because a fellow classmate is expressing their religious choices.

On the other hand, this law brings up many human rights issues which I thought would be interesting to discuss. Banning something that is an expression of religion and peoples beliefs is a violation of human rights. Do you agree? Do you think that this law should be tolerated? Do you think that it is right that they are trying to ban them simply from schools? What do you think they are trying to accomplish through this law?

I have posted an article by the Human Rights Watch Organization that discusses some of the implications on human rights that this law presents.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2004/02/26/france-headscarf-ban-violates-religious-freedom

 

Albania Says MJAFT!

MJAFT! (which translates to ENOUGH! in English) is an Albanian NGO that raises awareness about the various political and social problems within the nation. The organization is a grassroots organization created by the collaborative effort of students and concerned citizen volunteers. MJAFT! targets awareness towards corruption, social, political, and economic growth in Albania, and violation of rights like freedom of the press, speech, and expression. MJAFT! has been active in monitoring elections for safe and fair practices and hopes to help build an Albania that is better governed. Representatives of MJAFT! serve as government "watchdogs" and civic lobbyists to facilitate change at the local level. It is one of Albania's largest movements, branching in 18 cities in the nation and consists of over 8,000 members and more than 1,000 volunteers. Their proponent approach towards their mission has won them major acknowledgement in Albania, and as a disclaimer on their website, they write, "This website is suited for active citizens only. We bear no responsibility for the discomfort it may cause to corrupt officials and indifference citizens. If you think being an active citizen is a burden, try apathy and send us a postcard from the stone ages." In 2004, MJAFT! won the annual United Nations Vienna Civil Society Award.

Nelson Mandela and Human Rights

As I am sure all of you know, South African president and revolutionary Nelson Mandela passed away this past Thursday, December 5, 2013. I believe that Nelson Mandela's life and his pursuits in the field of human rights are very relevant to our area of study. Mandela was one of the most proponent fighters against South Africa's apartheid regime that marginalized and disadvantaged all of South Africa's black population and instituted rule by the white minority. In the fight to secure human rights for the suffering blacks in South Africa, his own human rights were violated. Mandela faced beatings, torture, and a 27 year imprisonment for advocating against apartheid. The story of Mandela reminds me of "Kiss of the Spider Woman," in which Argentina, much like South Africa, had a very authoritarian and repressive system in place that undermined the human rights and personal freedoms of its its citizens. Those who threatened the regime in the novel, like Valentin and Molina, were targeted and abused by the government just like Mandela was. This led me to think about how personal freedoms and individual rights go hand in hand with having a more democratic state. Beyond South Africa, Mandela was a leader of human rights throughout the globe, and taught us the importance of fighting for human rights, as mentioned here by Think Progress. May the legacy of Mandela's life be championed through the generations, with a brighter world for human rights.

Lack of Human Rights in the Middle East

In this article, two young women  Zohrah and Hasina, were deported from Iran after being arrested for their choice of shoes and the amount of makeup they were wearing. The Iran officials found it offensive for the two women to be dressed so provocatively while visiting Qom, a holy city in Iran. The two girls were born in Iran, but their parents' homeland is Afghanistan, meaning because their parents don't have Iranian citizenship they would have to be deported back to Afghanistan, where women's rights are even fewer than Iran's. The girls asked their father and Zohrah's boyfriend to help with the deportation process, only when the two men showed up to help they also were proven to not have Iranian citizenship even though both had lived legally in Iran for most of their lives. Now, the two girls their father and soon to be son-in-law, have to leave their mother and younger siblings behind in Iran and return to Afghanistan. Their father is distraught with the thought that he has left his jobless wife and young children to fend for themselves in a country where anything- good or bad- can happen in a blink of an eye.

I thought this article was a great connection to Persepolis and how even today, Iran still has an extremely strict dress code for women. This article talks a lot about Afghanistan as well, and how it is even harder for women to live successfully there without the ridicule of dress. We are lucky to live in a culture where we are free to express ourselves through our choices in clothing.

Housing Rights

I was listening to a recent This American Life episode called "House Rules." This episode was primarily about The Fair Housing Act of 1968 and housing discrimination.

One of the first things talked about was the way in which the quality life and of one's education is often effected by income, and where one lives. It's an interesting issue to discuss from a human right perspective. How does a government go about ensuring equal quality of education for its citizens?

Similarly, how does a government go about combating housing discrimination? Act one of the show follows a New York organization that tests for violations of The Fair Housing Act of 1968 by sending people of different races in inquire about renting apartments. This kind of research is often done by non-governmental organizations rather than state governments.

The show also goes into the history of the Fair Housing Act and housing discrimination. Act one also discusses the way in which the government for a long time facilitated housing discrimination through loan giving practices. For example, by only giving loans to white people who wanted to buy houses in all-white neighborhoods. In this way the Federal government was able to facilitate housing segregation very efficiently.

The show is a lot more detailed and interesting (it's an hour long), but I would highly recommend taking a listen! It has a lot to do with the human rights issues we've been discussing in class lately.

NSA Scandal

For the last discussion we are looking at large themes and problems with human rights. What cases qualify as human rights problems? What cases do not? What makes certain issues specifically human rights issues? I was thinking about these questions when I remembered this summer, the NSA (National Security Agency) Scandal and I thought that it was a good case to discuss for human rights violations! 

The NSA Scandal was a global surveillance scandal. The dates of this scandal range from:

 November 3rd, 1999 when the the BBC revealed the existence of the global spying network Echelon up to June 6, 2013 when president Obama addressed this issue. 

The NSA and it's international parterns were found to be guilty of performing mass surveillance of foreign nationals as well as US citizens. During the 2009 G-20 London Summit, the British intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had intercepted the communications of foreign diplomats. The Guardian revealed that XKeyscore, a formerly secret computer system, allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals. This problem was not just based in the United States, it was a global problem as well. 

During specific episodes within a four-year period, the NSA hacked several Chinese mobile-phone companies, and universities in Beijing.Top secret documents were leaked by ex NSA contractor Edward Snowden.  Documents provided by Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA spied on various diplomatic missions of the EU, including the EU's delegation to the United States in Washington D.C. It was reported that the NSA had collected phone records from over 120 million Verizon subscribers, according to a top secret court order leaked by Snowden. 

This scandal attracted major public attention when it was published by The Washington Post and The Gaurdian.  

How does this affect human rights? 

Restore the Fourth was largely involved and very active. Restore the Fourth is an organization that works on strengthening the 4th ammendment 

The 4th Ammendment - Prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires a warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2AJjZurVTI

This video does a wonderful job of explaining the situation and also addressing the human rights issues. 

Human Rights in the Upper Valley

Coming from a small town in Vermont there are not a lot of human rights organizations based in my town. One of the unique aspects of where I live though is that I am right across the river from Hanover, NH which is home to Dartmouth College. Dartmouth College has many human rights organizations within the college. Just like any college students have many groups and projects that work towards protecting and securing human rights. An example of a few groups under Dartmouth College include:
- Inter-Commuity Council
- Student Uniting Rural Africa

-Global China Connection
- GlobeMed
Those are only a few of the groups that they have on campus and there are vast resources within Dartmouth for students to get connected. Over half of the student population is international, so human rights issues are not a shy topic on campus.

Within the Upper Valley (the name for a region where I live that includes several towns) I found a few groups such as:

- Knight of Columbus Council (Lebanon, NH) : They raise and donate money to charities that focus on disabilities such as,
- Special Olympics
- Global Wheelchair Mission
- Habitat for Humanity
- Food for Families
- Coats for Kids

• Youth in Action
• SEAD with Dartmouth  

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~tucker/sead/
• Upper Valley Humanists Association
• Special Olympics