Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its 2012 World Report on Friday. This international non-profit NGO has spent years monitoring the abuses and development of human rights with researchers on the ground in pretty much every country in the world.
The 690-page report which can be downloaded for free, examines everything from poor access to AIDs medication to instances of domestic violence from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Whilst there is a large focus on the events of the Arab Spring, which is likened to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the report includes a damning resume of the state of human rights in Europe.
Three main trends are identified as creating the ‘human rights crisis’ in Europe.
Firstly, counterterrorist measures in the wake of the attacks in Madrid and London have justified stripping all terrorist suspects of basic rights. An unknown number of suspects have faced torture in secret rendition centres abroad at the behest of national governments. This contravenes both international law against torture and the advice of terrorism experts who recognize the rule of law as the best way to counter terrorists.
Secondly, in the name of security, the idea that the rights of the majority can only be protected by sacrificing the rights of the minority has won widespread support in mainstream political discourse. As a result, Europe's migrants and minorities have faced increasing discrimination and xenophobic violence. This is evidenced by headscarf bans for Muslim women in several EU countries (France, Belgium, Germany and Italy) as well as the continued segregation of and discrimination against Roma, especially in eastern Europe.
Finally, the rise of populist extremist parties has furthered undermined the founding EU principle of universal human rights. Rather than combating the rise of the far right, mainstream parties have co-opted many of their policies. The ideal of democracy has been used to justify discriminatory and abusive policies - for example some argue that evictions of Roma from France protect the rights of the national majority and are therefore legitimate. The rights of the minority are considered irrelevant.
Ignorance and fear in Europe are again resulting in dangerous arguments that see some humans as more equal than others. As we have seen over the past century, such ideas can have catastrophic consequences.
Whilst the report identifies the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights as crucial actors that have the power to hold national governments to account, it remains to be seen how the people of Europe will respond as the economic recession deepens.
Will easy scapegoats be found and abused? Or will people rise to the challenge of building a better future, united in diversity?
Links:
World Report 2012
Chapter on the European Union
Essay by Benjamin Ward, ‘Europe’s Own Human Rights Crisis’
Video about Human Rights Watch
Hi again SZ,
ReplyDeleteThere are strong arguments in favour of banning face-covering headscarves in public places. France introduced such a ban on 11 April 2011. The French Government claim that most of the population including most Muslims agree with the ban. They argue that the face-covering veil is an affront to society's values. The following BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13038095
states that the only other EU state with a nationwide face-covering headscarf ban is Belgium (July 2011).
Curiously the secular Turkish government have imposed a ban in civic spaces and official buildings for more than 85 years.
The HRW concerns about erosion of human rights in the guise of protecting the public from terrorist attacks highlights a worrying trend.
td
There are regional headscarf bans in place in Germany and Italy.
DeleteBanning any item of clothing is a draconian measure which should be avoided. If most Muslims in France agree with the ban, then why is it needed? It should be a matter of fostering mutual tolerance rather than legal bans.
Of course, the full face veil poses a problem when officials need to ID people. In these cases, the individual should acknowledge that showing their face is necessary.
If the British government were to ban headscarves, then there would certainly be even louder calls to ban hoodies too!
By the way, did you hear about the recent Human Trafficking Index (http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/324414.html)? It was even covered in the local newspaper here, though probably only because it's made by the Uni Göttingen (among other institutions).
ReplyDeleteInteresting project. Should be quite respected given that Heidelberg and LSE are working on it too. Of course, any index can be questioned, but it is a good initiative to track a growing problem. There is a fine line between human smuggling, across increasingly guarded borders, and human trafficking when vulnerable migrants are exploited as slaves.
Delete