IX Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2017

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The text of the Declaration is the first global definition of rights which all people possess. However, in the modern world, the rights and freedoms of the individuals are not always respected. Thus, we would like to call your attention to four of the most scandalous cases of human rights violations for the last time.

4. Illegal Surveillance

In 2013 Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA¹ and a formerNSA² co-worker disclosed numerous top-secret documents and various special programs used by U.S. intelligence agencies to the public. He exposed that the US NSA collected ‘the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans and tapped directly into the servers of nine internet firms, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, to track online communication in a surveillance programme known as Prism.³’ He told the truth about the total control over all of humanity by the United States. Thus, intelligence agencies of the United States violate the 3rd Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person’⁴.

3. Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is ‘a form of modern slavery -- a multi-billion dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to 20.9 million people around the world’⁵. (68% of them are trapped in forced labor. 26% of them are children. 55% are women and girls.⁶) Thus, every year, thousands of people lose their freedom falling into the hands of traffickers. It can happen in your own countries and abroad, no matter where you live.

The victims of human trafficking can be divided into three populations:

• сhildren under the age of 18 induced into commercial sex;

• adults (age 18 or over) induced into commercial sex through force, fraud, or coercion;

• children and adults induced to perform labor or services through force, fraud, or coercion.⁷

The countries can be classified according to primary component of human trafficking prevailing in each country: ‘source’ (where victims are taken from), ‘transit’ (where victims are moved through), or ‘destination’ (where victims are ultimately sold and resettled)⁸. The table below shows the classification of some countries in details⁹,¹⁰.

North Africa	Algeria	a destination country	for the purpose of forced labor and prostitution.
	Libya	a transit country
Sub-Saharan Africa	Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Congo, South Sudan, Uganda	source and destination countries
Middle East	Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan	destination countries	subjected to forced labor or sexual exploitation in the Middle East.
	Kuwait	a transit country
	Yemen	a source country	especially for young boys, who are forced into street vending, begging, and forced labor for the benefit of others, and many of these are sexually exploited as well.
		a destination country	for girls coming from Sub-Saharan Africa
	Syria	a destination country	for traffickers coming from Iraq, and these are mostly children used for the purposes of sexual exploitation
Asia	Thailand	a destination, source and transit country	men, women, and children are used for forced labor and sexual exploitation
	The Marshall Islands	a destination portal	for sex and forced labor upon the fishing boats
	North Korea	a source country	for forced manual labor
Europe and Eurasia	Belarus	a source and transit country	are trafficked for labour to around 30 countries
	Russia	a transit country	between Europe and Asia
		a source and destination country	for forced labor, including construction trades and begging for others; women and children are also sexually exploited
	The United Kingdom (UK)	a source, transit, and destination country	for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor, including domestic servitude.
	Germany	a source, transit, and destination country	for women, children, and men subjected to sex and labor trafficking.
	Finland	a transit, destination, and limited source country	for women and girls subjected to sex trafficking and for men and women subjected to forced labor.

The list of these countries can be continued. Judging by this we can say that almost all countries face this problem. Thus, they all violate Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms’¹¹.

2. ‘The death penalty has no place in the 21st century’ Ban Ki-moon¹²

According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights ‘More than 160 Members States of the United Nations with a variety of legal systems, traditions, cultures and religious backgrounds, have either abolished the death penalty or do not practice it. Yet, prisoners in a number of countries continue to face execution’¹³

However, at least 25 countries still carry out judicial executions. (2015). 89% of all recorded executions in 2015 took place in 3 countries: Iran (977), Pakistan (326), and Saudi Arabia (28)¹⁴. Two of the G7 countries (Japan and the US) enforce death penalty. Some countries carry out ‘secret’ executions, for example, Japan. ‘Prisoners, who spend years, even decades, on death row, typically are not told of their execution until hours before they are led to the gallows. Their lawyers and relatives are informed only after the execution has been carried out’¹⁵. Kenichi Tajiri, 45, sentenced to death in 2012 for two murders committed in 2004 and 2011was executed in November 2016¹⁶. Thus, these countries violate one of the main human rights, right to life. ‘Article 3 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. According to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the right to life is to be protected by law. The same Article prohibits states from arbitrarily depriving persons of their lives. Article 2 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms contains similar provisions on the right to life’¹⁷.

1. Divorce as Human Right.

According to Paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Men and women of full age have the right, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution’¹⁸. It says that everyone has the right to marry and to dissolve a marriage for any reason. However, there are two countries in the world (the Philippines and the Vatican City) where divorce is illegal.

Although the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines¹⁹ recognizes the separation between church and state (Article II, Section 6) the Roman Catholic Church has considerable influence over politics and legislation concerning ‘divorce, euthanasia, abortion, total population control, and homosexual marriage. For the Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines, divorce is ‘anti-family’ and ‘anti-life.’ And those who endorse it are job-sharing with the devil’²⁰. All attempts to legalize divorce have failed. The only one legally binding way for spouses to end unhappy and sometimes abusive relations is secular annulment. It is a complex and expensive procedure.²¹

To sum up it should be underlined that the modern world makes much effort to protect human rights and freedoms. All developed countries, are obliged to appreciate and protect human rights. But as practice shows, the majority of them are violated today. Unfortunately, everyone can face this problem. Therefore it is necessary to fight and defend our human rights.

1 Central Intelligence Agency

2 National Security Agency

3 See: Edward Snowden: Leaks that exposed US spy programme. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23123964

4 See: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/un.universal.declaration.of.human.rights.1948/portrait.a4.pdf

5 See: Human Trafficking. https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking

6 See: The Facts. https://polarisproject.org/facts

7 See: The Victims. https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking/human-trafficking/victims

8 See: Worst Countries For Human Trafficking Today. http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/worst-countries-for-human-trafficking-today.html

9 See: Worst Countries For Human Trafficking Today. http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/worst-countries-for-human-trafficking-today.html

10 See: United Kingdom. https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2016/258887.htm

11 See: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/un.universal.declaration.of.human.rights.1948/portrait.a4.pdf

12 a South Korean statesman and politician and the current Secretary-General of the United Nations.

13 See: Death Penalty. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/DeathPenalty/Pages/DPIndex.aspx

14 See: International Death Penalty Database. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-international-perspective

15 See: Japan condemned for 'secret' executions. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/12/japan-condemned-secret-executions

16 See: Japan: Man hanged as secretive executions continue. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/japan-man-hanged-as-secretive-executions-continue/

17 See: Right to life – the death penalty. http://www.manskligarattigheter.se/en/human-rights/what-rights-are-there/right-to-life-the-death-penalty

18 See: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/un.universal.declaration.of.human.rights.1948/portrait.a4.pdf

19 See: the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. http://www.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/

20 See: David Hutt. The Missionary Position: Divorce in the Philippines. http://thediplomat.com/2016/08/the-missionary-position-divorce-in-the-philippines/

21 10 countries where human rights are violated. http://muz4in.net/news/10_stran_gde_neobychno_narushajut_prava_cheloveka/2013-10-14-34228

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