Discussion Human Rights Violations - Factors and Consequences

Week  2:  Causes  of  Human  Rights  Violations   In  this  week,  we  return  to  the  seven  human  rights  violations  from  around  the   world  that  were  introduced  in  last  week’s  media  presentation  and  explore  the   causes  of  each.  

  U.S.:  Japanese  Internment  Camps     The  United  States  responded  to  the  Japanese  attack  on  Pearl  Harbor  with  Executive  Order   9066,  which  was  authorized  by  President  Roosevelt  on  February  19,  1942.  This  order  excluded   all  Japanese  descendants  from  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the  United  States,  such  as  California,  Oregon,   and  Washington.    

  On  the  West  Coast  of  the  United  States,  Japanese  Americans  were  subsequently  ordered  to   report  to  assembly  centers  on  May  9,  1942,  for  removal  to  internment  camps.  In  total,  120,000   ethnic  Japanese  people,  62%  of  whom  were  American-­‐born  U.S.  citizens,  were  detained  in  War   Relocation  Camps  for  the  duration  of  World  War  II.       Africa:  Rwandan  Genocide     Tensions  initially  flared  over  the  belief  that  the  airplanes  of  Rwandan  President  Juvenal   Habyarimana  and  Hutu  President  Cyprien  Ntaryamira  were  shot  down  by  Rwandan  and  Hutu   extremist  groups  on  April  6,  1994.  After  further  investigation  by  Rwandan  officials,  it  was  held   that  Hutu  extremist  were  responsible.  To  date,  disagreement  remains.         The  Hutus  responded  to  the  accusation  with  violence  in  fear  that  the  Tutsi  regime  would   enslave  the  Hutus  if  they  remained  in  power.  Hutu  militias  associated  with  the  Interahamwe   and  Impuzamugambi  political  groups  began  to  murder  Tutsis  in  mass  numbers.  

  Most  of  the  foreign  dignitaries  were  evacuated  during  the  early  days  of  the  violence  as  Hutu   civilians  were  forced  to  participate  in  the  killings  or  be  shot.  Many  were  instructed  to  kill  their   Tutsi  neighbors  and  wartime  rape  became  the  norm.  It  was  noted  that  the  rape  of  Tutsi  women   was,  to  a  certain  degree,  systematic.       South  America:  Pinochet’s  Rule  in  Chile     Chile  was  known  for  its  stability  in  Latin  America,  compared  with  its  neighbors,  until  the  1960s.   By  then,  the  Cold  War  began  to  affect  the  mountainous  nation,  and  Chile  became  a  part  of  the   Alliance  for  Progress.  The  alliance  was  to  keep  socialistic  revolutions  from  taking  hold  in  Latin   America.  But  as  the  decade  went  on,  labor  unions  took  on  a  stronger  role  in  Chilean  politics  and   a  youthful  leftist  movement  spread  like  wildfire.  In  1970,  the  Socialist  Party  won  the  presidency   with  Salvador  Allende  Gossens.  Allende  had  promised  a  republic  to  the  people  of  Chile  and  said   he  would  provide  reforms  that  would  make  the  working  class  more  equal.  President  Nixon  told   his  advisers  that  he  wanted  Allende  out  of  power.  The  only  way  for  Allende  to  be  overthrown  

was  by  the  Chilean  military  rising  up  against  him,  so  the  CIA  was  ordered  to  instigate  a  military   coup.  The  Chilean  people  were  seeking  their  own  change,  regardless  of  the  coup,  after  the   economy  began  to  crumble  under  Allende’s  rule.     By  1973,  the  Chilean  congress  and  judiciary  stood  against  Allende  and  claimed  that  his   government  went  against  the  Chilean  constitution.  The  military  then  stormed  his  palace  and   Allende  died  while  armed.  Pinochet  was  then  swept  into  office  where  he  dismantled  the   Chilean  parliament,  suppressed  all  opposition,  gained  control  of  all  commerce,  banned  trade   unions,  and  made  Chilean  citizens  abide  by  his  rule  with  force  and  torture.  

  Europe:  The  Holocaust     Trouble  began  shortly  after  the  rise  of  the  Nazi  Party  in  Germany.  After  Hitler  won  the  free   elections  of  1933,  his  ability  to  invade  and  succeed  in  military  actions  from  1939  to  1942  in   Denmark,  Eastern  Europe,  France,  Holland,  and  Russia  worked  in  conjunction  with  his   persecution  of  the  Jews  of  that  day.  Hitler  was  able  to  convince  a  large  portion  of  the  German   citizenry,  and  often  people  from  various  other  countries,  of  his  idea  that  the  Jewish  culture  was   in  need  of  extermination.    

  Nazi  Germany  systematically  sanctioned  the  genocide  of  more  than6  million  European  Jews   through  a  variety  of  cruel  and  tortuous  methods.  It  should  be  noted  that  these  estimated  6   million  Jews  represented  approximately  two  thirds  of  the  estimated  9  million  Jews  who  resided   in  Europe  prior  to  their  extermination  during  World  War       In  addition  to  the  6  million  Jewish  people  exterminated  by  the  Nazis  during  the  war,  an   estimated  5  to  11  million  ethnic  Poles,  Romani,  Soviet  civilians,  Soviet  prisoners  of  war,  people   with  disabilities,  homosexuals,  Jehovah’s  Witnesses,  and  other  political  and  religious  opponents   were  held  in  concentration  camps  and  executed.  

  Middle  East:  Iranian  Election  Crackdown     Protests  revolved  around  the  questionable  June  13,  2009,  Iranian  presidential  election  in  which   President  Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad  won.  The  support  of  the  protestors  (mostly  Iranian  citizens)   and  international  onlookers  was  in  favor  of  the  opposing  candidate,  Mir-­‐Hossein  Mousavi.  

  The  Iranian  government  arrested  approximately  170  of  its  citizens  in  Tehran  on  June  13  and  14.   By  August  2009,  it  was  confirmed  by  the  Iranian  government  that  there  were  over  4,000   detained  as  a  result  of  the  residual  protests.  Reports  have  revealed  that  executions  of   protestors  were  conducted  in  secret  and  without  notification  of  their  families  or  legal   representation.  Though  the  Iranian  government  has  openly  claimed  responsibility  for  27   deaths,  media  outlets  have  reported  over  150,  resulting  from  the  protests.       Reports  also  have  indicated  that  military  personnel  broke  into  homes,  intentionally  harmed   their  citizenry,  and  shot  into  large  crowds  of  people,  unprovoked.    

Opposition  leaders  have  claimed  that  the  prisoners  have  been  tortured  and  raped  in  prison  and   have  condemned  these  actions,  but  Iran’s  parliament  speaker,  Ali  Larijani,  denied  that  any   prisoners  were  abused.     The  Iranian  government  went  to  unforeseen  lengths  to  control  media  portrayal  of  the  election   and  protests  by  its  citizenry.  The  censorship  was  said  to  be  at  a  level  of  total  blackout  of  all   negative  depictions  of  the  Iranian  election  and  government.  This  was  also  the  first  time  when   citizens  banded  together  in  attempts  to  dismantle  the  Iranian  government’s  control  of  the   Internet  by  using  Facebook  and  Twitter  to  distribute  codes  that  would  allow  them  to   communicate  openly  about  their  reality  in  Iran.  As  a  result,  the  Iranian  government  totally   dismantled  the  Internet.       Asia:  Chinese  Treatment  of  Tibet       The  Tibetan  legal  code,  derived  from  the  13th  century,  is  known  to  allow  legal  punishment  for   crimes  that  included  physical  mutilation,  such  as  eye  gouging  and/or  hand  and  feet  mutilation.   The  Chinese  government  believed  that  the  Tibetan  government  and  this  legal  practice  was  too   archaic  and  as  a  result  corrected  these  traditions  by  imposing  its  own  will  upon  Tibet.     The  Chinese  destroyed  monasteries  and  have  murdered  an  estimated  500,000  to  1.2  million   Tibetans  in  an  effort  to  impose  their  laws.  They  also  have  kidnapped,  displaced,  produced   inhuman  prison  conditions,  arrested  with  no  criminal  justice,  and  prohibited  citizens  from   openly  expressing  disagreement  with  the  Chinese  government.  Tibetans  also  note  that  they  are   not  free  to  express  their  religion  (Buddhism)  as  they  are  called  to  do.    

  Australia:  Treatment  of  Aboriginals/Stolen  Generations     The  Australian  government  believed  that  there  was  a  need  to  protect  the  Aboriginal  children   who  were  unable  to  protect  themselves  against  neglect,  abuse,  and  abandonment  as  a  result  of   the  growing  industrialization  and  urbanization  of  Australia.       Aboriginal  children  were  removed  from  their  biological  parents  and  given  to  non-­‐Aboriginal   Australians  to  raise  and  indoctrinate  them  into  the  nontraditional  Australian  way  of  life.  Law   enforcement  was  given  search  and  seizure  powers  to  investigate  and  seize  Aboriginal  youth  and   transfer  them  to  government-­‐sanctioned  institutions,  and  faith-­‐based  institutions  were  used  to   house,  rehabilitate,  and  reintegrate  the  Aboriginal  children  back  into  society.