Human Rights: Hostage of Hegemony
Published in Juventud Rebelde
(Cuba) on 9 December 2011
by Marina Menéndez Quintero (link to original)
(Cuba) on 9 December 2011
by Marina Menéndez Quintero (link to original)
Translated from
by Khald Peche.
Edited by Gillian Palmer.
It is embarrassing to recognize that respect for human rights has become a utopian ideal in most parts of the world. However, there are those who manipulate human rights for their self-interest, all the while infringing upon others' right to life, resulting in a complete outrage.
It has been 63 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed. The U.S. declared its commitment to the same principles of human rights under the UN Charter, which “reaffirmed...faith in fundamental human rights” and expressed determination to "promote social progress." Now, those ideals are used by foreign powers as an excuse to unleash aggression that only seeks to serve hegemonic interests and which disrupts the right to life even more.
Under the guise of protecting civilians, the undeclared war against Libya erupted, leaving thousands of innocent victims. The approval of the Security Council on the predetermined course of action, whether with full awareness of all its members or not, made plausible the legitimization of barbarism under the 1973 resolution.
Despite the attempts to annihilate the defensive power of the Libyan army, the NATO bombings made indiscriminate attacks on civilians. This crafty operation exposed how the perpetrators did not need to directly stain their hands with the blood of their victims. Even the extrajudicial execution of Moammar Gadhafi, sodomized and murdered by the men of the National Transitional Council, was permitted by NATO and Washington.
Events like this serve as a warning, once again, to those southern countries who are left to the impunity of the North and subjected to the relatively new but equally distorted Human Rights Council of the UN, which replaced the previously discredited Commission. These countries need to prove themselves by meeting specific requirements. Nevertheless, Western nations violate the right to life and other equally sacred rights — i.e. respect for sovereignty and the self-determination of states. Although not contained in the Declaration of Human Rights, the recognition of these other principles is a sine que non of the international life as embodied in the UN Charter. They are necessary to secure the other rights of man.
How credible, then, are the concerns expressed by the United States and the European Union regarding the alleged violence by the Syrian authorities, accusations that only warn of the likelihood of another act of aggression and a new act of shameful interference?
With what morality could those who act that way speak of their concerns for the human rights?
Principles were endlessly manipulated. There has been criticism of the lack of preparation of arguments to justify a new attack against the targeted nation. Unfortunately, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights seems to be losing its purpose when those who claim to be their primary advocates are the first ones to trample on them.
And this oppression does not only take place in foreign lands. Peace protestors in the United States and Europe were subject to gassing and physical aggression. They were protesting against the bloody bailout of the euro or the dictatorship of the dollar, which today is as pernicious as the worst militaristic regime that Latin America suffered under the imposed consent of the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s.
Cuba, a nation that for over 53 years has pursued the welfare of its citizens and of any person living on our island or not, does not complain that the Dec. 10 endeavor could have been more successful. It will never be enough to satisfy even man's slightest need or affirm his worth.
However, this island has a lot to show, and it still advances in the realization of that higher ideal: a plenitude that prevents gaps in the essential unity that safeguards our most precious human right. That is the right to individual dignity, crystallized with our independence as a nation.
It has been 63 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed. The U.S. declared its commitment to the same principles of human rights under the UN Charter, which “reaffirmed...faith in fundamental human rights” and expressed determination to "promote social progress." Now, those ideals are used by foreign powers as an excuse to unleash aggression that only seeks to serve hegemonic interests and which disrupts the right to life even more.
Under the guise of protecting civilians, the undeclared war against Libya erupted, leaving thousands of innocent victims. The approval of the Security Council on the predetermined course of action, whether with full awareness of all its members or not, made plausible the legitimization of barbarism under the 1973 resolution.
Despite the attempts to annihilate the defensive power of the Libyan army, the NATO bombings made indiscriminate attacks on civilians. This crafty operation exposed how the perpetrators did not need to directly stain their hands with the blood of their victims. Even the extrajudicial execution of Moammar Gadhafi, sodomized and murdered by the men of the National Transitional Council, was permitted by NATO and Washington.
Events like this serve as a warning, once again, to those southern countries who are left to the impunity of the North and subjected to the relatively new but equally distorted Human Rights Council of the UN, which replaced the previously discredited Commission. These countries need to prove themselves by meeting specific requirements. Nevertheless, Western nations violate the right to life and other equally sacred rights — i.e. respect for sovereignty and the self-determination of states. Although not contained in the Declaration of Human Rights, the recognition of these other principles is a sine que non of the international life as embodied in the UN Charter. They are necessary to secure the other rights of man.
How credible, then, are the concerns expressed by the United States and the European Union regarding the alleged violence by the Syrian authorities, accusations that only warn of the likelihood of another act of aggression and a new act of shameful interference?
With what morality could those who act that way speak of their concerns for the human rights?
Principles were endlessly manipulated. There has been criticism of the lack of preparation of arguments to justify a new attack against the targeted nation. Unfortunately, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights seems to be losing its purpose when those who claim to be their primary advocates are the first ones to trample on them.
And this oppression does not only take place in foreign lands. Peace protestors in the United States and Europe were subject to gassing and physical aggression. They were protesting against the bloody bailout of the euro or the dictatorship of the dollar, which today is as pernicious as the worst militaristic regime that Latin America suffered under the imposed consent of the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s.
Cuba, a nation that for over 53 years has pursued the welfare of its citizens and of any person living on our island or not, does not complain that the Dec. 10 endeavor could have been more successful. It will never be enough to satisfy even man's slightest need or affirm his worth.
However, this island has a lot to show, and it still advances in the realization of that higher ideal: a plenitude that prevents gaps in the essential unity that safeguards our most precious human right. That is the right to individual dignity, crystallized with our independence as a nation.