By Fatemeh Saberi
TEHRAN- This year marks the 74th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the modern concept of rights and human rights has been raised throughout the discourse of the West since the 17th century, the historical evidence shows that while the hypocritical West has been engaged in murder, looting, mass murder, torture, pressure, enslavement, slavery over the past three centuries, its intellectuals and thinkers have been promulgating human rights law for the world. And today it is the mask of human rights that gives a human gesture to their liberal democracy!
Human rights or crime against humanity
Western countries, and most notably America, are using the power of the media to cover their true face with the mask of human rights and deceive the public opinion in the world. They talk about the rights of the nations while the nations, more than ever before, feel the fire of their seditions. They pretend defense for the rights of minorities, women and children, the LGBT and asylum seekers, etc., but have been constantly and regularly committing crimes against the majorities around the world. They claim that we are committed to human rights, but in practice, they act differently! They have now turned human rights into a tool to get involved in the affairs of other countries and blackmail them!
When one looks at their policy toward Palestine, particularly Gaza, it becomes quite clear how they behave dishonestly! Gaza is the most oppressed place on the earth where people are denied basics rights. It has got the title of the largest open-air prison and once in a while the Zionist regime attacks them to destroy the remaining vital infrastructure. They are tortured just because America and some Western powers are backing the racist regime of Israel.
Or consider the JCPOA agreement between Iran and 5+1 nations. The United States openly violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that confirmed the deal and the European parties to the agreement refused to honor their obligations. Now, like the pirates of the Caribbean, they have turned it into a tool to blackmail Iran. This is their nature. They are just caring for their own interests at the cost of the rights of others.
Human rights: From rhetoric to action
The practical record of America, England, and France over the past three centuries is indicative of the fact that Western countries have a hypocritical approach toward human rights.
We try to cast more lights on the crimes of Western countries by mentioning concrete examples:
1. America
- American help to the Saudis’ genocidal acts against Yemenis, which constitute examples of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the past eight years, are before our eyes. These crimes are completely contrary to the principles of human rights and the international humanitarian rights law stated the United Nations Charter.
- Consider the Guantanamo prison. Why did the Americans take people and keep them there in the most difficult conditions for several years without trial? Or the issue of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the tortures that took place there.
- Helping to create ISIS, which was explicitly acknowledged by President Trump in his election campaigns. In various cases, Americans helped ISIS to steal the Iraqi and Syrian oils, and occasionally helped their ringleaders to escape from possible capture.
Inside America, we are also witnessing how the issue of human rights is clearly violated by the ruling U.S. establishment:
- The freedom to sell and carry weapons in America is the reason why so many killings take places in the country. You see that once in a while a nervous or crazy person runs amok in school, university, or market and fires at people and make many families mournful. There is a big question that why despite all these tragic deaths the sale of weapons is not stopped? It is clear that American governments are under the influence of these companies that make huge benefits from arms sales.
- The issue of burning the Davidians during Bill Clinton's time. Why is the case not probed? They were members of a group belonging to a Christian sect. The governments were opposed to them for a reason that may be right. However, in such case the members are arrested and tried. Bust surprisingly their compounds were set on fire and dozens of women, men, and children were burned alive!
- The criminal behavior of the American government and the American police towards the black people. There are numerous instances in which the blacks are subjected to different kinds of injustice or even killed. In such cases the judicial system holds a sham trial that in most cases lead to the release of the convict. The history of America is replete with flagrant violation of the rights of the people of color, especially the blacks.
2.France
- In recent history, France has been characterized as a champion of human rights in artistic and intellectual circles. However, the crimes that France committed during colonialism, especially in Africa is not highlighted! Remember what the French did in Algeria! They also committed crimes in Morocco and Tunisia.
- France is hosting one of the most violent terrorist groups in the world. It is the home to leaders of the People's Mujaheddin Organization, whose members committed numerous acts of terror in Iran in the early years of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In 1981, through bomb blasts, they killed the president, prime minister, and head of the Iranian judiciary along with 70 other political and legislative figures. And according to the available statistics, they martyred 12,000 ordinary people. However, they took shelter in France, which portrays itself as a champion of human rights and freedom!
-Or right now consider the Yellow Vest protestors who have been holding rallies in Paris. They have been suppressed and a number of them have been blinded. This is the way they treat their own people. However, they criticize other countries to uphold human rights.
3. England
- England filled its treasury by colonizing and looting eastern countries, mainly the Indian subcontinent! And it created poverty and hunger for the countries under its rule.
The British had a ruthless economic agenda when it came to operating in India and that did not include empathy for native citizens. Under the British Raj, India suffered countless famines. But the worst hit was Bengal. The first of these was in 1770, followed by severe ones in 1783, 1866, 1873, 1892, 1897, and lastly 1943-44.
Also on April 13, 1919, hundreds of unarmed men, women and children were gunned down by British troops at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled garden in Amritsar, following unrest in the northern Indian city. The British government, which ruled India at the time, put the death toll at 379, while Indian freedom fighters said nearly 1,000 people were killed.
The darkest part of the human rights
Therefore, the main problem regarding human rights law is that the drafters themselves are disappointingly are the main violators and they have created a deep gap between what is lectured and what happens in practice. This hypocrisy of the Westerners is now evident with the awareness of the nations more than ever before. In practice, European countries and the U.S. literally committed all kinds of crimes all over the world. Well, these are the masterpieces of Western civilization and Western liberal democracy!
It is true that the discourse and theoretical apparatus to realize this role outside of the Western narrative of law has not yet evolved, but there are many flaws. This entails the necessity to investigate and create discourse around alternatives.
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