- Do all people in the world have the same rights under the
law? Yes or No
Answer No: Different countries have different laws
- Are there rights that all people should reasonably expect to have?
Yes or No
Answer: Yes: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been signed by
most countries in the world, and it defines the rights that all people
should expect to enjoy.
- Are Laws and Rights the same thing: Yes or No
Answer: No. The government of a country passes laws. Different
countries have different laws, some are fair and some are unfair, laws are
changed and sometimes may not respect people's rights.
The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights sets
the rights that all people should expect to enjoy regardless of the laws of
their country.
- Is the Declaration of Human Rights an international law? Yes or No
Answer: No. A declaration is a voluntary commitment. It does not have the
force of law. Countries do not have to abide by the declaration if the
choose not to.
- Are most countries around the world good at protecting the rights of
all their citizens? Yes or No
Answer: No: Many
countries around the world have been criticised for the way have
failed to adequately recognise the human rights or provide social justice
of their citizens. Some countries may have breached human rights occasionally
or in the past, while others do so frequently and on a large scale. Different
values positions held by a government and the citizens of a country can
be involved; a person that a government may believe is a terrorist, some
of the citizens may believe is a patriot. Nelson Mandela the former President
of the Republic of South Africa (1994-1999) was imprisoned, by the South
African government of the time, for 26 years (1964-1990) for conspiracy
to overthrow the government. Depending on your point of view you could consider
Mandela to be either guilty of treason or a freedom fighter.
- Are countries like Australia, United States of America and New Zealand good at
protecting the rights of their citizens? Yes or No
Answer: No:
Both
Australia
and the United States have been treatment of Aboriginal people
in Northern Territory's judicial and prison system; USA for its use of the
death penalty
and the large number of people on Death Row in their prisons. Even New
Zealand has been criticised for incidents of
mistreatment of prisoners
and asylum seekers
while in custody.
- Is writing a letter an effective action to take in stopping the
abuse of human rights. Yes or No.
Answer: Yes: Letter writing is a very effective way of stopping the abuse of
human rights and working for the release of innocent prisoners. It is a good
way of making the perpetrators of the abuse aware that their actions are
being seen by the whole world. The letter does need to be appropriately
written. It is important not to break the law.
