April 28 , 2006

U.S. should seek Human Rights Council seat

By MEGAN BETTELEY
meb002@marietta.edu

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.” Rights should be protected by law? Protect rights? What do you think the United States is? A democratic nation? The leader of the free world? Come now, folks, why would a nation founded on the rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” endorse human rights? It's not logical. It's un-American!

The fact of the matter is, human rights remain a fluid concept. During the 80's, when America and Iran got into a bit of a spat, the United States ignored some of the less pleasant human rights violations of Iraq and supplied her government with money and guns. Now, of course, when the rest of the world demanded a reason to go to war in Iraq, the US plays the human rights card.

“Human rights” remains just a tool, a means to an end. The recently publicized humanitarian crisis in Darfur did not develop overnight, and yet, until the past month or so, I could not have told you where in the world Darfur was, or what was happening there. Chances are, if the United Nations (UN) had not brought the issue to my notice, I would never have learned about it.

The United States has criticized the new UN Human Rights Council--and we certainly showed them what we thought about human rights when we sulkily told them that we wouldn't join their stupid council, so there!--but, it seems to me that an imperfect system beats nothing at all. After all, our human rights record is not squeaky clean, either. The Trail of Tears, Japanese Internment, slavery, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib: these are our scarlet letters, our marks of shame.

Heaven knows, the UN has made plenty of mistakes and often faces the Goliath of human rights violations without even a stone in their sling, but at the moment, the UN, and their new Human Rights Council are the best hope many people have. The US needs to walk the talk; if we support human rights, wecan't shun the organization that is the primary guardian of them. If we ignore the UN's efforts and the atrocities that violate people's most basic rights, we should not be surprised when people decide to protect their own rights using whatever means is available to them, even if they must resort at last to violent rebellion and the perpetuation of violence and oppression.