Los Derechos Humanos

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Human Rights / Derechos Humanos

THE RIGHT TO LIVE FREE

“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”

Examples:

• An estimated 6,500 people were killed in 2007 in armed conflict in Afghanistan—nearly half being noncombatant civilian deaths at the hands of insurgents. Hundreds of civilians were also killed in suicide attacks by armed groups.

• In Brazil in 2007, according to official figures, police killed at least 1,260 individuals—the highest total to date. All incidents were officially labeled “acts of resistance” and received little or no investigation.

• In Uganda, 1,500 people die each week in the internally displaced person camps. According to the World Health Organization, 500,000 have died in these camps.

• Vietnamese authorities forced at least 75,000 drug addicts and prostitutes into 71 overpopulated “rehab” camps, labeling the detainees at “high risk” of contracting HIV/AIDS but providing no treatment.

NO SLAVERY“No one shall be held in slavery or servitude”

• In northern Uganda, the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) guerrillas have kidnapped 20,000 children over the past twenty years and forced them into service as soldiers or sexual slaves for the army.

• In Ghana, children five to fourteen are tricked with false promises of education and future into dangerous, unpaid jobs in the fishing industry.

NO TORTURE“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

• In 2008, US authorities continued to hold 270 prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, without charge or trial, subjecting them to “water-boarding,” torture that simulates drowning.

• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, acts of torture and ill treatment are routinely committed by government security services and armed groups, including sustained beatings, stabbings and rapes of those in custody.

• In Darfur, violence, atrocities and abduction are rampant and outside aid all but cut off. Women in particular are the victims of unrestrained assault, with more than 200 rapes in the vicinity of a displaced persons camp in one five-week period, with no effort by authorities to punish the perpetrators.

FREEDOM TO MOVE

“Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.”

“Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

• In Algeria, refugees and asylum-seekers were frequent victims of detention, expulsion or ill treatment.

• In Myanmar, thousands of citizens were detained, including 700 prisoners of conscience…. In retaliation for her political activities, she has been imprisoned or under house arrest for twelve of the last eighteen years

FREEDOM OF THOUGHT“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

• In Myanmar, the military junta crushed peaceful demonstrations led by monks, raided and closed monasteries, confiscated and destroyed property, shot, beat and detained protesters, and harassed or held hostage the friends and family members of the protesters.

• In China, Falun Gong practitioners were singled out for torture and other abuses while in detention. Christians were persecuted for practicing their religion outside state-sanctioned channels.

• In Kazakhstan, local authorities in a community near Almaty authorized the destruction of twelve homes, all belonging to Hare Krishna members, falsely charging that the land on which the homes were built had been illegally acquired. Only homes belonging to members of the Hare Krishna community were destroyed.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

• In Sudan, dozens of human rights defenders were arrested and tortured by national intelligence and security forces.

• In Ethiopia, two prominent human rights defenders were convicted on false charges and sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

• Russia repressed political dissent, pressured or shut down independent media and harassed nongovernmental organizations. Peaceful public demonstrations were dispersed with force, and lawyers, human rights defenders and journalists were threatened and attacked. Since 2000, the murders of seventeen journalists, all critical of government policies and actions, remain unsolved.

• In Iraq, at least thirty-seven Iraqi employees of media networks were killed in 2008, and a total of 235 since the invasion of March 2003, making Iraq the world’s most dangerous place for journalists.

RIGHT TO DEMOCRACY

“Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.”

“Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.”

“The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”

• In Zimbabwe, hundreds of human rights defenders and members of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), were arrested for participating in peaceful gatherings.

• In Pakistan, thousands of lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders and political activists were arrested for demanding democracy, the rule of law and an independent judiciary.

• In Cuba, at the end of 2007, sixty two prisoners of conscience remained incarcerated for their nonviolent political views or activities.

Left-WingRight-Wing

Neutral

Republican Party

Conservatives

Fascism

Democratic Party

Liberals

Communism

Tipos de gobierno

Derechistas/ Right-Winged• In favor of centralizing political

power in the hands of the leaders of government.

• Politics on the right is associated with conservatism.

• In the U.S., the Republican Party is more conservative.

• At their most extreme, right-wing politics tends toward Fascism. Ex. : Hitler

Izquierdistas / Left-Winged• In favor of distributing political

power to the people.• Politics on the left is

associated with liberalism.• In the U.S., the Democratic

Party is more liberal.• At their most extreme, left-

wing politics tends toward Communism. Ex. : Castro

Fascism• The Government is supreme and the country is all-

encompasing, and all within it must conform to the ruling body, often a dictator.

• The country must grow and the implied goal of any fascist nation is to rule the world, and have every human submit to the government.

• Any type of questioning the government is not to be tolerated. If you do not see things our way, you are wrong. “IF you are not with me, you are against me.”If you do not agree with the government, you cannot be allowed to live and taint the minds of the rest of the good citizens.

Communism

• A political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Subversive

• A systematic attempt to overthrow or undermine a government or political system by persons working secretly from within.

Rafael Leonidas Trujillohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvi6oksjpS8&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=5http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1EduqLxozg&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=20

• Dictator Rafael Trujillo was born on October 24, 1891 in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. He became president of the Dominican Republic in 1930 through political maneuvering and torture. He officially held the office until 1938, when he chose a puppet predecessor. He resumed his official position from 1942 to 1952, but continued to rule by force until his assassination on May 30, 1961.

• In early 1930, after Dominican President Horacio Vasquez faced revolts and a provisional government had been established, Trujillo named himself a candidate in the new presidential elections.

• During Trujillo's campaign, he organized a secret police force to torture and murder supporters of the opposing candidate. Not surprisingly, Trujillo won the election by a landslide.

• Shortly into Trujillo's first term, Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, was devastated by a hurricane. Trujillo used the disaster as an excuse to impose martial law on all citizens. He also imposed "emergency taxes" and even seized the bank accounts of his opposition. Trujillo spent the next six years renovating the city and building several monuments in his own honor. Upon completing renovations, Trujillo renamed Santo Domingo "Ciudad Trujillo."

• During his additional years in office, Trujillo continued to use his power for personal profit. He took total control of all major industries and financial institutions.

• The country saw some improvements to its economy, but those were mainly limited to the capital city. Meanwhile, in more rural areas, entire peasant communities were uprooted to clear the way for Trujillo’s new sugar plantation.

• Trujillo was known to treat the Dominican Republic's Haitian migrants with particular severity and a deliberate disregard for their civil liberties. In 1937, he went so far as to orchestrate the massacre of thousands of Haitian immigrants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IFpVz1Tc_E&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjIekDqKBII&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=12http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

VhmyQwx_JDk&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=11

Augusto Pinochethttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZcLbaKBQ1o&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=2

• Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (born November 25, 1915) joined the Chilean army in 1935. He rose through the ranks and was appointed Commander in Chief by President Salvador Allende in 1973.

• Allende was the freely-elected socialist president of Chile.

• Pinochet led the military coup that killed Allende and overthrew his government in 1973, establishing himself (Pinochet) at the head of the ensuing military regime.

• Pinochet and Chile were heavily involved in Operation Condor, which was a collaborative effort among the governments of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay to control leftist dissidents. It consisted of a series of kidnappings, disappearances and assassinations of prominent opponents of the right-wing regimes in the listed countries. The Chilean secret police force, was one of the driving forces of Operation Condor. It is unknown how many people were killed, but most estimates range well into the thousands.

• After 25 years in power, he was put under arrest, but died in 2006, before he could be tried for alleged human rights violations.

• Pinochet died December 10, 2006, never having stood trial for the crimes for which he was accused.

• Pinochet served until 1990, leaving a legacy of abuse that took successive governments years to catalogue. According to a government report that included testimony from more than 30,000 people, his government killed at least 3,197 people and tortured about 29,000. Two-thirds of the cases listed in the report happened in 1973.

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMFmKg0k8cY&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00kQorWVIsw&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6kkaIfy9wU&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=23

Juan y Eva PeronJuan Domingo Perón (October 8, 1895 – July 1, 1974) was an Argentine military officer and politician. He was three times elected as President of Argentina, serving from June 1946 to September 1955, when he was overthrown by a coup d'état, and from October 1973 to July 1974.

During his first presidential term (1946-1952), Perón was supported by his second wife, Eva Duarte ("Evita"), and the two were immensely popular among many Argentines. Eva died in 1952, and Perón was elected to a second term, serving from 1952 until 1955. During the following period of two military dictatorships, interrupted by two civilian governments, the Peronist party was outlawed and Perón was exiled. Perón returned to Argentina in 1973 and was soon after elected President for a third time. His third wife, María Estela Martínez, known as Isabel Perón, was elected as Vice President on his ticket and succeeded him as President upon his death in 1974.

Juan and Evita Perón are still considered icons by the Peronists. The Peróns' followers praised their efforts to eliminate poverty and to dignify labor, while their detractors considered them demagogues and dictators.

Eva Perón was instrumental as a symbol of hope to the common laborer during her husband’s presidency. When she died in 1952, the year of the presidential elections, the people felt they had lost an ally. Coming from humble origins, she was loathed by the elite but adored by the poor for her work with the sick, elderly, and orphans. It was due to her behind-the-scenes work that women's suffrage was granted in 1947.

Isabel Perón succeeded her husband to the presidency, but proved incapable of managing the country's political and economic problems, including the left-wing insurgency and the reactions of the extreme right.

Isabel Perón's term ended abruptly on March 24, 1976, during a military coup d'état. A military junta, headed by General Jorge Videla, took control of the country, establishing the self-styled National Reorganization Process. The junta ramped up the "dirty war", combining widespread persecution of political dissidents with state terrorism. The death toll rose to thousands (at least 9,000, with human rights organizations claiming it was closer to 30,000). Many of these were "the disappeared" (desaparecidos), people kidnapped and executed without trial or record.

Jorge VidelaAccording to human right groups, thousands of Argentines — perhaps as many as 15,000 or even 30,000— "disappeared" while in the custody of the police or the military.10,000 to 12,000 of the "disappeared," PEN (Poder Ejecutivo Nacional) detainees held in clandestine detention camps throughout the dictatorship, were eventually released under diplomatic pressure. In the book Disposición Final by Argentine journalist Ceferino Reato, Videla confirms for the first time that between 1976 and 1983, 8.000 Argentinians have been murdered by his regime. The bodies were hidden or destroyed to prevent protests at home and abroad. Videla also maintained that female guerrilla detainees allowed themselves to become pregnant in the belief they wouldn't be tortured or executed, but they were. The children whom they bore in prison were taken from them, illegally adopted by military families of the regime, and their identities were hidden for decades.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZMHWJrDLNA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlEXGN8hMrk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtKEWouG-VA&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=8

On 30 April 1977, Azucena Villaflor, along with 13 other women, started demonstrations on the Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace, demanding to be told the whereabouts of their disappeared children. They became known as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Madres de Plaza de Mayo). They still gather once a week, even though many of them are old and frail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywQRu-vH1eE&list=PLBF1AD39FADAA248A&index=7

Two years after the return of a representative democratic government in 1983, Videla was prosecuted in the Trial of the Juntas for large-scale human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that took place under his rule, including kidnappings or forced disappearance, widespread torture and extrajudicial murder of activists, political opponents (either real, suspected or alleged) as well as their families, at secret concentration camps. Videla was also convicted of the theft of many babies born during the captivity of their mothers at the illegal detention centers and passing them on for illegal adoption by associates of the regime.

Videla was imprisoned for five years. In 1990, President Carlos Menem pardoned Videla and many other imprisoned former members of the military regime.

Following the election of President Néstor Kirchner in 2003, there was a renewed widespread effort in Argentina to show the illegality of Videla's rule. The government no longer recognized Videla as having been a legal president of the country. In 2003, Congress repealed the law which had ended prosecutions for crimes under the dictatorship. In 2005, the Argentine Supreme Court ruled that the law had been unconstitutional. The government re-opened prosecution of crimes against humanity.

On 17 May 2013, Videla died in the Marcos Paz civilian prison two years after his sentencing, of injuries suffered five days earlier in a fall in the shower.

Following a new trial, on December 22, 2010, Videla was sentenced to life in a civilian prison for the deaths of 31 prisoners following his coup. On July 5, 2012, Videla was convicted and sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment for his participation in a scheme to steal babies from parents detained by the military regime. According to the court decision, Videla was an accomplice "in the crimes of theft, retention and hiding of minors, as well as replacing their identities."The children were given to military families for illegal adoption, and their identities were hidden. An estimated 400 children were stolen during this period, often from mothers who gave birth in prison and who were later "disappeared." By the early 21st century, 77 of these adoptees had their identities restored.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentine recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize, said, "The death of Videla should not delight anybody, we have to keep working for a better society, more just, more humane, so that all that horror never happens again.”