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Article 2:Don’t Discriminate
Article: 19Freedom of opinion and expression
Article 2: Don’t Discriminate
“Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional (law) or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”
Which basically means…
Everyone is entitled to the rights set forth in the universal declaration of human rights. It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is, whether you believe in God or not, what language you speak, wealthy, rich or poor, or even which political part you vote for. Neither does it matter if you are the most or the least powerful country/nation. All of us should be treated equally and justly.
Why did I choose this article?
I chose this article because I think that this is currently being violated in most parts of the world. Even in SOME parts of the UK, minority races are being treated differently because they don’t ‘fit in.’
Article 2, as well as all the other Human Rights, are important because these are the basic rights to freedom to which all human beings are entitled too. This also includes: freedom of expression, movement, equality, to live, freedom to religion, to an education and a property.
Case study: Harriet Tubman
She was discriminated because of her skin colour; she was black. Tubman was born in the USA and was a slave by birth. Her childhood was tragic and filled with torture and misery. She was tortured by her master all the time and forced to work. She did not have the right to freedom, or the right to anything.
However, she fought against everything and escaped from captivity, leading several missions for freeing hundreds of slaves. she became very successful in her life as she was the first women to lead an armed expedition.
Article 19: Freedom of opinion and expression
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right to seek receive and pass on information and ideas of all kinds, by any means.
Free speech and the right to freedom of expression applies all kinds of speech including those that may be deeply offensive. In certain circumstances free speech and freedom of expression can be restricted. To restrict speech, one must demonstrate the need for imposing the rule.
This means that…
You are allowed to say whatever you want (Hence the term free speech) no matter how offensive or rude it maybe. Speech maybe restricted in some circumstances. It can only be restricted if one was to present a reason why not. In some countries (such as the UK) authorities arrest people for racist comments. This is an ethical issue as it is a breech of the Human Rights Declaration but we all know that it is wrong to discriminate.
Why did I choose this article?
I chose this article because I know some countries don’t tolerate any sort of free speech due to dictatorships (Middle East) or for Religious purposes. I feel there is a difference between Religious laws and a countries laws. Countries laws are things all citizen’s should abide to whereas religious laws should only be practiced by followers of that religion (Unless it’s ‘holy land’).Many people are discriminated against because of free speech, the organisations Article 19 and Amnesty International campaign for the freedom of speech. A few examples are as follows…
Case study: Jabbar Sullivan In February 2011 Jabbar Savalan, a history student and member of the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party’s youth wing, posted a message on Facebook calling for peaceful protests against the government. The next day he was arrested.
Jabbar was charged with possessing drugs. He was convicted largely on the basis of a confession extracted under duress, and despite a blood test showing he had not used drugs. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Amnesty International led an international campaign calling for his release. Jabbar received a presidential pardon and was finally freed on 26 December 2011.
He was not cleared of the charges against him but Jabbar said he would not be scared off by punishment, and that he would continue to speak out.
His criticism has not gone unnoticed, Jabbar continues to be targeted for his peaceful activism when he attended a protest on 7 March 2012 the police beat him.
Case study: Jabeur Mejri
Three years ago, on 17 December 2010, a Tunisian street trader called Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire. His death prompted protests that spread across the country. President el-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country. Finally, people felt they could finally speak freely after years of repression. Jabeur Mejri, aged 29, posted a cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed on his Facebook profile in March 2012, his post was spotted by two lawyers who deemed them offensive to Islam. Within days Jabeur had been charged with ‘undermining public morals’ and ‘attacking sacred values through actions’. He was ordered to pay a hefty fine and jailed for seven and a half years.
He is still behind bars today and Amnesty International alongside Lina Ben Mhenni, Jabeur's friend and Ines, Jabeur’s sister to try and get him a presidential pardon.
