Articles
Social Rights Are Human Rights
The social conditions of the people in the world, mainly in the developing countries, are in the process of increased deterioration. The economic and social disparities between and within countries are the consequences of the negative effects of the globalization. This has led to damaging facts with
regard to the question of human rights. We are witnessing now more cases of human rights violations being committed in almost all countries of the planet presented themselves as a mockery to the terms and spirit enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Right. The world continues to be the theatre of a frightening increase of violations of these rights committed against all categories of people in many developed as well as underdeveloped nations. The discourses aimed to discover and unveil these facts should not be a mere reminder about the existence of these violations. It must be an act of strong determination to more involvement of the international community to further strengthen the fight against all forms of human rights abuses, to deploy all efforts aiming at preventing them from occurring. The failure to put an end to these violations should prompt the international community to seek more effective measures and elaborate a far-reaching, target-oriented strategy.
The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization, AAPSO, is deeply concerned about the dimension reached by the acts of human rights violations worldwide. It severely condemns all its manifestations which affect the social conditions of people: killings, massacres, land occupation, denial of people's sovereignty and their dignity or their fundamental rights in the fields of education, health, employment, sanitation, sexual exploitation, contemporary forms of slavery, organized crimes, human trafficking, the policy of double standard used against people because of their sex, race, religious belief, ethnic origin. All these aggravate the possibility of people to improve their living standard, to enhance their life style, to fully take part in the development and economic construction of their countries.
. Human rights are systematically violated in the situation of wars marked by a growing number of refugees. It is hard to describe the social situation of these refugees: they are unable to be completely involved in the productive activities. They remain jobless, far from access even to lower degree of education as well as to good sanitation. In Asia and Africa children are being recruited to be enrolled into the army or militias, they are trained to kill, to commit many kinds of murder, to plunder and to be used as human shield and cannon fodder. In such a condition, the problem of social reintegration of these ex-child soldiers represents a big challenge for the society.
Any of these forms of human rights abuses are combined with Zionist-racist practices like what is happening to the Palestinians who are suffering from oppression and all forms of racial discrimination. The social conditions of the Palestinian people is clearly demonstrated by the Report made by UNCTAD.
The UN Organization stated that, in addition to death, injury and heavy human cost, the legacies of war have brought to deepening and widening poverty, human costs are incurred in shifts in infant mortality rate and nutrition levels; the distribution of real household income deteriorates; the poor pay for war; capita consumption and domestic savings fall, a situation which lead to greater external(aid) dependence. Palestinian economic performance has exhibited a downward trend, with the slowdown intensifying. As Israeli security measures and the internal and external closure policy imposed on the Palestinian territory have intensified. Today, the Gross Domestic Product is below the 1986 level. The loss of national income has increased. As a result over two million Palestinians in the occupied territory are now living below the poverty line of $2 per day. Physical damage occurred with regard the infrastructure, establishments, equipments and utilities. 27.000 jobs are lost in the manufacturing sector. By the end of 2002, Israel still withheld PA (Palestinian Authority) revenue estimated at $700 million. Around 47 percent of households have lost nor than 50 percent of their income and those living below the poverty line accounted for 63 per cent of Palestinian society in March 2003. More children were taken out of school to contribute to family income. Under such circumstances, 42 per cent of families were destitute by the end of March 2003.
While the above facts characterize the social life of Palestinian people, they can be applied to other developing countries with different degrees of manifestations.
The fight against terrorism has turned out to be the fight against fundamental human rights, stirring up indiscriminate acts of violence, intolerance and affecting physical conditions. The situation in Iraq is a case in point in this respect. In terms of human rights conception and understanding, the occupation of Iraq has denied the Iraqis the fundamentals of their very legal existence. The war has led to more deaths and sufferings. How can the Iraqis improve their social conditions of life if they are denied the right to live peacefully and to run themselves their own country, if they are not given the possibility to face the challenges of the consequences of the decade-long sanction and now the occupation imposed on them, the malnutrition, diseases, famine..
The globalization has left many people in developing countries in harsh conditions of poverty, starvation and famine aggravating their social conditions of living.
Human communities cannot continue tolerate all these forms of sufferings. AAPSO which was established on principles of freedom, justice, liberation and dignity is reminding and urging public opinion worldwide on the necessity to create conditions conducive to promoting, enhancing and improving sustainable social development of the life of the people all over the world.
