To put it simply, even basic human rights are not respected. Evidently, many people do not abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations. Even if it is a great idea to have a universal declaration, there is no way that we can get everyone to follow it. There are your everyday basic crimes against humanity, but Putin took them to the extremes. It is incomprehensible to me exactly why so many people do not follow the declaration. There is no explanation that will make it okay. Already, so many people were tortured and killed by the masses, and nothing can make up for this. This information is only for my topic, Chechnya, I cannot even imagine how many times people disobeyed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights combined with all the other topics.
This relates to the Holocaust because in both, people were treated like subhumans. The Holocaust singled out different people within the nation, while the case of Chechnya singled out a whole nation. People should always have the right to independence and liberty, and both those targeted by the Holocaust and the Chechens were denied of this right. With the Holocaust, Jews were put into concentration camps that had routine cleanup operations, and in Chechnya, the Russian secret police go right to the detainees house, to take them away without a proper explanation. Overall, these two events relate because the human rights were completely ignored in both.
The case of Chechnya completely denies the principle of humanism, that all individuals matter. Putin has made land and power more important than human lives. Russia classifies all Chechens as terrorists and rebels, when it is only a specific group of people. They detain thousands of people without having any evidence against them. It is interesting that humanism is even brought up here because it is the thing the Russia keeps denying Chechens of. They just want to be an independent country, not a republic, but Russia absolutely refuses. Russia will do anything, including violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to keep Chechnya a republic. Russia will not take into consideration any individual opinions or criticizing. They kill anyone who has a radical idea. For example, Russia has killed 13 opinionated journalists since 2000. This goes without mentioning, but if all individuals matter, then why is Russia detaining, torturing, raping, threatening, and killing them by the masses?
This event makes me seriously doubt putting trust in the leaders of this world. Similar to the war criminals on trial at Nuremburg, I cannot conceive why they do not disobey Putin. I understand the fear of being killed, but why cant the take a stand together? Do they take pleasure in torturing people? If they all gained up on Putin, they could stop the violence. I feel that the victims have done there fair share of crime too, but the Russians aren’t punishing the right people, or in the morally right way. They randomly choose people to detain, so those victims definitely do not deserve it. They especially do not deserve what goes on after they are detained, torture, rape, worried family members. Then, on top of that, the only way to get out of a crime they did not commit is to give the Russians money or valuables.
I definitely feel sorrow for the victims of this event. What saddens me even more, is that it is still going on. Nothing has been resolved. I wish that the world could find strong evidence against Putin, but he continues to hide it. One day though, he is going to forget to cover up his footprints, and he will be punished. Putin can send his men to kill anyone, even those innocent journalists, or the former Russian spy, and get away with it. There is no justification for the actions of Russia. They should have a meeting with Chechen leaders to discuss both sides of the story, and why the Chechens deserve independence.
Yes, the United Nations needs to keep the peace. If leaders of huge sovereign countries like Russia cant obey something so basic as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, then someone has to take charge. Actually, I think that the U.N. needs to interfere more in Chechnya. They have not really been doing anything about it, except for an investigation in 2000. It is key for the U.N. to step in as a whole, so Russia cannot target one particular country. If the U.S. stepped in, we would be risking starting another Cold War. This way, many countries can interfere together without fear of being attacked. Russia cannot target all of those countries at once. As long as all that the UN is doing is keeping the peace, without any personal involvement, it is completely acceptable and wanted.
It would be okay for the U.N. to step into the sovereignty of the U.S. as long as we were in a time of need. If we were having such issues with ruling ourselves that we were breaking the Declaration of Human Rights constantly, and our own citizens were suffering, the U.N. would be welcome to help. The U.N. obviously cannot have control over every sovereign country, it would not be fair. However, peacekeeping efforts are important and necessary for the well being of the world.
-Christina
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I agree with your opinion that the Chechans have done no wrong, however I do want to ask about your view on the United States and what you believe will happen if they try to step in. Is it probable that Russia will start a war if the US talks to them about what is happeing? I believe that two countires should be able to talk things out amongst each other. The UN should be peacekeepers in this situation, but I doubt a war would be started if the US said something.
-Kate
I believe that there is no possible way the the United States is going to step in. Bush believes that we have no business interfering with civil war in Russia. He is trying to maintain the peace right now, so that another Cold War doesn't occur. It is a huge current event that Putin threatened to shoot misseles at Europe if we build nuclear capability near Russian borders. So, obviously the U.S. government is trying to take care of that right now, with no concern for Chechens. The case of Chechnya has been pushed to the side. It is not the US's place to talk to Russia, it is the UN's. Although a war might not start if the US said something, we have a bad past history with Russia. This would only raise tension about the missile threat, possibly indirectly starting another Cold War.
-Christina Garbarino
You're absolutly right. There is no reason for the rebel group to go around killing Russians. But how is it right that Putin randomly pulls people off the streets and tortures them? The rebel group has moved to other territories occupied by Russia, and Putin is still threatening the citizens in Chechnya. Why isn't he targeting the rebel group and threatening regular citizens? And why don't people vote him out of office? 70% of people in Russia claim they wish for the war to end, so why don't they just impeach Putin and install a new leader?
-Kate
I agree about the Putin thing, but the truth is, people respect/are scared of him. He is almost a dictator. He is has a ton of authority...too much. Look at the political cartoon I posted, it says he's walking on thin ice. My prediction was that though he's covering up his footprints, he is going to eventually slip up. Hopefully then, he will be put to justice and a new president who will take care of things in Chechnya will be put into office. I definitely don't think that it's right for Putin to pull people off the street and torture them. I never said that. Putin is pointing the gun at the wrong man. With the revolver to their head, I see shocked innocent civilians- men, women, children. And then I see the Chechen rebels in masks getting away. Putin's reaction is completely off-base and wrong. To sum it up the Chechens are not being heard, and no one wants to impeach Putin except for the Chechens.
-Christina Garbarino
What is the world coming to if two countries cannot reason things out in a civilized manner? There is always a chance that the two countries might start a war, but isn't there a slight chance that might happen every time two countries talk? In this day and age, two grown men should be able to talk about things and figure them out in a calm way. I do believe the UN is responsible to fix this, but if the US steps in, it won't be the end of the world.
That's true. But actually, if you take it to the extremes, it could mean the end of the world. Russia and the U.S., both with strong nuclear weapons could tear each other to shreds. I think that most countries nowadays can reason things out in a civilized manner. It's when Chechen rebels and Putin's violent ways get in the way that it cant be done peacefully. If not the UN, then another country besides the US needs to help. As horrible as it sounds, defending Chechnya is too much of a risk for the US.
-Christina Garbarino
Post a Comment