Response to Questions
Question #1
Jean Bethke Elshtain sets forth a contemporary just war theory that places special emphasis on how military force can sometimes be an instrument of justice. Is it ever just to use military force to intervene to stop human rights violation/atrocity you are researching?
The use of Military force in my current portfolio on the human rights violatons is an action that while have to be taken with the current situation in Northern Iraq where the majority of Islamic State is located and operates. But military action must also be taken in order to stabilize the entire region, for ecample a consensus must be reached in Syria between the Government and rebels that are fighting. This is required inorder to form a strong front to the west of the islamic state and apply pressure to the group in the North of Iraq. It is also needed to completely remove the group from power in Iraq and to ensure that those responsible for the Atrocities committed there are held accountable and are tried by the Internation Criminal Court.
Jean Bethke Elshtain sets forth a contemporary just war theory that places special emphasis on how military force can sometimes be an instrument of justice. Is it ever just to use military force to intervene to stop human rights violation/atrocity you are researching?
The use of Military force in my current portfolio on the human rights violatons is an action that while have to be taken with the current situation in Northern Iraq where the majority of Islamic State is located and operates. But military action must also be taken in order to stabilize the entire region, for ecample a consensus must be reached in Syria between the Government and rebels that are fighting. This is required inorder to form a strong front to the west of the islamic state and apply pressure to the group in the North of Iraq. It is also needed to completely remove the group from power in Iraq and to ensure that those responsible for the Atrocities committed there are held accountable and are tried by the Internation Criminal Court.
Question #2
Are any ideas in a film related to resolving human rights abuses that you are researching?
A film that does hold revelance to my researched topic is the film Hotel Rwanda which is based on actual events of a genocide that occured in the country of Rwanda in the 1980's. The events are similar in the sense that the reasons for the two groups to be trying to eliminate eachother are the same. In Rwanda the Hutu's who ere the majority in the country before the Tustsi's who were the Minority but held all political power in the country. This along with the the assassination of the country's Hutu president prompted by young radical Hutu militias who were enflamed by racist ideology to begin a huge genocidal campaign against the tutsi's such as is being seen with the kurds who are being hunted by the Sunni muslims and ebing executed along with shia's, christians, yazdis and many others.
Are any ideas in a film related to resolving human rights abuses that you are researching?
A film that does hold revelance to my researched topic is the film Hotel Rwanda which is based on actual events of a genocide that occured in the country of Rwanda in the 1980's. The events are similar in the sense that the reasons for the two groups to be trying to eliminate eachother are the same. In Rwanda the Hutu's who ere the majority in the country before the Tustsi's who were the Minority but held all political power in the country. This along with the the assassination of the country's Hutu president prompted by young radical Hutu militias who were enflamed by racist ideology to begin a huge genocidal campaign against the tutsi's such as is being seen with the kurds who are being hunted by the Sunni muslims and ebing executed along with shia's, christians, yazdis and many others.
Question #3
What is John Locke's law of nature? What is his social contract? Do the law of nature and social contract relate to human rights issues?
John lockes law of nature is his idea of natural rights that people are born with that can not be taken away or alienated, these rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. His idea of social contract pertains to an agreemnet between the people and the government for the citizens to support them as long as these rights are protected by the government and if not for the citizens right to remove them for violating this agreement. These ideas of locke definetly tie into the human rights issues as it is or should be the responsiblity of the government to portect the rights of those that are being persecuted agaisnt for being diffrent. Something that was not done by the government in rwanda during the genocides, or little is being done in the case of Iraq withthe kurds when it was the government who in fact attacked the people with chemical weapons in the 80's.
What is John Locke's law of nature? What is his social contract? Do the law of nature and social contract relate to human rights issues?
John lockes law of nature is his idea of natural rights that people are born with that can not be taken away or alienated, these rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. His idea of social contract pertains to an agreemnet between the people and the government for the citizens to support them as long as these rights are protected by the government and if not for the citizens right to remove them for violating this agreement. These ideas of locke definetly tie into the human rights issues as it is or should be the responsiblity of the government to portect the rights of those that are being persecuted agaisnt for being diffrent. Something that was not done by the government in rwanda during the genocides, or little is being done in the case of Iraq withthe kurds when it was the government who in fact attacked the people with chemical weapons in the 80's.
Question #4
What is the status of freedom of speech in the country that you are researching? What would John Stuart Mill think of the situation? How does the issue of freedom of speech relate to the human rights issue/atrocity you are researching?
The current staus of the region that i am researching Northern Iraq is a failed state as the government cannot provide any basic services to the people. This also extends to security and the protection of the people basic rights such as freedom of speech which is not protected due to the militant reign of the Islamic state which is currently in control of the area. Neither was it there during the 1980's when the government who was under the iron fist of Saddam Hussein and the Baathist party who held the country in a dictatorship with little civil liberties. If John Staurt Mill were to see the current situation he would be dissapointed with the current government of Baghdad and would possibly call for the people to recall thier leaders as they have failed to uphold the peoples rights. The issue of freedom of speech connects heavily with human rights issues as the right to speak freely is often taken away or not availible prior to these violatins taking place such as in the 1930's when Hitler took control of Germany, he issued a Decree of the Protection of the People and State. This effectively brokedown doen democratic process and took peoples rights, paving the way for him to form a fascist state that he ruled with an iron fist.
What is the status of freedom of speech in the country that you are researching? What would John Stuart Mill think of the situation? How does the issue of freedom of speech relate to the human rights issue/atrocity you are researching?
The current staus of the region that i am researching Northern Iraq is a failed state as the government cannot provide any basic services to the people. This also extends to security and the protection of the people basic rights such as freedom of speech which is not protected due to the militant reign of the Islamic state which is currently in control of the area. Neither was it there during the 1980's when the government who was under the iron fist of Saddam Hussein and the Baathist party who held the country in a dictatorship with little civil liberties. If John Staurt Mill were to see the current situation he would be dissapointed with the current government of Baghdad and would possibly call for the people to recall thier leaders as they have failed to uphold the peoples rights. The issue of freedom of speech connects heavily with human rights issues as the right to speak freely is often taken away or not availible prior to these violatins taking place such as in the 1930's when Hitler took control of Germany, he issued a Decree of the Protection of the People and State. This effectively brokedown doen democratic process and took peoples rights, paving the way for him to form a fascist state that he ruled with an iron fist.
Question #5
Would Gandhi's methods work as a way to stop the human rights violations you are researching?
If Gandhi were still alive in the 1980' during the An-Anfal Campaign and decide to try and intervene in the situation by having his followers go and protest the deportations and other offences towards the Kurds. It is without a doubt in my mind that the ones that he would send to help organize protest would be captured by the Iraqi Military and would be executed on the spot. In the case that they are not executed on the spot and do manage to receive a trial in front of a judge it will be anything from fair and just. they would be looking at a life sentence and possibly a death in prison of mysterious circumstances. So in short the tactics that Gandhi employed before would be hugely ineffective and would only lead to the slaughter of more people, the methods with greater chance of success lie in armed insurgency or the seeking of international aid.
Would Gandhi's methods work as a way to stop the human rights violations you are researching?
If Gandhi were still alive in the 1980' during the An-Anfal Campaign and decide to try and intervene in the situation by having his followers go and protest the deportations and other offences towards the Kurds. It is without a doubt in my mind that the ones that he would send to help organize protest would be captured by the Iraqi Military and would be executed on the spot. In the case that they are not executed on the spot and do manage to receive a trial in front of a judge it will be anything from fair and just. they would be looking at a life sentence and possibly a death in prison of mysterious circumstances. So in short the tactics that Gandhi employed before would be hugely ineffective and would only lead to the slaughter of more people, the methods with greater chance of success lie in armed insurgency or the seeking of international aid.