Human Rights Essay: Regional Systems, Trade-offs, and Violations

This essay delves into the multifaceted realm of human rights, examining regional systems, the impact of the Kony 2012 documentary, the concept of human rights trade-offs, and the effectiveness of international procedures. It begins by exploring the significance of regional human rights systems in localizing and applying international norms to regional issues, focusing on the roles of the African, American, and European systems. The essay then critiques the "clicktivism" associated with the Kony 2012 movement, highlighting the potential for misunderstandings when audiences lack a comprehensive understanding of human rights issues. Furthermore, it discusses the ethical implications of human rights trade-offs, emphasizing the paramount importance of upholding human dignity and treating all victims of human rights violations equally. Finally, the essay examines the criticisms surrounding the success of international human rights procedures in addressing human rights violations, arguing for the need for greater flexibility and responsiveness to various types and magnitudes of violations.

Running head: HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

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Question 1
Regional human rights systems comprise of regional instruments and mechanisms and
often built to provide a helping hand, assistance and position to the regional people or certain
indigenous ethnic groups (Donnelly & Whelan, 2018). Regional human rights systems are
known to be playing an important role in the promotion and protection of human rights in the
contemporary global world. Regional human rights systems of Africa, America and Europe
are the most significant and powerful regional human rights systems that are functioning in
the present world. Regional human rights systems are indeed important because it helps in
localizing the international as well as trans-national human rights norms and customs in order
to apply them in the regional human rights issues in a righteous way. In case of America, the
inter-American commission had created several Rapporteurships which includes the rights of
women, a Rapporteurship on the Rights of the Child, a Rapporteurship on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, a Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty, a
Rapporteurship on Migrant Workers and their Families, a Rapporteurship on the Rights of
Afro-Descendants and against Racial Discrimination, a Rapporteurship on Human Rights
Defenders, and a Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Therefore, such
organizations are indeed important for the country because it provides assistance and shelter
in case of any violation of human rights of the vulnerable communities. On the other hand,
the African region human rights systems too are concerned with freedom of Expression and
Access to Information; Human Rights Defenders; Prisons and Conditions of Detention;
Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons; and Rights of
Women.
Question 2
Kony 2012 is a documentary film which is based on the life of fugitive Joseph Kony
who happened to be associated with a fugitive charity movement in Uganda. The purpose of

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the film was to speak out to the world against Kony and bring out the “Stop Kony”
movement throughout the country. The respective film became overtly viral across Uganda
and other African countries. However, according to me, such “clicktivism” has given rise to
misunderstandings. When the audience is pragmatically not aware of the Human Rights
issues, such opinions can prove to be fatal (Poe, 2019).
Question 3
`Human Rights trade off can be defined as a compromise of the human rights to a
particular entity, such as a corporate, a government or a business. According to me, human
rights should not be compromised or traded off on any grounds because human rights are the
parameters and measures by which the integrity of the humans is determined. Human rights
are essential because it ensures the fact that all the human beings must be treated well with
dignity and integrity, irrespective of their age, class, gender and race. However, if the human
rights are not maintained, the society would cease to protect its humans and people, thereby,
giving rise to a failed society and subsequently, a failed nation which can be treacherous and
catastrophic. Therefore, human rights are the factors of the society which can never be traded
off or compromised on any grounds, such as utilitarian corporate houses. Even if the fellow
citizens of a country falls prey to human rights violation instead of any foreign person, human
rights should always tend to treat all the victims of human rights violation equally, despite of
any kind of discrimination on the grounds of nationality and ethnicity (Freeman, 2017).
Question 4
In the discipline of human rights, certain parameters are present which signifies
weather the respective cases of human rights violations are overtly serious or light. However,
according to Donnelley and Whelan’s theory that international human rights procedures are
most successful in addressing less egregious human rights violations, there are certain

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criticisms related to the respective expression. The fact that International Human Rights
commissions work for a larger paradigm and can never concentrate on regional cruelties is a
half truth because the most shocking and gruesome cases of human rights violation and
dehumanization has been put forward in the courtyard of International human rights
departments throughout the contemporary and present generation. However, the International
human rights need to upgrade itself and become more flexible in order to meet the demands
of different kinds and magnitude of human rights violation and they should not adhere to only
light cases as it is a concern of the humanity (O'Byrne, 2014).

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References:
Donnelly, J., & Whelan, D. J. (2018). International human rights: Dilemmas in world politics.
New York, NY: Westview Press.
Freeman, M. (2017). Human rights. John Wiley & Sons.
O'Byrne, D. (2014). Human rights: an introduction. Routledge.
Poe, S. C. (2019). Understanding Human Rights Violations: New Systematic Studies.
Routledge.