Student
Name
Minh, Tri, Tram, Lam, Hieu
Class
8.G5
Raw Score
DO
W
NL
O
AD
ED
Cambridge
Grade
Teacher
Ms Karla
Group number
How Human Rights are Being Violated By The People In Power?
Introduction
Human rights are the rights to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom
of opinion and expression, the right to work and many more, regardless of race, sex,
nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. While human rights are
essential to everyone, some violate these rights for personal gain. For countries, they
violate these rights to promote their political views. For the world, human rights
violations such as slavery and torture have been historically practiced even before the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are still practiced in places like Africa. This
research writing will focus on the Human Rights violation by the people in power such
as the government, counter-intelligence agencies and police.
Cause:
The origin of the crisis over slavery that gripped the nation in 1860–1861 go back to the
nation’s founding. European settlers brought a system of slavery with them to the
western hemisphere in the 1500s. Unable to find cheap labor from other sources, white
settlers increasingly turned to slaves imported from Africa.
Consequences:
The consequences of violating Human Rights are very severe. For victims of slavery,
they may have PTSD, distrust of the victim to everyone else, anxiety, fear of being
shouted at and very low levels of confidence with more severe consequences being
mental instability, physical disabilities, loss of life, severe illnesses and more. Because
4
of these consequences, cases of severe human rights violations could theoretically be
used more severely as international consequences such as sanctions or war.
Global perspective
DO
W
NL
O
AD
ED
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, slavery has existed since the beginning of
Human civilisation, spanning several cultures, ethnicities and nationalities. In China,
slavery existed as early as the Shang Dynasty (18th - 12th century BCE) and studied
thoroughly in the ancient Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 25 CE), where it was estimated that
5% of the population were slaves. Over in Europe and America, there was the Atlantic
Slave Trade. It was a massive trade of slaves, mainly from western Europe, to the USA.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly
references slavery, stating in Article 4: No one shall be held in
slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be
prohibited in all their forms. Slavery, forced labor, and human
trafficking are all violations of human rights because they
deprive people of their inherent rights. The slaves, originating
from Central and West Africa, were sold by other West Africans.
The following image is a reproduction of a handbill advertising a
slave auction in Charleston, South carolina:
Britannica website is founded by a group of experts and
organizations (e.g. University of California, Berkeley; Society for
Military History; J.E Luebering; etc.) so this is the source that we
can trust.
National perspective
Modern day Slavery in Qatar.
Qatar has an estimated 30,300 people living in conditions of modern day slavery,
according to the report. The country was given a score of 31.71 out of 100 for
vulnerability to slavery. Foreign maids, cleaners and other domestic workers are being
subjected to slave-like labour conditions in Qatar, with many complaining they have
DO
W
NL
O
AD
ED
been deprived of passports, wages, days off, holidays and freedom to move jobs, a
Guardian investigation can reveal. In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 migrant
workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since
it won its World Cup bid. The Guardian is founded by a group of experts that create an
undeniable record of human rights abuses (Kenneth Roth, Tirana Hassan, Wisla
Heneghan, etc) so we can rely on the source.
Different perspectives
The method (how slaves were obtained).
Global perspective:
Slaves were obtained in the same ways almost everywhere, such as through wartime
capture, slave raiding and the sale of insolvent debtors. People practiced self-sale into
slavery, the sale of women and children (to repay debts or because the seller could not
feed them) or the relatives of executed criminals.
National perspective (Qatar)
In Qatar, the workers are immigrants from other countries who came to Qatar, seeking
work and an opportunity to improve their lives. But instead, they are forced to work with
little to no pay, terrible living conditions such that they sometimes do not have access to
clean water or electricity.
Course of Action
There are several courses of actions that we can take to prevent Human Rights abuse
by the people in power. For a democratic country, we can try to influence the population
to elect a leader that advocates for anti-corruption laws, Police Departments hiring
officers who don’t have a violent history, restructuring the model so that young,
inexperienced officers know how to deal with a situation and only resorts to violence if
absolutely necessary. On a national level, we can actively investigate corrupt practices
and educate on the effects of corruption.
Personal Perspective and Conclusion
DO
W
NL
O
AD
ED
The people in power violated human rights by using political events like political
corruption, using their powers as a part of government for illegitimate private gain, such
as bribery, lobbying, extortion and more. The most studied causes of human rights
violations identified by researchers and practitioners is Government Behavior and
Structure, Armed Conflict, Economic Factors and Psychological Factors. We are
surprised the slavery was one of the most important part of all the ancient civilization
and its appear since the start of humanity. We have learn that modern day slavery is still
here but it work in a different way, working condition, incomes is how the people in
power abuse worker to work for them.
Bibliography
Britannica Group. (n.d). Slavery. Encyclopedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/slavery-sociology/Historical-survey
Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, Stanford University.
(n.d).Regional Perspectives on Human Rights: The USSR and Russia, Part One.
FSI/SPICE
https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/regional_perspectives_on_human_rights_the_ussr_a
nd_russia_part_one
Elizabeth Day. (2015, 18th Jan). I was sold into sexual slavery, The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/jan/18/i-was-sold-into-sexual-slavery
David Weissbrodt, Patrick Finnegan. 2019. Human Rights Conditions: What We Know
and Why It Matters. University of Minnesota Law School:
https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1659&context=faculty_articl
es
Tanvir, (2021, 19th December) what were three reasons for the growth of slavery?,
Lisbdenet.com
https://lisbdnet.com/what-were-three-reasons-for-the-growth-of-slavery/#What_was_the
_main_cause_of_slavery
The Guardian Group (2013, 27th September). 'Modern-day slavery' in Qatar: There's
Bad and Good News. The Guardian
https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/27/modern-day-slavery-qatar-theres-bad-and-good-n
ews
DO
W
NL
O
AD
ED
The Guardian Group (2018, 29th October). Migrants claim recruiters lured them into
forced labour at top Qatar hotels. The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/oct/29/agents-duped-us-into-for
ced-labour-at-top-qatar-hotel-say-migrant-workers-marsa-malaz-kempinski
BBC Group (April 5) World Cup 2022: How has Qatar treated stadium workers? BBC
News https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60867042
Cause - Lam
Consequences - Minh
Compare and contrast the Global and National perspectives - Tram
Evaluate source - Tram
Conclusion - Tri
Introduction, Global Perspective, National Perspective - Hieu