Human Rights: Yet another commodity for the new society or a necessity?As one stands on the doorsteps of a new millennium, one can only imagine the future ahead. With the globalization movement making its way around the world, issues such as human rights are coming up, and are becoming international issues of concern rather than local ones. International organizations monitor governments and note the extent to which those governments adhere to and respect human rights.
In the age of globalization, free trade between the nations of the world exists along with a sizeable transfer of knowledge and technology. And for one nation to succeed in that new environment it must have positive relations with others. For this good relation to evolve and develop, a nation must first address its inner issues of which human rights is a part of, for the human factor is prime in the globalization age that is based mainly on human-brain based industries. The Director of the Kuwait Information Office in Washington, in a lecture at Georgetown University, said, “The democratic process taking place in Kuwait is compatible with the Western definition of democracy, and it is clear when tracing country’s modern history that there is in fact a true democratic process presently sweeping the country. ;In 1948, the United Nations adopted the ;Universal Declaration of Human Rights; which included the minimum requirements that nations around the world must aim for to achieve and maintain man’s fundamental freedoms and rights. This included principles of equality without regard to race, color, sex, language, religion etc.
in addition to the right to life, liberty and security. The Declaration was the platform on which all people should act. Any breach of its articles would put the breaching Nation under great pressure and criticism from its peers, who usually aim to correct the situation. Al-Ghabra added, “It has become increasingly difficult to maintain authortarian government in the modern era. “By 1997, more that 116 nations had a president chosen by elections, up from only 39 nations in 1974.
In the middle eastern nation of Kuwait, human rights have come a long way towards achieving a formidable status for the 38 years old nation has taken measures that surpass those taken by older nations. Kuwait’s constitution that dates back to the year 1962 ensured human rights in many of its articles. Kuwaiti Parliament member AbdulMohsen Jamal said that the constitution is a, ; great achievement that has gained Kuwait the respect of the international community. ;The constitution took a humanitarian capitalistic approach towards dealing with citizens and society. It based national economy on social justice and equal cooperation between public and private sectors aiming to achieve economic development and a better standard of living for its citizens. The constitution allocated a full chapter that deals with rights and public duties, guaranteeing personal freedom, freedom of religion, press and gathering, and the right to education and work.
Article 6 states that Kuwait is a democratically ruled nation. Article 7 states that freedom and fairness are the basic principles of society where cooperation and mercifulness is the closest tie between citizens. Article 8 deals with providing security and opportunities by the nation’s government. Article 29 states that all people are equal in their responsibilities and public duty without indifference due to race, sex, language or religion. Article 30 states that personal freedom is guranteed. Article 35 provides for freedom of religions.
Article 43 deals with the freedom to establish non governmental organizations on national basis using peaceful means adopted by law. Article 80 states that a parliament is made up of 50 members elected by the people. In addition to its constitution, Kuwait has signed most international treaties that deal with human rights such as treaty against all forms of discrimination against women, treaty for kids rights, treaty against torture, and was the first Arabian Gulf country to ratify the two international treaties formulated by the International Committee for Human Rights in 1954 called the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.With a firm basis, Kuwait took a step further in 1999 when the Amir signed a decree giving women in Kuwait the right to vote and run for .
