GPHC Blog 2020-2021

  A historical case that violates the key principles of human rights is the trial of Walter McMillian in 1986. He was a black man charged with murder despite being 11 miles away at the time of the murder. They heard from three white witnesses brought forward by the state that claimed he was guilty while ignoring the dozens of black people that were with him at the time of the murder. The all-white jury came to the verdict of life in prison, which was overridden by the judge to be a death sentence. After Bryan Stevenson took up the case, he found a large quantity of evidence proving that McMillian was innocent. This included proof that the witnesses that the court had heard from had been coerced. Even with all of the new evidence, it took six years before the court ruled that it was an unconstitutional conviction. This case denied McMillian of many of the basic human rights because of his skin color by ignoring all evidence that proved him innocent. The judicial system did not protect h

  A contemporary issue that I looked at and analyzed using the features of human rights was how government officials’ response to the COVID - 19 pandemic in America affected several people’s right to vote. In the article I read, which is from Human Rights Watch, says that they did an extensive 83 page report on the changes to voting made by election officials in Arizona, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin as a response to Coronavirus. The changes were all made before the 2020 primaries in these states, and the changes made greatly affected the Black and Latinx communities in a discriminatory way. An example of this is in Wisconsin during their spring primaries. A lot of citizens, specifically Black and Latinx citizens, in Milwaukee were unable to vote because of reasons including feared exposure to coronavirus, lacking transportation, or being physically unable to stand in a line.   Alison Parker, the US program managing director at the Human Rights Watch said  “During the 202

 Over the past several months the Black Lives Matter protests have been going on across the country, bringing many systemic issues to light. Most prominently, it has brought the issue of police brutality into the minds of many people, and also how the police are treating protestors. I believe that the actions of many police officers during many protests are violating the declaration of human rights.  Since the protests began in June, there have also been hundreds of reports against the police for using excessive force on peaceful protestors. Along with that, the use of rubber bullets, pepper spray, and tear gas has been widespread among police. This is within violation of article 5 of the declaration of human rights, which states: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.". There are dozens of videos of police treating protestors and journalists in ways that can be considered cruel and inhumane. Most notable to me was a video I saw of

  Andreas Cantu  Mr. Zhou  GPHC  26 September 2020  Uighur Muslims in China  In 2018 the Human Rights Watch reported an increase in suppression against the Uighur Muslims in China, with China detaining nearly one million people in political re-education camps (brainwashing,) along with evidence of intense torture and mistreatment. Despite worldwide criticism towards China and its treatment of Muslims and refugees, they continue to disregard the universal and interdependent human rights given to everyone.  China has been undermining the universal rights given to everyone in multiple ways, with all of it directed towards the Muslim groups. Even Muslims that have yet to be detained face prejudices against their practice of religion and their freedom of movement. That is a perfect example of the lack of human rights given to them. The universal human rights state that “ Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion” (Article 18.) Furthermore, as China continues

Izabella Curtis  Mr. Roddy & Mr. Zhou Global Politics and Historical Contexts 30 September 2020 Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: Specifically Women's Rights         Women's Rights is an issue I care deeply about, as well as gender equality. To be completely honest I mostly keep in touch with Western issues involving these topics. Although last year, I sat in on a presentation Cricket did about Saudi Arabia's women's rights. I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to do further research about Women's Rights in a different culture.          There are 10 reasons why a woman from Saudi Arabia would flee her home country. 1. Saudi Women cannot apply for passports. Saudi Women are not allowed to travel to a different country unless they have permission from their male guardian, male guardians can seek court and request the women return to the home. 2. Saudi Women are unable to freely marry, their male guardian is required to give permission to the women. The m

  An issue I find very interesting in regards to the discussion around human rights is the controversy around abortion. Specifically in the U.S., the ruling on Roe V. Wade as well as different restrictions made on abortions in more recent years.  There is a fascinating argument for abortion as a form of health care, this falling under the general umbrella of article 25; refering to having a living standard adequate to maintain health and wellbeing of self and family, and right to security in the cirumstances of a lack of livelihood out of the individual’s control. Pregnancy has the potential to greatly affect a woman’s health, as well as ability to maintain an income to sustain herself or her family. It also could fall under article 23, since pregnancy is an obstacle that specifically prevents women from participating in the work force the same as men.  Universal- The right to healthcare, as well as the right to be able to work and maintain a livelihood is universal, and therefore if

  John Mazziotti Mr. Zhou - Mr. Roddy GPHC September 29th, 2020 Features of Human Rights: The Uighurs The Uighurs are a Turkic-Muslim ethnic minority group who live in the XinJiang province in north-western China. Their population is about eleven million people. In the last few years, the Chinese government has oppressed them severely into labor camps and re-education camps(BBC). The estimated number of people that are now being held in these camps is approximately one million people. Even though China did sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR), they have violated a significant amount of them with the Uighurs. They are being unlawfully detained, put into camps, and even have had their religious activities and gatherings halted.  In this situation, we can see that the term ‘Universal’ Human Rights are not being upheld in the slightest. Since China is currently undermining their rights completely, and since there are no rights that are dependent on other rights, the ter

 Hello Mr. Roddy, I am just testing if I am able to post. Please delete this post. Thanks, Mrs. Salgado