Free Essay On Human Rights and the ICC

Human rights are rights inherent to an individual for simply being human. This moral principle is observed irrespective of an individual’s nationality, sex, racial origin, color, religion, language, or any other life status for that matter. The enlightenment period has a massive influence in the observance of human rights, because it was during this period that the category of human rights in the form on the right to vote was observed. Accordingly, the earliest model of human rights was founded on the ideas on natural rights that comes from natural law, and this is particularly noted on the cause universal rights was introduced by the Greek and Roman philosophers. These philosophies of human rights are then used by during the enlightenment period to further the cause of human dignity and rights.For instance, the great thinkers such as Hobbes and Locke promulgated the contract theory that was closely associated with human rights.
The onset of the industrial revolution played a vital role in the evolution of human rights. As people moved from the less populated area in the industrial center, their relationship with their new society are governed by different factors. For example, most of the people who were employed in the factories faced a considerably poor working conditions and undue treatment. The realization of their oppressed status as working class leads to the decision to work for their right. Thus the second generation of human rights emanated from the want of people for better and equal employment opportunities, commensurate pay, safer working conditions as well as the opportunity to have an access to education.
Consequently, an attempt to effect change has been done by the transnational networks. The repressive state of the society has been challenged, because many people questioned the existences of inequality and even laws that defies human rights. The transnational human rights networks are aimed at forming cross cultural and united effort in promoting a universally accepted standard in the observance of human rights. For example, it was the advocacy of the transnational networks to combat slavery and the promotion of women’s right to vote. Transnational networks started by working on complaints and working with the state towards the solution and better observance of human rights.
The use of the media and other forms of communication in order to advance their cause. Their effort to call attention to their advocacy for human rights resulted in the resolution of the issue in the form of a change in state policies, which eventually affects the overall attitude of the state constituents. There is also the boomerang model where it suggests that a state may not protect or violate human rights. Generally, this form of human right model as exemplified by local government units who set wanted the focus of the media in order fort their advocacy to be noted by the government and the public. The advocacy of these groups is focused on gaining the goodwill of the society, and the impact of their influence will then be used to communicate their views and concerns with the proper state agencies or government. Sometimes, their efforts are concerted in pressuring the government officials in giving into their want for a change; often even in instances when the authorities disagree with their views, the latter are compelled to adapt the change. There are instances when conflicts arise due to the fact that there are states that agree to adopt policy changes, while there are others who do not.
After the Second World War, the universal declaration of human rights was eventually adopted. The drafting of this model was attributed to the fact that an increase in cases of criminality occurred after the war. Thus, the post–World War II transnational human rights movement was developed in retaliation to the persistence of gap between existing state human rights and how it was practiced. It was the first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who worked in the drafting of the new human rights in the United States, this was in line with her advocacy to give each and every person an equal right with that of the others. The drafting of the human rights model was difficult and it took a long time because there are many considerations to be made in the process. Nevertheless, the drafting of the UDHR was successful and was adopted by about 120 countries so far.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is another institution that works towards the prosecution of people who were convicted of international crimes such as genocide, war crimes as well as those crimes that are committed against all humanity. The purpose of the ICC is to complement prevailing national laws, and this means that they can only be exercised under specific conditions. Nevertheless, the role of the ICC is controversial because of its role in handling international crimes, such as the case of Africa, which once supported ICC, but would later argue that the international court has been focusing too much in the country while being lax in other states. It is to be noted that the US, China, India and Sudan lift up their support from ICC. The decision of these countries to leave the ICC made people question the role of this court in handling human right cases. There is also another controversy which many political analysts called the ‘crime against peace’, where it suggested that a country that starts a war has already gone against the ICC.