Usa and countries that violate human rights essay

Human rights have been one of the prime things that the government of United States is highly concerned about not only within but also outside its border confines. The US claims to be a champion for human rights, yet it continues to trade with countries that do not respect human rights. One of our most important allies is Saudi Arabia, a country that does not allow women to vote, drive or go out in public without a male relative escort.

China is one of our major trade partners, yet the people of China have very little freedom. Now the questions that arise are whether U. S.

should continue with these relationships or should pressurize these countries (and others) to improve how their people are treated? Other than a military intervention, how can US influence nations to improve their commitment to human rights?            This essay is going to focus on the United States as a champion for human rights in the world and how having relationship with nations that have little or no regard for human rights taint its good name and undermine its fight for human rights. The US as a country has been accused of conducting businesses with countries that are well known for violating human rights such as China and Saudi Arabia. If United States is really a true champion of human rights across the globe then it should not have any relationship with the said countries as all they do is to ruin its good reputation. It is only by disassociating itself with these countries that it would get a platform to pressurize these countries to respect and value human rights.

Apart from using military intervention, there are other viable and effective methods that can be used to make these countries value and show respect for human rights. Some of these methods are like imposing economic sanctions, issuing of travel bans to any leader who has ever been implicated in human rights violation, freezing of international financial aid and through diplomatic talks among others.            The United States has actively been conducting its business with Saudi Arabia and in fact, the two countries enjoy a warm relationship something that lays a good foundation for business transactions but the irony is that some of the values the two countries stand for are different. The US was very influential in the formation of the United Nations and played a very vital role in drafting Universal Declaration of Human Rights charter. This universal declaration appealed many nations such that they agreed to adopt the US model of Bill of Rights. The US has also been actively involved in United Nations matters that involve human rights for example in the formation and signing of human rights treaties, declarations and covenants.

It is also strongly opposed to any country that violates human rights but the funny thing is that there is no respect for human rights in Saudi Arabia and China and yet it relates with them (UNA-USA Policy Studies Panel, 2007).            According to Mitchell and Hollingsworth (2006), the Saudi government has been implicated many times in acts of human rights violation despite the fact that according to the United Nations requirements it complied with the International convention law against torture, religious group’s oppression, abuse of women right and oppression of political minorities are very common. Saudi government is among the few countries that use corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure. Convicted big criminals are amputated either hands, legs or both but other methods like lashing is used on less serious crimes such as sexual deviance and drunkenness.

In 2004, Saudi Arabian government was widely criticized for executing capital punishment in public places where convicted criminals such as robbers, drug traffickers and rapists were beheaded in public.            Saudi women are among the most affected because they are both discriminated by the government and the society. They are discriminated almost in every aspect of their life be it in education, justice system and in work places. Saudi Arabia is a country where men are considered to be superior to women. Although many women about 77 percent of them find their way to universities, it is only a handful of them about 5 percent join the country’s workforce (AI Index: MDE 23/57/00, 2000).

Sharia laws are one of the tools that are used to suppress the rights of women for example, it is clearly stipulated in the laws that the role of a woman in a home is to take care of her husband and the family. In Saudi Arabia women are not supposed to go unaccompanied by their husbands in public places and are not even allowed to visit their female friends or relatives without the approval of their husbands. Also the do not have voting rights and thus they have no say in political processes (Mitchell and Hollingsworth, 2006).            Though this is what happens in Saudi Arabia, the US government continues to hold business relations with Saudi government and this relationship dates back to the times of king Abdulaziz who gave US exclusive rights to explore oil in the region.

The US also worked hand in hand with Saudi government in 1991 to oust Iraq forces from Kuwait. Apart from this, the US is one of the biggest business partners of Saudi Arabia and most of US products such as coca cola are consumed in Saudi Arabia. Many US multinational companies like McDonald have been established in the region. “ Bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and the US has increased from $160 million in 1970 to over $46 billion in 2007” (US-Saudi Arabian Business Council).

Massive cases of human rights violation happening in Saudi Arabia is the same thing that happens in China. China is another country that is a big partner of US government despite the fact that Chinese government has been accused of gross violation of human rights. According to Lam and Nanto (2006), Chinese government suppresses people’s rights in fact; people are not allowed to express their opinions freely. When people try to agitate for their rights and freedoms, they are arrested and detained in places where sometimes are tortured to death. Though freedom of association is guaranteed by Chinese constitution, it only exists in theory.            Freedom of religion is another thing that is not recognized in China. No public worshipping would take place without the government’s approval.

Evangelizing is another thing that is totally discouraged by the government. In China, people who are detained by the police are tortured and many of them never leave those detention camps alive.  People have no access to justice system for example people could be sentenced administratively by the police thereby denying them an opportunity to hire a lawyer or for their case to be heard in court. Despite the fact that there is strong evidence that points to the fact that torture is common in prisons, the Chinese government remains ignorant and is reluctant to address the issues. Although these cases of human rights violation are in the public domain, the US government, a champion of human rights continues to relate with Chinese government (Lam and Nanto, 2006).            The US government import goods such as data processing machines, electrical appliances and machineries among other things. Though it relates this way with China, it can neither be said to be China’s ally nor enemy because the relationship that exist is purely business. If US expect all countries in the world to respect human rights, it would first terminate all kind of relationship it has with all these governments that violate human rights (Lam and Nanto, 2006).

No country can survive in isolation and thus if economic sanctions are placed on these countries, then they would find it hard to survive and would be forced to cooperate. The US should lead by example as other smaller nations cannot agree to impose economic sanctions if US which is one of the strongest countries in the world is not doing so. Countries survive because they in one way or the other relate with other nations especially in trade. For example, a dry country like Saudi Arabia mainly relies on its oil which it trades with agricultural products from other countries thus if trade barriers are placed on it, the country at large and the government in place cannot survive. These governments are sustained by money they got from international trade and thus if  international business is affected then these governments would find it hard to remain in power as it is the money that they make from  this business that sustains them and this would lead to the compliance with human rights declarations (UNA-USA Policy Studies Panel, 2007).            Some governments that violate human rights are poor and thus are sustained by the funds they receive from donors such as International Monetary Fund, European Union and from World Bank. These institutions should freeze any financial assistance that they provide to any government that violates human rights and this would in one way lead to their compliance. If all other methods seem not to work, the US and the United nations should try to initiate diplomatic talks with these governments to make sure they value and respect human rights.

Agreements on human rights should be signed in presence of international bodies such as United Nations among other powerful nations. People should also be enlightened on how they can force these governments to value and respect human rights and one way of doing this is by voting the government out when voting time comes (UNA-USA Policy Studies Panel, 2007).            Violation of human rights is the most inhuman thing that one can do to another human being and the United States has been at the forefront championing for these rights within its borders and in the world at large. Many countries in the world continue to violate these rights and no one is there to challenge them. These are countries like Saudi Arabia and china.

In China for example people have no freedom of religion, association and expression while in Saudi Arabia women are greatly oppressed, convicted criminals are tortured to death among other acts that violate human dignity but the irony is that US government continues to have relations with these governments. What should be done is that those ties should be terminated so that it can be in a better position to pressurize them to have respect and value human rights. References: AI Index: MDE 23/57/00, September 27th 2000. Saudi Arabia: Gross Human     Rights Abuses against Women Embargo. Available at             http://www. amnesty.

org/en/library/asset/MDE23/057/2000/en/3d786301- dea6-11dd-b378-99b26579b978/mde230572000en. pdfLam, T. and Nanto, D.

2006, China’s Trade with the United States and the      World. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from             http://italy.

usembassy. gov/pdf/other/RL31403. pdfMitchell, S. and Hollingsworth, M. 2006. Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption and Cover-up. Mainstream Publishing. UNA-USA Policy Studies Panel, 2007.

United States Foreign Policy and         Human Rights: Principles, Priorities, Practice: A report of the         National Policy Panel of the United Nations Association of the USA. United Nations Association of the USA. US-Saudi Business Council, 13th, April 2009. U. S.-Saudi Relations.

Accessed            from http://www. us-sabc. org/i4a/pages/index. cfm? pageid= 3362