Indigenous cultures and the human rights charter : the eradication of child marriage

Abstract

Rights are protected by various forms of laws such as treaties, customary law and international law. International human rights are there to protect societies from their governments, if and only if, their rights are not being seen to ‘locally’. It also obligates governments not to act in certain ways such as capital punishment and to encourage and promote human rights and fundamental freedom. Principle of universality of human rights was first emphasized during the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, in 1948, and has kept its significance throughout the years. During the Vienna World Conference, in 1993, it was noted the great importance that all States require to protect and promote such rights. All of the States have ratified a core human right treaty whilst 80% of them ratified minimum of four. There are seven core treaties which spell out the basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights. Some rights have a universal protection through customary international law. Only a few rights may not be followed under certain circumstances such as the right to liberty if found guilty for a crime. Human Rights advocate agree that The Universal Declaration of Human Rights today is still a dream and not a reality as violations of Human Rights still exist in every part of the world. Amnesty International 2014 World Report shows War Crimes or other violations of the ‘laws of war’ were carried in at least eighteen countries, Armed groups committed in at least 35 countries, Refugees and Migrants were at particular risk in 2014, Almost three quarters of the governments restricted freedom of speech, More than a third of government locked up prisoners of conscience, 58% of trials conducted unfair trials, 82% of the countries tortured or ill‐treated the people, 28 countries around the world have laws which completely ban abortion even in cases where a women’s life is in danger and in cases of rape and Seventy eight countries have laws in effect that are used to criminalise consensual sexual relationships between adults of the same sex. Culture and Human Rights Culture is a characteristic of a group of people defined by their language, religion, social habits, cuisine and art. Culture is a shared pattern of behaviours and interactions which are learned by socialising. This is seen as the growth of an identity of a particular group. Culture is derived from the Latin word ‘colere’, meaning cultivation and nurture. Culture is a forceful statement for the human values. Culture is not universal and varies from one country to another. This means that human rights are rather culturally relative rather than a universal issue. When culture is taken to its extreme it poses a dangerous threat to put into effect the international law and the international system of human rights. If abuse and violation of human rights are given legitimacy, international laws are disregarded. Protection of human rights is interpreted as culturally relative if they are subject to State’s decisions in certain matters. If States decide to reject their legal obligations, States may then raise their own cultural norms which will be above international standards. One may ask is human rights universal?