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This page seems to be off topic as I use to talk about travels and vacations. I always write to you my vacations because I love to travel, to see and to know as much as possible. During my holiday, I try to spend some time meeting people, learning about their culture and way of living. | |
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I do not understand how some people may spend a whole vacation in a "all-inclusive touristic village" without leaving it and without seeing the country which hosts them. | |
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I know that human rights are going to be violated also a few meters from my house. I know that I will not resolve anything with these few words, but I want to try to make you think for five minutes, about "human rights" as I have been able to capture your attention talking about my travels. | |
The equality and parity between men and women have been asserted as fundamental principle in many international declarations, first of all: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which says «Article I: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2 : Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set
forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, property, birth or other status.».
Really, women are still discriminated for sex: except for the life hope (women use to live a longer life), all the socio-economic indicators consider men as favorite both in the industrialized countries both in the developing countries.
The birth of a girl-child, in many
poor countries, is considered like a misfortune. A woman will never be independent,
she may only leave her origin family by marrying, and the wedding involves too
many expenses. So, mothers prefers to abort rather than having daughters.
Amnesty International
If you want,
goto the "search" page of Amnesty
International and look for the story of the young Sapnahar, a 13 year-old
girl sentenced to public whipping after she had been raped by a villager in
Bangladesh in 1993, and had become pregnant, or the fight of Manorani Saravanamuttu
in Sri Lanka in order to know the truth about the homicide of her son, a journalist.
Finally, Ngawang Sangdrol sentenced to 18 years of jail to have participated
to a non violent manifestation for the independence of its country, Tibet, and
to have composed songs in favour of independence from China.
If you have children, when you are looking at them playing, when you are helping them doing their homework, when you are choosing the right holiday for them, stop and think for a moment to all those children who, now, are working.
Think to Iqbal Masih, a 13 year-old Pakistan boy, killed from the carpets Mafia. His story has gone around the world, he had ten, hundred of million brothers. They are everywhere, also in "rich" countries, where children are not sufficiently protected, because of grown of unemployment and the many sufferings of the so-called "developing societies". The child slavery is both consequence and cause of poverty. The hard way of living and working, illiteracy, diseases and lack of food causes a premature aging. It's time to stop it , even if many people use to obstinating consider it as an unavoidable "phase of increasing for developing societies".
For example, remember children that actually are working to prepare Nike shoes or those that are sewing the small dresses of Barbie in Indonesia:
The CSG (Citra Sandang Graha Ltd, textile industry) considers "on training" the children for the first 9 months of work in factory. So, during this period, they have no rights neither about money or other benefits about their health. If the working child, during this period, is not able to maintain the imposed working rhythm, he is fired without earning money. During this "test period ", he also is forced to work also on Sunday, during holidays and even on night if there is many work to do.
We do not forget all those children who were playing in a ground while they have had the misfortune to find a landmine, as the eleven-year-old Elsa Armindo Chela who was picking mangoes with her cousin Osvaldo in the town of Kuito, in Angola. Elsa lost her eye, her leg, and her cousin.
If you are a woman,
try to imagine your life: you have spent many years studying, you have grown
your sons, you have visited many countries and you have a quite good independence.
And that is the norm in your country as there are more than 50% of the student
or teachers in the university who are women, 50% of the workers and 40% of the
doctors are women.
But a bad day, a group of men, supported by government, impose a list of rules
which restrict women rights. Now you must completely cover your body with "burqa",
You are not allowed to leave your home or go to work without fear of being publicly
beaten and it is prohibited to go to school to your daughters. But that is not
all, you have no right to have an health assistance as you can't be seen by
a man and any woman is allowed to work. Finally, the windows of your house will
be darkened in order to protect you by foreign looks and even your shoes will
have to be silent as you may not show anybody the noise of yours feet.
This is the reality for many women in Afghanistan today.
Women in Afghanistan by Amnesty International
Women have had important roles also against persecutions of indigenous people. Read about Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize in the name of all indigenous people in 1992, she was born into a poor Indian family, and raised in the Quiche branch of the Mayan culture in Guatemala. As a teenager, she became involved in social reform programs of the Catholic Church and was active in the women's rights movement. Like her father, she joined the CUC (Committee of the Peasant Union) in 1979, after members of her family had suffered persecution. In 1993, she was nominated by the United Nations as Goodwill Ambassador for the International Year of the Indigenous Peoples. At present, she is the Promoter of the International Decade of Indigenous Peoples, mandated by the General Assembly of the United Nations and was also appointed to be the personal advisor to the general director of UNESCO. Concurrently she presides over the Indigenous Initiative for Peace.
Remember Guadalupe
Méndez López an Indian killed in Ocosingo, state of Chiapas, during an attack
by Public Security Police the 12th of January. She was killed and 2 children were
injured during a peaceful protest against the Acteal massacre
that took place in Chenalhó, Chiapas, this last December 22nd.
On December 22 in the community of Acteal, municipality of Chenalho, (about
60 km from the turistic colonial city of San Cristobal de Las Casas), hundreds
of Tzotzil indigenous were brutally attacked by a paramilitary group with the
complacency of local and state authorities. These people were already seeking
refuge from previous attacks. At least 45 people (21 women, 14 children, one
baby, and 9 men) died in this abhorrent attack. Furthermore this human rights
center has been able to document 25 gunshot wounded, most of them minors. This
act is part of a series of violent crimes that have been registered and gone
unpunished these last few months.
Centro de Derechos Humanos "Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas" the www page which had 11.000 contacts the night of 25th December 1997 after the Acteal massacre.
¡Ya Basta! EZLN (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional)
and the Italian Commettee (english translation
available)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), there are many WWW pages about
it, use a powerful Searching Engine such as altavista.digital.com
and look for -"Human Rights" and "1948"-
Amnesty International against human rights
violations around the world
THIRD WORLD TRAVELER
provides alternative travel information for developing countries; supports responsible
travel; discusses Third World human rights; educates travelers about the impact
of the policies of transnational corporations, international financial institutions,
and the United States government and its national security establishment, on
the Third World; and provides opportunities for travelers to act on behalf of
social and economic justice in the Third World.
Indigenous Peoples to
know more about Indigenous Peoples' Literature and culture.
Zapatistas
in Ciberspace. The international circulation through the Net of the struggles
of the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico has become one of the most successful examples
of the use of computer communications by grassroots social movements... find
a long list of interesting links.
"Through
PeaceNet take action for positive
social change in the areas of peace, social and economic justice, human rights
and the struggle against racism."
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Niña en la comunidad de Galeana, cañada Patihuita.
Girl in the village of Galeana, Patihuita valley. Photo credit: Mariana Mora. |
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