Human Right Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Right - Essay Example Values, such as freedom, equality and human dignity, are relevant to all societies and all times, but differ in their forms of manifestation and their roles in society. The term 'human rights' was born of Western cultural and historical traditions, but with the passage of time it has transcended the Western cultural boundary and become a universal symbol of human values. As a concentrated expression of diverse positive values, human rights enjoy unprecedented popularity today. However, each nation or culture has its own system and ways to achieve these values. People have different understandings of what human rights entail and what the approaches are to achieve them. These differences call for international cooperation and coordinated efforts of nations to promote human rights the world over. "Dialogue on human rights is a sensible means to surmount differences and reach consensuses." (Yunlong, 2006) During the last two years, one major 'human right' issue of conflict; was that of the Lebanese-Israeli conflict which initiated on July 12, 2006 .It had ignited loud criticisms. These criticisms were basically regarding the conflicts that had occurred because of the violations of the International Humanitarian Law. The international armed conflict and the laws which governed it were a major cause of debate. The issue was twofold: The relation of Hezbollah, the guerilla group, to the international humanitarian law, the treatment of the prisoners of war, the protection of the civilian's indiscriminate attacks and access to humanitarian relief. On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite armed group, launched an attack on Israeli positions, captured two Israeli soldiers on the other side of the Blue Line (the United Nation embarked line after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon on May 25, 2000). Nine Israeli soldiers were also killed. In response, Israel launched a large scale ope ration on Lebanon. The death toll of the ongoing conflict from August 1, 2000 has climbed up to 800 killed Lebanese civilians and 51 Israeli killed civilians. The Israeli army has been accused of disproportionate and indiscriminate assaults in its operations toward Lebanon. The Israeli Defense Forces said that they were doing 'everything to minimize' civilian casualties in Lebanon. The Hezbollah on the other hand launched its rockets randomly on targets within Israel and has been accused targeting civilians and civilian objects within Israel. The actions from the Hezbollah, as also from the Israel Defense Forces are reflecting the current opposing conflict between them, as they are also considered international humanitarian law violations. The second conflict in violation of the humanitarian law took place in Azerbaijan, which accused neighboring Armenia of breaching a ceasefire, regarding the dispute about the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, causing the death of an Azeri soldier. In this latest round of feuding between these two rivals, Armenia quickly denied the charge and responded with a counter-accusation that Azeri troops had killed an Armenian soldier. When these two former Soviet republics became