Only in the past century has the international community sought to design rule to promote and protect human rights. Since the United Nations was established in 1945, world leaders have collaborated to categorize human rights in a universally recognized regime of treaties, institutions, and norms. Despite achieving some success through implementation of national and international institutions, significant challenges to promoting and sustaining human rights persist. Thus, in a world where human rights atrocities affect millions and the UN Charter affirms “fundamental freedoms (The United Nations 1948)” while simultaneously upholding other nations cannot interfere with states’ domestic matters, imposing economic sanctions on governments that violate
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However, when there is no leadership change following the imposition of economic sanctions, higher levels of repression are observed (Carniero and Elden 2009). Carniero and Elden go even further to show economic sanctions have an adverse impact on protection of rights in autocratic societies, such as Iraq and a large majority of other states who are often human rights violators (2009). If sanctions fail to mitigate the capability of the target state and produce greater economic difficulties and political violence among citizens, the government will likely commit more human rights atrocities (Peksen 2009). This can explicitly be seen in the case of Iraq. The economic sanctions had little effect on Hussein’s power, but resulted in severe impacts on Iraq’s economy and society. Frieden, Lake, and Shultz indicate the economic depravations caused infant mortality to rise, resulted in the collapse of Iraqi industries, employment and education, and crime and violence escalated (2013). When authoritarian regimes already ignore the wishes of their citizens and demonstrate their willingness to abuse human rights, sanctions are unlikely to affect the behavior of the target state. However the most …show more content…
The proper function of government is to safeguard that right, not to restrict trade to protect special interests at the expense of the general welfare. In some cases these unilateral sanctions are put in place without considering the cultural differences behind human rights violations themselves. Often countries, like the United States, use their economic hegemony to align countries with their human rights policies. Many nations look to the United States when shaping their own human rights policy. However, a fundamental difference exists between looking to the United States when drafting human rights policy and having these Western ideas of “rights” forced on a state. The Universal Declaration is founded upon the premise that notions of human rights established in the West should be the controlling ideals after which the rest of the world 's nations should strive. Who is to say that
However, when there is no leadership change following the imposition of economic sanctions, higher levels of repression are observed (Carniero and Elden 2009). Carniero and Elden go even further to show economic sanctions have an adverse impact on protection of rights in autocratic societies, such as Iraq and a large majority of other states who are often human rights violators (2009). If sanctions fail to mitigate the capability of the target state and produce greater economic difficulties and political violence among citizens, the government will likely commit more human rights atrocities (Peksen 2009). This can explicitly be seen in the case of Iraq. The economic sanctions had little effect on Hussein’s power, but resulted in severe impacts on Iraq’s economy and society. Frieden, Lake, and Shultz indicate the economic depravations caused infant mortality to rise, resulted in the collapse of Iraqi industries, employment and education, and crime and violence escalated (2013). When authoritarian regimes already ignore the wishes of their citizens and demonstrate their willingness to abuse human rights, sanctions are unlikely to affect the behavior of the target state. However the most …show more content…
The proper function of government is to safeguard that right, not to restrict trade to protect special interests at the expense of the general welfare. In some cases these unilateral sanctions are put in place without considering the cultural differences behind human rights violations themselves. Often countries, like the United States, use their economic hegemony to align countries with their human rights policies. Many nations look to the United States when shaping their own human rights policy. However, a fundamental difference exists between looking to the United States when drafting human rights policy and having these Western ideas of “rights” forced on a state. The Universal Declaration is founded upon the premise that notions of human rights established in the West should be the controlling ideals after which the rest of the world 's nations should strive. Who is to say that