Wednesday, 29 June 2016

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: World Report 2016 #2

Seperti yang kita tahu, sewaktu ketika dahulu, wanita telah dikategorikan lemah dan tempatnya hanyalah di rumah, melakukan kerja rumah dan menguruskan keluarga semata-mata. Sebelum ini, wanita tidak mempunyai hak dan kebebasan seperti lelaki, contohnya hak untuk bersuara dan menerima pelajaran. Pada waktu tamadun purba di China, wanita tidak dianggap penting. Mereka selalunya tinggal dirumah dan membuat kerja-kerja rumah, serta menjaga anak. Pokoknya mereka hanya berperanan sebagai 'child bearer'. Berikutan juga dalam tamadun purba Greek, wanita hanya berperanan sebagai ibu dan isteri, serta berkerja di ladang untuk membantu suami. Selain itu, wanita pada waktu itu juga ada yang dikategorikan sebagai 'slave', oleh itu, pentinglah bagi wanita pada waktu itu untuk pandai memasak, membasuh pakaian, mengangkat air dari perigi dan banyak lagi. Mereka melakukan segala kerja di rumah, berat atau tidak, kerana ianya adalah norma masyarakat mereka.

Namun selepas Perang Dunia 2, banyak gerakan untuk menaiktarafkan status wanita dilakukan. Hal ini kita boleh lihat sejajar dengan perkembangan pendidikan, ekonomi, dan politik, yang mana wanita juga dibenarkan untuk turut sama dalam hal tersebut. Banyak negara di dunia telah mulai mengiktiraf wanita sebagai sama rata dengan lelaki, walaubagaimanapun, masih ada lagi segelintir negara yang tidak mampu mengaplikasikan hak tersebut secara menyeluruh, kerana keadaan politik, ekonomi, dan sosial negara tersebut. Disini saya ingin berkongsi dengan anda tentang satu lagi laporan yang saya dapati dai Human Rights Watch, dimana laporan kali ini menyentuh tentang keadaan wanita di beberapa tempat di dunia yang masih terikat dengan nilai dan norma tradisional masyarakat mereka.



WORLD REPORT #2




Ending Child Marriage

Meeting the Global Development Goals’ Promise to Girls

by Nisha Varia


Sharon J.’s marriage at age 14 in Tanzania dashed her hopes for the future: “My dream was to study to be a journalist. Until today, when I watch news or listen to the radio and someone is reading news, it causes me a lot of pain because I wish it were me.”

Around the world, marriage is often idealized as ushering in love, happiness, and security. But for Sharon and other girls, getting married is often one of the worst things that can happen. Roughly one in three girls in the developing world marries before age 18; one in nine marries before turning 15.

Human Rights Watch investigations in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Malawi, Nepal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Yemen, and Zimbabwe have found that early marriage has dire life-long consequences—often completely halting or crippling a girl’s ability to realize a wide range of human rights. Leaving school early both contributes to, and results from, marrying young. Other impacts include marital rape, heightened risk of domestic violence, poor access to decent work, exploitation doing unpaid labor, risk of HIV transmission, and a range of health problems due to early childbearing.

At present, unprecedented attention is being paid to child marriage globally. Prominent voices in and out of government—including those of Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, and Joyce Banda, the former president of Malawi—have publicly committed to fight child marriage in their countries.

But change is often incremental, and promises do not always lead to effective action. Despite setting a goal of ending child marriage in Bangladesh by 2041, Sheikh Hasina has also proposed legislation that would lower the age of marriage for girls to 16 from the current age of 18. In April 2015, Malawi adopted a new law setting the minimum age of marriage at 18; however, it does not override the constitution, which does not explicitly prohibit child marriage under 15, and allows 15- to 18-year-olds to marry with parental consent.

International donors, United Nations agencies, and civil society groups, including Girls Not Brides, a coalition of more than 500 organizations worldwide, have also rallied behind the cause. The challenges are formidable. Child marriage—fueled by poverty and deeply rooted norms that undervalue and discriminate against girls—will not disappear if the concerted attention it now enjoys subsides in favor of the next hot-button issue.

A recent development may help sustain attention: the UN Sustainable Development Goals adopted in September 2015 include eliminating child marriage as a key target by 2030 for advancing gender equality.

Meeting this target requires a combination of approaches that have proved difficult to achieve for other women’s rights issues: a commitment of political will and resources over many years; willingness to acknowledge adolescent girls’ sexuality and empower them with information and choices; and true coordination across various sectors, including education, health, justice, and economic development.


Tackling the Roots of Child Marriage

The main causes of child marriage vary across regions and communities but often center around control over girls’ sexuality.

In some countries, such as Tanzania, Human Rights Watch interviewed many girls who said they felt forced to marry after becoming pregnant. In other countries, such as Bangladesh, parents hasten a daughter’s marriage to avoid the risk that she will be sexually harassed, romantically involved, or simply perceived as romantically involved, prior to marriage.

A common thread is that most girls—economically dependent, with little autonomy or support, and pressured by social norms—feel they had no choice but to comply with their parents’ wishes.

Discriminatory gender norms in many places, including traditions that dictate that a girl live with her husband’s family, while a boy remains with and financially supports his parents, contributes to perceptions that daughters are an economic burden while sons are a long-term investment.

Poor access to quality education is another contributing factor. When schools are too far away, too expensive, or the journey too dangerous, families often pull out their girls or they drop out on their own and are subsequently much more likely to be married off.

Even when schools are accessible, teacher absenteeism and poor quality education can mean that neither girls nor their parents feel it is worth the time or expense. Girls may also be kept out of school because they are expected to work instead—either in the home, or sometimes as paid labor from young ages. These same drawbacks, combined with lack of support from school administrators or from husbands and in-laws, often prevent married girls from continuing their education.

Many girls and their families cite poverty and dowry as another factor for marriage. The stress of “another mouth to feed” hastens some parents’ decisions to marry off their daughters early. In Bangladesh, where a girl’s parents pay dowry to the groom, the younger the girl, the lower the dowry—meaning that some poor families believe that if they don’t marry their daughters early they will not be able to marry them at all.

In contrast, in South Sudan, the girl’s family will receive dowry from the groom, either in the form of cattle, an important economic asset, or money. For example, Ayen C., from Bor County, said, “My husband paid 75 cows as dowry for me. We never talked or courted before we got married. When I learned about the marriage, I felt very bitter. I told my father, ‘I don’t want to go to this man.’ He said, ‘I have loved the cattle that this man has, you will marry him.’”

Many girls have miserably little access to sexual and reproductive health information and services—whether on how one gets pregnant, reliable contraception methods, protection against sexually transmitted infections, prenatal services, or emergency obstetric care.

As a result, child marriage is closely linked to early—and risky—childbearing. The consequences can be fatal: complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the second-leading cause of death for girls ages 15 to 19 globally. In other cases, the stress of delivery in physically immature bodies can cause obstetric fistulas, a tear between a girl’s vagina and rectum that results in constant leaking of urine and feces. Girls suffering this condition are often ostracized and abandoned by their families and communities.

According to 2013 data, 74 percent of new HIV infections among African adolescents are in girls, many of them in the context of marriage where limited agency in the relationship and pressure to have children contribute to lack of condom use.

Domestic violence is another risk of marriage, perpetrated by a girl’s husband or in-laws, including psychological, physical, and sexual violence, such as marital rape. While not all child marriages are marked by domestic violence, the risk increases when there are large age gaps between a girl and her husband.

Many countries fail to criminalize marital rape, and even when it is a crime, child brides have little ability to seek help. And in general, limited information about their rights, lack of access to services especially legal assistance and emergency shelters, discriminatory divorce, inheritance, and custody laws, and rejection from their own families, can leave many trapped in abusive marriages with no means of escape.

Armed conflict heightens girls’ risk of child marriage and other abuses. For example, forced marriage of girls is a devastating tactic of war used by extremist groups such as Islamic State (also known as ISIS) and Nigeria’s Boko Haram. Human Rights Watch interviewed Yezidi girls in Iraq who gave harrowing accounts of being captured, separated from their families, and bought and sold into sexual slavery. One young woman who escaped described being taken to a wedding hall with 60 girls and women where ISIS fighters told them to “forget about your relatives, from now on you will marry us, bear our children.”

Environmental factors also play a role. Poor families living in areas at high risk of natural disaster, including as a result of climate change, such as in Bangladesh, have cited the resulting insecurity as a factor pushing them to marry their daughters early. For example, flooding of crops or the loss of land can deepen a family’s poverty, and parents said they felt pressure to hasten a young daughter’s marriage in the wake of a natural disaster or in anticipation of one.


The Way Forward

While the harms caused by child marriage are grim, the benefits of ending the practice are transformative and far-reaching. Tackling child marriage is a strategic way to advance women’s rights and empowerment in several areas, ranging from health, education, work, freedom from violence, and participation in public life.

But child marriage is complex and varies widely around the world. Governments committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals target of ending child marriage by 2030 will need to employ a holistic, comprehensive approach that is tailored to local contexts and diverse communities.

And while the rate of child marriage has begun to drop in some places, it has increased in others. For example, civil society groups report a growing incidence of child marriage among Syrian refugees in Jordan.

Adopting and implementing cohesive national legal frameworks that uphold international human rights standards is key. This includes making 18 the minimum marriage age, avoiding loopholes such as exceptions for parental consent, ensuring the laws require free and full consent of both spouses, requiring proof of age before marriage licenses are issued, and imposing penalties on anyone who threatens or harms anyone who refuses to marry.

Governments should ensure these protections are not undermined by religious or customary laws and traditions, and should regularly engage with religious and community leaders.

Learning about what types of interventions work—and for whom—is key. Only some of the proliferation of interventions have been adequately monitored or evaluated to know which deserve to be replicated and expanded. In a 2013 review, the Washington DC-based International Center for Research on Women found that only 11 of 51 countries with a prevalence of child marriage greater than 25 percent had evaluated initiatives that fight child marriage.

An assessment of 23 programs out of 150 found evidence supporting the effectiveness of: 1) empowering girls with information and support networks; 2) ensuring girls’ access to quality education; 3) engaging and educating parents and community members about child marriage; 4) providing economic incentives and support to girls’ families; and 5) establishing and implementing a strong legal framework, such as a minimum age of marriage.

The Population Council, an international action-research organization, conducted a rigorous, multi-year study that found offering families in Tanzania and Ethiopia economic incentives, such as livestock, to keep their daughters unmarried and in school led to girls ages 15 to 17 being significantly (two-thirds and 50 percent respectively) less likely to be married compared to those in a community not participating in the program.

In Ethiopia, in communities where girls 12 to 14 were provided free school supplies, they were 94 percent less likely to be married than a comparison group. Communities that engaged in sensitization programs about the value of educating girls and the harms of child marriage also had fewer married girls.

A particularly powerful message that communities and parents respond to is information about the harms of early childbearing. Correspondingly, access to information about reproductive and sexual health is key for adolescents to understand their bodies, promote respect and consensual conduct in relationships, and prevent unwanted pregnancies.

However, while governments have little problem promoting interventions that generally garner broad public support such as providing school supplies, many remain reluctant to introduce programs that might trigger a backlash. They avoid offering comprehensive sexuality education in schools or through other community mechanisms, and ensuring that adolescents, as well as adult women, get full information about contraception and affordable access to health services, including safe and legal abortion.

The effort to end child marriage cannot succeed without greater acceptance of adolescent girls’ sexuality and their rights to make their own informed choices about their bodies, their relationships, and their sexual activity.

Governments and donors can rally around the idea that a 12-year-old girl should be in school rather than a marriage. Countries such as Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States have been lead donors in combatting child marriage. But the challenge will be whether they can make sure child marriage interventions are not standalone efforts disconnected from other undertakings to empower women and poor communities and promote education and health.

Governments, whether as donors or as implementers, need to address some tough questions if they are going to make genuine progress. Do their education programs include special outreach to married girls? Do national plans of action on gender-based violence and “women, peace, and security” include efforts/steps to end child marriage? Do their police training programs on gender-based violence include policing methods to fight child marriage, such as prosecuting local officials who sign marriage certificates for underage girls?

Such coordination is crucial to ensuring that critical opportunities are not missed when allocating resources and programming that will be dedicated across the expansive Sustainable Development Goals agenda.

Efforts to end child marriage also mean the donors should press governments to meet their obligations under international law to eliminate the practice. Key international human rights treaties include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While there is growing evidence of the effectiveness of a number of community-level approaches, government cooperation, law enforcement, and national-level initiatives are key to scale and sustainability.

Too often, nongovernmental organizations and donors support innovative programs, but local government officials undermine their impact by ignoring or even facilitating child marriage (for example, by changing the age on a birth or marriage certificate in return for bribes) or local police fail to enforce laws that make child marriage a crime.

Similarly, critical opportunities are missed when government health workers cannot talk to adolescents about sexuality and contraception, or government school teachers and principals are not mandated or encouraged to reach out to girls dropping out of school to marry.

One of the most striking parallels across Human Rights Watch’s research on child marriage is how girls who married young desperately long for a better future for their daughters.

Kalpana T., interviewed by Human Rights Watch in southern Nepal, is not sure of her age but said she married after she had three or four menstrual periods, and now has three daughters ages 5 and under. She never went to school.

“My sisters and I all had to work in the fields for the landlords for money from as soon as we were old enough to know about work,” she said. “I had to marry because my parents wanted me to. I don’t want this for my daughter. I am uneducated and I don’t know how the world works…. I can’t count money. I want my daughter to be educated and have a better life than what I have right now.”

The Sustainable Development Goals target on ending child marriage could bolster Kalpana T.’s daughters’ chances of having more opportunities than their mother. But a huge amount of coordination, willingness to tackle socially sensitive issues, and sustained commitment and resources is needed before this lofty goal can lead to meaningful change—both for girls in Kalpana T.’s village and elsewhere around the world.





Source:

Human Rights Watch Website link: 

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: World Report 2016 #1

Tahun 2016 menjadi tapak untuk pejuang-pejuang Hak Asasi Manusia untuk memperjuangkan hak mereka. Saya telah menemukan satu medium dimana setiap pergerakan Hak Asasi dikumpulkan dan ditulis menjadi esei laporan untuk bacaan umum. Oleh yang demikian, saya telah memilih dua laporan gerakan Hak Asasi yang berlaku sepanjang 2016 untuk saya kongsikan kepada anda sekalian.

Link untuk ke Website Human Rights Watch ada di bawah Blog.
Enjoy! :)


WORLD REPORT #1


Rights in Transition

Making Legal Recognition for Transgender People a Global Priority
by Neela Ghoshal, Kyle Knight

The process is as universal as it gets: when a baby is born, a doctor, parent, or birth attendant announces the arrival of a “girl” or “boy.” That split-second assignment dictates multiple aspects of our lives. It is also something that most of us never question.

But some people do. Their gender evolves differently from their girl/boy birth assignment and might not fit rigid traditional notions of female or male.

Gender development should have no bearing on whether someone can enjoy fundamental rights, like the ability to be recognized by their government or to access health care, education, or employment. But for transgender people, it does—to a humiliating, violent, and sometimes lethal degree.

The Trans Murder Monitoring Project, an initiative that collects and analyzes reports of transgender homicides worldwide, recorded 1,731 murders of transgender people globally between 2007 and 2014. Many were of a shockingly brutal nature, sometimes involving torture and mutilation.

Outright violence is not the only threat to the lives of transgender people. They are as much as 50 times more likely to acquire HIV than the population as a whole, in part because stigma and discrimination create barriers to accessing health services. Studies in the United States, Canada, and Europe have found high rates of suicide attempts among transgender people, a response to systematic marginalization and humiliation.

Several countries, including Malaysia, Kuwait, and Nigeria, enforce laws that prohibit “posing” as the opposite sex—outlawing transgender people’s very existence. In scores of other countries, transgender people are arrested under laws that criminalize same-sex conduct.

This data only gives a glimpse of the horrific variants of violence and discrimination transgender people face. Absent legal recognition in the gender with which they identify, and associated rights and protections, every juncture of daily life when documents are requested or appearance is scrutinized becomes fraught with potential for violence and humiliation, driving many transgender people into the shadows.

The demand for legal gender recognition provokes moral panic in many governments. But it is a crucial fight to wage. If transgender communities are to thrive, and if the rights to privacy, free expression, and dignity are to be upheld for all, the human rights movement needs to prioritize eliminating abusive and discriminatory procedures that arbitrarily impede the right to recognition. Governments should acknowledge that the state should no longer be in the business of denying or unjustly restricting people’s fundamental right to their gender identity.[1] 


Turning Tide

In recent years, transgender people around the world have made tremendous strides toward achieving legal recognition.

Argentina broke ground in 2012 with a law that is considered the gold standard for legal gender recognition: anyone over the age of 18 can choose their gender identity, undergo gender reassignment, and revise official documents without any prior judicial or medical approval, and children can do so with the consent of their legal representatives or through summary proceedings before a judge.

In the subsequent three years, four more countries—Colombia, Denmark, Ireland, and Malta—explicitly eliminated significant barriers to legal gender recognition. This evolution sets them apart from countries that either do not allow a person to change their “male/female” designation at all, or only allow them to do so when certain conditions have been met, which may include surgery, forced sterilization, psychiatric evaluation, lengthy waiting periods, and divorce. For the first time, people can change their gender marker on documents simply by filing the appropriate forms.

This progress, long in the making, has often come on the backs of courageous individuals willing to have their lives and identities adjudicated by often unfriendly courts.

For instance, Ireland’s 2015 Gender Recognition Bill was the product of a 22-year legal fight by Lydia Foy, a now-retired dentist. Braving a gauntlet of legal procedures, she made her case to be recognized as a woman before Ireland’s High Court in 1997, and again in 2007, backed by domestic and international human rights bodies that called on Ireland to institute a gender recognition procedure based on identity and human rights, not surgeries and expert opinions. Despite the consistent pressure, it was not until 2015, after an overwhelming victory on a same-sex marriage referendum, that the government instituted identity-based legal gender recognition.

In South Asia—where hijras, an identity category for people assigned male at birth who develop a feminine gender identity, have long been recognized culturally, if not legally—activists have pursued a related aim: the formal recognition of a third gender. Hijras’ traditional status, which included bestowing blessings at weddings, had provided some protection and a veneer of respect. But rather than being viewed as equal to others before the law, they were regarded as exotic and marginal—an existence dictated by boundaries and limitations, not rights.

Then Nepal’s Supreme Court, in a sweeping 2007 ruling, ordered the government to recognize a third gender category based on an individual’s “self-feeling.” The ruling rested largely on the freshly minted Yogyakarta Principles—the first document to codify international principles on sexual orientation, gender identity, and human rights. Armed with the ruling, activists successfully advocated with government agencies to include the third gender category on voter rolls (2010), the federal census (2011), citizenship documents (2013), and passports (2015).

Similarly, in 2009, the Supreme Court in Pakistan called for a third gender category to be recognized, and in Bangladesh, the cabinet issued a 2013 decree recognizing hijras as their own legal gender. In 2014, India’s Supreme Court issued an expansive judgment recognizing a third gender, affirming “the right of every person to choose their gender,” and calling for transgender peoples’ inclusion in state welfare programs.

In a few countries, the very purpose of gender markers is now being interrogated. New Zealand and Australia now offer the option to have gender listed as “unspecified” on official documents, while the Dutch parliament has begun considering whether the government should record a person’s gender on official identification documents at all.

A Matter of Dignity

The right to recognition as a person before the law is guaranteed in numerous human rights treaties, and is a fundamental aspect of affirming the dignity and worth of each person. However, even in countries that allow for people to be recognized in the gender with which they identify, the requisite procedures may subject applicants to humiliating and harmful treatment.

For example, transgender people in Ukraine who wish to be legally recognized must undergo a mandatory in-patient psychiatric evaluation lasting up to 45 days to confirm or reject a diagnosis of “transsexualism”; coerced sterilization; numerous medical tests, which often require extensive time commitment, expense, and travel, and that are unrelated to the legal gender recognition procedure requirements itself; and a humiliating in-person evaluation by a government commission to further confirm the diagnosis of “transsexualism” and authorize the change in legal documents. These procedures fail to respect the right to health and may expose transgender people to prohibited inhuman or degrading treatment.

Tina T., a 38-year-old Ukrainian transgender woman, told Human Rights Watch that during her stay in a psychiatric institution, the staff forced her to live in a high security male ward with bars and metal doors. She said she was only allowed to walk around the perimeter of a 30 square meter yard for 45 minutes each day; the restrooms did not have locks, making her feel unsafe; and doctors did not allow her to take female hormones while she was under their care.

It may seem obvious: subjecting people to unwanted or unnecessary medical procedures has no place in a recognition process for an identity. However, even in countries that consider themselves progressive with regards to LGBT rights, including some Western European and Latin American countries and the US, transgender people are still forced to undergo demeaning procedures—even sterilization—to change the gender marker on their identity documents. These negative consequences of seeking legal gender recognition seriously and harmfully limit individuals’ ability to access crucial services and live safely, free of violence and discrimination.

A Gateway to Other Rights

Legal gender recognition is also an essential element of other fundamental rights—including the right to privacy, the right to freedom of expression, the right to be free from arbitrary arrest, and rights related to employment, education, health, security, access to justice, and the ability to move freely.

A Delhi High Court ruling in October 2015 lay out the intrinsic link between the right to legal gender recognition and other rights. Affirming a 19-year-old transgender man’s right to recourse against harassment by his parents and the police, Justice Siddharth Mridul wrote:

Gender identity and sexual orientation are fundamental to the right of self-determination, dignity and freedom. These freedoms lie at the heart of personal autonomy and freedom of individuals. A transgender [person’s] sense or experience of gender is integral to their core personality and sense of being. Insofar as, I understand the law, everyone has a fundamental right to be recognized in their chosen gender.

Employment and Housing

Transgender people routinely report that they are turned down for jobs and housing when it becomes evident that their appearance does not match the gender marker on their official documents. In the US, a 2011 national survey by the National Center on Transgender Equality and the National LGBTQ Taskforce found that among respondents whose identification documents did not “match” the gender that they presented with, 64 percent said they had experienced discrimination in hiring, as compared to 52 percent of respondents who had updated the gender marker on their documents. Similar evidence of discrimination was found when transgender people without "matching" documents sought to rent or buy a home or apartment.

Sharan, a transgender woman in Malaysia, told Human Rights Watch that although she presents as a woman, the absence of legal gender recognition in Malaysia means she must submit male identity documents when applying for a job. She described her experience at job interviews:

When I go for an interview, if the interviewer is male, the first thing he asks me is, ‘Are your breasts real? When did you decide to change?’ I explain I’m a transsexual woman. ‘Do you have a penis or a vagina? Do you have sex with men or women? Which toilet do you go to? Did you do your operation? Why did you choose to take hormones?’ It’s nothing relevant to the job….. And then they tell you they’ll call you in two weeks, but you don’t get any phone calls.

Education

Transgender children and young adults face abuses in school settings ranging from sexual assault, to bullying, to being forced to attend a single-sex school or wear a uniform based on the gender marker assigned at birth.

In Japan, junior high and high school students told Human Rights Watch that strict male/female school uniform policies that often do not allow children to change uniforms without a diagnosis of "Gender Identity Disorder" caused them extreme anxiety, leading to extended and repeated absence from school and even dropouts. Some said the country's legal gender recognition procedure, which mandates sex reassignment surgery, put pressure on them to undergo the full procedure before they became adults so that they could enter university or apply for jobs according to their gender identity.

In Malaysia, the Education Department of the Federal Territory (Kuala Lumpur) has an explicitly discriminatory policy that calls for punishment, including caning, suspension, and expulsion, for homosexuality and “gender confusion.”

Malta has become a pioneer in recognizing transgender children’s right to education: following its April 2015 legal gender recognition legislation, the government launched comprehensive guidelines for schools to accommodate gender non-conforming students, including through addressing issues related to uniforms and toilets.

Health Care

Absent identity documents that match their gender presentation, transgender people who seek health care are subjected to invasive questioning and humiliation. Erina, a transgender woman in Malaysia, was hospitalized for two days in 2011 for a high fever. She told Human Rights Watch that she was placed in a male ward because of the “male” gender marker on her identity card, despite her request to be placed in a female ward. Doctors and nurses quizzed her about her gender identity, asking questions unrelated to the condition for which she was seeking treatment.

Where transgender identities are criminalized, access to health care is even more fraught. In Kuwait, transgender women told Human Rights Watch that medical doctors have reported them to police after noting the gender on their government-issued IDs does not match their appearance and presentation, effectively limiting their access to health care.

After Uganda passed its notorious Anti-Homosexuality Act in February 2014, law enforcement officials and ordinary citizens targeted transgender people alongside lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Jay M., a transgender man, told Human Rights Watch that when he sought treatment for a fever,

The doctor asked me, ‘But are you a woman or a man?’ I said, ‘That doesn’t matter, but what I can tell you is I’m a trans man.’ He said, ‘What’s a trans man? You know we don’t offer services to gay people here. You people are not even supposed to be in our community. I can even call the police and report you....’

In the end, Jay paid the doctor a 50,000 Ugandan shillings (about US$14) bribe and fled the office.

Travel


Simply moving from one place to another can be a dangerous and humiliating experience for people whose documents do not match their expression. The stakes are high, particularly for international travel, and range from fraud accusations and exposure to intense scrutiny and humiliation.

A transgender woman in the Netherlands told Human Rights Watch: “When I travel internationally, they often take me out of the queue for questioning: people think I have stolen my passport.” A transgender man in Kazakhstan explained: “Every time I have gone through the airport in Almaty—all four times—the security officers have humiliated me.” He described how “first, the guard looks at my documents and is confused; next he looks at me and asks what’s going on; then I tell him I’m transgender; then I show him my medical certificates; then he gathers his colleagues around, everyone he can find, and they all look and point and laugh at me and then eventually let me go.”

United Nations human rights experts have condemned such targeting of transgender people in security processes.

Access to Police Protection and Justice


The lack of basic recognition before the law impedes access to recourse for crimes, a significant problem for a population exposed to shockingly high rates of violence. Carrying documents that do not match appearance can mean abuse gets even worse when trying to report it to authorities.

In Mombasa, Kenya, a transgender woman, Bettina, told Human Rights Watch that vandals destroyed the market stall where she sold food during a wave of homophobic and transphobic attacks in October 2014. When Bettina reported the crime to police, they quizzed her about her gender identity and refused to give her a case number to follow up on her situation. “I left, because there was nothing there for me,” she said.

Freedom from Violence

In many countries, transgender people in detention are placed in cells with persons of a gender that they do not identify with, exposing them to abuse and sexual violence. International guidelines on detention issued by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime warn that, “where transgender prisoners are accommodated according to their birth gender, especially when male to female transgender prisoners are placed with men due to their birth gender being male, this paves the way to sexual abuse and rape.”

In the US, where most correctional facilities assign detainees to wards based on gender assigned at birth rather than identity, data indicates that one in three transgender detainees are sexually assaulted in prison.

Privacy

A government’s refusal to recognize people in the gender with which they identify can amount to violation of the right to privacy. In a 2002 case in the United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights held that refusal to change identification documents and legal identities could amount to discrimination and violate the right to respect for private lives. In another case in 2003, that court found that Germany had failed to respect “the applicant’s freedom to define herself as a female person, one of the most basic essentials of self-determination.” 

A Basic Right to Freedom

In too many countries, transgender people are criminalized simply for being who they are. Malaysia’s state Sharia laws, which prohibit “a male person posing as woman” and, in some states, “a female person posing as a man,” have resulted in countless arrests of transgender people for the simple act of walking down the street wearing clothing that state religious officials do not find appropriate to their sex as assigned at birth. They are sentenced to imprisonment, fines, or mandatory “counseling” sessions.

Nigeria, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia have also carried out arrests for “cross-dressing” in recent years; although no law specifically criminalizes transgender people in Saudi Arabia, Saudi judges have ordered men accused of behaving like women to be imprisoned and flogged.

Laws prohibiting same-sex conduct are also used to arrest and otherwise harass transgender and gender non-conforming people—regardless of the fact that gender identity has no direct correlation to sexual orientation or sexual behavior—as Human Rights Watch has documented in Malawi, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Transgender people are also arrested under other pretexts, In Nepal, police arrested and sexually abused transgender women in 2006 and 2007 under the guise of cleaning up public spaces. Police targeted transgender women with arrests and forced evictions in India in 2008 as part of a similar “social cleansing” effort. In 2013, police in Burma arbitrarily arrested a group of 10 gay men and transgender women and abused them in detention.

For many of the victims of these abuses, a future in which they may be legally recognized—and in which they will no longer risk imprisonment for being themselves—may seem far off. Yet it is precisely the persecution these individuals face that lends urgency to the struggle for legal gender recognition. It highlights that states should not be in the business of regulating peoples’ identity.

A Shift in Medical Thinking

The Yogyakarta Principles­­ state that each person’s self-defined sexual orientation and gender identity is “integral to their personality” and is a basic aspect of self-determination, dignity and freedom. They are clear that gender recognition may involve, “if freely chosen (our emphasis), modification of bodily appearance or function by medical, surgical or other means.”

Put simply, the process for legal recognition should be separate from any medical interventions. But if an individual’s personal transition process requires medical support, those services should be available and accessible.

In 2010, the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH), an international multidisciplinary professional association, stated: “No person should have to undergo surgery or accept sterilization as a condition of identity recognition.” In 2015, WPATH broadened the scope of its claim and called on governments to “eliminate unnecessary barriers and to institute simple and accessible administrative procedures for transgender people to obtain legal recognition of gender, consonant with each individual’s identity, when gender markers on identity documents are considered necessary.”

The World Health Organization is considering major changes to its revised version of the International Classification of Diseases, due out by 2018, which will significantly transform the ways physicians around the world code and categorize transgender people’s experiences. The proposed revisions, while still in draft form, would move transgender-related diagnoses out of the mental disorders chapter—an important step in destigmatizing transgender people.

A Transitioning Rights Paradigm


Learning from decades of transgender activists’ assiduous work around the world, the international human rights movement has slowly begun to recognize human rights violations based on gender identity and expression, and has begun to document and condemn the abuses.

A landmark report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2011 on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity noted that most countries do not allow for legal gender recognition, so that transgender people may face many difficulties, including applying for employment, housing, bank credit or state benefits, or when traveling abroad. The follow-up report, issued in 2015, identified progress in 10 countries, but found that the overall lack of progress continued to impact a wide spectrum of rights for transgender people.

Indicating both the groundswell of attention to legal gender recognition and its intersectional urgency, a joint statement in 2015 by 12 UN technical agencies—ranging from UNICEF to the World Food Programme—called on governments to ensure “legal recognition of the gender identity of transgender people without abusive requirements,” such as forced sterilization, treatment or divorce. In April 2015, the Council of Europe issued a resolution, adopted by its Parliamentary Assembly, calling on governments to adopt quick and transparent gender recognition procedures based on self-determination.

***

The law should not force people to carry an identity marker that does not reflect who they are. Recognizing, in law, peoples’ self-identified gender is not asking governments to acknowledge any new or special rights; instead, it is a commitment to the core idea that the state or other actors will not decide for people who they are.

Achieving the right to legal gender recognition is crucial to the ability of transgender people to leave behind a life of marginalization and enjoy a life of dignity. A simple shift toward allowing people autonomy to determine how their gender is expressed and recorded is gaining momentum. It is long overdue.














Source: Human Rights Watch, Rights in Transition (https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/rights-in-transition)
Website link: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016

"14 Shocking Global Human Rights Violations of 2013" -An article, by Jodie Gummow

"These stories will make your blood boil"



Sebagai seorang pelajar HAM, saya sememangnya sudah tahu tentang beberapa Hak Asasi yang dimiliki oleh setiap individu, namun setelah mendalami tentang subjek ini, mata saya semakin terbuka luas untuk melihat pengeksploitasian hak seseorang oleh individu atau kumpulan yang lain, hanya kerana untuk kebaikan mereka. Walaupun UDHR sudah tersebar secara meluas, namun ianya tidak dapat membendung permasalahan yang berkaitan dengan pelanggaran Hak Asasi manusia yang semakin menular. Disini, saya ingin kongsikan 14 kes pelanggaran Hak Asasi Manusia yang berlaku diseluruh dunia pada tahun 2013, yang ditulis oleh seorang penulis di AlterNet.




1. Unsafe labor conditions in Bangladesh led to world’s worst garment industry tragedy as thousands died in horrific building collapse.

On April 24, the Rana Plaza factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which housed six factories that produce clothing for Western brands, collapsed, killing over 1000 factory workers and injuring over 2500 people. While the owners of the factory came under fire for ignoring previous warnings of cracks in the wall, many pointed the blame at global corporations like Walmart and the Gap for exploiting workers for cheap labor and failing to provide adequate fire and building safeguards in factories where their products are made. Worldwide protests ensued with a view to putting pressure on major retailers to sign a legally binding accord aimed at improving labor conditions in Bangladesh, which to date has 100 signatories.


2. Egypt’s epidemic of violence and sexual abuse resulted in more than 600 deaths and 91 women assaulted in four days of riots at Tahrir Square.


On the first anniversary of the election of President Mohamed Morsi on June 30, thousands of Egyptians took to the streets in Tahrir Square in Cairo demanding the dictator’s resignation. During the four days of protests, at least 91 women were attacked and sexually assaulted by mobs, while government leaders and police stood by and failed to intervene. Some women required extensive medical surgery after being subjected to brutal gang rapes and sexual assault with sharp objects. After the protests, survivors came forward to tell their stories and demand better protections for women. While the protests led to the end of Morsi’s presidency, the government downplayed the violence, prompting international calls to improve law enforcement and bring perpetrators to justice. These actions proved fruitless, as security forces again came under fire in August for using live ammunition against citizens resulting in 638 deaths.


3. Burma committed ethnic cleansing against thousands of Rohingya Muslims; 28 children hacked to death and mass graves uncovered.

Burma’s quasi-civilian government was accused of committing crimes against humanity in the Rakhine State for forcibly displacing more than 125,000 Rohingya Muslims, the religious minority. A Human Rights Watch report revealed that authorities denied tens of thousands of stateless Muslims access to humanitarian aid, destroyed mosques, conducted mass arrests and issued a public statement promoting ethnic cleansing. Security forces stood aside and directly assisted Arakanese mobs in attacking and killing Muslim communities. In October, at least 70 Rohingya were killed in a day-long massacre in which 28 children hacked to death. Four mass gravesites were uncovered. The persecution stems from a long internal conflict in Burma essentially emanating from an arbitrary citizenship law passed in 1982 which denies Burmese citizenship to Rohingya on discriminatory ethnic grounds. In recent times, lack of rule of law has led to thousands of Rohingya fleeing the country.


4.North Korea’s large-scale human rights abuses revealed: 120,000 prisoners held in gulags, citizens starved and publicly executed by firing squad.

North Korea’s appalling human rights record is no secret. Following the death of Kim Jong-il in 2011, any hope of improvement in the country was short-lived with the appointment of successor, Kim Jong-un. The young dictator quickly became more ruthless than his father, inflicting mass atrocities against his population. In September, a UN investigation revealed shocking evidence from defectors who compared life in DPRK to that of the German-run concentration camps in WWII. Prisoners in the gulags lucky enough to escape described atrocities including witnessing a woman forced to drown her own baby in a bucket. 120,000 people are still thought to be held in gulags. Public executionsby firing squad have also continued at unprecedented levels under Jong-un’s rule, including the execution of the dictator’s own uncle and former girlfriend. The Security Council has been criticized for failing to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court, a move that seems unlikely given North Korea’s long alliance with China.


5. A chemical weapons attack in Syria.

Syria’s ongoing civil war, which in almost three years has claimed the lives of approximately 100,000 people, continued full, force and throttle. In August, Syrian government forces under ruthless leader Bashar al-Assad were suspected of launching chemical weapon attacks on two Damascus suburbs, killing hundreds of civilians including children. Following the attack, an influx of disturbing and emotionally wrenching video footage infiltrated social media. In September, Russia and the United States announced an agreement that would lead to the abolition of Syria’s chemical weapons. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was subsequently tasked with ensuring all chemical weapons and equipment in Syria be destroyed by mid-2014, though many remain skeptical about Assad’s compliance with the order.


6. Uganda, India and Russia passed draconian laws against homosexuality.


While there were increasing wins for gay rights around the globe this year, including a number of U.S. states, LGBT rights took a major step back in other parts of the world. Uganda abolished the death penalty as punishment for having gay sex, but it passed an anti-gay law punishing “aggravated homosexuality” with life imprisonment. The new provision drew international criticism by gay rights activists, particularly after Uganda’s parliament expressed that the anti-gay law was a “Christmas gift” to all Ugandans. Meanwhile, India’s Supreme Court reinstated a ban against homosexuality, making gay sex a criminal offense, prompting human rights groups to file a petition seeking a review of the decision on the grounds that the law is unconstitutional. Russia’s anti-gay laws also came under fire for a bill that banned propaganda of “non-traditional sexual relations."


7. Turkey's Islamic fundamentalist regime attacked secular groups for peacefully assembling.

Once considered the most modernized and advanced Islamic nation after founding father President Ataturk created a secular state, a number of civil rights violations in 2013 have led to fears that Turkey’s conservative government is heading toward Islamic fundamentalism. This summer, Turkish authorities were accused of using excessive police violence to put down an environmental sit-in over government plans to build a barracks in Gezi Park. During the demonstration, police used live ammunition, tear gas, water cannons and plastic bullets to suppress the masses. Authorities were also accused of sexually abusing female demonstrators and severely beating protestors, leaving more than 8000 people injured. The actions have outraged Turkey’s secular population. Protestors viewed the move as another indicator of the authoritarian propensities of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist party.


8. Qatar’s construction sector rife with migrant worker abuse leading up to World Cup preparation.




This year, the International Trade Union Confederation found that as a result of the construction frenzy surrounding the 2022 World Cup, 12 laborers would die each week unless the Doha government made urgent labor reforms. Half a million extra workers from countries like Nepal, India and Sri Lanka are expected to arrive to work in an effort to complete infrastructure in time for the World Cup kickoff.

 However, the ITUC said the annual death toll could rise to 600 people a year as construction workers are subjected to harsh and dangerous work conditions daily. A comparable study revealed that 44 migrant construction workers from Nepal died in the summer working in exploitive conditions, with workers describing forced labor conditions where they work in 122 degree heat and live in squalor.8. Qatar’s construction sector rife with migrant worker abuse leading up to World Cup preparation.


9. Forced sterilization for disabled underage girls in Australia sparked outrage as attempts to reform the laws failed.


The involuntary sterilization of disabled people in Australia remains lawful after the Senate ruled that it would not ban the procedure in 2013. Disabled girls are sterilized to manage menstruation and the risks associated with sexual exploitation, which human rights groups argue is a form of violence against women. Australian families are able to apply for court orders to allow involuntary sterilization of their disabled children. A court previously ruled that it was in the best interests of an 11-year-old girl who suffered a neurological disorder to have a hysterectomy, which caused a media storm. Human rights groups argued that fertility is a basic human right and that sterilization is not a substitute for proper education about family planning and support during menstruation. The Human Rights Commission said “one sterilization, one forced or coerced is one too many.”


10. Afghanistan attempted to reintroduce public stoning for adulterers; women were forced to undergo vaginal examinations to prove virginity.


Women’s rights suffered a massive blow in Afghanistan in 2013. Cases of violence against women grew by 28 percent and females continued to be treated as second-class citizens. President Hamid Karzai backed away from government plans to implement a controversial law reintroducing public stoning as punishment for adultery after the draft law was leaked causing international outrage. Women’s rights groups condemned invasive vaginal examinations women are forced to undergo to ascertain “virginity” every time a girl is arrested on a morality charge. As the 2014 deadline to withdraw combat action in Afghanistan approaches, activists fear that the removal of soldiers will trigger further deterioration of the chaotic human rights situation in the country, particularly for women.


11. Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian children resulted in 700 child detentions.

The precarious situation in the Middle East between Palestinians and Israelis led to a number of gross human rights violations committed by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian children. A UNICEF report revealed that in the second quarter of 2013, 700 Palestinian children aged 12-17 were arrested and subjected to solitary confinement, threats of death and sexual assault by Israeli military and police in the occupied West Bank. In November, an Israeli Defense Force soldier on a Ukraine game show nonchalantly discussed killing Palestinian toddlers as young as 3 years old. A 12-year-old Palestinian boy was paralyzed after he was shot and seriously injured by an Israeli solider as he attempted to retrieve his school bag, and a 14-year-old Palestinian girl died en route to hospital this month as a result of tightened Israeli security at Israeli-controlled checkpoints, prompting public outrage.


12. New wave of repression against civil society swept Saudi Arabia as women continued to protest against de facto ban on driving.

With more than 40,000 political prisoners in detention and democracy silenced by threats of intimidation and arrests, 2013 was one of the worst years for human rights in Saudi Arabia, according to activists. In addition, women faced major oppression. While women will now be allowed to vote in 2015, Saudi females are still not allowed to drive, despite the fact there is no express law making it illegal. In protest this October, women in Saudi Arabia defied the de facto ban on driving by getting behind the wheel in a brave display of civil disobedience, as part of their Women2Drive campaign. The move prompted threats of punishment by the government and resulted in the detention of 14 women.


13. South Sudan declared a humanitarian crisis with bloody massacres, 100,000 refugees, discovery of mass graves and violent attacks on U.N peacekeepers.

Post-independence, South Sudan was stricken with internal conflict in 2013 resulting in extrajudicial killings and numerous human rights atrocities. While Sudan’s north is home to mainly Arabic-speaking Muslims, South Sudan has no dominant culture. Instead, it is home to some 200 ethnic groups, each with its own beliefs and language. In a recent spate of ethnically motivated violence between the two largest ethnic groups, the Dinkas and Nuers, security forces shot and killed more than 200 people in the capital Juba. Almost 100,000 people have been displaced as a result of the violence. In response, the Security Council doubled UN peacekeeping troops to bolster its mission to protect civilians. The United Nations compound was raided earlier this year killing Indian peacekeepers. This week alone, the UN discovered 75 bodies in mass graves, evidence of ethnic killings taking place.13. South Sudan declared a humanitarian crisis with bloody massacres, 100,000 refugees, discovery of mass graves and violent attacks on U.N peacekeepers.


14. French military intervention in Mali led to catastrophic escalation of retaliatory ethnic violence fueled by poverty and famine.


The security situation in Mali made headlines in 2013 following French intervention, which arguably exacerbated conditions in the wartorn country. The ongoing armed conflict led to appalling human rights violations fraught with a lack of government accountability. In June, UN investigation revealed countless cases of extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances of civilians carried out by both Tuareg rebels and the army. Soldiers were accused of torturing Tuaregs while French-led forces attempted to oust Islamist militants. The precarious situation was further aggravated by pervasive food insecurity and extreme poverty throughout Africa’s Sahel region, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.





Source:
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/14-shocking-global-human-rights-violations-2013

Understanding Human Right in a Fun Way!

Memahami Hak Asasi boleh menjadi sukar bagi sesetengah orang. Ada yang tidak mengerti dan ada juga yang tidak bersetuju dengan hak yang kita miliki kerana ianya akan merugikan mereka. Oleh yang demikian, saya telah mengambil inisiatif untuk mengumpulkan video-video dan klip menarik yang saya dapati di Internet untuk pemahaman anda dan saya.

Enjoy! :)

1) Human Right Explained In A Beautiful Two Minutes Animation (RightsInfo)



2) What Are The Universal Human Rights? (TED-Ed)



3) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Human Rights Action Center)



4) Your 30 Fundamental Human Right (Deterlucem)



5) ADRA Animated Short: Human Rights (ADRAInternational)


6) Children's and Young People's Right (BMZ)



Klip video diatas yang saya dapati di Youtube banyak menceritakan tentang Apa itu Hak Asasi Manusia, juga tentang Sejarah ringkas yang berkaitan dengan Hak Asasi Manusia.
Human Rights sememangnya sudah mula diperjuangkan selepas WW2 tetapi masih saja kita lihat individu-individu atau kumpulan yang tidak kisah tentang hak asasi ini. Dalam klip video yang saya kongsikan diatas juga membincangkan tentang hak asasi yang sering kita lihat dieksploitasi dan tidak diendahkan iaitu Children Rights, Women's Rights, dan juga Hak Kaum Minoriti.

Saturday, 21 May 2016

Human Rights in Malaysia

Freedom

"5. (1) Tiada seorang pun boleh diambil nyawanya atau dilucutkan kebebasan dirinya kecuali mengikut undang-undang."

"10. (a) tiap-tiap warganegara berhak kepada kebebasan bercakap dan bersuara;
        (b) semua warganegara brhak untuk berhimpun secara aman dan tanpa senjata;
        (c) semua warganegara berhak untuk membentuk persatuan."

"11. (3) Tiap-tiap kumpulan agama berhak- (a) menguruskan hal ehwal agamanya sendiri;
                                                                      (b) menubuhkan dan menyenggarakan institusi-institusi                                                                                                            bagi maksud agama dan khairat; dan
                                                                      (c) memperoleh dan mempunyai harta dan memegang dan                                                                                                        mentadbirkannya mengikut undang-undang


Equality

"8. (2) Kecuali sebagaimana yang dibenarkan dengan nyata oleh Perlembagaan ini, tidak boleh ada diskriminasi terhadap warganegara semata-mata atas alasan agama, ras, keturunan, tempat lahir atau jantina dalam mana-mana undang-undang atau dalam pelantikan kepada apa-apa jawatan atau pekerjaan di bawah sesuatu pihak berkuasa awam atau dalam pentadbiran mana-mana undang-undang yang berhubungan dengan pemerolehan, pemegangan atau pelupusan harta atau berhubungan dengan penubuhan atau penjalanan apa-apa pertukangan, perniagaan, profesion, kerjaya atau pekerjaan."

Rights to Education

"12. (1) Tanpa menjejaskan keluasan Perkara 8, tidak bleh ada diskriminasi terhadap mana-mana warganegara semata-mata atas alasan agama, ras, keturunan atau tempat lahir.

(2) Tiap-tiap kumpulan agama berhak menubuhkan dan menyenggarakan institusi-institusi bagi pendidikan kanak-kanak dalam agama kumpulan itu sendiri, dan tidak boleh ada diskriminasi semata-mata atas alasan agama dalam mana-mana undang-undang yang berhubungan dengan institusi-institusi itu atau dalam pentadbiran mana-mana undang-undang itu; tetapi adalah sah bagi Persekutuan atau sesuatu Negeri menubuhkan atau menyenggarakan institusi-institusi Islam atau mengadakan atau membantu dalam mengadakan ajaran dalam agama Islam dan melakukan apa-apa perbelanjaan sebagaimana yang perlu bagi maksud itu.

(3) Tiada seorang pun boleh dikehendaki menerima ajaran sesuatu agama atau mengambil bahagian dalam apa-apa upacara atau upacara sembahyang sesuatu agama, selain agamanya sendiri.

(4) Bagi maksud Fasal (3) agama seseorang yang di bawah umur lapan belas tahun hendaklah ditetapkan oleh ibu atau bapanya atau penjaganya."

Songs That Had To Do With Human Rights


Get Up, Stand Up (Bob Marley)

Get up, stand up, stand up for your right 
Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight

Preacher man don't tell me heaven is under the earth
I know you don't know what life is really worth
Is not all that glitters in gold and
Half the story has never been told
So now you see the light, aay
Stand up for your right. Come on

Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight
(Repeat)

Most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away ev'rything, and make ev'rybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your right, yeah! 

Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight
Get up, stand up. Life is your right
So we can't give up the fight
Stand up for your right, Lord, Lord
Get up, stand up. Keep on struggling on
Don't give up the fight

We're sick and tired of your ism and skism game
Die and go to heaven in Jesus' name, Lord
We know when we understand
Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can't fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light
We gonna stand up for our right

So you'd better get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight
Get up, stand up, stand up for your right
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight


Zombie (Cranberries)

Another head hangs lowly 
Child is slowly taken 
And if violence causes the silence 
Who are we mistaking 
But you see it's not me 
It's not my family 
In your head in your head 
They are fighting 

With their tanks and their bombs 
And their bombs and their guns 
In your head in your head they are crying

[Chorus]
In your head
In your head
Zombie zombie zombie ei ei 
What's in your head 
In your head.
Zombie, zombie, zombie ei, ei, ei, oh do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do 

Another mother's breakin', 
Heart is taken over
When the violence causes silence 
We must be mistaken 
It's the same old thing since 1916 
In your head in your head 
They're still fighting 
With their tanks and their bombs 
And their bombs and their guns 
In your head in your head they are dying


Sunday, 8 May 2016

Secular Humanism

Secular atau sekular ialah sesuatu perkara yang melambangkan sikap, aktiviti, atau perkara lain yang tidak berpandukan atau berasaskan keagamaan ataupun kerohanian. Humanism atau humanisma pula membawa maksud sesuatu sistem pemikiran yang mementingkan perkara-perkara yang membabitkan manusia. Kepercayaan humanisma menekankan nilai potensi dan keperluan manusia, serta mencari jalan rasional untuk menyelesaikan masalah yang membendung manusia.

Secular Humanism merupakan satu etika falsafah yang menekankan kepercayaan bahawa dunia dan sekitar berdasarkan apa yang boleh dikaji dan bersebab. Oleh yang demikian, etika ini mementingkan kajian secara saintifik dan menolak sama sekali ilmu yang berlandaskan moral teistik seperti dogma, alam ghaib dan kepercayaan karut. Secular Humanism menjadi sangat berpengaruh dalam politik, etika-etika dan moral serta pendidikan masa kini.

Fahaman ini sering dikaitkan dengan golongan Atheist dan berpendapat bahawa manusia mampu untuk menjadi lebih beretika dan bermoral walaupun tanpa agama mahupun tuhan. Walaupun fahaman ini tidak menanggap manusia itu adalah baik atau jahat secara semulajadi, sebaliknya menekankan etika sebab dan akibat keputusan manusia yang akan memberi impak kepada hidup seseorang itu.







                                                                         Agama (religion)

Golongan Atheist menggambarkan diri mereka sebagai kumpulan yang tidak mempercayai tuhan dan golongan ini sangat skeptik terhadap kepercayaan bahawa wujudnya kuasa tertinggi, serta agnostik iaitu kumpulan tanpa ilmu tentang wujudnya tuhan dan tidak pasti tentang kebarangkalian wujudnya kuasa tertinggi.

Undang-undang yang mentadbir dunia merupakan undang-undang fizikal semesta dan tidak dipengaruhi oleh perkara non-material dan ghaib seperti tuhan, syaitan dan roh. Konsep tuhan mendengar doa tidak diikhtiraf oleh golongan sekular. Bagi mereka alam semesta tiada kaitannya dengan tuhan kerana sains moden menolak segala kemungkinan bahawa nilai manusia wujud dari alam ghaib. Nilai moral tidak datang dari kepercayaan karut dalam keabadian dan kelahiran semula, sebaliknya kehidupan kita berkembang kerana kita memilih jalan dan mengembangkan masa depan kita. Alam semesta pula tercipta dengan sendirinya melalui proses saintifik, dan manusia merupakan sebahagian daripada alam semulajadi.









Nilai Moral/Etika (morality/ethics)


Golongan sekular bebas dari supernaturalism. Oleh yang demikian mereka berpendapat bahawa nilai moral yang dimiliki oleh seseorang individu datang dari pengalaman dan budaya mereka. Mereka menentang standard mutlak, walaubagaimanapun prinsip tingkah laku moral mungkin berlaku.
Etika adalah bersifat individual dan berasaskan sesuatu situasi, yang timbul daripada keperluan dan keinginan manusia. Matlamat utama humanisma ialah kebahagiaan, kehidupan yang baik serta kebahagiaan.











Sexual Expression

Golongan sekular sememangnya tidak berpendapat nafsu dan sex itu adalah salah sepertimana agama melihat nafsu dan sex itu salah dan merupakan satu dosa.
Golongan sekular tidak memberikan had, dalam undang-undang atau sosial untuk dua orang individu dewasa yang rela, sebaliknya secular humanism menggalakkan hubungan intim yang sensitif dan saling menghormati serta hubungan interpersonal yang jujur.
Bagi mereka, masyarakat perlu mengikhtiraf kawalan kelahiran, pengguguran dan penceraian. Manakala Pendidikan Moral sangat penting untuk kanak-kanak dan individu dewasa bagi perkembangan kesedaran dan kematangan dalam bidang ini.


One World


Para pemikir sekular berpendapat bahawa ekonomi dunia perlu diubah kepada demokrasi bagi menjadi lebih sensitif dalam keperluan manusia dan untuk meningkatkan kebaikan untuk pengguna. Kekayaan dan pertumbuhan ekonomi perlu sama rata bagi semua orang kerana planet ini adalah sebuah ekosistem yang wujud untuk semua orang.







Pendidikan (Education)



Pemikir sekular juga mengalakkan kesedaran moral dan keupayaan untuk memikirkan dan membuat keputusan sendiri. Untuk menyebarkan kesedaran ini, mereka sedar bahawa pentingnya pendidikan. Oleh itu, mereka menyokong segala usaha untuk memberikan pendidikan kepada setiap individu dalam dunia ini.