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CONTENTS UNIT
1. AN INTRODUCTION TO LAWS UNIT
3. CHALLENGES OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM UNIT
7.CIVIL PROCEDURE AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CIVIL PROCEDURE AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE UNIT
12. A LAW FIRM STRUCTURE AND PRACTISE UNIT
14. IMPRISONMENT: RETRIBUTION OR REHIBILITATION |
UNIT 6. HUMAN RIGHTS Part 1 HUMAN
RIGHTS DECLARATION ADOPTED BY U. N. ASSEMBLY Paris, Dec, 10 – A universal Declaration on
Human Rights nearly three years in preparation, was adopted late tonight by
the United Nations General Assembly. The vote was 48 to 0 with the Soviet
bloc, Saudi Arabia and the Union of South Africa abstaining. The declaration is the first part of a
projected three-part International Bill of Rights. The United Nations now
will begin drafting a convention that will be a treaty embodying in specific
detail and in legally binding form the principles proclaimed in the
declaration. The third part will be a protocol for implementation of the
convention possibly by such measures as establishment of an International
Court of Human Rights and an International Committee of Conciliation. The Assembly accorded an ovation to Mrs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt when Dr. Herbert V. Evatt,
the Assembly's president, after declaring the declaration adopted, paid
tribute to the first chairman of the Human Rights Commission for her tireless
efforts in the long process of drafting the document. «She has raised a great name to an even
greater honor», Dr.
Evatt said of the United States delegate. Dr. Evatt also
singled out for praise Dr. Charles Malik of
Lebanon, first rapporteur of the Human Rights
Commission and chairman of this Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural
Committee that spent nearly three months in word-by-word redrafting of the
text. Before the vote Deputy Foreign Minister
Andrei Y. Vishinsky of Russia made a final effort
to avert adoption of the declaration. He said that the document seemed to
support the view that the conception of sovereignty of governments was
outdated. He declared that only within the framework of government did human
rights have a meaning. Mr. Vishinsky
urged adoption of a Soviet resolution submitted yesterday calling the
declaration «unsatisfactory and requiring considerable amendment» and
proposing to defer further consideration until the fourth Assembly next fall.
Failing to get postponement, he asked the Assembly at least to accept a
series of Soviet amendments to the text that would improve the declaration
from the Russian viewpoint. The Russian postponement resolution was
rejected, 45 to 6, with 3 abstentions. Four Soviet amendments proposing new
texts for the four articles to which the Russian bloc objected most
strenuously were defeated by almost as decisive a margin. The only amendment accepted was a British
proposal to reword the declaration's colonial clause. Article three of the declaration as
completed by the Social Committee read: «The rights set forth in this
declaration apply equally to all inhabitants of trust and non-self– governing
territories». This was deleted and in its place substituted a second
paragraph of Article 2, reading: «Furthermore no distinction shall be made on
the basis of political, jurisdictional or international status of the country
or the territory to which a person belongs whether it be
an independent, trust or non-self-governing territory or under any other
limitation of sovereignty». The Assembly then reached the stage of
voting on the draft declaration itself and Dr. Julius Katz-Suchy of Poland asked for a vote article by article. Most
articles simply were approved in silence when Dr. Evatt
called for objections and the rest by a show of hands. The final vote on the entire text was taken
at four minutes before midnight. «History will regard this proclamation as
one of the outstanding achievements of the United Nations since its
establishment», Dr.
Evatt told the Assembly». During the past year
there has been much unfair criticism of activities of the United Nations and
in some quarters pessimism has been expressed as to its usefulness. «This pessimism flows for the main part from
difficulties which the United Nations has experienced in the political field.
The Declaration on Human Rights is the result of two and a half years of
unspectacular but important work in the social, humanitarian and cultural
fields. «This is the first occasion on which the
organized international community of nations has made a Declaration on Human
Rights and fundamental freedoms. It therefore has all the authority of a
collective body of opinion of the United Nations as a whole. It is to this
document that millions of men and women in countries far distant from Paris
or New York will turn for hope and guidance and inspiration». EXERCISES 1. Sum up the main ides of the text and retell
it in Russian. 2. Fill in the missing words from the box into the
text below.
Human 1)________ are
the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from
birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you
believe or how you 2)________ to live your life.
They can never be taken away, although they can sometimes be restricted – for example if a 3)________
breaks the law, or in the interests of national security. These basic rights are based on values like
dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence. But 4)________ rights are not just abstract concepts – they are defined and protected by law. In
Britain our human rights are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998. We’ve produced this short 5)________ to show why human rights are so important and
how they protect us in our day-to-day lives. Human rights are 6)________
to all of us, not just those who face repression or mistreatment. They
protect you in many areas of your day-to-day life: here are just some of the
main rights and freedoms they 7)________: •your right to a private and family life as
well as expressing your opinions, and •your right not to be 8)________
or wrongly punished by the state. The idea that human beings should have a set
of basic rights and freedoms has deep roots in Britain. Landmark 9)________ in Britain include the Magna Carta
of 1215, the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 and the Bill of Rights of 1689. See
the British Library's website for more information on these and other icons of
10)________ and progress. The 11)________ of
the Second World War made the protection of human rights an international
priority. The formation of the United Nations paved the way for more than 50
Member States to contribute to the final 12)________ of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948. This was the first attempt to
set out at a global level the 13)________ rights and
freedoms shared by all human beings. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is
brought to life in this four-minute video, «Everybody – we are all born free»,
produced by Amnesty. The Declaration formed the basis for the
European Convention on Human Rights, adopted in 1950. British lawyers played
a key 14)________ in drafting the Convention, with
Winston Churchill also heavily involved. It protects the human rights of 15)________ in
countries that belong to the Council of Europe, including the UK. The Human Rights Act 1998 made these rights
part of our domestic law. The Act means that courts in the United Kingdom can
hear human rights 16)________.
Before it was 17)________, people had to take their
complaints to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. 3. Read the following article and make a rendering
of it in English. РАСПРОСТРАНЕНИЕ
ИДЕИ ПРАВ ЧЕЛОВЕКА Из Вавилона идея прав человека быстро проникла в Индию, Грецию и в
конечном итоге в Рим. Там родилась идея «естественного права», поскольку было замечено, что
люди склонны следовать в жизни определённым неписанным
правилам, а римский закон был основан на рациональных идеях, почерпнутых из
природы вещей. Документы, закрепляющие права человека, такие как Великая хартия
вольностей (1215 г.), Петиция о праве (1628 г.), Конституция США (1787 г.),
французская Декларация прав человека и гражданина (1789 г.) и американский
Билль о правах (1791 г.), являются предшественниками многих современных
документов о правах человека. Великая хартия вольностей
считается наиболее ранним документом, оказавшим значительное влияние на
процесс исторического развития, который в итоге привёл к появлению
современного конституционного права в англоговорящем
мире. В 1215 году, после того как король Англии Джон нарушил ряд древних
законов и традиций, согласно которым осуществлялось управление Англией, его подданные вынудили его подписать Хартию вольностей, где
перечислялись нормы, которые позднее стали рассматриваться как права
человека. Среди них было право церкви на невмешательство в её дела со стороны
государства, право всех свободных граждан владеть имуществом и наследовать
его, а также право на защиту от чрезмерных налогов. В Хартии было закреплено право вдов, владевших имуществом, не выходить повторно
замуж, и установлены принципы справедливого судопроизводства и равенства
перед законом. В ней также содержались положения, запрещающие взяточничество
и неправомерные действия должностных лиц. Великая хартия вольностей широко признана как один из важнейших
юридических документов для развития современной демократии, и её принятие
стало ключевым этапом в борьбе за свободу. В 1628 году Английский парламент направил это заявление о гражданских
свободах королю Чарльзу I. В 1628 году Английский парламент направил это заявление о гражданских
свободах королю Чарльзу I. Следующим документом, имевшим историческую важность для развития прав
человека, стала Петиция о праве, составленная в 1628 году парла–
ментом Англии и
направленная королю Чарльзу I в качестве заявления о гражданских свободах.
Отказ парламента финансировать непопулярную внешнюю политику, проводимую
королём, вынудил его правительство силой предоставлять ему займы и
расквартировывать войска в домах подданных, чтобы оказать экономическое
давление. Произвольные аресты и заключения в тюрьму за сопротивление этим
действиям вызвали в парламенте сильную враждебность по отношению к Чарльзу и
Джорджу Виллерсу, герцогу Букингемскому. Петиция о
праве, инициатором которой выступил сэр Эдвард Коук,
была основана на более ранних статутах и хартиях, и в ней закреплялись четыре
принципа: 1) никакие налоги не могут взиматься без
одобрения парламента; 2) ни один подданный не может быть заключён в тюрьму
без судебного разбирательства; 3) никакие военные не могут быть
расквартированы у гражданских лиц; и 4) военные законы не могут применяться в
мирное время. Part 2 HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Human rights advocates agree that, sixty
years after its issue, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still
more a dream than reality. Violations exist in every part of the world. For
example, Amnesty International’s 2009 World Report and other sources show
that individuals are: •Tortured or abused in at least 81 countries •Face unfair trials in at least 54 countries •Restricted in their freedom of expression
in at least 77 countries Not only that, but women and children in particular
are marginalized in numerous ways, the press is not free in many countries,
and dissenters are silenced, too often permanently. While some gains have
been made over the course of the last six decades, human rights violations
still plague the world today. To help inform you of the true situation
throughout the world, this section provides examples of violations of six
Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Article 3 – The
Right To Live Free «Everyone has the right to life, liberty and
security of person». An estimated 6,500 people were killed in
2007 in armed conflict in Afghanistan– nearly half being noncombatant
civilian deaths at the hands of insurgents. Hundreds of civilians were also
killed in suicide attacks by armed groups. In Brazil in 2007, according to official
figures, police killed at least 1,260 individuals– the highest total to date. All
incidents were officially labeled «acts of resistance» and received little or
no investigation. In Uganda, 1,500 people die each week in the
internally displaced person camps. According to the World Health
Organization, 500,000 have died in these camps. Vietnamese authorities forced at least
75,000 drug addicts and prostitutes into 71 overpopulated «rehab» camps,
labeling the detainees at «high risk» of contracting HIV/AIDS but providing
no treatment. Article 4 – No
Slavery «No one shall be held in slavery or
servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms». In northern Uganda, the LRA (Lord’s Resistance
Army) guerrillas have kidnapped 20,000 children over the past twenty years
and forced them into service as soldiers or sexual slaves for the army. In Guinea-Bissau, children as young as five
are trafficked out of the country to work in cotton fields in southern
Senegal or as beggars in the capital city. In Ghana, children five to
fourteen are tricked with false promises of education and future into
dangerous, unpaid jobs in the fishing industry. In Asia, Japan is the major destination
country for trafficked women, especially women coming from the Philippines
and Thailand. UNICEF estimates 60,000 child prostitutes in the Philippines. The US State Department estimates 600,000 to
820,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders
each year, half of whom are minors, including record numbers of women and
girls fleeing from Iraq. In nearly all countries, including Canada, the US
and the UK, deportation or harassment are the usual governmental responses,
with no assistance services for the victims. In the Dominican Republic, the operations of
a trafficking ring led to the death by asphyxiation of 25 Haitian migrant
workers. In 2007, two civilians and two military officers received lenient
prison sentences for their part in the operation. In Somalia in 2007, more than 1,400
displaced Somalis and Ethiopian nationals died at sea in trafficking
operations. Article 5 – No Torture «No one shall be subjected to torture or to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment». In 2008, US authorities continued to hold
270 prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, without charge or trial, subjecting
them to «water-boarding», torture that simulates drowning.
Former-President George W. Bush authorized the CIA to continue secret
detention and interrogation, despite its violation of international law. In Darfur, violence, atrocities and
abduction are rampant and outside aid all but cut off. Women in particular
are the victims of unrestrained assault, with more than 200 rapes in the
vicinity of a displaced persons camp in one five-week period, with no effort
by authorities to punish the perpetrators. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
acts of torture and ill treatment are routinely committed by government
security services and armed groups, including sustained beatings, stabbings
and rapes of those in custody. Detainees are held incommunicado, sometimes in
secret detention sites. In 2007, the Republican Guard (presidential guard)
and Special Services police division in Kinshasa arbitrarily detained and
tortured numerous individuals labeled as critics of the government. EXERCISES 1. Sum up the main ides of the text and retell
it in Russian. 2. Fill in the missing words from the box into the
text below.
In Myanmar, 1)________
of citizens were detained, including 700 prisoners of conscience, most
notably Nobel Laureate Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi. In 2)________ for her political activities, she has been
imprisoned or under house arrest for twelve of the last eighteen years, and
has refused 3)________ offers of release that would require her to leave the
country. In Algeria, 4)________
and asylum-seekers were frequent victims of detention, expulsion or ill
treatment. Twenty-eight individuals from sub-Saharan African 5)________ with official refugee status from the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were deported to Mali after
being falsely tried, without legal counsel or interpreters, on charges of
entering Algeria illegally. They were dumped near a desert town where a Malian
armed group was 6)________, without food, water or
medical aid. In Kenya, 7)________
violated international refugee law when they closed the border to thousands
of people fleeing armed conflict in Somalia. Asylum-seekers were illegally 8)________ at the Kenyan border without charge or trial and
forcibly returned to Somalia. In northern Uganda, 1.6 million citizens
remained in displacement camps. In the Acholi 9)________, the area most affected by armed conflict, 63
percent of the 1.1 million people displaced in 2005 were still living in 10)________
in 2007, with only 7,000 returned 11)________ to their places of origin. «Everyone
has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his 12)________ or belief,
and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in 13)________, practice, worship
and observance». In Myanmar, the military junta crushed
peaceful demonstrations led by monks, raided and closed monasteries,
confiscated and destroyed property, shot, beat and detained protesters, and
harassed or held hostage the 14)________ and family members of the protesters. In China, Falun
Gong 15)________ were singled out for torture and
other abuses while in detention. Christians were persecuted for practicing
their religion outside state-sanctioned channels. In Kazakhstan, local authorities in a 16)________
near Almaty authorized the 17)________ of twelve
homes, all belonging to Hare Krishna members, falsely charging that the land
on which the homes were built had been illegally 18)________. Only homes
belonging to members of the Hare Krishna community were destroyed. 3. Read the following article and make a rendering
of it in English. НАРУШЕНИЯ
ПРАВ ЧЕЛОВЕКА Правозащитники соглашаются с тем, что и 60 лет спустя после принятия
Всеобщей декларации прав человека она всё ещё является в большей степени
мечтой, чем реальностью. Нарушения происходят во всех частях мира. Например,
согласно отчёту «Международной амнистии» за 2009 год и другим источникам,
людей: •подвергают пыткам или жестокому обращению по
крайней мере в 81 стране; •подвергают несправедливым судебным преследованиями по крайней мере в 54 странах; •ограничивают их свободу самовыражения по
крайней мере в 77 странах. В частности, различным притеснениям подвергаются женщины и дети, во
многих странах пресса не свободна, а инакомыслящих заставляют замолчать, в
слишком многих случаях – навсегда. Хотя за прошедшие шесть десятилетий
удалось достичь некоторых результатов, нарушения прав человека всё ещё
чрезвычайно распространены в современном мире. Чтобы проинформировать вас о действительном положении дел в мире, в
этом разделе приведены примеры нарушений шести статей
Всеобщей декларации прав человека. СТАТЬЯ №3. ПРАВО НА ЖИЗНЬ «Каждый человек имеет право на жизнь, на свободу и на личную
неприкосновенность». В 2007 году около 6500 человек были убиты в вооружённом конфликте в
Афганистане, и почти половина из них – мирные жители, убитые повстанцами. Также
сотни мирных жителей были убиты во время самоубийственных атак вооружённых
группировок. Согласно официальным отчётам, в Бразилии в 2007 году полиция убила по меньшей мере 1260 человек – это самый высокий
показатель на сегодняшний день. Эти случаи официально были названы «актами
сопротивления» и по ним не проводилось практически никакого расследования. В Уганде 1500 человек умирают каждую неделю в лагерях беженцев.
Согласно данным Всемирной организации здравоохранения, в этих лагерях в общей
сложности умерло 500 000 человек. Власти Вьетнама насильно поместили по меньшей
мере 75 000 наркоманов и проституток в 71 переполненный «реабилитационный»
лагерь, заявив, что те подвержены риску заболевания СПИДом,
но в то же время не предоставляют им никакого лечения. Part 3 A SHORT HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS The belief that everyone, by virtue of her
or his humanity, is entitled to certain human rights is fairly new. Its
roots, however, lie in earlier tradition and documents of many cultures; it
took the catalyst of World War II to propel human rights onto the global
stage and into the global conscience. Throughout much of history, people acquired
rights and responsibilities through their membership in a group – a family,
indigenous nation, religion, class, community, or state. Most societies have
had traditions similar to the «golden rule» of «Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you». The Hindu Vedas, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi,
the Bible, the Quran (Koran), and the Analects of Confucius are five of the
oldest written sources which address questions of people’s duties, rights,
and responsibilities. In addition, the Inca and Aztec codes of conduct and
justice and an Iroquois Constitution were Native American sources that
existed well before the 18th century. In fact, all societies, whether in oral
or written tradition, have had systems of propriety and justice as well as
ways of tending to the health and welfare of their members. Precursors of 20th Century Human Rights
Documents Documents asserting individual rights, such
the Magna Carta (1215), the English Bill of Rights
(1689), the French Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789), and
the US Constitution and Bill of Rights (1791) are the written precursors to
many of today’s human rights documents. Yet many of these documents, when originally
translated into policy, excluded women, people of color, and members of
certain social, religious, economic, and political groups. Nevertheless,
oppressed people throughout the world have drawn on the principles these
documents express to support revolutions that assert the right to
self-determination. Contemporary international human rights law
and the establishment of the United Nations (UN) have important historical
antecedents. Efforts in the 19th century to prohibit the slave trade and to
limit the horrors of war are prime examples. In 1919, countries established
the International Labor Organization (ILO) to oversee treaties protecting
workers with respect to their rights, including their health and safety.
Concern over the protection of certain minority groups was raised by the
League of Nations at the end of the First World War. However, this
organization for international peace and cooperation, created by the
victorious European allies, never achieved its goals. The League floundered
because the United States refused to join and because the League failed to
prevent Japan’s invasion of China and Manchuria (1931) and Italy’s attack on
Ethiopia (1935). It finally died with the onset of the Second World War
(1939). The Birth of the United Nations The idea of human rights emerged stronger
after World War II. The extermination by Nazi Germany of over six million
Jews, Sinti and Romani (gypsies), homosexuals, and
persons with disabilities horrified the world. Trials were held in Nuremberg
and Tokyo after World War II, and officials from the defeated countries were
punished for committing war crimes, «crimes against peace»,
and «crimes against humanity». Governments then committed themselves to
establishing the United Nations, with the primary goal of bolstering
international peace and preventing conflict. People wanted to ensure that
never again would anyone be unjustly denied life, freedom, food, shelter, and
nationality. The essence of these emerging human rights principles was
captured in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union
Address when he spoke of a world founded on four essential freedoms: freedom
of speech and religion and freedom from want and fear (See Using Human Rights
Here & Now). The calls came from across the globe for human rights
standards to protect citizens from abuses by their governments, standards
against which nations could be held accountable for the treatment of those
living within their borders. These voices played a critical role in the San
Francisco meeting that drafted the United Nations Charter in 1945. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Member states of the United Nations pledged
to promote respect for the human rights of all. To advance this goal, the UN
established a Commission on Human Rights and charged it with the task of
drafting a document spelling out the meaning of the fundamental rights and
freedoms proclaimed in the Charter. The Commission, guided by Eleanor
Roosevelt’s forceful leadership, captured the world’s attention. On December 10, 1948, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the 56 members of the
United Nations. The vote was unanimous, although eight nations chose to
abstain. The UDHR, commonly referred to as the
international Magna Carta, extended the revolution
in international law ushered in by the United Nations Charter – namely, that how a government treats its own
citizens is now a matter of legitimate international concern, and not simply
a domestic issue. It claims that all rights are interdependent and
indivisible. Its Preamble eloquently asserts that: Recognition of the inherent dignity and of
the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the
foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world. The influence of the UDHR has been
substantial. Its principles have been incorporated into the constitutions of
most of the more than 185 nations now in the UN. Although a declaration is
not a legally binding document, the Universal Declaration has achieved the
status of customary international law because people regard it «as a common
standard of achievement for all people and all nations». The Human Rights Covenants With the goal of establishing mechanisms for
enforcing the UDHR, the UN Commission on Human Rights proceeded to draft two
treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
and its optional Protocol and the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Together with the Universal Declaration, they
are commonly referred to as the International Bill of Human Rights. The ICCPR
focuses on such issues as the right to life, freedom of speech, religion, and
voting. The ICESCR focuses on such issues as food, education, health, and
shelter. Both covenants trumpet the extension of rights to all persons and
prohibit discrimination. As of 1997, over 130 nations have ratified
these covenants. The United States, however, has ratified only the ICCPR, and
even that with many reservations, or formal exceptions, to its full
compliance. (See From Concept to Convention: How Human Rights Law Evolves). Subsequent Human Rights Documents In addition to the covenants in the
International Bill of Human Rights, the United Nations has adopted more than
20 principal treaties further elaborating human rights. These include
conventions to prevent and prohibit specific abuses like torture and genocide
and to protect especially vulnerable populations, such as refugees
(Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951), women (Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979), and children
(Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989). As of 1997 the United States
has ratified only these conventions: ·
The
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ·
The
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide ·
The
Convention on the Political Rights of Women ·
The
Slavery Convention of 1926 ·
The
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment In Europe, the Americas, and Africa,
regional documents for the protection and promotion of human rights extend
the International Bill of Human Rights. For example, African states have
created their own Charter of Human and People’s Rights (1981), and Muslim
states have created the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (1990).
The dramatic changes in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America since 1989
have powerfully demonstrated a surge in demand for respect of human rights.
Popular movements in China, Korea, and other Asian nations reveal a similar
commitment to these principles. EXERCISES 1. Sum up the main ides of the text and retell
it in Russian. 2. Fill in the missing words from the box into the
text below.
Globally the champions of human rights have
most often been citizens, not 1)_________ officials.
In particular, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have played a cardinal
role in focusing the 2)_________ community on human
rights issues. For example, NGO activities surrounding the 1995 United
Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, drew
unprecedented attention to serious 3)_________ of the human rights of women.
NGOs such as Amnesty International, the Antislavery Society, the International
Commission of Jurists, the International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs,
Human Rights Watch, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, and Survivors
International monitor the actions of governments and pressure them to 4)_________
according to human rights principles. Government 5)_________ who understand the human rights framework can also effect
far reaching change for freedom. Many United States Presidents such as
Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter have
taken strong stands for 6)_________ rights. In other countries leaders like
Nelson Mandela and Vaclev Havel have 7)_________ about great changes under the banner of human
rights. Human right is an idea whose time has come.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a call to freedom and justice
for people throughout the world. Every day governments that violate the 8)_________ of
their citizens are challenged and called to task. Every day human beings
worldwide mobilize and confront injustice and inhumanity. Like drops of water
falling on a rock, they 9)_________ down the forces
of oppression and move the world closer to 10)_________ the principles
expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 3. Read the following article and make a rendering
of it in English. В современном мире существует множество различных политических режимов
с собственными моделями взаимоотношений государства и личности, своими
стандартами соблюдения прав и свобод человека. Демократические режимы
соседствуют с авторитарными, либеральные с
коммунистическими. Изъятия отдельных прав сочетаются с массовыми нарушениями
прав человека. А как писал русский ученый М. Бакунин, всеобщая свобода
присутствует лишь там, где «она распространяется на каждого», где свободное
общество представлено совокупностью «массовых примеров». В принципе в определенных условиях государство, в зависимости от своих
реальных возможностей, может менять содержание экономических или социальных
прав. В чрезвычайных условиях, для защиты конституционного строя оно может
даже приостанавливать реализацию определенных гражданских прав, ограничивать
свободы, поражать в правах тех или иных лиц (например, лишать лиц, обвиняемых
в уголовных преступлениях, права быть избранными в органы власти) или группы
(запрещая экстремистские партии и движения). Однако и здесь существуют четкие
границы возможностей для государства, ориентированного на соблюдение прав и
свобод личности. Например, даже при чрезвычайных обстоятельствах
законодательно устанавливаются пределы и сроки действия таких ограничений. И
при этом ряд основополагающих прав, к примеру, право на жизнь, свобода
совести, свобода вероисповеданий, право на жилище или право на судебную
защиту, вообще не подлежат отмене. Но есть и такие способы действий режимов, которые направлены на
ограничение прав как фундаментальных начал в отношениях государства и
человека. К таким способам относятся, например, введение неоправданных
(возрастных, материальных, территориальных) цензов, ограничивающих
возможности граждан на формирование органов власти и на участие в их работе;
или закрепление разрешительного вместо регистрационного порядка регулирования
политической активности населения, при котором власть берет на себя
правоустанавливающие функции, что в конечном счете
отрицает фундаментальный характер политических прав. В целом, с учетом мирового опыта, можно выделить следующие четыре
группы нарушений прав человека со стороны государства и отдельных
политических сил (в порядке значимости): ·
геноцид и этнические «чистки», гражданские
войны, политический терроризм; ·
апартеид, расовая дискриминация, сегрегация; ·
ограничение политических прав гражданина; ·
уничтожение окружающей природы, введение
ограничений на получение информации, сокращение доступа к культурным
ценностям. Предотвратить нарушения прав человека можно только при должной
политической воле правящего режима, а в более широком плане – при
установлении в конкретных странах гарантий взаимной ответственности
государства и гражданина. |