Essay+-+AZ+-+FA10

 Human rights are generally defined as “rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled”. Throughout the world, human rights are violated every day, sometimes gruesome or violent – like in Cyprus, Sierra Leone, and Argentina. Spain, however, has a constitution set in place that firmly protects the rights of their citizens and guarantees their freedom. This is the first sign that the human experience is not relatively the same. It differs all over the globe.

 In Cyprus, human trafficking is the nation’s most prevalent issue. People from eastern Europe, Latin America, southeast Asia and northern Africa are taken to the island and given high hopes with promises of opportunities to work, but are let down once they arrive. 98% of the victims of human trafficking are women and girls, used for sex exploitation. They are given “artiste” permits to work in Cyprus, but are only good to work in bars or as dancers. Generally, the trafficking of these women is hidden behind immigration and more particularly, prostitution. Although organizations within Cyprus work to bring attention to their issue, the Cypriot government refuses to officially acknowledge the problem.

 Sierra Leone’s civil war over diamonds from 1991-2002 left it devastated and the poorest nation on earth. The rebel force RUF, or Revolutionary United Front, recruited children as young as 3 or 4 as soldiers. Kidnapping, drugging, and brainwashing these children, they forced them to commit massive human rights atrocities – such as mutilation, rape, and murder. Girls were used as sex slaves and impregnated at ages as young as 10. Strong international efforts aided in ending the war that left the nation ravaged, but today, the biggest problem of Sierra Leone lies in rehabilitating child soldiers – children who have done and seen things so horrific, they are feared by even their families - back into their society.  The Dirty War in Argentina from 1976-1983 brought a military dictatorship of terror. Mass disappearances of student activists and missionaries occurred daily. Up to 30,000 Argentinians disappeared and were never recovered. Brutal torture centers were dotted throughout the country, and thousands were gruesomely murdered. Argentina is peaceful today, but still struggles to persecute those who carried out the war crimes.

 Spain is powerful and healthy country with an absolute guarantee to the safety and freedom of their citizens. With a growing economy and recent winners of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, citizens have every freedom that Americans do: freedom of speech, assembly, movement, press, protection of refugees, religion, and many more. The Spanish legalized same-sex marriage in 2005 in order to protect and emphasize the happiness of all of their citizens.  Ultimately, citizens in different countries experience different lives, and therefore, a different human experience. A child soldier in Sierra Leone may never have the same human experience as a child raised in a Spain, or a nation similar to Spain: stable, healthy, and safe. A victim of horror like human trafficking or torture will probably never have the same experience as a winner of the World Cup. Without the guarantee of the protection of human rights, the victims of conflict in Cyprus, Sierra Leone, Argentina, and many other countries will continue to struggle with their fight for liberty. The human experience, no matter where a person lives, varies, and therefore, few human experiences are relatively the same.