|
Background
Self determination is a catch all term for a number of
human rights. These include the right to equality
under the law, the right to a nationality, the right to
freely leave and return to your country of origin, the
right to freedom from persecution because of race,
religion, or gender, and a host of others. Throughout
global history these rights have been violated in a
number of ways across the globe. In many places,
these basic rights are still denied to various peoples.
Rigid Social
Class System
Many of these rights are denied under rigid social class
systems such as ones in place during the European Middle
Ages, colonial Latin America, and in India.
European Middle Ages: The social class system
in place during the Middle Ages denied the majority of
people self determination. The peasant class, or serfs, at the bottom of the system, were tied to the
land. They lived on manors where they performed
agricultural work for their lord. In times of war,
they would be drafted for military service. In
return they were offered protection and were allowed to
keep some of what they produced. Serfs had no say
in their government, and very little say in their lives
overall.
Colonial Latin America: A rigid social
class system began in Latin America during its colonial
period. However, at the end of colonial rule, this
system changed very little.
|
Latin
American Social Class System |
| Peninsulares |
Spanish official sent to govern Latin
American colonies. They controlled
government completely. |
| Creoles |
American born Spanish
gentry, They owned most of the land but
were treated like second class citizens, and
were denied political rights. |
| Mestizos |
Spanish/Native America- denied
basic political, economic, and social rights due
to their mixed heritage. |
| Mulattoes |
Spanish/African- denied basic
political, economic, and social rights due to
their mixed heritage. |
| Native Americans & Slaves |
Lowest social class. They
had no rights and were often treated poorly and
used as a labor source by the plantation owning
Creoles. |
During the various Latin American independence
movements, promises were made by the Creoles to give
equality to all who helped against the Spanish.
However, when independence was achieved, little changed
in this system other than the Creoles now controlled
both the land and the government.
India: The Indian social class system is
called the Caste System, and is an  important part of
Hinduism. Everyone is born into a specific caste,
and has certain rights and duties according to their
castes. The lowest on the scale are the Untouchables. It is believed that to even have the
shadow of an Untouchable fall across you is bad
luck. To prevent this, Untouchables were required
to walk the streets ringing a small bell.
Untouchables led very hard lives and were shunned by
society. They were forced to do the jobs that
other castes felt were unclean, such as street
cleaning. Discrimination against the Untouchables
was outlawed in the mid 20th century, yet many still
face problems in India today.
Violence
The pursuit of self determination, or the denial of it,
has often led to violence. In these cases people
have been killed for reasons such as religious
affiliation of ethnic background. These problems range
from the Khmer Rouges in Cambodia in the 1970s, to
the present day situation in the Balkans.
Amritsar Massacre: On April 3rd of 1919,
British soldiers killed close to 400 unarmed Indian men,
women, and children, and wounded 1,100 more. The
site of this massacre was the city of Amritsar in
northern India. People had gathered in the center
of town to protest British occupation of their country,
and to demand equality. This was a turning point
in British domination of India. Independence
movements became very popular and eventually forced
India's independence.
Khmer Rouge: The Khmer Rouge were
a group of communist guerillas, led by
Pol Pot, that gained control of
Cambodia after the withdrawal of American troops from
the Vietnam War. The initiated a reign of terror,
killing over a million people to remove all western
influence from the country. This gross violation
of human rights ended when Vietnam invaded and occupied
the country in 1979. In the 1990s, the United
Nations negotiated a peace settlement, and began the
democratic process in Cambodia.
Balkans: Yugoslavia was created at the
end of World War I. It contained various ethnic
and religious groups. After World War II, this
area was dominated by the Soviet Union. After the
fall of communism, the various ethnic and religious
groups, including the Orthodox Christian Serbs,
the Roman Catholic Croats, the Muslim
Albanians, and others, attempted to separate from
Yugoslavia and form their own nations. The nations of Croatia,
Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina all
gained independence at this time.
|
Yugoslavia
After Breakup |
|
|
However, this independence came at a price. War
and ethnic violence have occurred throughout this region
since the breakup. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, many
non Serbs were either killed or forced out of the
country by Serb forces. This policy was called Ethnic
Cleansing. The Yugoslav army, under the
guidance of Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosovic,
fought to keep non-Serbs from breaking away from
Yugoslavia. During the 1990s, he used his army to terrorize
ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, who were
asking for self rule. The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) finally put a stop to this
violence, and Milosovic has since been arrested and
awaits trial for war crimes.
Palestine: In the 1890s, European Jews
began to migrate to Palestine, which was then controlled
by the British Empire. This
migration was a result of the increasing persecution
occurring in Europe. The migrations increased as
World War II approached, when many Jews attempted to
escape Hitler and the Nazis. The  Arabs
already living in Palestine were unhappy about the
increasing amount of Jewish settlers, which led to sporadic
violence throughout the region. At the end of the second
World War, the Jewish population in Palestine declared
the creation of the new state of Israel.
All of the neighboring Arab nations immediately declared
war, but were defeated, and Israel remained free.
Since the end of the World War II, Israel and the
various Arab nations have
been involved in numerous conflicts as Arab Palestinians
fought for an autonomous state. Israel has been
reluctant to grant any sort of self rule,
which is a violation of their right to self
determination. This situation has resulted in many
acts of violence committed by both sides. The tool
of the Palestinians has been terrorism, while
Israel has used its strong army, and the support of the
western nations to fight back. The Israeli
government granted limited self rule to the Palestinians
in the 1990s, only to begin restrictions again as
terrorist activities ceased to occur.
Apartheid: European settlers
have ruled South Africa since the mid 17th century.
While South Africa gained independence from the British
Empire in the beginning of the 20th century, the country
was still controlled by the white minority.
Black South Africans lived under the policy of apartheid,
which severely limited their rights. Under apartheid,
black South Africans could only live in certain areas,
were required to use separate trains, beaches,
restaurants, and schools, and
could not enter into an interracial marriage.
The African National Congress, a group formed in protest
of this policy, was eventually outlawed due to their
violent tactics. One of its leaders, Nelson
Mandela, was imprisoned for over thirty years for
his involvement in anti-apartheid demonstrations. Apartheid
lasted until the early 1990s when white South
African President, F. W. de Klerk ended
apartheid. In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected as
South Africa's first black president. However,
many human rights problems still exist in this country,
as white South Africans still control most of the
economic wealth.
|
