Are our leaders serious?
By: Tyler John
Tags: USA, Corruption, Politics

Many human rights violations stem from the state and legislative levels. More often than not Governments engage in practices that infringe on Human rights by allowing all issues to be leveraged politically. This issue is focused on in an article titled “UN’s Bachalet slams ‘reprehensible’ political leadership during the pandemic, sees hope in new US administration.”. The article is a summary of a press conference in honor of Human Rights Day in which Ms. Bachalet spoke. She highlighted the inability of states to separate issues in light of the pandemic, spoke to her optimism. Regarding the new US administration and spoke up against human rights violations in a certain country.

Image 1: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

Ms. Bachelet is dumbfounded by political leaders who continually underestimate the pandemic and its effects. She cites the fact that these leaders refer to herd immunity in the wake of thousands of lives being lost as if this were not a steep enough price to pay. She uses a metaphor to speak to this as a knife into the “heart of trust”. To support this, she quoted a Latin American example, wherein the leaders of various countries acted oblivious to the lethal pandemic and called out the leaders of Brazil for their myopic response to what the science about the virus was saying. Myanmar and Uganda are just two of many countries that used the pandemic as an opportunity to restrict democracy and postpone elections.

On a more positive note, Ms. Bachelet speaks of the new US administration in high regard. She notes that they too have politicized the pandemic. However, the new leadership has proposed a set of promises such as rejoining the Paris Climate agreement and increasing refugee resettlement numbers, moves which Bachelet thinks will work to make. Human rights a priority. China and Ethiopia have also been home to human rights violations, which have troubled Ms. Bachelet, and even expressed her wish for her office to visit China to evaluate the human rights climate. Tigray is another country wherein there is an unimaginable disregard for human rights. In Tigray, lootings, abductions, sexual violence against women, and even the forced joining of young men into militias to fight against their own communities are reported.

Ms. Bachelet is a staunch advocate for Human rights, giving credence for her position as high commissioner of human rights in the United Nations. She believes that the effects of the pandemic transcends mere than just politics and must be treated at that same level of seriousness. Leaders convoluting the concept of herd immunity as a reason for their inept response to the pandemic is unacceptable. While herd immunity is real it is absurd to think that we must allow millions to die to achieve such. Here trust is compromised. There is a level of comfort and trust that the state's members must have in their Government. These whimsical implications and decisions by Governments compromise trust and threatens civil unrest. It was commendable that she was not entirely down on the political system and was able to find some form of Good. The US has one of the worst covid situations in the world. In part due to their lackadaisical response to the virus, however, if the promises made by the Biden administration come to pass, the future is definitely something to look forward to. Ms. Bachelet sees it necessary to visit countries which. Violate human rights, more specifically China.

As already established in my other blog posts, I will always champion human rights causes. I am in full agreement with everything Ms. Bachelet proposed. The single most important issue in our world is the well-being of its inhabitants and not politics. Politicians must be honest in their intentions when they campaign. There is no form of economic benefit in the world which is worth more than life itself. Additionally, I believe that Ms. Bachelet's plans to visit China are very commendable as this is a proactive way to see first-hand the existing conditions in China and devise a plan to fix them and create a better atmosphere with regards to human rights. To end today's blog, I will quote Ms. Bachelet when she said “the world could vaccinate itself against hunger, poverty, inequality, and possibly even climate change, if it took human rights seriously. ‘. This is not to be taken literally but rather to mean that if human rights are given the important status and attention which it so deserves a lot of the calamities which plague our world today will be eradicated.

Bibliography

· 2021, UN’s Bachelet slams ‘reprehensible’ political leadership during pandemic, sees hope in new US administration, https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1079622