Written on Sep, 01, 2015 by in | Leave a comment

The Human Rights Act for years had enabled plenty of British to express their opinions with tolerance from the public and the government. These activities, including protests, which sometimes break down into violence, had contributed to the well-being and better understanding between authorities, businesses and individuals.

However, the Conservative Party wants to abolish the Human Rights Act. Our first reaction would be “Why would they want to do that? Now we don’t have anything to protect ourselves when we want to express ourselves.” But the case in point is that plenty of infectious ideas have spread to the point it is fuelling wars elsewhere.

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of Islamic State. These Jihadists have brought dreadful news. They have even taken to social media and the Internet to spread their activities, namely preaching and ‘acting on’ the Islamic belief the right way, the archaic way. Somehow, these have fed into the minds of the most faithful of Muslims, of which is plentiful in our country.

I have nothing against belief, but preachers and people who spread word of the ideas of violence being a part of religion is counter-productive to the goal of religion, which is to spread peace and harmony between all life.

But the act of balancing the law is difficult in itself. The government has to understand that when they remove the HRA, even common civilians would be involved. The paradox is if they refuse to remove it, then Jihadists have free reign to place their posts online and influence Muslims to feel Islam the right way is to force everyone to believe in it.

It would also seem to perverse our current surveillance and privacy laws because the government must have no control over what is not performed publicly if they undermine the HRA. The Terrorist Act itself could have been useful, if only proper authorities had not abused their positions.

But the inevitable truth is that we need to take one thing for another. Remove HRA, live a little less private and we keep our nation safe. Refuse to remove the HRA and we have all the privacy we could get. These criminals get it too, and we wouldn’t know if our neighbour was planning to blow up something in Manchester that has a lot of people to prove a point.

So, we’re at a Mexican standoff where it’s a lose-lose situation. But I’d choose the lesser evil.

I’d say that we could place some restrictions on The Human Rights Act, namely instigating violence. People must refuse the removal of the HRA but instead persuade the government to add a sub-clause that mentions instigating criminal actions through influence, religion or otherwise, is criminally offensive and is subject to the full force of the law.

In this way, we could single out individuals who use belief, ideals, objectives and political statements to instigate violence against other people.

Isn’t this how Hitler got started with WWII or are we forgetting all about this already?

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Written on May, 30, 2015 by in | Leave a comment

I know it’s a bit of a downer, but Manchester isn’t the only place we’ve got trouble this year. To be honest, we’ve got loads of problems since January started.

Want to get a head-start? Here are six!

  1. The Syrian Refugee Crisis

It’s been four years since the war between Syrian separatists and regime began. We’ve seen the government or rebels use chemical weapons to kill hundreds of innocent lives including women and children to satisfy their ideals. The conflict has offset more than 3.9 million people including two million children out from their country. Currently, they are seeking asylum in different countries, namely Jordan and Lebanon, where economies are gripped by tough employment and humanitarian issues caused by the influx of refugees.

  1. Nepal Earthquake

Late April 25, buildings toppled and massive avalanches had come down from the Himalayas as Nepalese ran for their lives to escape the disaster. As many as 8 million people had their homes lost and businesses shut down. About 7,000 people have died because of the disaster. NGOs and world governments are helping the Nepalese to recover, providing water, food, household supplies, temporary homes and protection for their children.

  1. Ebola Outbreak

The 2014 Ebola outbreak that hit West Africa had claimed 6,388 lives on December 10, 2014. The World Health Organisation, world governments and international aid agencies had stepped up help to control the spread of the virus. The world is still observing whether the plague had finally stopped. However, NGOs and international medical professionals are also at risk of contracting the disease.

  1. Somalian Drought

In 2014, East Africa had seen great yields in cereal crops. However, more than one million people still need emergency food assistance. Aid agencies are improving food security as looting and hunting down of relief providers have proliferated in the area. Floods are also abound in riverside populations. However, the political instability has ravaged most of the lands, making progress to provide aid and restore the country’s economy impossible.

  1. Central African Republic Violence

Africa has seen the worst of times, but it is far from over. In Central Africa, the republic continues to deal with clashing groups as they spread violent attacks against 4.6 million people. The conflict had displaced 430,000 individuals, many of which travelling to Europe and other countries to seek asylum and refuge.

  1. South Sudan

Violence continues to escalate in South Sudan as 1.91 million people flee their homes because of local fighting. the UN has sent aid and security. However, many are caught in the crossfire. Their economies are still far from recovering as many farming families miss the opportunity to start their planting season. Livestock have been ravaged by opposing factions. Hunger, malnutrition and disease continue to threaten children’s lives.

  1. Islamic State

The rise of splinter Islamic group Islamic State continues to take over much of Iraq as a powerless Iraqi military stands by. Harassment, torture and rape continue to this day. Action from the West and Europe are yet to be decided.

 

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Written on Sep, 27, 2014 by in | Leave a comment

Africa’s Angola was once a Portuguese colony. Sharing cultures with the masters and gaining independence in 1975, Angola’s political structure immediately collapsed as the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the National Union For The Total Independence of Angola and the National Liberation Front of Angola fought a civil war between each other. Each of these groups sold diamonds native in Africa to former colonists to fund their efforts.

Recognising the diamonds caused much trouble among groups in Africa, the UN had blocked all sales of diamonds from Africa. Unfortunately, we have the Black Market doing the outsourcing for each and every one of us.

Unsuspecting workers mine blood diamonds. They are uncharted, have no official contracts with their employers and oftentimes left to starve or die underneath the mines. The inhuman situation underneath the mines is a big giveaway. These diamonds are then sold in exchange for powerful arms during the conflict between the political parties involved.

Even the Angolan government knows what’s up and is definitely gaining huge benefits from these diamonds. If it were not, then why imprison Rafael Marques de Morais for criminal defamation when he could have been telling the truth?

The journalist released his book Diamantes de Sangue: Corrupção e Tortura em Angola (Blood Diamonds: Corruption And Torture in Angola) published in 2011. He had written allegations against high ranking Angolan government generals and their collaboration with mining companies to gain profit from blood diamonds in exchange for services involving killing, torture and taking over land unrightfully theirs. These include Angolan diamond fields.

Some of these include General Manuel Helder Vieira Dias Junior Kopelipa, a minister of state who tried to get de Morais to answer to court however dismissed the case.

So why try de Morais when you know that you just need a public statement to show that your record is clean? Why show some Iron fist?

And don’t get me started on what the West has to say to this. The US have lots of stakes in Africa’s hydrocarbons sector, facilitated by the Angolan government. The US have condemned de Morais accusations. Or maybe the US is trying to keep a “heroic face” and show itself as a savior?

The US had announced plans to use their attack and surveillance drones to hunt down, disrupt or fully disarm the operations of blood diamonds in different parts of the world. These include collecting information on mining grounds and potentially disarming, disrupting or completely destroying operations.

Yup, that will save the appearance of the US even though it’s so obvious their interests to exploit Africa’s other resources are pretty much obvious.

You might ask who buys these diamonds? Well, check out your latest jewelry shop in Manchester. You’ve probably seen these shops selling engagement rings to men for women. Marriage rings even. The bigger rock, the more you might know that this was mined by a man who might be dead by now, and their employers at war with each other, and the selling of this diamond had funded a massive bloodbath in Africa because you and your spouse want something special to make yourself feel important against the universe.

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Written on May, 17, 2014 by in | Leave a comment

Terry Devon. My parents always told me it was a unique name. Terry was a name Westerners like me usually had. However, Devon was not every American or European’s name. Devon was a place in England. I researched about its history and found out Devonshire, where my surname originally came from, had an origin named Dumnonia. It was the homeland of Dumnonii Brittonic Celts. Reading further, many conflicts between Celts and other Anglo-Saxon tribes had happened there.

But I don’t live in Devon. I just love how my history has something to do with the place. However, I don’t want to begin wars over petty things like those three did during their time. I want to be an advocate of peace and through peaceful means, raise awareness about the issues circling our planet.

When they tell you that the United Nations exist and your country protects your freedom and your right to exist as a human person, the foundations of these ideals could be offset by money, influence and power. But there’s the media helping to lubricate things for the masses.

Venezuelan Authorities were accused of using unnecessary force to drive down opposition protesters through beatings, illegal detentions and failure to follow due process. Was it a case of hot-headed policemen or were they told to make an example of individuals? Clearly, Venezuela isn’t the only country where this happens.

If you happen to live in Bahrain as a local or an expatriate, you’ve probably seen the force authorities use when locals organise a protest. It’s disturbing and disappointing. Bahrain has a ‘democratic’ government, one that I wouldn’t believe so myself because Bahraini Monarchs still run the show. Don’t forget that in the Middle East, your ethnic and religious ties are above your nationalistic ideals.

If you found that the last two paragraphs were TLDR, it’s just to say that everday, people are getting the shock treatment. Literally electric shocks from torture, burns and threats of rape, execution or the harming of loved ones. All of these are done by your own government.

Yet none of these surface. Certain authorities placate the media to purge these stories from the public’s eye. But when you finally understand that about hundreds of people are injured and hundreds are also killed, you still wouldn’t act. You’d believe it was too much. It’s unbelievable. Or probably because you’ve seen too much movies to believe in such things.

Believe me, they do exist. If not, then North Korea must not exist.

Sure, the Internet loves feasting on Kim Jong-Un and his delirious government and idealistic beliefs, but everyone turns a blind eye at the human rights abuses, mass executions and power-tripping happening in the country. Tough cookie, you say, but it is horrifying at best.

This blog isn’t just about human rights though. As my surname reminds me of being a Celt and learning how violence solved nothing but only gave some the advantage, I want to fight for every living thing’s rights to live. Not just humans, but also the environment and the unfortunate, by spreading awareness and sharing my opinions through this blog.

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