Jasmine's reflection

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was issued by the U. N. in 1948. The conflict going on in Darfur, Sudan shows how this Declaration was clearly just pieces of paper that had no meaning. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights granted each and everyone their own rights to do what is right. After seeing what happened in World War II and to the Jews at that time, the U.N. created this document so that these same rights wouldn’t be taken away from humans again. With this event going on, it seems like people have forgotten about the human rights of others and the cruel treatment that happened then is happening now.

During the Holocaust, Jews had all their rights taken away. They were first put in separate areas called gangs. After that they were taken out of their houses and put into labor camps. The Germans killed them and worked them until they were no longer able to work. During the Holocaust, 12 million people died and they weren’t even looked at as humans. They were called by numbers and were treated no better. In Darfur, the Sudanese government is taking innocent civilians out of their villages. Most have fled, the way some Jews did during the Holocaust. They civilians that don’t move fast enough or escape fast enough would get killed. These civilians are not treated as humans and definitely don’t have their human rights they deserve.

Humanism was the idea that all individuals matter. This conflict in Darfur definitely denies this idea. All the Darfur civilians do not matter to the Sudanese government or the Janjaweed. They are getting killed everyday because they mean nothing to the government. The Darfur civilians are not treated as humans, they are suffering each and everyday with new challenges and clearly they are not anything to the Janjaweed, the ones who kill them, and others. The idea that all individuals matter does not take place in Darfur.

This event makes me feel very angry. Innocent civilians that want to be treated like humans are getting killed everyday. The women are getting raped and the men are getting slaughtered in minutes. I feel very sorry for these victims who have to go through this with out much help. I also am very mad that the leaders are doing this to their own people. The government is taking away the rights of their own people and they don’t even feel awful. This makes me very mad that there are countries like this that put their own people in misery. I feel bad that these Darfur victims have to go through pain each and every day.

The peace keeping efforts by the U.N. in sovereign countries are acceptable to me. They are trying to end these unfair treatments that are happening in these countries. The only problem is that they are not trying hard enough. They investigate the problem but don't get into it to much. They Sudanese government is not planning to stop because the interigation is not strong enough. The effort of tring to make peace is good though. If the U.N. stepped into the sovereignty of the U.S. it wouldn't be acceptable because they aren't violating human rights. Our country is following the Declaration and it wouldn't be acceptable.


By: Jasmine Bajwa