The Difficulty of Defining Human Rights

The difficulty of defining human rights becomes evident when one examines the very purpose of "human rights", for between its purpose and its origins, there lies a deep contradiction. Human rights were created in order to protect the liberties of all human beings. They describe a plethora of instances in which all humans are entitled to this and that. However, the human rights themselves were written by a single comity. It seems almost futile for a small group of people -most of whom coming from privileged Western or European societies- to write the rules for all of the human race.

The Modern Congo

1. DR Congo rebel leader arrested over mass rapes: Over the past couple of days, the UN and the Army of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been tracking down the leader of a rebel force who is responsible for coordinating the mass rapes of a local villages. Just recently, through a joint operation, the rebel leader was captured and taken into custody. In my opinion the occurrence of these mass rapes is evidence of an unstable government. This is not unexpected considering that the country hadn't become independent until 1960. It is clear that the control of Leopold I's regime has left the Congo in ruin. However, I believe that this arrest is a good sign of progress. It shows that the people and the government of the Congo will not tolerate injustice anymore.