Birthday party massacre and bloody violence in rehab center in Mexico
Birthday party massacre and bloody violence in rehab center in MexicoSome of the cities on the coastal area of Mexico have been the CENTER for the crime-related violent activities like- murder, kidnapping, robbery, drug trafficking and money laundering, which have been affecting both the United States and Mexico. In this article, I am portraying two newspaper articles about a shocking and terrible massacre in a drug rehab center and in a birthday party. The news article "Birthday party massacre in Cuidad Juarez level 13 young people dead", and another article -"Mexico's drug cartels unleash a weekend of Bloody violence", published in the Guardian clearly demonstrate the burning social problems in the border areas in Mexico. The first article reports;
Gunmen killed at least 13 people when they stormed a teenager's birthday party in the latest massacre to hit the beleaguered Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez. The dead were mostly young people and included a 13-year-old girl, according to state authorities. The gunmen reportedly arrived at the scene shortly before midnight on Friday in two minivans and injured a further 20 people in their attack, including a nine-year-old boy.
Human rights are almost a form of religion in today's world. They are the great ethical yardstick that is used to measure a government's treatment of its people (Liz, 1999). Most political activists and commentators are content just to look at United Nation's ever-growing body of human rights agreements as a proof that these rights exist universally and therefore have to be respected by everyone. Domestic human rights legislation represents the local implementation of internally-recognized rights that are universal and inalienable (Sharma, 2002). Unfortunately, human rights are far more complicated phenomenon than that. Such dreadful violent-activists have negated the statements of human rights.
People in the society are living in a horror and pathetic conditions. They do not want to tell the reality; what exactly is happening to them. It is due to the fear of those gangs involving in such criminal activities. Ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities have the right to enjoy their own culture, to participate their own religion, and to use their own religion, and to use their own language (Article 27). Any kind of cultural and religious functions and celebrations have been the main target for the criminals. It is reported in the article that,
Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in and around the city of 1.3 million since early 2008, when the country's most famous trafficker, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, launched a bid to push out the Juárez cartel. The violence has spiraled despite a massive federal offensive launched by President Felipe Calderón.
Mexico is facing a critical situation of such criminal inhuman activities. As reported in the article, a nine-year-old boy says, "I threw myself on the floor and then a lot of other people piled on top of me. He did not want to be named in case of reprisals". Let's see the child rights there. It has raised a BIG question mark to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says "Every human being has the inherent right to life" (Article 6). They cannot tell the facts; they cannot raise their voice; their voice is suppressed, oppressed. They have no freedom of speech. Human rights exist in order to protect the basic dignity of life. Indeed, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights embodies this goal by declaring that human rights flow from 'the inherent dignity of the human person'. As reported in the article,
Some observers say the situation is tantamount to criminal anarchy and no longer follows the logic of a cartel power struggle, and the violence continues despite the thousands of federal police officers and soldiers deployed in the city.
Freedom without acceptance of responsibility can destroy the freedom itself, whereas when rights and responsibilities are balanced, freedom is enhanced and a better world can be created (Reichert, p. 124). Human rights must be directed to protecting and promoting human dignity (Walter, 2009). As reported in the second article,
The attackers made the clients lie on the floor and then sprayed them with bullets, killing 13 during the assault on Sunday night, according to one witness, Jesus, who asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of reprisals. There are normally about 45 clients at this ramshackle, privately run treatment center and the people sleeping upstairs survived.
The social work agencies and the social workers in such a situation can hardly continue their services. As mentioned is the social work ethics, the responsibility to challenge operation rests upon the social work profession (NASW, 1999, p. 6). It has really been a great threat and challenge for the social workers to integrate human rights into practice in such dangerous areas, where civil right is in a pathetic situation. So, to insure and safeguard life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of the common people, the government and the state must pay attention to eliminate such inhuman activities in the society.
References
Associated Press, the Guardian (2010, October, 25). Mexico's drug cartels unleash a weekend of bloody violence. Retrieved from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/25/mexico-drug-cartels-weekend-violence#history-link-box.
Jo Tuckman (2010, October, 24). Birthday party massacre in Cuidad Juárez leaves 13 young people dead. Retrieved from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/24/birthday-party-massacre-ciudad-juarez.
Liz, Kelly (1999). Domestic violence matters: An evaluation of a demonstration project, London, Home Office.
National Association of Social Workers (1999). Code of ethics. NASW Press, Washington, DC.
Reichert, E. (2006). Understanding human rights: an exercise book. Sage publication, London.
Sharma, Siva (2002). Human rights violation: A global phenomenon. New Delhi: APH.
Walter, Kalin (2009). The law of international human rights protection. New Delhi: OUP.
Words by Karun
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Written on 2011-01-21 at 03:18
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