Limit Of Human Rights In Africa

Limit Of forgiving Rights In AfricaCulture, Gender, and Religion at the Limit of charitable Rights in Africa.The essay will focus on how culture, gender and faith limits gentlemans gentleman rights in Africa and how the three come into conflict which leads to discursively construct each other via heathen. It will also cover the potential and limitations of the wowork forces rights as gentlemans gentleman rights in which, attension will be paid to Islamic truth-sharia and many of it cases in Nigeria. The essay will also relate international human rights documents like the comprehensive Declaration of Human Rights, Afri stinker Charter on human and peoples rights, protocol to the African Charter on Human and peoples Rights of women in Africa, and Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam(sharia law) and conclusion.Legal Pluralism in Human Rights law of natureThe plurality of norms and values that exist in different African cultues and societies is also reflected within the human rights system itself. The human rights system embodies both individual and communal rights. The tension relationship between the principle of a groups right to self determination and ethnical identity, asembodied in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and Article 16.1 of the Womens convention, which puts an obligation on the states parties to eliminate discrimination against women in either matters relationg to marriage and family relation. In the African context is whether the protection of group rights such(prenominal) as culture and religious identity of ethnic group, constitutes a justifiable reason for differential treatment of women and men in African. There has always been great arguement when interpreting the convention in relationa to African States parties, it should be born in mind that African and Western cultures turn in different values and norm(Grannes 199428) This is because the implementation of Womens convention has upraised to be particularly problematic in the area of personal and family law, where it comes into conflict with religious and customary laws and practices.Human Rights in AfricanOver decades now, Africa have been ranked by international Human Rights organizationas like Human Right Watch, Ammesty International and International Crimenial Court as a continent where human rights violations are at it apex especially islamic countries, the violation of womens basic human rights are roughlyly done in the name of culture and religion.1After the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 in which pursuit of equal rights for women through with(predicate) international law has been fair from reach. The principle says that everyone is free and equal in diginity and eveveryone is entitled to rights without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex was started in Articles 1 and 2 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights2, African Charter by the Organization o f African Unity (now African Unity) in 1986, Convention on the elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam by the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 1993. Anthropology as an academic go over has embraced a predominantly ethical relativist stance toward the idea of human rights as a legitimate universal concern for all cultures. In the past historic period the rising prominence of womens rights as human rights has challenged this point of view. Within the context of the global womens human rights movement, feminist anthropologists are in the forefront of this challenge, striving to instigate anthropologys important focus on cultural context, while at the same time paying deep concern for harmful pracetics against women, with female genital mutilation in African no exception, which may be argued to be morally objectionable outside of any given culture. Human Rights is a very difficult devise to define. Ones idea of humanity varies in every culture especially in African societies discrepancies are a great deal found even within a preposterous culture.Gender,Culture, Religion and social Causes a Barrie to Human Rights in AfricaViolence continues to affect lives of megs of women in African in all socio- effectual, economic and educational classes. This is cuting across cultural and religious barriers, which impeding women from taking full participation in societies. One of the greatest barriers to womens economic advancement is violence they face on daily routine. non only does such violence impede womens ability to live full and productive lives, it also hampers their contributions to family, society and economic development. Violance aganist women is one of the most visible consequences of economic, social, political, legal and cultural inequalities that exist between men and women in Africa, as a result the continent is laging behind the rest of the human being3. Given the subordinate lieu of women in Africa, women are most exposed to ill treatments, physiological abuse, and physical violence, such gender violence is considered normal and enjoys social sanction.African continent is spicy in cultural relativity(culture of discrimination) and norms, as a result it has showed a vital barrier to the implementation of the universal human rights act.A universal agreement among authoritative human rights provisions is not likely to occur, specifically when dealing with islamic countries in African where transition to more equal rights is most problematic, where elements of Sharia law governing the behaviour of women remain active. In extreme examples in northernmostern Nigeria, these ancient laws unflurried declaims that adultery is a crime when only carried out by women, and makes it impossible for a man to be convicted of cocker. In certain circumstances, conforming to human rights would signify a fundamental change in societies that the elite is not willing to undertake, fearing a potential change in the balance of power while the cultural norms remains unchanged.Violence against women in Africa comes in several forms discrimination, rape and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which the World Health Orgnazation (WHO) defines as comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending pip-squeakbirths. Increasingly, however, FGM is being performed by health care providers and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a persons rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and th e right to manners when the procedure results in death.Despirte global efforts by World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to combat the wild spred of FGM, it still remains donominant in Africa as a cultureal partices, which lives close 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM and three million girls are at risk annually4.The reasons behind female genital mutilation in Africa include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities.In most African countries where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice. Traditions in African believes that FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising up process for girl(s), and a way to prepare them for adulthood and marriage life, it often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity and is also associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are clean and beautiful after removal of body parts that are considered male or unclean. The Africa Traditional Reglions (ATRs) is the only religion that fully support to the practice, practitioners often believe the practice has religious support, other religious leaders take active positions with regard to FGM some still promote it, some consider it unimportant to religion, and others are still kicking against the idea. capableness and Limitations of Womens Rights as Human RightsSocial and economic indicators for African countries consistently show that women bear the greatest brunt of hardship because of disciminatory lwas against them, efforts to modernise this discriminatory laws have been frustrated by deep-rooted cultural barriers that runs in opposite direction with developments . Women in Afric a contribute in numerous ways to the national development of every country. They are responsible for(p) for nearly all household duties , starting from food productions and processing exercises. Often, women tend to be viewed not as individuals, but as part of the male-headed household with some unique needs of their own related to their preceived roles, if given the rigts they can be at the front line of major global issues.Women organizations in Africa and around world such as Formum for African Women Educationalist (FAWE) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) have been actively involve in using different approaches in seeing the the rights of women as stated in various international human rights docuents be met,their efforts are far from reach in Africa.Sharai LawThe word sharia nub the path to a watering hole. It denotes an Islamic way of life that is more than a system of criminal justice. Sharia is a religious code for living, in the same way that the B ible offers a moral system for Christians. It is adopted by most Muslims to a greater or lesser degree as a matter of personal conscience, but it can also be formally instituted as law by certain states and enforced by the courts. many another(prenominal) Islamic countries have adopted elements of sharia law, governing areas such as inheritance, banking and contract law.Sharai Law in Nigeria -Case OneSafiya Hussaini, age 35, was sentenced to death by stoning in October 2002 for allegedly having a child with a married neighbour. She had the child after her divorce, but maintained the father was her former husband and that they were married when the child was conceived. The court convicted her, but Hussaini won an appeal, this time alleging that she had sex out of wedlock before sharia law took effect.Sharai Law in Nigeria Case TwoIn 2001, a teenage single mother was given 100 lashes for adultery, even though she argued she was raped by three men. The court said Bariya Ibrahim Magaz u could not prove that the men forced her to have sex. Sexual discrimenation is transparent in this case, The Sharai law failed to bring the three men to book for raping, insisted all the blame was put on the woman alone.Sharai Law in Nigeria -Case Three In 2002, Adama Unusua, who was 19 and pregnant, was recently sentenced to 100 lashes in public for having sex with her fiance.5International Human Rights Documents and Sharia Law in AfricaThe African continent ratified international and regional human rights protection instruments, human rights violations such as discrimination against women persists widely both in law and practice.The international commettee remains particularly concerned by the currently violations of human rights in Africa especially the ones currently going on in North Africa andWest Africa(Ivory Coast). The persistence of discriminatory laws lack of perfect harmonisation between statutory and customary laws and the application of Sharia laws constantly increase violence against women, including widowhood rites and obstacles to access filch employment opportunities leades tonor right in decision-making that even affects them.The Shariagoes in oppsite direction with all international and regional human rights documents, expect in the Cariro Declaration on Human Rights in Islam by the Organization of the Islam Conferencce in may 1993, which made provision in Article 26ConclusionIncrease in the violation of huma rights in Africa is at it apex point, both the international and regional commeteer need to pay much attension to this issues, especially the violation of fundamental rights which are clearly speelts in all human rights documents with execption to Articule 2(c) p 4 of the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights.Womens rights must be respected by eliminating all form of discrimination against them, so that they can see themselves as partners in development in African.