Human Rights - Apartheid and Racial Discrimination

HUMAN RIGHTS

Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to, no matter what their race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, age, sex, political attitude, intelligence, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity is. They are the most fundamental rights of human beings.

Apartheid and Racial Discrimination


Apartheid was a political system in South Africa and means the strict racial separation and discrimination against non-whites, which started in 1948.
During that time, new laws averted most social contacts between the races, enforced the segregation of public facilities and the separation of educational standards. Black people had to carry special papers (passes) or have permission to live and work in particular areas. Other rules did not allow black people to own land or to vote. Besides, any sexual contact or a marriage between different races was forbidden.
The aim of apartheid was to separate all the people of South Africa into small independent nations, but the (white) government wanted to keep most of the land for white people, especially the rich parts. Black people were used as cheap labour.
The United Nations and many other countries supported the blacks for years and struggled for their freedom and equal rights. In 1994 Nelson Mandela became the first black president.

Indigenous Rights

Indigenous Rights not only include the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the preservation of their land, language, religion and other elements of cultural heritage.
There are around 370 million indigenous people in 70 countries worldwide, and they all share a history of injustice. Colonial settlers from Europe saw natives as primitives and savages, who needed to be dominated by a more superior society. Indigenous people were dispossessed of their lands and valuable resources. Europeans oppressed them with torture, enslavement and even extermination.
Today, many governments still...