by Adilur Rahman Khan
The 50th anniversary
of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights could not have arrived at a
more critical juncture in global history. The current geopolitical climate is
dramatically different from the one that produced the UN Declaration five
decades ago ..Yet in the midst of such major changes, certain trends seem
inevitable. The race towards global economic restructuring is not the only certainty.
Common social and economic problems - homelessness, environmental degradation,
transnational flow of migrant labour, marginalisation and displacement of
families - are evident everywhere, in both the wealthy “north” and the poor “south”.
But the poor “south” is a direct victim of this situation and Bangladesh being
a country of the “south” is one of the worst sufferers. Selective use of the
present instruments of human rights and the lack of scope to address the basic
needs of the people - food, water, shelter and other resources globally- has
prompted many to search for a new ‘universality’ under a new declaration of
human rights, which the present UDHR failed to provide.The North and the South:
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the demise of the Cold War era, a
new political scenario has emerged in the world politics, called ‘globalisation’.
The onslaught of this globalisation has further aggravated the divisions
between the rich and the poor and “north” and “south”. On the one hand globalisation
has opened all the opportunities available in the entire world to the richer,
dominant countries of the “north” (known collectively as the G7 and OECD) along
with their multinational and trans-national corporations “precisely because the
350 largest corporations (all based in the “north”) now account for 40 per cent
of global trade”, and on the other hand it has brought increasing miseries to
the poorer and dominated countries of the “south”- to whom its onslaught has
become a form of neo-colonialism.Thus, the world has been divided by the West
into two blocs. These are the rich, colonial “north” and the poor, colonised “south”.
The rich “northern bloc” is the beneficiary of the present order, and although
having twenty per cent of the world population, they have access to almost
eighty per cent of world resources. On the other hand, the poor “southern bloc”
is facing the pressure of neo-colonialism, and although having eighty per cent
of the world population, it has access to only twenty per cent of the world’s
resources. Moreover, The poorest 20 per cent of the world’s population receives
only 0.2 per cent of global commercial credit, 1 per cent of world trade and
2.7 per cent of global foreign private investment This is total injustice and
all the human rights mechanisms, including the UDHR, which only address the
issues of human rights and disparity of nation-states, have become redundant in
this present state of global situation.It is to be noted here that, when I
speak about the south’, I include the north people’ and mechanisms in the south’
and when I speak about the north’, I include the south people’ living in the
north’. For example, General Suharto was the north’ in the south’ and the
native American people are the south’ people living in the north.The
Side-Effects of Globalisation: Uncontrolled capitalism and its global
plundering has put the entire world, except for a few beneficiary countries,
into a serious socio-political and economic crisis of which Bangladesh is
another victim. The West’s consumer cultures have become predominant cultures
in the world. In the name of ‘intellectual property rights’ most of the
indigenous resources, starting from plant seeds to songs, are being patented in
the “north”. Free market economy has made us open our borders for the “north”
but close it for those in the “south”. The “north” desires that there should be
no barrier for “northern” products entering the national economies and markets
of the “south” to compete with local products with their relatively lower
prices. Ironically, manufacturers from the “north” searching for cheap raw
material, frequently target the “south” as a good source. Furthermore, the huge
production capacity of the former can easily drive away locally produced items
leading to the closure of more and more basic local industry, making millions
jobless. There are barriers in the present globalised system for so-called ‘export
-oriented products’ entering the markets of the “north”. This area of the world
applies various quotas and restrictions and tariff barriers on the “south” -
including Bangladesh. For example, the European Community (EC) will not buy any
goods which might or will compete with a similar product produced in the EC.
The basic principles of ‘free market economy’ do not apply to us in the “south”.
Although “foreign direct investment is part of liberalisation, international
capital is not currently investing in the poorest countries”. The “north” does
not recognise free movement of labour from “south” to “north”, even though it
recognises the free movement of goods. Further bully-boy’ tactics imposed on
the “south” are almost alien to the countries’ means of survival. For example,
a few years ago, Senator Harkin of the United States placed a Bill, popularly
known as “Harkin’s Bill”, completely banning child labour in garments
manufacturing industries - regardless or totally ignorant of the fact that in
poor countries like Bangladesh, all able members of a family living below the
poverty line have to work. The Bill threatened that US buyers would stop buying
from factories employing children. Bangladesh was one of the targets of the
Bill.Barring the Flow of Human Resources : The “north” refuses to understand
and keep in mind that human history is the history of migration. The poor,
deprived people always moved towards lands of opportunities and resources.
However, the ‘fortresses’ of the “north” are strong and designed to keep the
massive poor population of the world out of these lands and from enjoying the
resources. They fail to realise that these fortresses will become the targets
of the poor, who will ultimately be drawn towards them and who will attempt to
scale their walls by the sheer force of their determination and need, if not
allowed to enter legally. Many ways and means of coercing and forcing the
governments of poor “south” countries, to keep their people from migrating to
the north, are utilised by the powerful “north” governments. For example, the
supplying of direct foreign investment to Mexico by the US with the excuse that
it would give Mexicans jobs, shows just how terrified the powerful country is
of the influx of legal Mexican immigrants. Another example of the above is what
has recently taken place in Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh announced
that it would allow trade union activities inside the trade unionfree Export
Processing Zones (EPZ). The present government has justified this act by
stating that their predecessors had signed an agreement with America’s apex
trade union body, AFLI-CIO, which forced them to take this step. Trade unions
in Bangladesh have been corrupt and controlled by so-called militant leaders’.
This form of trade unionism may help the union leaders and certain vested
interest groups, but the general workers will suffer greatly. The latter have
to put in hard hours and labour to earn their wages. “These so-called trade
union leaders have managed to keep the industry as well as the workers as
hostages. Are they serving the human as well as the trade union rights of the
concerned workers?”. In reality, the previous government signed an agreement
with the American organisation to the effect that trade union activities would
be allowed in the EPZs in phases and would become operational in 1999. This
agreement has provided the US authorities to twist the administration’s arm in
favour of its implementation. Not only will the work of the ordinary workers in
the EPZs now be in jeopardy, the investors - a majority of them being South
Koreans - may feel threatened enough to withdraw their capital. Furthermore,
the move will be in contravention to the Bangladesh Export Promotion Zones
Authority (BEPZA) Act. The Other Side of International Finance Institutions:
The World Bank, IMF, MNC, TNC and all their subsidiary agencies are functioning
like the East India Company of the time of the British Raj in India. No human
rights mechanism under the present Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
can be made available to address their onslaughts because of its old fashioned
(out of fashion?) limited guidelines - which only cover the citizens of the
nation-states but are not designed to address the issues beyond.The workers of
Bangladesh and of other “southern” countries are loosing their jobs because of
the present World Bank and IMF sponsored structural adjustment policies. The
major industries of these countries are closing down to facilitate “northern”
products to capture their markets. For example, till the structural adjustment
policy was implemented , Bangladesh was the largest jute goods producing
country, which has now lost its former position. The people of the world are
becoming captive in the hands of a few multinational and trans-national
corporations and their unrestricted activities. There is no mechanism as yet
available for controlling or supervising their functions.Ever since Samuel P.
Huntington wrote on the ‘Clash of Civilisations’ in 1993 many “northern”
countries, including the dominant powers, have taken this work as their hand
book and guide to foreign policy. Muslims are now compared with the ‘communists
of the Soviet era’ and the present function of NATO is to prepare itself to
strike against any future force which might rise in the name of Islam - which,
according to them, is a potential threat to Israel and “northern” civilisation.
They have already reconfirmed their position by striking on the pharmaceutical
factory in Sudan and by killing about a million innocent men, women and
children in Iraq through their blockade and attacks.After the demise of the
Soviet Era and at the end of the Cold War period, many people thought that the
arms race would come to an end. However, the world watched with shock and
distress as the “northern” powers and their ‘stooges’ continued producing and
developing machines of war and spending billions of dollars in the process to
modernise them and make them more ‘efficient’. For example, many of the land
mines which have crippled and killed many in the poorer, war - ravaged
countries in Africa, Asia and even central Europe are manufactured in and supplied
by the rich, powerful countries in the “north”.Suggested Remedies and
Solutions: To meet the need to confront the present situation of globalisation,
a new Declaration on the Universality of Human Rights, drafted by all the
independent countries and with peoples’ initiatives has become pertinent to
replace the present one. The following issues must be addressed in the new
Declaration:* Redistribution of the resources of the world in an equitable
manner on the basis of the Rio Declaration. * Legitimising the transnational
migration of workers by formalising and making an open-door policy regarding
the foreign-worker contracting process. Mobilisation of resources, through
an effective international body, for guaranteeing the protection of the overall
rights of the children and the elderly. Immediate cessation of
religion-based violence and the ultimate destruction of xenophobia. It must be
remembered religion can also be a basis of peace and spirituality - something
all the major religions of the world advocate.* There is a need for a new
mechanism which will make accountable the multinational and transnational
corporations which are presently working as super governments’. It is because
of these activities, millions in the South are sinking below the poverty
line.
The writer is an advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Views expressed in
the article are the writer’s own. But he rocks, doesn't he?!