Topic 7: Protecting Human Rights

Protecting human rights requires

1. That people know what their human rights are
2. That people care about others than themselves in the community
3. That they know how to report violations of human rights
4. That the people to whom they report violations take action
5. That we develop a culture of human rights awareness which creates mutual respect among members of the community

It is possible that a ‘zero tolerance’ of small violations of human rights will create such a culture of mutual respect, similar to the Broken Windows theory.

In 1982, James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling proposed the Broken Windows Theory, highlighting the impact of urban decay. It suggested that petty crime and disorder in public areas could degrade control systems, endangering a community. To combat this, zero tolerance policies for minor offences are enforced, accompanied by more foot patrols and engagement with the locality. Furthermore, caring policing techniques are more effective than authoritarian ones.

In a similar way, human rights abusers may start by pushing the bounds of acceptability. It is vital that minor human rights violations are corrected as soon as they occur so that the sense of safety in a community is maintained. Abuse, hate crime, lack of transparency and fairness, and suppression of the right to free speech and name calling are likely to introvert members of the community so that they are reluctant to report violations and the situation deteriorates.

Community education, coupled with zero tolerance of both small human rights abuses and small crimes encourages people to communicate and to take responsibility for the state of their local community, increasing community and individual well-being.

BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY

Broken windows are a metaphor used for explaining the process in which neighbourhoods in both poor and affluent communities decline into a state of disorder. In our example of the unoccupied corner store, if the broken window is left unfixed, it sends a message to vandals, implying that nobody is there to care for the window. Because the first window is left broken, vandals may be encouraged to break another window. If the second window is also left unfixed, then the other windows also become targets. As they break each window, the vandals start getting comfortable and confident in their defiance of social conduct and order. The unrepaired windows show the vandals that the residents of the neighbourhood either do not care about the community or are too scared to report the crime. Furthermore, the vandals feel that there is no authority in the community that can stop them from committing crimes.

Broken windows theory, put forth by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in 1982, explains how criminals, when allowed to take over public places, can break down the control systems and render a community or city unsafe. For example, an aggressive beggar appears at an intersection of a community and starts disturbing the residents. If the individual is not stopped from bothering people, it encourages more similar individuals to invade the intersection and continue disturbing residents. Soon, other disreputable individuals start appearing in the community. These individuals include prostitutes, people who deface walls with graffiti, or people who display unruly behaviour in public. Eventually, they create an environment of disorder, and the community becomes unsafe.

Disorder can be a problem for a community. The message that “no one is at home” to restore order can attract hardened criminals because they feel they do not have to fear the consequences of crimes. Soon, there is an escalation of serious crimes, causing an increase in the crime rates in the community. The residents in such communities are scared to go out or visit public places, weakening informal social control. They also tend to avoid reporting criminal activity or disruptions for fear of becoming targets. The residents lose trust in the authorities and eventually move out of the community.

Broken windows theory argues that the order of public places in the community can be maintained by establishing control through the police department. Officers should take proper steps to monitor the community through effective patrolling, such as foot patrolling, and arrest disreputable people even for minor breaches of the law. Broken windows theory claims that such prompt actions tend to keep public places safe from crimes and restore the confidence of the community residents. In Chapter 2 of Rudy Juliani’s autobiographical book, Leadership, he details the success he and his city government had in reducing crime by following the precept of the Broken Windows theory. In a later chapter, Standing up to Bullies, the examples overlap crime and human rights. He points out, among other examples, that diplomats at the UN who arrogantly ignore parking rules and refuse to pay the fines are likely to ignore the rule of law in dealing with their own citizens in their own countries. Another example is standing up to the Teamsters Union with its Mafia connections.