On June 14, 1993 at the Vienna Conference on Human Rights, developing countries (also known as the third world) contended that the Western norms of human rights and fairness are not applicable to their societies due to their cultural particularities.These countries, at the time led by China, Iran, Cuba and Vietnam argued that although human rights are universal, they must be applied or interpreted within the context of regional particularities, individual national, historical, cultural and religious background.
Source:TD Jones, ‘The Haitian Refugee Crisis: A Quest for Human Rights’ (1993) 15 Michigan J.Intl Law 77
Questions?
Do you agree or not? Are these concerns also expressed in our forms of government, education, legal systems, economic systems, consumption patterns etc which are all colonial and Western based?
Is there an unconscious bias or selectivity of what is applicable based on convenience?
And they are not applicable so what?
Akosua G
Ontario Canada
June 06, 2021