Was Human Rights Violated Iraq War?

Human Rights Violations in the Iraq War

War is a touchy subject. People often have strong opinions regarding war and the practices of war. It is a real challenge to discuss ethics and morality within the context of war. Even within the context of war, people are concerned with issues such as human rights and human rights violations. Human rights violations during war are an issue that grabs organizations across a wide variety of interest and influence, such as the United Nations. Just last week, the United Nations released a report regarding the numerous documented human rights violations occurring during the war in Iraq. People inside and outside of the war may questions whether there have been any human rights violations during the war. According to the United Nations, the answer is yes.

Others may have the view that during war, human rights do not apply, nor should violations of human rights be documented or acknowledged. Those who with this opinion may additionally contend that once war is waged, the laws, rules, ethics, morals, etc. that apply to ordinary civilized life do not apply during times of war. During war, different rules apply. Therefore, the very notion of human rights violations during the Iraq war is a conundrum in of itself, the arguments on both sides of the issue notwithstanding. The paper will consider the perspective of the United Nations, the foremost organization on the planet with respect to many social issues, including human rights and instances of human rights violations. As part of this consideration, though, the paper will acknowledge the perspective that human rights violations are not an issue in war because war is a different lifestyle with a different set of governing principles.

There have been regular investigations into the state of human rights during the Iraq war since the beginning. Because the war has now persisted for a decade, organizations such as the United Nations and others have intensified and revisited their investigations into the conduct and actions during the war. One of the major investigations by the United Nations regarding the war are the so-called human rights violations. The people whose rights are in question of being violated are those of Iraqi civilians. The human rights of those involved in the war, such as soldiers, other forms of military officers, rebels, insurgents, and others, are not in question, unless in very extreme and public cases, such as with the events that composed the incident and photographs of Abu Gharib.

Some of the violations the United Nations found were of civilians being denied access to hospitals during and after military attacks. The U.N. additionally found that inappropriately or excessively severe weapons were used or detonated intentionally in areas that were populated with civilians only. According to the U.N., it is not simply that these occurrences and others happen during the war, but that an additional atrocity is that the United States specifically has not done enough to investigate, document, and ameliorate the human rights violations during the war the country instigated and sustained.

Other suspected human rights violations of the Iraq war include environmental and future human rights violations. Infants born over the course of the war have congenital defects. A variety of the attacks have caused damaged to the Iraqi physical environment. The United Nations is concerned that human rights will continue to be violated in this area. The greater concern is that the violations over the course of the war will continue to persist after the war is over, as well as the fact that there is no clear end to the war in sight. The U.N. Human Rights Council has made several recommendations to improve the situation, but they are not practical because they require funding and resources -- both of which would be better spent toward areas such as first aid, shelter, and food for the Iraqi people.