Faint
Well-Known Member
And should we intervene if they fail to comply?
I'm refering strictly to cases of human rights violations--human rights as WE see them in the western world. Our views of justice may be at odds with some of the less enlightened cultures, and if that's the case, it seems right for us to tell them how to manage their affairs.
Case in point: a 17 year-old girl in Iran stabbed a man to death when he and two buddies were going to rape the girl and her 16 year-old niece. The 17 year-old has been convicted of murder, and is sentenced to hang.
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6658
Anyway, this is ridiculous. I think there's an extent to which we can be tolerant of other country's differences and traditions, but when their rules are clearly a threat to human rights, shouldn't we feel free to step in, throw our weight around, and persuade them to make some changes?
I'm refering strictly to cases of human rights violations--human rights as WE see them in the western world. Our views of justice may be at odds with some of the less enlightened cultures, and if that's the case, it seems right for us to tell them how to manage their affairs.
Case in point: a 17 year-old girl in Iran stabbed a man to death when he and two buddies were going to rape the girl and her 16 year-old niece. The 17 year-old has been convicted of murder, and is sentenced to hang.
...when Iranian women like Nazanin are threatened with rape, they "are caught between two undesirable options. On one hand, Iranian Penal Code severely limits the possibility of using 'self-defense' as a legitimate defence to aggression."
"On the other hand, if Nazanin had allowed the rape to take place, she could still be imprisoned, flogged or stoned for having sex outside of marriage unless four male witnesses to the actual rape would testify on her behalf."
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6658
Anyway, this is ridiculous. I think there's an extent to which we can be tolerant of other country's differences and traditions, but when their rules are clearly a threat to human rights, shouldn't we feel free to step in, throw our weight around, and persuade them to make some changes?