Nobody has the right to deny people’s fundamental rights. Fundamental rights are rights entitled to people by their creator; and everybody has the right to life and liberty. The right to life means that people should live with dignity; and living with dignity is when people do not fear for their lives, families, properties, and the like. People are born free after all. So, why someone exploits and enslaves them?
What happens when people lose their fundamental rights? They lead a dismal life, lose a sense of belonging, and despair of attaining a better standard of life. In fact, human beings are born free, and it is their societies that either humiliate or elevate them. People get elevated when they are protected and respected; and they get humiliated when they are persecuted, degraded, and disrespected. People are, of course, shaped by governance systems and communities in which they live. If these governance systems protect and empower their residents, they develop a sense of ownership and contribute to the prosperity of their country. Nevertheless, if the residents are muzzled and mistreated, they repel and resort to whatever means that can avail them.
Concerning liberty, people must not be oppressed because of their concerns and political views. They should be allowed to protest peacefully to voice their distress and matters that are important to them. People ought to feel free from unreasonable persecutions and harassments, and nobody should stand in their way unless they break a set of laws. People’s liberty is taken away when people cannot speak up, or state their dissenting voices.
Protecting people’s lives is fairly important. They must not live in perpetual fear. God has honoured everyone’s life, and no soul should be eliminated or mistreated unjustly. Injustice is a terrible matter. Taking one’s life unfairly is akin to killing all people on earth. That is how somebody’s soul is significant in the sight of its creator. This statement does not mean offenders are to be left unpunished. Every wrongdoer has to be penalized accordingly after his or her crime has been evidently proven.
However, accusing someone of a certain crime should not be false allegations. Any allegation is to be investigated and proven. But unless there are tools with which to investigate alleged offenses, innocent people can be simply convicted of false or fabricated crimes. It is the duty of journalists and courts to investigate and collect evidence in order to determine someone’s guilt or innocence. This is the proper channel of convicting or pardoning someone. Nonetheless, when neither principled courts nor trained journalists exist in a place, horrible injustice befalls innocent people. They suffer and sever ties with normal life because they are tormented for crimes they do not perpetrate.
Collective punishment is an evil act. What is it? Collective punishment occurs when ordinary people are smeared, jailed, or killed on the basis of alleged crimes committed by their relatives. It is the worst form of punishments. For instance, a certain system does not only punish an alleged perpetrator, but the system torments the perpetrator’s family members. Hence, the whole family is affected by the offender’s actions. The intention of inflicting this sinister punishment is to create an atmosphere of continual fear and hopelessness. And communities that live with and taste the bitterness of this punishment do not understand the meaning of the word “justice”. What is justice to them?
Every innocent person deserves to live a life free from oppression of all sorts. Because people are born with fundamental rights, they have to live with dignity and lead a meaningful life. Only people that perpetrate crimes should be penalized for their offenses. Nobody else. No one should be held responsible for someone else’s mischievous actions. Collective punishment must be shunned, for it violates people’s dignity and well-being.