This article will be focusing on the following Sustainable Development Goals:
Impunity is the exemption from punishment, loss or loose fines within the law of human rights; it refers to the failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and itself constitutes a denial of the victims' right to justice. On the international stage, samples of impunity are seen in extreme human rights violations. Whereas nationally, government bureaucracies tackle threats to their political systems, engaging in the culture of impunity. When any government consistently fails to satisfy its obligation to research and prosecute violations of the law and of human rights by individuals, the culture of impunity is formed. While I explained to you about this phenomenon called “impunity”, I am sure that several, recent events have crossed your minds. For instance, the Black Lives Matter movement.
George Floyd had gone to Cup Foods, a shop, where he was a frequent customer. “He was a friendly face, a pleasing customer who never caused any trouble,” the shop owner named Mike Abumayyaleh told NBC. Although, Mr. Abumayyaleh wasn't at work on the day of the incident. Two policemen reached the scene a few minutes after the incident and one of them drew his gun for an unexplained reason. At about 20:14, George Floyd "stiffened up, fell to the ground, and told the officers he was claustrophobic," as per the report. Derek Chauvin, one of the officers, arrived at the scene; he and other officers tried to move George Floyd within the police car. During this attempt, at 20:19, Derek Chauvin pulled George Floyd away from the passenger side, causing him to fall to the ground; he laid there, face down, in handcuffs. That's when witnesses began to film George Floyd, who looked to be in a very distressed state.
These moments, captured on multiple mobile phones and shared widely on social media sparked the protests that went on to start the next day. George Floyd was restrained by officers, while Derek Chauvin placed his left knee between his head and neck. He kept his knee there for seven minutes and 46 seconds, even after George Floyd told him (a minimum of 16 times) that he couldn't breathe. This is a breach of a human right under article 5, which states that “You have a right to your personal freedom. This means you must not be imprisoned or detained without good reason.”
Early on May 26, the Minneapolis local department issued a press release ("Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction") which said nothing about Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck. The four officers were briefly placed on paid administrative leave before being fired, later that day. The fact that they were on paid leave after murdering a person and were only convicted after protests is a perfect example of impunity. Who knows, maybe without the protests Derek Chauvin would have continued living his life and have faced no punishment whatsoever. This falls under the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace Justice and Strong Institutions.
There are many other examples of impunity that take place all over the world. Another example is how Mexico has been waging a war against the cartels, and against drug violence in general. The escalating battle between the government and coordinated crime has ended in the loss of lives, which can be calculated in the hundreds of thousands. The stakes are high in this war, and the cartels don’t own the market on violence. Members of the Mexican security forces and law enforcement are indicted of using extreme tactics in dealing with, not only dangerous criminals, but others whom they feel are prompting conflict – such as union organizers demanding employee rights. Although false imprisonment, torture, and other methods of dealing with people are technically illegal, these authorities have formed a culture of impunity. This culture of exploitation, misuse of power, and brutality is seen to be destabilizing the society in Mexico, as a new generation rises where violence is the standard. The people learn that there is no enforcement power they can trust – not the police, not the courts, and not even the army.
Another example is during Thailand’s “war on drugs” in 2003, a young man from the Lisu tribe was murdered by police in the northern province of Chiang Mai. He had been shot as he was trying to “avoid arrest”, which is what the police told his family. But when his niece went to identify the body, she saw that he had been shot in the head at point-blank range. She is convinced that her uncle was killed in cold blood – one of the many sufferers of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s bloody crackdown on the trade-in methamphetamines. Her uncle was involved with drugs, she says, but in no way had he earned death for his petty crimes. To this day, no one has been held accountable for her uncle’s death, and her anger has not disappeared. She believes that Thailand’s culture of impunity – the wealthy, powerful and uniformed can comfortably get away with murder – is a spot on the country that has ruined the lives of many innocent families.
These stories are examples of malfeasance in office: Malfeasance in office, or official misconduct, is the commission of an unlawful act, done in an official capacity, that affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in office is often grounds for just cause removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. Abuse of power or abuse of authority, falls under "malfeasance in office" and yet these people go on to continue living their lives.
As you can see impunity is not a small problem and this is all because of a certain group of people having more power or being considered superior to an extent where they can get away with murder which relates to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities.
Now, what can you do? Firstly, educating yourself on topics like these is key. Open your eyes and see the world for what it is and once you’ve done that, sign petitions, start discussions, make informed opinions and try to spread the information you learnt. Even if you are able to educate five people around you, you are still making a difference.
Remember, change starts with you.
External Resources
Petition against impunity in the United States of America.
Another petition against impunity in the United States of America.
Petition to end impunity in Palestine.
Petition against corporate impunity.
Petitions to end impunity in Burundi.
Works Cited
“George Floyd: What Happened in the Final Moments of His Life.” BBC News, BBC, 16 July 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52861726.
“George Floyd: What Happened in the Final Moments of His Life.” BBC News, BBC, 16 July 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52861726.
“Malfeasance in Office.” The Free Dictionary, Farlex, legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Malfeasance in office.
“World's Fight against Impunity for War Crimes, Genocide Weakened by Sudan's Failure to Execute Arrest Warrants for Darfur Crimes, Security Council Told | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/press/en/2012/sc10663.doc.htm.
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