Human security is more important than human rights

"Human security is more important than human rights."

That's a very bold statement that was made at the end of one of our lectures this week by Elrena van der Spuy at UCT, who spoke about Crime and Public Safety in S. Africa. As a liberal American, I personally believe that my right to privacy and treating criminals humanely--even after being convicted of heinous crimes--should be upheld in the name of protecting human rights. Because - how can you convict a criminal on the basis of using evidence obtained after using torture on the individual? However, I tend to sway on the issue when people persuade me into thinking that it is because we fight to protect our democracy (aka protect human security first), in order to protect our freedom of speech (aka protecting human rights guaranteed in the Constitution).
This past week, President Obama spoke about his plan for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison and moving high profile terrorists to maximum security prisons in the U.S. It was interesting to see the minor comparison between this speech and my lecture, realizing that the issues of human security are vastly different in the two countries. I don't believe that human security is more important than human rights, but I am inclined to believe that it must be established first in order for human rights to thrive.

The UCT Main Campus













"Those two cars are racing."

Over a delicious dinner dinner (avocado & cheeseburger) & South African white wine, I looked to my left and saw two cars speeding down the road, engines revved. Rather nonchalantly, I said to the other two girls, "Those two cars are racining." They both took a glance and I turning back to my meal when suddenly we heard a BOOM and then nothing, and then a large CRASH. The car closest to the meridian must have skidded on the wet road (winter in Cape Town = a lot of rain and no snow), crashed into the palm tree on the meridian, flipped over, and landed on the hood of the car. Everyone in the entire restaurant instantly rose to their feet, and some scrambled across the road to see if the driver was okay. Frantickly, I yelled, "Someone call 911!" Yeah-- remember, I am in South Africa--It didn't even occur to me that this would'nt be the number to call. I don't know how the man did it, but he crawled out of his car, and was walking around as if he was just going for a stroll (my likely conclusion was that he may have been in shock). The police, ambulance, and fire truck arrived fairly rapidly, which helped to ease any concerns over the speed of medical help here in Cape Town. But honestly, that driver was a dumb-ass.

Deep Democracy Convention

On Saturday, May 23 I had the opportunity to sleep in and go shopping at the markets, or sleep in and go hiking up Signal Hill (really close to our B&B). Or, I could opt to par-take in the Deep Democracy Conversations across the Social Divide conference along with a broad spectrum of people representing many of the socio-economic (and racial) groups in South Africa; high-level and other representatives from the Education Department, management level business people and professionals, ordinary middle class South Africans, and many impoverished members of the community in Mitchells Plain. This "conference" was nothing like what I expected it to be.

I expected to be sitting around a table all day, discussing the issues and solutions to economic inequalities amongst the classest. Instead, I found myself to feel completely emotional and passionate about the people I met, most of whom were high school "Peer Leaders/Educators" and also impoverished adults in the neighboring communities. Most of the discussions were conducted with the entire group standing up, moving around what could be considered a "wreck room." We spoke using the "two-foot shuffle," which allowed a person to state his/her belief. If you agreed with the statement, then you would shuffle your feet across the floor until you agreed. If you did not, you stood in the same spot.

At lunchtime, a group of adults eagerly introduced themselves to myself and the other three students from my class who also went to the conference. It was amazing to listen to their stories, but exciting to see that they were equally interested in ours.

At the end of the conference, I not only felt a deep connection with the other people in the room, but myself and some of the others who came with me, also had a slight feeling of unease about our place in the conference that day. By the time I walked out the door, however, I knew that it was important for me to be there that day, as it gave me a face-to-face perspective of those who are living in underdeveloped conditions, and it allowed me to get a feeling of what they invisioned should be the solutions to their situation.

Here are some of the major notes I took down as I reflected at the end of the conference:

• use "less fortunate" instead of poor - the people in the townships may have their fancy cars and HD TV's... but their circumstances are less fortunate
• its hurts the girls when others say "all girls are baby-making machines in order to get governmental grants"
• it is important not to generalize. not all blacks without jobs are "lazy"
• we cannot "forget" about Apartheid even though it ended 15 years ago. it is a major player in why the inequalities today still exist
• one of the women in the group said that she had been working since she was 14 and still doesn't have enough money
• we will always have the poor among us. But, what is God's perception of poverty? Some parts of the debate got very Biblical--which was very persuasive for much of the members of the community.
  
• One of the students claimed "I do expect things to be done for me." - reflecting on the issue that S. African jobs were taken because people from Zimbabwe would work for less and work harder to succeed.
• girls in south africa have resorted to selling themselves as prostitutes to make a living
• some do not want hand-outs from foreign investors/foreigners
• someone said that "we didn't demand handouts before and now we are because the president is black" another girl reminded that before, under apartheid, they didn't have a voice... so they were unable to ask for anything.
• one older man regreted that he hadn't made use of the educational opportunities offered to him - slightly reflecting on the ability for the 4 of us to study abroad in S Africa
• another woman reflected that uneducated people have lost their dignity because they must resort to washing other peoples panties.

The most emotional part of the entire conference was when one older woman, who had been quiet during most of the day, began crying about the lack of respect among so many boys who use girls, sleep with them, say they love them, don't use condoms, and then leave the girl to care for the child along with the girl's parents.

I am glad that I took this opportunity. I can go shopping at the market or hiking any other day. This past Saturday was about really understanding South Africans.