Joseph Kony is a dictator in northern Uganda who has been abducting girls and boys for his army. Kony has been doing this for more twenty years, but he has gone on until now nearly unknown. Because he is kidnapping children and forcing them into his army, (the Lord’s Resistance Army), he is violating many human rights. The first human right he is violating is number one: We are all born free and equal. This one is obvious because, once these African children are captured and put into Kony’s army, they are not classified as free anymore, but as a soldier.
The second human right he is violating is human right number eight: Your human rights are protected by law. Because Kony is a dictator, he rules the government in central Africa. No one can make him protect the people's rights because he is the government.
Another right Kony is violating is human right fourteen. This human right states that all people have the right to seek a safe place to live. The children in the army are not living in a safe place and they weren’t able to choose where they lived either. When I watched the Kony video, I saw hundreds of children piled up in one room trying to sleep. Living in these conditions are probably anything but safe. Disease is easily spread and they are probably not fed or treated well.
An important right the children have lost once captured by Kony is number twenty six. When these children are captured, they have to stop going to school and are not educated while in the army. If these children are ever free, they may not have the chance to go back to school and probably won’t make good decisions later in life because they haven’t been educated.
To me, the very last and most important right Kony is violating is the thirtieth human right. This right states that no one can take away your human rights. After taking all of these rights away from innocent African children, Kony is most definitely violating this last human right. Currently, there are Americans sent by George Bush to Africa in hope that they will find Kony and free all of the captured children.