This study group, led by Carr Center Fellow and Inaugural Ambassador for North Korean Human Rights, Jung-Hoon Lee, is open to all. It will meet three times during the spring, 2018 semester:
The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla, resulted in the deaths of 17 people.
Tragically, from January 1 to March 21, 2018, there were 3,088 gun-related deaths and 5,355 gun-related injuries in the United States. Gun violence is a public health problem. But it’s also a human rights problem. It is time to turn to international human rights and moral and social norms, which ground obligations for individuals and business organizations to limit gun ownership.
Human rights are entitlements that all people have by virtue of their humanity. Gun violence puts a number of human rights at risk. Most obviously, it threatens Article 6 of the United Nation’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: “Every human being has the inherent right to life.” Studies show that the mere presence of guns increases the probability of crime, suicide, and accidents.
Ethics asks us to promote the good and to prevent harm to others, especially when we can do so with little inconvenience to ourselves. Individuals are not alone in having moral responsibilities. In the eyes of the law, corporations are persons; they also have moral responsibilities. Businesses that manufacture guns have a moral responsibility to ensure that their products are not used in acts of violence. Businesses are also subject to the far more demanding obligations of international human rights.
A panel discussion marking International Roma Day with:
Jacqueline Bhabha, Director of Research, Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health
Margareta Matache, Instructor, Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health
Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy, Harvard University Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard Divinity School
APRIL 4th, 2018 | 5-6:30pm | Starr Auditorium | Harvard Kennedy School
