It seems like everyday, another human rights groups tells the world that the US is violating human rights. Yes the land of the free, is apparently one of the world’s worse places to love, or so these human rights groups would have us believe. One has to wonder where are these groups are hiding when they should be speaking out against genocide in Sudan, the Balkans, SE Asia, and countless other genuine human rights violations. In any case, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have published a report critical of the US because it is one of only a handful of countries that imprisons juveniles for life without parole. The two organizations are demanding that federal and state governments take action to abolish the practice. According to the human rights groups, this would “bring us in line with the rest of the world and make the U.S. act in accordance with human rights laws." The US, incidentally, has not signed on to any international law governing imprisonment of criminals. Nor should it, the US is a sovereign nation and first has an obligation to its own people. The attitude of these groups highlights the belief among many that sovereign nations aren’t free to make their own laws, such legalities must be imposed upon them by some international authority. In addition to abolishing life sentence for young thugs, these human rights groups also seek to abolish the practice of trying youths in adult courts, but rather in juvenile courts, where punishments are far less severe. These human rights groups should be honest with themselves; no one goes to prison for life for shoplifting or stealing a car. These are serious crimes; indeed, well over 90% of these juveniles are murderers. Now what is the bigger human rights violation, punishing a murderer or allowing murderers to walk the streets? Perhaps these human rights groups would be willing to take custody of these young thugs in lieu of a prison sentence. These groups complained that over half of the offenders had no prior criminal history. As if this should comfort us, should a murderer receive a free pass simply because its their first killing? The act of murder or rape is especially heinous, not only should juvenile offenders receive life sentences without parole, so too should every single person who is guilty of rape or murder. If a teenager is old enough to drive and operate heavy machinery, or pilot an aircraft, then they are certainly aware of right and wrong. Unless they are suffering from a significant developmental disability, there simply is no justification to excuse heinous crimes, simply because an offender is young. Society can no more tolerate young criminals than older ones. Indeed, to tolerate such crime and allow criminals to roam free is the true human rights violation.
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw122545_20051012.htm