Question 1

Which of the following statements with regard to human rights is correct?

Accepted Answer

The concept of human rights is broad and can vary depending on cultural, political, and social contexts, leading to different interpretations and understandings of what constitutes human rights. This lack of a universally accepted definition supports the correctness of option A. Options B and C are incorrect because liberal democracies have also focused on political and civil rights, not exclusively economic rights, and although there have been efforts to improve international legal mechanisms for human rights enforcement, they are not yet considered powerful or effective enough to force significant changes in all countries' behaviors.

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of post-Cold War genocidal behavior resulting in the killing of over half a million people?

Accepted Answer

The genocide in Rwanda in 1994 is a clear example of post-Cold War genocidal behavior, where an estimated 800,000 people were killed in a span of approximately 100 days. This tragic event involved the mass slaughter of Tutsi by the majority Hutu government.

Question 3

In which of the following countries in 2011-2012 did the leader Affaz Assad conduct a brutal campaign against his country's citizens?

Accepted Answer

In 2011-2012, Bashar al-Assad, the leader of Syria, conducted a brutal campaign against his country's citizens, marking the beginning of the Syrian Civil War.

Question 4

It has been estimated that between 1 and 2 million people out of a total population of 7 million were killed during the reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime in which country?

Accepted Answer

The Khmer Rouge regime, under the leadership of Pol Pot, was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1 to 2 million people in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.

Question 5

In which U.S. Supreme Court case did the Court declare that "in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place because separate educational facilities are inherently unequal"?

Accepted Answer

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) is the landmark Supreme Court case that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional, overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson.

Question 6

In which of the following countries was apartheid--the official government policy of separation of the races--practiced?

Accepted Answer

Apartheid was a policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the government in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s.

Question 7

The secretary of state under President Jimmy Carter who argued that a strong human rights policy was in the interest of the United States was ______.

Accepted Answer

Cyrus R. Vance, as Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, was a strong advocate for a foreign policy that emphasized human rights, aligning with Carter's focus on human rights as a central element of U.S. foreign policy interests.

Question 8

With regard to the doctrine known as R2P (Responsibility to Protect), which of the following is incorrect?

Accepted Answer

The incorrect statement is that R2P has been one of the great human rights success stories repeatedly translated into meaningful action. While R2P aims to prevent mass atrocities, its implementation has faced significant challenges, and it has not always been effectively translated into action.

Question 9

What is considered the primary reason that human rights often take a backseat in American foreign policy?

Accepted Answer

National security interests often take precedence over human rights concerns in American foreign policy decisions. This is because the protection of national security is seen as paramount, sometimes leading to the sidelining of human rights issues if they are perceived to conflict with security objectives.

Question 10

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

Accepted Answer

The statement that most of the rest of the international community followed suit shortly after the United States eliminated slavery in 1865, and that the practice of involuntary servitude is basically a thing of the past, is incorrect. Slavery was abolished at different times across the world, and unfortunately, forms of modern slavery and human trafficking still exist today.

Question 11

Which of the following statements best characterizes the work of the United Nations in the area of human rights?

Accepted Answer

The United Nations, while playing a significant role in promoting human rights globally, often faces constraints in enforcing human rights protections and in holding violators accountable, due to the complexities of international law and the need for consensus among member states.

Question 12

Which of the following terms refers to the forceful displacement of a group of people from a given territory based on their religion, race, or nationality, as happened in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995?

Accepted Answer

Ethnic cleansing refers to the forceful displacement of a group of people from a given territory due to their ethnicity, religion, race, or nationality, which aligns with the events that occurred in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995.

Question 13

The revelations made by Edward Snowden in 2013 did what?

Accepted Answer

The revelations made by Edward Snowden in 2013 encompassed all of the mentioned aspects: they dealt with the activities of the National Security Agency (NSA), revealed that major communication companies had been involved in turning over consumer records to the NSA or allowing NSA access, and were based on documents that Snowden had taken from the NSA.

Question 14

The massive ethnic cleansing campaign in 2017 against the Rohingya Muslims occurred in which country?

Accepted Answer

The ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya Muslims in 2017 occurred in Myanmar (Burma), where the military and other forces conducted operations leading to widespread violence, displacement, and human rights abuses against the Rohingya population.

Question 15

___________________________ was the principal Balkan country in which ethnic cleansing took place in the mid-1990s.

Accepted Answer

The answer of ___________________________ was the principal Balkan country in...

Question 16

The belief in male superiority is known as ______________________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The belief in male superiority is known...

Question 17

The sum total of human rights declarations and treaties within the United Nations context is known as the ____________________________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The sum total of human rights declarations...

Question 18

President Trump came under heavy criticism for his remarks that seemed to equate neo-Nazis with those who protested against them in __________________ in 2017.

Accepted Answer

The answer of President Trump came under heavy criticism for...

Question 19

Three ad hoc international criminal tribunals were established after 1990 to deal with war crimes carried out in _________________, ____________ and ____________________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Three ad hoc international criminal tribunals were...

Question 20

_______________________ is a well-known nongovernmental organization that works to secure the release of prisoners of conscience.

Accepted Answer

The answer of _______________________ is a well-known nongovernmental organization that...

Quiz 13: The Battle on Behalf of Human Rights