CASE STUDY ONE - POLICE INTIMIDATE AND BEAT RAPHAEL

 

Imagine getting abducted by a group of police officers, shoved roughly into a car and taken, fast to a local police station. When you get there you are thrown onto a chair and start getting intergeted. You're denying every single thing so that you can keep yourself and your family safe. But they don't belive you. You then all of a sudden get tipped out the window being held by your leg and getting slammed against the wall. They are screaming at you, making you speak, beating you up, abusing and assulting you! This is one of the horrific scenes found in the book Trash written by Andy Muligun. 

 

This shocking scene found in the book shows injustice against the poor children of Behala when the police officers and detectives physical mistreat and verbally assult little Raphael Fernadez. "The policeman came at me from the side, i don't know where he hit me or what with, but i was knocked to the floor. My chair tunred over and the side of my face was split. I fell badly, and my wrist bent under me, I saw him standing above me and i thought he was going to start kicking." This terrible incident is all happening because one day when Raphael was scavenging through the dump and came across a leather bag. Inside the bag was a wallet holding 1100 pesos, an I.D with a man named Jose Angelico on it, a key with the numbers 101 on it and a map of Behala. "It fell into my hand: a small leather bag, zipped up tight and covered in coffee grounds. Unzipping it I found a wallet, next to the wallet was a folded up map - and inside the map a key." "We also looked to see what else was there was, but it was a just few old papers, photos and - interesting... an ID card." Why is the bag so important you may be thinking? Well the bag is a vital part of a serious investagation of the man in the ID, Jose Angelico. He stole 6 million dollars and some clues may of been within the bag. One day the police showed up at Behala dumpsite and were asking if anyone had found anything. Raphael's auntie stood up and said "Raphael found something sir." but he just responded "I found a... shoe." The police became suspicious with him but left it there. They came back the next three days and got everyone working to find it. The night after that they came and abducted Raphael, "It still came as a suprise - I don't know why - when two police came over and took hold of my arms." 

 

This occurence has disrupted and violated UN rights of a child. It violates over 5 different rites that each child worldwide has. To start it has violated Article 19 where it states 'You have the rite to be protectd from being hurt or mistreated, in body or mind." I believe that the police have disrupted this rite as they physically abuse him by throwing him on the floor, hanging him from a window, and causing him pain and making him hurt. The rite states he is allowed to be protected but as you can tell by my description of the incident he is not protected nor cared for after the beating and assulting. The scene also violates article 36 where it says "you have the rite to protection from any expolition (taken advantage of)." The police most definitly take advantage of Raphael using the fact that he is smaller than them, and has lived in rough areas and that he is less fourtunate then them so he is automatically taken advantage over and not cared for, and as the rite 36 says children have the right to be protected from any exploition. The last rite I believe that this scene in the book violates is article 37 where is talks about "No one is allowed to punish you in a cruel or harmful way." Without even saying anything about how they violate this rite you already have a understanding about the pain and hardship Raphael goes through. They disrupt this rite as they are punishing this little boy in the cruelest and most harmful way i could think of. They are punishing him for something he swears he didn't do but they still go through with it, showing not even the slightest bit of mercy. The police offciers have broken the law by physical beating up a little boy and verbally assulting him. 

 

Personally, no part of that scene is fair, not one single part but there could of been ways they could making it fair. They could have easily asked him more questions, spoke nicer and the truth may have or may not have came out but atleast Raphael may of even felt a little bit safe. There shouldn't of been anything physical. If the polie were very angry te fairest thing that i could think of is to yell at him ut even that isn't very nice. 

 

This scene is just one of the many in the book which shows the injustice of children in behala and that country. I believe that the police treated Raphael very unfairly and could of dealt with this situation and punished Raphael much more fairly and not have disreagred the UN rights of a child. They could have made and effort to make Raphael feel more safe and you never know, maybe the truth may of come out. 

 

 

CASE STUDY TWO - NO ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER, MEDICAL SERVICES OR FOOD 

 

Poverty is one of the key elements which triggers emotion in this novel. Reading about the children having to scavange from garbage mound to garbage mound hunting and risking their lives searching for their next meal puts the audience into devistation. Hearing about them living in cardboard shelters and starving to death because they aren't getting healthy food or a sufficent water to live. Imagining families losing loved ones because they got sick from the gases and infections from around the dump and not being able to access medical services and passing away. Imagine if this was how you had to live, waking up in a carboard house and having no access to clean water, or any sort of hygenic food. This is what the children and families of Behala have to go through every single day, living life at a risk. 

 

The scenes where the people of Behala Trash dump have no food or water are found throughout the whole book. This shows injustice towards the people living there as nobody is doing anything about the conditions which they are living in. The community of the rubbish town live in carboard shelters stacked up high "Most of us live in boxes, boxes stacked up high and tall." in amongst mountains of trash, and rivers of sewage water and don't have any access to clean and sanitary water, hygenic food or medical services when needed. "You live day to day hoping that you won't get sick." This is all happening because this community isn't as fortunate as the rest of the country and the Senator (Regis Zapanta) won't do any thing about their well being. He may seem like he cares but really he doesn't, he has a big mansion and all the things you could imagine, he owns masses of money and still hasn't done one thing for that poor community. "He'd bought up the prettiest bit of woods in the land, and just where the grass ran down nice and flat, he'd built himself a palace, for the king he thought he was." The Senator is killing thousands of children, adults and elderly everyday because they don't have the essentials that you need to live. 

 

This scene(s) violate more than three UN rights of a child. To begin they violate rite number 24 where it situates "You have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help you stay well." I think that the senator and care takers of Behala has broken this law as they do provide, nutritious food, safe water to drink, a clean and safe environment or give the community a right to the best health care possible. They are taking the essentials which every human needs to live away from these poor children and familes. It also says they have the right to information to help you stay well, when no they atually don't have information which helps them stay well. They may have a fatal disease that they don't know about but don't have the information or medical services to find this out. Another right this scene(s) disregard is Right number 26 where it states "You have the right to help from the government if your poor or in need." The government is supposed to help the poor, instead all Senator Zapanta does is care about himself and his house and most importantly his money. He doesn't have one care for the less fortunate just him and his well being. The community may need help from the government but don't recieve it which is totally unfair. The final right this scene(s) disregards is right number 27 where it talks about "You have the right to food, clothing, a safe place to live and to have your basic needs met. You should not be disadvantaged so that you can't do many of the things other kids can do." As you can tell from my description of the scene the community of Behala don't have the right to anything which i stated in article 27 and it is very unfair. The senator and other LAW enforcers aren't doing a very good job of enfocring the law because they seem to be breaking it more than enforcing it and they have broken more than three laws. They haven't give these children the right to food, water systems, a safe environent or the best medical service let alone any medical service which is heartbraking and discriminating to the community of Behala.

 

From everything above you can tell that I believe that this is very unfair for the community of behala and that the senator should set up fundraisers to raise money for water systems, medical services and healthy food for the people who are less fortunate then him. It would be more just and someone woould actually be enforcing some sort of law to make the country better for everyone.

 

This scene shows injustice to the community of the garbage city in Behala. The senator does nothing for the people and distrupts the UN rights of child. There are many ways that he could make an effort to change the lives of many children and benefit a lot from it. If he treated them more fairly then maybe he could get something in return and the children of Behala may have better lives.