Fiction:Katarian Sapient Rights Organization

"[Some people believe that] it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I have found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."

- Gandalf, Fictional Character from 20th Century Terran Literature

The Katarian Sapient Rights Organization, or the KSRO, is an international organization dedicated to advancing sapient rights in the Katar Sector. It is further split into two branches, Justidia and Charitas. Justidia is a petitioning and lobbying organization, which lobbies governments and assists activist groups in fighting for laws that further sapient rights. Charitas works to provide direct help for the poor and starving, as well as assist in disaster relief.

The KSRO is founded on a specific ideology, which believes that non-violent charity and activism are the most effective ways of helping to make the world better, and that violence, though occasionally useful, is not usually a major part of the process. Their ideology is also necessarily idealistic, in that they believe that, with effort and determination, the universe can and will be made into a better place, and evil can be defeated.

The KSRO takes donations from many places and of many sorts. It takes currency, and does use it to what extent it is useful, but it also takes resources and technology like replicators and spaceships. It does not have any direct financial interaction with governments, because it does not want to create the impression that it is in the pocket of any one government. It remains officially neutral in all international conflicts for the same reason. Its stance on the matter may be clear from Justidia’s lobbying to prevent a war, but once it starts, the KSRO is not on either side, even if it is working to help the wellbeing of civilians on one or both.

Activities
Both branches of the KSRO work together to solicit donations and share funding according to their own needs. Charitas usually gets the vast majority of the funding, since it does more and more expensive work then Justidia.

Charitas helps to provide aid to the poor and starving. They do this by either taking donated food to them directly, to the extent biochemistry allows, or by using donated replicators to replicate food. They also provide medical aid to those who need it. They also help restore infrastructure in disaster areas, as well as providing medical aid there as well.

Justidia works to petition and lobby governments and international organizations to adjust their laws in such a way as to improve the state of sapient rights for those governed by them. They have been known to advocate for better rights for people, especially oppressed groups. As or more often, though, they organize peaceful protest among the populous, encouraging the people to petition their governments for what the KSRO is advocating.

Goals
The KSRO seeks to alleviate suffering in the universe and extend the reach of sapient rights so as to ensure that all people have what the KSRO deems them to be entitled to. These rights include:


 * The right to life, that is, the right to exist and to have what one needs for their existence, including proper nutrition and adequate shelter and clothing,


 * Freedom of belief, that is, the right to believe whatever one wishes and not to be persecuted for one’s own belief. They take this to heavy extremes, and have been known to defend highly unpopular views, including ones that directly oppose the KSRO’s own views.


 * Freedom of religion, that is, the freedom to practice any religious system so long as this does not bring grave harm to others.


 * Freedom of speech, that is, the right to express one’s own views without fear of retribution. They take this to an extreme extent, and have been known to defend people’s rights to say highly offensive things, including things which oppose the KSRO’s goals.


 * Freedom of Conscience, that is, the right to act in the way you deem ethical, within due limits, such as still being forbidden from bringing about grave harm to others.


 * Freedom from discrimination, that is, the right to be treated fairly and not arbitrarily discriminated against due to traits such as species, social status, religion, ethnicity, heritage, location, biology, diet, sexual desires or any other such trait. This does not extend to far as to invalidate all laws which might make reference to species, but only those in which no real biological basis can be shown to justify the discrimination to the extent that it outweighs the reduced rights of those involved.


 * The right to equal opportunity, that is, the right not to be forbidden from leadership, prosperity or importance based on one’s own species, social status, religion, ethnicity, heritage, location, biology, diet, sexual desires or any other such trait. This includes instances where it is clear that a member of one species will almost always be a better leader. The KSRO still holds that other should be able to ascend to that position of they earn it.


 * The right to equal status, that is, the right not to be relegated to a lower class due to one’s own species, social status, religion, ethnicity, heritage, biology, diet, sexual desires or any other such trait.


 * Freedom to guide one’s own life, this is the right to choose one’s own path and not have government assignment or birthright dictate one’s own career. Implicit in this is the disallowing of slavery, which the KSRO finds abhorrent as it causes one’s own life to be dictated by another. The imprisonment of criminals is not considered a violation of this as the person has given up this right by committing severe enough infractions of the law.


 * Freedom from cruelty, that is, the right not to be treated in a torturous fashion or forced to experience a quality of life which does not measure up to a certain minimum standard.


 * Freedom to petition one’s own leaders, that is, the right to petition the government to change its policies, even if your requests are unpopular or ludicrous, and the right to do so without fear of retribution.


 * The right to property, that is, the right to acquire possessions of one’s own and not to have the government confiscate them arbitrarily or without compensation.
 * The right to work, that is, the right to enter the labor force and perform any occupation which one is capable of performing safely and competently.


 * The right to voluntary contract, that is, the right to enter into any agreement one wishes to enter so long as it does not mandate a violation of the law of the land.


 * The right to refuse contract, that is, the right not to be forced or coerced into an agreement without one’s legitimate consent, and the right to exit an agreement if it was made in such a circumstances.


 * The right to education, that is, the right to pursue and acquire an education in the field of one’s choice, within reasonable limits.


 * The Right to privacy, that is, the right not to have one’s own private life be made public without one’s consent, or be spied on by the government or corporations without one’s knowledge and consent.


 * The right to reproduce, that is, the right to procreate one’s own species in any manner which does not cause grave harm to others or violate a just law.


 * The right to raise one’s own children, that is, the right to care for, instruct, pass one’s own culture to and be in contact with one’s own children or children they have legally adopted. This does not extend to include known child abusers and other people who pose a risk to their own children.


 * The right to a fair trial, that is, the right to be subject to a fair assessment of one’s own guilt which is based on objective evidence and in which one is considered innocent until proven guilty, has the right not to self-incriminate, has access to legal counsel by qualified attorneys, and to have the final decision made by a party or parties who do not have any interest in the outcome.


 * The right to immigrate, that is, the right to acquire citizenship in the country of one’s own choice, and not to have unreasonable demands made of you before you can do so.


 * The right to be safe from violence, that is, the right to be protected from harm at the hands of nature or other’s persons to the largest reasonable extent.


 * The right to justice, that is, the right to make legal claim against those who harm you either by intention or by negligence for which they are at fault.


 * The right to be recognized as a person, that is, the right not to be considered a mere object or piece of property, or otherwise have your own personhood denied.


 * The right to medical care, that is, the right not to be restricted from having any medical treatment which is necessary or beneficial for the saving, extension or improvement of one’s own life so long as this does not bring about a greater harm to other, non-consenting parties.


 * The right to elect one’s own leaders, that is, the right to participate in a fair election to decide on the important leaders of any nation, territory, or province under whose jurisdiction you lie, and not to be given an unequal voice in such matters due to one’s own species, social status, religion, ethnicity, heritage, location, biology, diet, sexual desires or any other such trait.

Both branches of the KSRO help to achieve these ends, with Justidia helping ensure that they are provided on a legal level and Charitas helping to ensure that the resources to provide them are available. For both, the goal is ultimately to ensure that more people have access to more of these things more often.

Means
Charitas works to provide better access to food, water, medical care, and other necessities for persons who do not have proper access to them. They venture into poor areas and give them such things by providing donated food and the services of volunteers. They also help to build certain types of facilities such as houses, schools, and hospitals.

Justidia works to assist and encourage peaceful and legal petition by the populous as well as act on its own to lobby for laws which better foster and avoid violating sapient rights. They often work to spread awareness of problems and attempt to convince the citizens of nations to join their cause. They employ a few persons whose job is specifically to confront and address the arguments of those who defend the laws and conventions the KSRO opposes.

Principles
Above all, the KSRO believes in non-violence. They firmly oppose efforts to lead violent revolutions and conquests by foreign powers unless it is abundantly clear that there is no other option. They also suspect that a violent revolution will usually not change as much of the status quo as one might suspect, as usually, it only changes one minor thing about the standing order leaving the rest roughly as it was before, and often, those in a position to revolt are some of the less oppressed peoples.

Rather than using violence to help make the universe a better place, the KSRO believes that one ought to use other methods like non-violent protest and charitable work. They believe that this is what will ultimately do more to alleviate suffering and injustice in the world. They base this on studies of history, which seem to show that many more major injustices are overturned by winning hearts and minds then are overturned by violently forcing morality on a non-consenting populous.

The KSRO strongly encourages people not to violate the law of the land while engaging in activism. It holds that by acting illegally for a good cause, one does less to further the cause then one does to give its opponents an excuse to demonize it and claim that the criminal behavior is the norm among the cause’s supporters to a greater extent than it actually is. This in turn only hinders the efforts to support the cause. They also recognize that those engaging in criminal activity will likely end up getting themselves arrested or killed.

Contents and Use
The KSRO takes in currency, objects and volunteers to help achieve its ends. The currency is used wherever it is applicable and often converted in order to make it useful to the KSRO’s current operations. The items are either used for the KSRO’s ends or sold or traded for other objects which will be more useful. The most important objects to them are ships and replicators, as they need to get where they are going and be able to supply needs objects.

The volunteers are usually responsible for performing labor. More qualified volunteers, especially doctors, are charged with specific duties which call for their own expertise and skill. Less qualified ones are charged with manual labor such as building houses and other facilities for Charitas, often accompanied by or managing donated droids.

Volunteers, when joining the KSRO, are usually leaving their old lives behind for a number of years and entering a lifestyle where they might not have access to much pleasure or recreation. As consequence, it takes an extraordinary nobility to volunteer for the KSRO. Volunteers work without pay and are not provided with the materials needed for a luxurious lifestyle. They do have off time, but options for recreation, especially for those working for Charitias, are limited.

Volunteers may serve for any amount of time equal to or greater than five years, and can dedicate themselves to the KSRO for their entire lives. Most often, people who come from more luxurious backgrounds choose lower terms whilst people who come from poorer ones tend to serve for longer.

[[File:Green face.png]] Good

 * The Dominion of the Drodo

[[File:Blue face.png]] Slight Problems

 * The Aeoneonatrix Empire

[[File:Red face.png]] Extreme Violations

 * New Corporate Krickan Union
 * Drakodominatus Tyranny

[[File:Orange face.png]] Highly Problematic

 * Draconid Imperium
 * The Divinarium

[[File:Red face.png]] Extreme Violations

 * Delpha Coalition of Planets
 * Brood of War
 * The Zarbania Powers

Trivia

 * The Ratings in the "Analysis of Nations" are based on the number and severity of sapient rights violations and not the overall moral quality of a nation, hence, they do not take into account a nation's positive traits except insofar as they lessen the severity of any sapient rights violations.