Human Rights in crisis: what’s happened to Eleanor Roosevelt’s dream?
On December 10th 1948 the UN General Assembly formally adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Commission of Human Rights, a group consisting of Eleanor Roosevelt as Chair of the Commission, Pen-Chun Chang, and Charles Malik began drafting the International Bill of Human Rights. They brought to life the thirty fundamental liberties which form the basis for an open, democratic society (Mary Ann Glendon, 2001, A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
Almost seven decades later, the UN Watch director –Hillel Neuer asks: “what has become of this noble dream?” Torture, persecution, violence against women, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, media censorship and oppression, intimidation and murdering of journalists and trade union leaders as well as ethnic and indigenous people, unfair trails and unlawful convictions, human trafficking and modern slavery, and child labour are only few of many human rights violations that still poison the world today.
I had a chance to participate in the 9th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy which took place on the 21st February this year. The summit was organized by the UN Watch with coalition of 25 other NGOs to serve as a platform for famous and courageous champions of human rights, dissidents and victims of violations to share their stories and expose the tyranny of the regimes in certain countries. http://www.genevasummit.org/
Hillel Neuer, the executive director of the UN Watch, in his opening speech, outlined that the summit’s aim was to urge the UN Human Rights Council to address the urgent human rights situations and to protect and promote human rights around the world. He also questioned the effectiveness of the UN Human Rights Council and the memberships of certain countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, China or Saudi-Arabia. He stressed that today, when the world is crying for justice and truth, we desperately need a Human Rights Council that will act.
It is not a secret that amongst 47 member countries that are re-elected for a duration onto the UN Human Rights Council there are some where the human rights are repeatedly violated. China, an authoritarian state where fundamental rights including freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion are continuously violated, is in fact a member of Human Rights Council. Similarly Cuba, Venezuela or Saudi Arabia also have their memberships. We could ask: how is this possible? As Hillel Neuer explains it, it’s all down to political will. For example, in October last year during elections to the Human Rights Council, Russia lost its membership – though Saudi Arabia got re-elected onto it.
As Hillel Neuer said, the UN does matter and the Human Rights Council also matters, however in order for it to be effective, we need the leaders of democratic forces, to speak out in favour of basic human rights criteria, the same criteria that the UN has for its membership. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbkGY1paqaM
The Geneva Summit was strongly focused around problems with the return of authoritarianism. Zhanna Nemstowa a Russian journalist, activist and the daughter of murdered politician, Boris Nemstow, took the floor to expose some of the undemocratic moves of Russian government. She confidently stated that Russia is not a democracy. It is an authoritarian country where there is no division of power, no free media or no political competition and the society is living in a constant scare.
We could also hear the desperate cry of Anastasia Zotova, a wife of jailed Russian dissident Ildar Dadin and a human rights activist. She talked about the brutality and unfairness of the Russian government and described the current system as the system of torture, repression and violence.
Can Dündar, exiled former editor of Turkey’s Cumhuriyet, who spent 3 years in prison was talking about the situation in Turkey. He said that authoritarianism has never left his country. Now they’ve got a civil-authoritarian regime, a police state where the courageous people who dared to say ‘NO’ to dictatorship are now in prisons.
One of the most touching speeches was the one delivered by 25 years old Antonietta Ledezma, the daughter of a Mayor of Caracas – the capital city of Venezuela, Antonio Ledezma who in 2015 was abruptly and arbitrarily arrested. He was unfairly charged of conspiracy and criminal association and now is facing 26 years in prison. A brave man, Antonio Ledezma sacrificed his freedom for his democratic beliefs. His courageous daughter opened her speech with the Nelson Mandela’s quote which she heard from her father when she visited him in the prison: “The courage is not the absence of the fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not the one who is not afraid but the one who conquers that fear”. She gave her powerful statement of human rights violations acting not only as desperate daughter who wants her loving father back home but also as a representative of a country that is now facing major political issues and the worst humanitarian crisis in its history.
Shirin, a brave woman who is a freed Yazidi sex slave of the Islamic State and the author of “I Remain a Daughter of the Light” shared her story of being kidnapped and turned into a sex slave. She was humiliated and her rights were violated. Today she is the one who fights to free other enslaved girls and women. Shirin received the 2017 Women’s Rights Award for her bravery and determination in fighting against tyranny.
The prize of 2017 Courage Award was given to Mohamen Nasheed, former president of Maldives, the country’s leading human rights activist and former political prisoner. He was also described as the “Mandela of the Maldives”.
Mohamed Nasheed spent a good half of his life in prison. He lost his youth to chains, incarceration, punishments, to torture and to abuse. He started his adult life as a journalist, writing for a magazine in the Maldives which did not receive governmental sympathy and eventually the whole editorial team got arrested. He was held in solitary confinement being constantly beaten, humiliated and brutalized. He stated that in dictatorship, torture is not simply for information it is about capitulation. It’s about the crushing of humanity, trying to force mental breakdown and erosion of personality. Mohamed Nasheed is the model of great strength, courage and bravery. Every time he was released from prison he would speak up again and again. He didn’t allow fear of the prison bars to stop him doing what is right.
The summit hosted one of the best human rights lawyers, Jared Genser who fights for the rights of the most oppressed. He stressed the importance of the human rights and advocacy for it. He pointed out that nowadays political prisoners are the heroes. They not only stand up against brutal regimes but also create the ripple effect in society and this is what the dictators fear the most. They fear they own people and the information. He urged that human rights are fundamental and no one at any point should be denied them.
It isn’t hard to see that now we are facing a serious human rights crisis. Every day thousands of people die of starvation yet it is their right to have the access to food and shelter. Every day the number of political prisoners is increasing yet we have the universal right to the freedom of speech. Even though we have the right to education, millions of people cannot read. How can we even talk about freedom if millions of people are subject to modern slavery? Human rights have been weakened and are endangered but there is still hope. Hope in those whose spirits aspire for truth and justice, in those who choose not to be silent and speak up on behalf of those who cannot be heard; those who are relentless in their pursuit of human rights and who don't fear to look for the truth regardless the consequences.
These were the voice of human rights, the cries – listen to them.
The whole conference can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuXB_cYjLhU
Angelina Gudzio, March 2017
MSc Disaster Management and Sustainable Development
On December 10th 1948 the UN General Assembly formally adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Commission of Human Rights, a group consisting of Eleanor Roosevelt as Chair of the Commission, Pen-Chun Chang, and Charles Malik began drafting the International Bill of Human Rights. They brought to life the thirty fundamental liberties which form the basis for an open, democratic society (Mary Ann Glendon, 2001, A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
Almost seven decades later, the UN Watch director –Hillel Neuer asks: “what has become of this noble dream?” Torture, persecution, violence against women, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, media censorship and oppression, intimidation and murdering of journalists and trade union leaders as well as ethnic and indigenous people, unfair trails and unlawful convictions, human trafficking and modern slavery, and child labour are only few of many human rights violations that still poison the world today.
I had a chance to participate in the 9th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy which took place on the 21st February this year. The summit was organized by the UN Watch with coalition of 25 other NGOs to serve as a platform for famous and courageous champions of human rights, dissidents and victims of violations to share their stories and expose the tyranny of the regimes in certain countries. http://www.genevasummit.org/
Hillel Neuer, the executive director of the UN Watch, in his opening speech, outlined that the summit’s aim was to urge the UN Human Rights Council to address the urgent human rights situations and to protect and promote human rights around the world. He also questioned the effectiveness of the UN Human Rights Council and the memberships of certain countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, China or Saudi-Arabia. He stressed that today, when the world is crying for justice and truth, we desperately need a Human Rights Council that will act.
It is not a secret that amongst 47 member countries that are re-elected for a duration onto the UN Human Rights Council there are some where the human rights are repeatedly violated. China, an authoritarian state where fundamental rights including freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion are continuously violated, is in fact a member of Human Rights Council. Similarly Cuba, Venezuela or Saudi Arabia also have their memberships. We could ask: how is this possible? As Hillel Neuer explains it, it’s all down to political will. For example, in October last year during elections to the Human Rights Council, Russia lost its membership – though Saudi Arabia got re-elected onto it.
As Hillel Neuer said, the UN does matter and the Human Rights Council also matters, however in order for it to be effective, we need the leaders of democratic forces, to speak out in favour of basic human rights criteria, the same criteria that the UN has for its membership. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbkGY1paqaM
The Geneva Summit was strongly focused around problems with the return of authoritarianism. Zhanna Nemstowa a Russian journalist, activist and the daughter of murdered politician, Boris Nemstow, took the floor to expose some of the undemocratic moves of Russian government. She confidently stated that Russia is not a democracy. It is an authoritarian country where there is no division of power, no free media or no political competition and the society is living in a constant scare.
We could also hear the desperate cry of Anastasia Zotova, a wife of jailed Russian dissident Ildar Dadin and a human rights activist. She talked about the brutality and unfairness of the Russian government and described the current system as the system of torture, repression and violence.
Can Dündar, exiled former editor of Turkey’s Cumhuriyet, who spent 3 years in prison was talking about the situation in Turkey. He said that authoritarianism has never left his country. Now they’ve got a civil-authoritarian regime, a police state where the courageous people who dared to say ‘NO’ to dictatorship are now in prisons.
One of the most touching speeches was the one delivered by 25 years old Antonietta Ledezma, the daughter of a Mayor of Caracas – the capital city of Venezuela, Antonio Ledezma who in 2015 was abruptly and arbitrarily arrested. He was unfairly charged of conspiracy and criminal association and now is facing 26 years in prison. A brave man, Antonio Ledezma sacrificed his freedom for his democratic beliefs. His courageous daughter opened her speech with the Nelson Mandela’s quote which she heard from her father when she visited him in the prison: “The courage is not the absence of the fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not the one who is not afraid but the one who conquers that fear”. She gave her powerful statement of human rights violations acting not only as desperate daughter who wants her loving father back home but also as a representative of a country that is now facing major political issues and the worst humanitarian crisis in its history.
Shirin, a brave woman who is a freed Yazidi sex slave of the Islamic State and the author of “I Remain a Daughter of the Light” shared her story of being kidnapped and turned into a sex slave. She was humiliated and her rights were violated. Today she is the one who fights to free other enslaved girls and women. Shirin received the 2017 Women’s Rights Award for her bravery and determination in fighting against tyranny.
The prize of 2017 Courage Award was given to Mohamen Nasheed, former president of Maldives, the country’s leading human rights activist and former political prisoner. He was also described as the “Mandela of the Maldives”.
Mohamed Nasheed spent a good half of his life in prison. He lost his youth to chains, incarceration, punishments, to torture and to abuse. He started his adult life as a journalist, writing for a magazine in the Maldives which did not receive governmental sympathy and eventually the whole editorial team got arrested. He was held in solitary confinement being constantly beaten, humiliated and brutalized. He stated that in dictatorship, torture is not simply for information it is about capitulation. It’s about the crushing of humanity, trying to force mental breakdown and erosion of personality. Mohamed Nasheed is the model of great strength, courage and bravery. Every time he was released from prison he would speak up again and again. He didn’t allow fear of the prison bars to stop him doing what is right.
The summit hosted one of the best human rights lawyers, Jared Genser who fights for the rights of the most oppressed. He stressed the importance of the human rights and advocacy for it. He pointed out that nowadays political prisoners are the heroes. They not only stand up against brutal regimes but also create the ripple effect in society and this is what the dictators fear the most. They fear they own people and the information. He urged that human rights are fundamental and no one at any point should be denied them.
It isn’t hard to see that now we are facing a serious human rights crisis. Every day thousands of people die of starvation yet it is their right to have the access to food and shelter. Every day the number of political prisoners is increasing yet we have the universal right to the freedom of speech. Even though we have the right to education, millions of people cannot read. How can we even talk about freedom if millions of people are subject to modern slavery? Human rights have been weakened and are endangered but there is still hope. Hope in those whose spirits aspire for truth and justice, in those who choose not to be silent and speak up on behalf of those who cannot be heard; those who are relentless in their pursuit of human rights and who don't fear to look for the truth regardless the consequences.
These were the voice of human rights, the cries – listen to them.
The whole conference can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuXB_cYjLhU
Angelina Gudzio, March 2017
MSc Disaster Management and Sustainable Development