Reflecting on turning sixty and the state of our world: All is not lost, far from it

So the one thing I’ve discovered about recently turning sixty is that it unavoidably invites reflection; and that inevitably includes reflection about the state of our world.

That is a good thing. However, these days it is tempting, almost irresistible, for that to end up in a place of dismay and even despair. How could that not be the case after even just a cursory survey of the world around me?

There is, nonetheless, ample cause for hope and optimism, which is where I am confident I will end up in this rambling reflection. Even when thoughts go first to the many grim reminders of callous inhumanity and absent or bankrupt leadership that surround us.

The agony of Ukraine

After all, globally, one need look no further than Vladmir Putin’s violent and contemptuous assault on both the people of Ukraine and the so-called international rules-based order for a stark reminder of how dismal world affairs are in 2022. 

Let us not forget that this crisis did not erupt suddenly in February. Rather, it is a clear illustration of years of global failure to take Russian human rights violations – in Russia, in Syria, in Chechnya, in Ukraine and elsewhere – seriously. Instead, the priorities have always been keeping Russian gas flowing, chasing the billions of dollars of spare change itching to be invested by Russian oligarchs, and selling Western fast food, electronics and fashion to Russian consumers. And we wonder why Vladimir Putin believed he could brutalize Ukraine with little consequence?

There is of course more

Ten days before my birthday a white supremacist targeted Black Americans in a racist shooting spree in a Buffalo, New York supermarket, killing ten people; and on my birthday an 18-year-old who had bought assault-style rifles shortly after his own birthday, hunted down and killed 19 young children and two teachers in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. And yet the gun lobby continues to hold the United States in its thrall, with politicians lacking even the minimal conviction to cancel the National Rifle Association convention just a four-hour drive away in Houston, three days after this unspeakable massacre.

Three days before my birthday a harrowing storm, with the peculiar meteorological label of a derecho (Spanish for right, as in human right, or law), raged and pummeled its way along a trail of destruction across Ontario and into Quebec, hitting particularly hard in the Ottawa/Gatineau area. Eleven people have been killed, trees and power poles uprooted and toppled, and thousands remained without power one week later. Just the latest in the steady supply of extreme weather events that devastate and even destroy communities around the world, a dramatic reminder that the climate crisis is no longer the future, but is very much the present. A reminder as well that we are still falling far short of the action that is needed to avert this deepening worldwide catastrophe.

Less than two weeks before my birthday, celebrated and widely respected Palestinian-American Al-Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, was shot dead on May 11 while she was covering an Israeli army raid at the Jenin refugee camp. Security forces then violently attacked mourners during her funeral procession two days after her death. Yet one more manifestation of how decades of impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity such as apartheid in Israel, consistently lead to more of the same.

We have recently marked two somber anniversaries. On May 23, the day before my birthday, survivors, elders, leaders, families and community members gathered with the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation one year after the announcement that the unmarked graves of 215 children had been discovered on the grounds of the former Kamloops Residential School.  A raw reminder that we have only just begun reconciling with genocide in Canada.

May 25, the day after my birthday, was two years since the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and a reminder that anti-Black racism in policing in the United States, in Canada, and elsewhere has yet to be truly confronted, let alone meaningfully addressed.

Everyday -- before, on and after my birthday – hate, racism, misogyny, homo and transphobia, disinformation and lies, infects our politics, digital platforms and social discourse everywhere, including increasingly in Canada. It is on display in the federal Conservative leadership contest, with Pierre Poilievre dog-whistling about his preference for “Anglo-Saxon” words. It lingers in the wake of the so-called Freedom Convoy occupation, barricades and protests. It now clearly defines virtually everything about politics in the United States. It came far too close to winning the French presidency. It continues to rule the day in Hungary, Turkey, Brazil and India. There is, in fact, no corner of the world that is immune from this toxic, divisive stench.

And so much more

The Syrian crisis appears entrenched and forgotten, more than a decade on, as if it is somehow about the past when in fact it is still a horrifying present which seems set to stretch into an interminable future.  Everything that was foretold about the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan last year, particularly the horrendous implications for women and girls, has proven true, yet the world seems either distressingly powerless or remarkably unconcerned. 

The prospect of human rights change allowing one million Rohingya refugees to return in safety and dignity to Myanmar, seems to grow more distant. China thumbs its nose at fleeting international attempts to raise human rights concerns with respect to internment, crimes against humanity and even genocide against the Uyghurs, the unrelenting and unapologetic crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights violations in Tibet and against Falun Gong practitioners, as well as ongoing repression of human rights lawyers and advocates.

There is of course Yemen, pathologically overlooked; Tigray, where crimes against humanity have been unleashed by a Nobel Peace Laureate; Libya, lost in lawlessness and instability, and a dystopian nightmare for refugees and migrants; Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, both enjoying boosted international favour due to their oil reserves, regardless of ongoing human rights violations; countries such as Colombia, the Philippines and Egypt, which disgracefully enjoy a much easier international ride than their human rights records merit; and nations such as Iran, North Korea and Belarus, which at times seem to have been dismissively written off by the international community as being beyond change.

There is a grim sense of lost ground when it comes to shoring up the right of access to safe abortion services, especially in the United States with the troubling news that the Supreme Court appears to be poised to overturn its 1973 ruling in Roe v Wade. Disheartening, to say the least, though it is important to note the tremendous progress in recent years in advancing abortion rights in countries such as Argentina, Ireland, Colombia, Chile and South Korea.

And then there is COVID-19, which has taken such a wrenching toll on lives, health, rights and livelihoods, and brought to light the vicious inequities and systemic exploitation that run throughout society. COVID has left us all fearful of and vulnerable to the next pandemic waiting in the wings.

The gift of reflection, though, is that it offers an opportunity to take a broader and a longer view; for me, a sixty-year view. Doing so, unshakeable hope leaves my despair in the dust.

What about political change? 

In May 1962, when I was born, there were only 110 member states of the United Nations. That has grown by 75% since, with 83 new nations joining the UN, largely reflective of peoples shedding the racist and oppressive yoke of colonial rule. That is not to say that colonialism, or the legacy of colonialism, has been consigned to history; far from it.  Rising to that reality in fact remains the deepest challenge and most important responsibility we face as Canadians.

Also in May 1962, when I was born, as best I can ascertain, there was only one woman serving as head of state or government in the world, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known). I believe that women currently serve as Prime Ministers or Presidents in 27 countries, including Barbados, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Kosovo, Lithuania, Moldova, Nepal, New Zealand, Samoa, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago and Tunisia. A degree of progress, yes. But so very far to go yet, as 27 out of 193 countries is a decidedly unimpressive 14%. And it has taken sixty years to get even to that low number.

In Canada ground has been lost from a remarkable moment in early 2013 when women served as Premiers in six provinces or territories – BC, Alberta, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador – to today, when only two women hold that position, in the Northwest Territories and Manitoba. And Kim Campbell’s 4 ½ months in 1993, after being passed a poisonous chalice from Brian Mulroney, still stands as the only period during which a woman has served as Prime Minister of Canada. That said, growing numbers of inspiring and progressively minded women are pouring into politics at all levels of government in Canada, including the first women to serve as mayors of Calgary and Montreal.

What of the ups and downs globally of progressive versus repressive governments? 

There is no easy way to measure this one. But I marvel at the political changes that have swept institutionalized human rights abuse aside over the decades. Apartheid gone in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. A host of military rulers across Latin America, who orchestrated campaigns of terror led by death squads and murderous security forces, gave way to democratic (though far from perfect) rule in the 1980’s and 1990’s. And the totalitarianism that destroyed the lives of millions of people behind the Iron Curtain is also no more.  While that has brought freedom in places like Georgia, Latvia and the Czech Republic, Russia itself is of course another story.

It has tended to feel like two steps forward, and three or even four steps back as of late. After all, this past decade has seen racist, intolerant bullies such as Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, Viktor Orbán, Rodrigo Duterte, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Narendra Modi win elections and even re-elections.  And in April, while she did not win, Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigration, anti-Islam Rassemblement national, garnered the support of a sobering 41.5% of the electorate in the second round of the French presidential election; and in May, Ferdinand Marcos Junior, the son of his namesake father and one time cruel Philippine dictator, whose record he praises and in no way disavows, won that country’s presidential election by a landslide.

All true, glaringly so. However, there is another story playing out as well. Look at Latin America and the Caribbean.

In April 2021, Pedro Castillo, a teacher and union leader, won the Peruvian presidential election, defeating Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, who was responsible for widespread human rights violations when he served as president. His first years in office, however, have been tumultuous and has so far failed to live up to the rights and justice promise to address Peru’s colonial legacy that was on display during his campaign.

In November, Xiomara Castro, won the Honduran presidential election decisively, the first woman to lead the country. Castro campaigned on a notably progressive agenda, including a promise of a universal basic income in the country.

Also in November, Barbados’ visionary Prime Minister Mia Mottley oversaw her country’s parting of ways with British royalty, forging a post-colonial path as a republic. Other former British colonies in the region seem slated to follow.

Gabriel Boric, only 35-years-old, became president of Chile in December, having run on a platform fully committed to transformative social justice change. Earlier this year a specially convened citizens’ assembly came forward with a proposed new Constitution for Chile that is entirely grounded in human rights.

And most recently, one time leftist guerilla Gustavo Petro, alongside his Afro-Colombian vice-presidential running mate, Francia Márquez, captured 40% of the vote in the first round of the Colombian presidential election, with a run off now scheduled for June 19. If they prevail, they will break decades of rule by right wing and centre-right politicians who have presided over decades of grim human rights violations and a chasm of social inequality in the country.

Progressive leaders can and do win elections and pursue progressive platforms, even as politics are increasingly infected by toxic disinformation and manipulation.

The rise of international human rights law

Over these sixty years, the explosive growth of the international human rights system has been unrelenting. Only a handful of international conventions and declarations had been agreed when I was born, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention and the Refugee Convention, as well as the Inter-American Declaration and European Convention. Six decades later, I could not begin to list them all, including the UN’s Covenants dealing with civil and political, and economic, social and cultural rights, and treaties focused on racial discrimination, discrimination against women, torture, the rights of children, migrant workers, people living with disabilities, enforced disappearances, and the arms trade. The vital drive to hold companies accountable for their far-reaching human rights impacts continues to gather steam. And while there is still far to go, international recognition of the equality rights of LGBTQIA2S+ people is starting to solidify.

More recently the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been officially incorporated into Canadian law, with an implementation plan anticipated next year which should – and must – provide a transformative framework for reconciliation in the country. At provincial level, BC has also taken that important step.

That is not the first time that international human rights law has had domestic implications in Canada, as provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights served as inspiration for several sections in our history-making, though incomplete and imperfect, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which of course turned forty this year. And very significantly, though the results remain uncertain, the federal government expressly recognized the right to adequate housing, as enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in adopting the groundbreaking National Housing Strategy Act in 2019.

It has by no means been steady progress. There has been lost ground, such as the undermining of the prohibition against torture and other crucial human rights safeguards in the supposed name of national security, that we have witnessed since the September 11th terrorist attacks. And many states, including Canada, have been particularly resistant to giving economic, social and cultural rights their due.

There has also been steady growth in human rights bodies, institutions and processes, at national, regional and international levels over the years, such as the European Court of Human Rights in 1959, Canadian Human Rights Commission and UN Human Rights Committee, both in 1977, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 1979, the Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security Resolution in 2000, the International Criminal Court in 2002, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2004, the Responsibility to Protect doctrine in 2005, and the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in 2008. 

Naysayers would rightly raise doubts as to the effectiveness of all these norms and institutions. I certainly often do. Easy to put words to paper and create a new commission or committee. But where is the enforcement and compliance? Undeniably that is where things more often than not fall apart.

But it would simply be untrue to assert that these standards and these bodies have been hollow and empty. Far from it. In a massively imperfect and politicized world, they have spearheaded enormous and consequential change the worldover. I hold on to hope that to some degree the largely unprecedented international mobilization and concrete action we have witnessed from dozens of states in response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine may spark further and more convincing change on that front. It certainly should.

Tackling the dysfunction of the Security Council certainly needs to be on that list. And of all countries, tiny Liechtenstein has stepped up to take that on, garnering considerable support for its recent commendable initiative that will ensure that the UN General Assembly brings it scrutiny to bear any time one of the five permanent members uses its veto in a Security Council vote.  A small step, but a step nonetheless. Change can come from anywhere.

We can and should do so much more here at home in Canada when it comes to showing that these are not just lovely words and nebulous promises. On top of all our efforts to promote and advance respect for international human rights around the world, we must endeavour to demonstrate the strength of our convictions through scrupulous respect for and implementation of those very obligations within Canada as well. For too long the complexities of federalism and a degree of undeserved smugness that we have a proud and stellar record have stood in the way of ensuring effective and consistent compliance with our international human rights obligations. In 2020, federal, provincial and territorial governments agreed to establish a new Forum of Ministers on Human Rights, with a mandate to do just that. It now needs to be championed, supported and resourced accordingly.

The unstoppable force of human rights

Running throughout all of this – whether it be the forces that overcame apartheid in South Africa, are bringing women to the political fore, led to a new global arms trade treaty, or swept in transformative change in Chile – is people power. It may be the remarkable courage of a mere handful or the sheer force of millions of people who take to the streets, no matter the odds and regardless of the danger. It may be years and decades of painstaking underground strategizing and organizing. It may be innovation and technological prowess that circumvents censorship and mobilizes activism in online spaces. 

It is all about the power of people claiming human rights. Always. Nothing has taught me, guided me, or pushed me further. No meaningful change has happened without the determined efforts of people willing it to be so. Knowing and believing in that is what will take us forward.

And while there are the iconic heroes of resistance and liberation whose names, such as Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai, are immediately recognized and celebrated across the globe, even more crucially this power truly lies with legions of unheralded and unknown students, farmworkers, Indigenous elders, computer experts, nurses, artists and others who simply refuse to give up, no matter what.

To put it mildly, it is not an easy time. While there has been so much notable and steady progress over the decades, all of that does feel stalled and even sliding backwards in 2022. Visionary leaders with unshakeable conviction, who have so often galvanized change in the past, are in short supply today.

But human rights are no less potent.  People are no less powerful.  And the potential for change no less apparent.

That is where sixty years of reflection leaves me.  It has always been in our hands; and that remains so. Autocracy, racism, war, inequity and the climate crisis face us. Solidarity, empowerment, creativity, determination and urgency are with us. And will carry the day.