The Universal Declaration @ 75: More than a dream
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is 75 years old today. And we must not forget, especially in today’s world, that the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide also turned 75, yesterday.
My top line Human Rights Day messages are these: #FreeNarges and #CeasefireNow. That Narges Mohammadi’s chair is empty — courageously and unjustly so — as she is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today, shouts out to us all. We have so very far to go. Resolute human rights defenders like Narges show us the way. And that we mark Human Rights Day two days after the US government has again defeated Security Council efforts to curtail the carnage in Gaza and open space to both protect Palestinian civilians and free Israeli hostages makes such a mockery of what this day stands for.
Such anniversaries generally aspire to a mix of celebration and reflection. I’ve been down that road with the UDHR for numbers 40, 50, 60 and 70. Some have felt more upbeat and full of greater optimism and possibility than others. This time, though, that aspiration risks wearing distressingly thin. Not just because it is the 75th time around the block, but because the global landscape is decidedly grim.
The human rights anniversary playbook is well established. Take stock of the breakthroughs. Mourn the losses. Celebrate the resilience and determination of remarkable rights defenders and champions in our communities. Call out the perpetrators of injustice. Remind ourselves of challenges unmet and opportunities that appear to be within reach. Ignite and mobilize collective action. Hope for and insist on a better year ahead.
All good, and all necessary. This year, though, it somehow fails fully to rise to the moment.
Gaza. Ukraine. Sudan. Afghanistan. Uyghurs. Rohingya. Tigray. Yemen. Destructive climate injustice. Waves of racism, intolerance and hate. Borders closed to refugees. An epidemic of violence against women. Mounting inequality, poverty and homelessness.
The cynic (or perhaps the realist) would be tempted to say: nothing new. After all, each of these past 75 years has been replete with similar crises, grim tragedies and entrenched injustice. There have been far too many harrowing genocides. There has been a constant current of disgraceful inaction and indifference in the face of tremendous suffering. But there has always been hope, often in the small places we generally overlook, hope that does lead to change.
True. But it does feel different this year.
There is something about the blatant and unapologetic defiance that permeates today’s contempt for human rights that feels different. And it has left us feeling gutted.
Israel -- shielded by US vetoes and explicit or tacit complicity from so many other governments, including our own -- makes it clear that the universal promise of human rights simply does not extend to Palestinians. No explanations or excuses, that is just how it is. That is the price of security, we are told.
Russia, through a blatantly illegal invasion, and China, through textbook bullying, are both clearly confident that they can run roughshod over human rights without consequence and that the vaunted rules-based order isn’t up to the task of defending Ukrainians, Uyghurs, Tibetans or the people of Hong Kong. Bring it on, they say.
Meanwhile, leaders who boastfully peddle lies and unabashedly deride human rights, ride high; leaders like Trump, Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Modi, Orban, Bolsonaro, Netanyahu, Raisi, Ahmed, Meloni, Milei, Wilders… How long can that list grow? A chilling global gallery of proud hatemongers and purveyors of undisguised bigotry who inhabit the world’s corridors of power and whose reach and corrosive impact is lifted far and wide by the toxic oxygen of social media. Hate can and does win the day, they show us.
No, this Human Rights Day, the usual reassuring path of marking the ups and downs, cataloguing the triumphs and defeats, while shining the light on the human rights heroes who struggle on in the face of barriers and threats, just does not cut it for me. I also feel no particular inclination to engage with the critics and the naysayers, who ask what human rights has to offer and express skepticism that we are capable of pushing back against the powerful vested interests who stand in the way of justice and equality.
The onus is on us to make the case for human rights? Not today. Instead, this Human Rights Day I am hungry to be unreservedly wide-eyed and naïve.
I embrace and cherish the universal human rights promise that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; certain that is an undeniable and irresistible truth.
I dig deeper than ever in my belief that a world of rights and justice for all is possible; the only world that is possible in fact.
I feel confident that we will choose the leaders prepared to stand up for those foundational commitments; no matter what, and above all else.
I lift up all that solidarity, resistance and liberation makes possible; after all nothing else has ever sparked the awareness and catalyzed the determination that brings real change.
I insist. I pledge. I act. Because this is not just a dream. It is much more than a dream. Universal human rights are today’s dignity and tomorrow’s survival, for us all. Some may say that is unrealistic naivety. I say there is no other road to travel.
Happy Human Rights Day. #FreeNarges #CeasefireNow
