Promoting human rights with courage and determination

Leela M. Ramdeen
Dec 11th, 2019

Leela Ramdeen

"Human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interconnected. They are rooted in the nature of the human person, as an inseparable unity of body and soul...human rights must be at the center of all policies". (Pope Francis)

Yesterday the world commemorated the 71st anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. While we may all agree that there has been progress in the area of human rights around the world, there is no need for complacency. In fact, today human rights are in crisis. We live in a world in which individualism/selfishness, greed, secularism, moral relativism, racism, sexism, xenophobia etc. all stand as obstacles to the protection and promotion of human rights which are routinely being violated.

Do our world leaders have the right priorities at the forefront of their minds? If they did, they would not have spent $1.82 trillion dollars in 2018 on military expenditure/defence. And then there is the arms trade. Research shows that many countries exclude expenditure on arms imports from their military expenditure. (See: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). Selling arms to those who continue to trample on the rights of their citizens defies logic and fuels conflict/ human rights violations. Pope Francis says he cannot forget those who are victims of the tragedy that is armed conflict, "while unscrupulous death merchants are enriched at the price of the blood of their brothers and sisters".

The World Peace Foundation's Compendium of Arms Trade Corruption is gut-wrenching to read ( see: https://sites.tufts.edu/corruptarmsdeals/ ). Inter alia, it states: "Researcher and former oil industry executive Joe Roeber, in Parallel Markets (2005), estimated that 40% of corruption in international trade was related to the arms trade." The Compendium includes 2011 and 2014 research by Andrew Feinstein, Nick Gilby, and Jean Guisnel.

On 24 December 2014 the UN's Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) entered into force. 105 states have ratified the treaty. 32 states have signed but not ratified it. In April this year, the US President announced his intention to revoke the US Status as a signatory of the ATT, which regulates international trade in conventional weapons. Many, like Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexican diplomat who specialises in public international law, are concerned about the implications of this decision.

Inter alia, he says: "The world is in dire need of an effective implementation of the only global legally binding instrument that regulates the international trade in arms." He reminds us that the ATT "has at its core international peace and security and, most importantly, the value of the human person." Note that the opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human rights emphasise the fact that peace and security can only be achieved through the observance of and respect for human rights. This remains a forlorn dream.

The UN states: "Today extremist movements subject people to horrific violence around the world. Messages of intolerance and hatred prey on our fears. Human values are under attack. We must reaffirm our common humanity. Wherever we are, we can make a real difference... 'We the peoples' can take a stand for human rights. And together, we can take a stand for more humanity. It starts with each of us."

St. Pope John XXIII's 1963 statement about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is noteworthy: "Man's awareness of his rights must inevitably lead him to the recognition of his duties. The possession of rights involves the duty of implementing those rights, for they are the expression of a man's personal dignity. And the possession of rights also involves their recognition and respect by others."

Pope Francis reminds us of our duties: "Each person is called to contribute with courage and determination, in the specificity of their role, to the respect of the fundamental rights of every person. Especially [the rights] of those [who are] 'invisible:' of many who are hungry and thirsty, who are naked, sick, a stranger or imprisoned, who live on the margins of society or are discarded...the Gospel itself invites us to turn our gaze to the least of our brothers and sisters, to be moved to compassion and to concretely commit ourselves to alleviate their suffering."

Each day the chasm between the "haves" and the "have nots" grows wider. Economic injustices fuel poverty and social exclusion, human trafficking and other forms of modern day slavery, violence, lack of basic amenities; poor housing, education, health care etc.

As change agents, let's champion human rights.