The Universal Declaration of Human Rights grew from the ashes of the Second World War and has always been a universal concept. Seventy-five years later it is as important as it was at its creation, writes Udo Bullmann.
MEP Udo Bullmann (S&D, Germany) is the chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights.
It grew from the ashes of the Second World War. It was introduced to avoid any further recurrence of the cruelty and barbarism the planet had just witnessed.
Fifty-eight countries agreed to adopt it on 10th December 1948 at the General Assembly of the United Nations in Paris. We are talking about nothing less than the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It starts with the famous words: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Followed by 30 articles that describe the rights that every human being should have, no matter their race, skin colour, gender, language, religion, political views, origins, income or background. A milestone – considering the circumstances at the time – that affects global politics until today.
The Declaration does not have a legally binding character. It is more of a global endeavour. An endeavour of sustainable peace. It is an idea to guarantee that every person in the world can benefit from it.
Many people today regard human rights as a given in their daily lives. However, if we look around, we see that Human rights are not a given but violated a million times every day all around the globe.
Now, 75 years after the Declaration of Human Rights was concluded, the world is burning again. Slumbering geopolitical conflicts broke out again, leading to excruciating human suffering and violation of basic human rights.
Over the last few years, more than one in four children in poor countries has been involved in child labour. For the first time in recorded history, the number of forcibly displaced people amounted to 108.4 million by the end of 2022. Only 43 countries recognise homophobic crimes as a type of hate crime.
Freedom of speech continues to be restricted; in 2022, we count 58 journalists killed, 65 held hostage, 49 missing and 533 imprisoned – just to name a few.
Human rights are not a given. They are not obvious. They are under constant threat. They are threatened by people who try to play foul. People who benefit from an unfair world order. A structure which favours exploitation, forced labour and slavery. We have to break these structures and change them. The Declaration of Human Rights was made for this.
When we talk about human rights, we must remember that not everyone agrees with the universality of human rights. Supporters celebrate its universal general application. Cultural relativists condemn it as a neo-colonialist und imposed concept.
When will we learn that the right to a decent life is indivisible? There will be no civil liberties without an appropriate education for our children and a safe environment for them to grow up in. And that there will be no lasting social and economic progress without the full right of civil participation.
We cannot treat human rights like a menu in a restaurant and pick and choose what we like. There is no hierarchy among human rights, and equal focus should be placed on all such rights, whether civil, political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, individual or collective—all human rights matter.
With every birth, with every child – no matter if it is born in a South American slum, in privileged circumstances in Europe, or into a forced labour factory in China – a fight starts—a battle for its right to education, for integrity, for a free opinion.
Sure, the Declaration has weaknesses in its implementation, but the idea for it was a collective effort inspired by personalities from different countries, including the Philippines, China, Russia, Lebanon, France and the US. What started with a community of 58 members in 1948 is now 193 states strong.
What about those who cannot rely on their nation-states? Those who are victims of human rights violations through their regimes? Even they courageously fight for the idea of human rights.
It is the only way to bring humanism to the forefront. Human rights are defended by people from all countries, social classes, cultural backgrounds, and personal orientations.
The activists in China fight against the suppression of their freedom of thought imposed on them by their government. The Russians are opposing the cruel orders of their leader, who is expelling and killing thousands of people for the sole purpose of enhancing his own power.
The Iranian women take off their hijab, putting their own lives in danger to fight for self-determination against gender-based discrimination.
Now, 75 years later, the Declaration for Human Rights is as important as it was at its creation since its endeavour has still not become a given. Even more reason for us to be thankful for the existence of the document, despite its implementation challenges.
This fight must go on. The European Union even obliges itself to it in its treaties. We thus have to do our part in the protection and promotion of values based on human rights in every partnership or trade agreement, without any exception.
Those in power, those in politics, and those leading the economy have to live up to this challenge and make sure to take the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a benchmark for their decisions.
As human history shows, the powerless will never stop to rise and demand their full share of human rights.
Source: euractiv.com
