This week, the third World Forum on Human Rights was held in Nantes, France. Unesco, which organised the event, dedicated it to the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It was a unique opportunity that saw around 3,300 activists on different human rights issues all over the world come together to seriously re-examine the declaration. It was also an avenue to take a hard look at human rights within the context of globalisation.
Unfortunately, the celebration took place at a time when basic human rights have been under sustained attack throughout the world. There are still places where journalists are being murdered for telling the truth, and where people are being killed for being a part of their nation’s democratic process, where criminal suspects are denied access to legal representation – the list goes on. In Iraq, for instance, a television journalist named Muhieddin Abdul Hamid was assassinated in the northern city of Mosul for defending freedom of expression and promoting democracy. His killing brings to 129 the number of journalists who have been murdered in the country since the US-led occupation. Elsewhere, in Zimbabwe, people have been abused simply because of their political affiliation, contrary to Article 9 of the Universal Declaration, which states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
The situation there also makes a complete mockery of Article 21, which provides for the right to participatory democracy. In looking at the developments in the above countries, it might be justified to say that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a failure. So rather than celebrating our intentions, we need to ask serious questions about the way forward for human rights, especially in the context of the ongoing abuses which the most vulnerable people in the world face everyday. We believe that the best way to mark this anniversary is by organising a debate on the declaration, to tease out all aspects of the project that may have gone wrong, and find out how so many world leaders have shown a total disregard for this unique document. This could offer those whose rights have been infringed an opportunity to be heard, and be healed.
