In December of this year it will be 75 years since Eleanor Roosevelt presented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to the fledgling United Nations. Both the UN and the Declaration itself were the product of a global determination not to repeat the horrors of World War II.
This content was published on February 17, 2023 – 09:05
They also represented an understanding that, humans being what we are, we needed to make some promises and abide by some rules to ensure that.
Mrs. Roosevelt was well aware of the importance of her mission. “We stand today on the threshold of a great event, both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of humanity,” she told member states.
“This Universal Declaration of Human Rights could well become the international Magna Carta of all men in the world.”
Seventy-five years later, where are we? A quick glance at the news headlines does not inspire optimism: Russia committing war crimes in Ukraine, China’s crackdown on Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province, the depressing and frequent murders of black youths by police. American, the huge disparity continues between the professional and life opportunities between men and women.
Losing the essence of the Declaration
At the Palais Wilson in Geneva, the UN Human Rights headquarters, they aim to remind us why back then, in 1948, we thought the Declaration was so important, and why it still is today.
Volker Türk, the new United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, wants 2023 to be the year we reaffirm our commitment to the UDHR and ensure that younger generations, who may have little knowledge of WWII, understand why. We need it.
“We lose the essence of what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was and was intended to be as a response to the catastrophic events of World War II,” Türk said during an in-depth interview.
“The Holocaust, a world war that killed millions of people. We had countless individuals who were refugees or displaced. We went through an incredible collapse of many things, from the economy, to social systems, to mass destruction.”
You can listen to the full interview in this week’s edition of Inside Geneva.external link Türk, who now occupies what is sometimes called the most difficult job in the UN, knows that he faces great challenges. He is motivated by, he tells me, “a lifelong commitment to the cause of human rights.” His nearly 30 years at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) prepared him, in his opinion, for his new role as UN Commissioner for Human Rights.
“I worked with very vulnerable people, refugees, internally displaced persons, stateless people. And that is a microcosm of the world of human rights.”
Big challenges ahead
But while Türk has set out to rekindle commitment to the Universal Declaration, there are also immediate, specific and complex challenges.
First, in your inbox is the long-awaited UN report on China’s actions in Xinjiang province, where human rights groups have long alleged gross violations are taking place.
After months of delay, the report was finally released last August, minutes before her predecessor Michelle Bachelet left office. The report was, after such a long wait and the rumors that the UN was giving in to pressure from China, forceful. It detailed the widespread crackdown on China’s Uyghur Muslim community, including arbitrary detention, forced labor and sexual violence, all of which, the report concluded, could amount to crimes against humanity.
But five months later, that report is still on the desk of the Human Rights Commissioner. The Member States of the UN Human Rights Council voted against even discussing it, and apart from doing nothing, that is the most hostile action the Council can take.
Now the big annual Council session is coming up (begins February 27), and human rights groups are waiting to see what the new Commissioner will do.
“This is a very important report that was issued,” Türk told me. “He has raised very serious and urgent human rights concerns, and it is my duty to follow up with the Chinese authorities.”
But how exactly? By refusing to even discuss the report, UN member states have de facto refused to show their support for UN Human Rights, and have in a way confirmed to Türk that in reminding China of its obligations under the Universal Declaration, you are basically on your own.
“China is a very important country, it is a member of the Security Council, it has a lot of regional influence. So on the human rights front it will be important to have China as a country that I can engage with,” he says. Türk’s strategy with Beijing appears to be to try to “engage in a dialogue.”
General disrespect
The China example, while immediate and specific, is in fact a good example of why Türk is so keen to remind us of the key principles of the Universal Declaration. It was, and still is, a historical document. 193 Member States (actually the entire UN) have signed it. Describes the basic rights and freedoms to which all human beings, regardless of their status or where they were born, are entitled: dignity, freedom, equality, the right to life, freedom from slavery, freedom of expression and much more. .
Member States have a mandate to defend those rights, not only within their territory, but throughout the world. So whether China persecutes its Uyghur Muslims, American police killing black youth, Russian soldiers committing war crimes, or even increasing numbers of British children living in poverty is not just a matter of Beijing, Washington, Moscow or London, it’s everyone’s business.
It is precisely this concept of “universality” that irritates and often divides the UN Human Rights Council. Most national governments do not want what they see as outside interference in their internal affairs. Türk is convinced of one thing: reviving our commitment to the Universal Declaration and all its promises, from individual liberties to economic rights such as adequate food and housing, can only be good for all of us.
“In so many situations around the world, there is again this contempt for the other. Contempt for the human being, contempt for human dignity. There are civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and they cannot be separated into different boxes. They are one and the same, they are a coherent whole.”
Adapted from English by Norma Domínguez
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