Human Rights Day and hardly any human rights in sight
Happy International Human Rights Day!
No, not happy at all.
Human Rights Day marks the end of what we call the 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence Against Women. For each of those days, I’ve observed, celebrated, and taken part in activism. And it’s certainly not over. For each of those days, I’m reminded that we’re living in a dystopian nightmare where rhetoric and reality are wildly disconnected.
And yesterday, 9 December, we commemorated the Genocide Convention — while an actual real-life live-streamed genocide is taking place. For the last 15 months. Does anyone see the irony?! I cannot believe the language we use — and the nerve we have — to celebrate our own failures.
At a UN event yesterday, a protestor stood up and demanded action on Palestine. He said it had been an hour of hollow talk, and still no mention of Gaza. The hypocrisy is not even hidden.
Last year, to “commemorate” this day, I signed the petition calling for UN Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu to resign. She’s still there, sitting around, doing nothing. At least not preventing genocide, as was her mandate. Her paralysis represents one of the greatest failings of the UN system.
Why? Her mandate is to raise awareness about potential causes of genocide, sound the alarm, advocate for action — none of which she’s actually doing. Sure, she “condemned Hamas,” but she hasn’t condemned the overwhelming, disproportionate, insane, rabid, impunity-leaden violence against Palestinians. Hmmm.
Meanwhile, she has spent the last 15 months as a steadfast “both-sides-ist” who simply cannot utter the name Palestine. She’s “All Lives Matter,” blinded to the genocide taking place under her Special Advisor nose. It could not be more clear. She needs to be sacked. That will make for a happier human rights day for me!
The irony is killing us. Literally.
We’ve forgotten that human rights are for all of us — every single one of us is “born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
Free and equal.
Dignity and rights.
ALL OF US.
Without exception.
Now why is that so difficult to understand?!
And yet, many countries are moving backwards when it comes to human rights. Baffling.
Surprising absolutely no one who’s been paying attention, each of the “Big 5” members of the UN Security Council have been sliding backwards in terms of their human rights obligations and commitments.
China has been under intense scrutiny for the past few years due to their draconian repression measures against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Despite the Chinese government’s attestation otherwise, these human rights abuses amount to crimes against humanity. Yes, the same level of horror as what’s happening in Palestine. Meanwhile, In Hong Kong, the Chinese government has assumed near full control over the self-governing city since the National Security Law of 2020. For Chinese women and girls, things are not much better. Chinese #MeToo movement leaders Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing were put on trial in September for “inciting subversion of state power.” Recent amendments to the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests tells women to “respect social morals and family values.” No comment.
It’s been a busy year in France with their government on the brink of collapse. Despite lip-service for “liberté, égalité, fraternité,” France has yet to secure protection for the most marginalized. The government’s strategic plan to combat racism suspiciously leaves out any mention of systemic abuse and discrimination. Attacks against African migrants remain commonplace with the tightening of an alt-right influenced anti-immigration law that could see even “legal” immigrants jailed or deported for being a “grave threat to public order.” Sexual violence against women has increased nearly 33% in recent years while the rate of femicide has risen to one woman killed every 2.5 days.
Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine recently surpassed 1,000 days. Russia’s crackdown on anti-war dissenters has intensified, with opposition figures getting anywhere from 8 to 25 years in prison. Environmental activist groups such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund were banned this year. In July, the government passed a law that outlawed gender-affirming surgeries, dissolved the marriages of transgender individuals, and barred trans parents from adopting children.
In the UK, human rights plummeted this year. The government introduced an anti-boycott bill in Parliament aimed at public institutions. Like France, alt-right-inspired anti-immigration bills came into effect this year. In June, a woman was sentenced to over 2 years in prison for attempting to get an abortion after the legal cut-off point (24 weeks), igniting a nationwide debate on the country’s ancient abortion laws requiring permission of at least (!) 2 doctors. And the Trade Union Congress revealed that women in the UK are working for free for 2 months of the year — thanks to ongoing wage gaps.
And then there’s the United States…
The US claims to be a leader — and frequent finger-pointer — when it comes to human rights. And yet, their own house is in disarray. Let’s start with reproductive rights. The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, leading to restrictions and bans in many states. Because, in the US, a woman does not have the right to decide what to do with her own body. Americans have long faced economic inequality, characterized by a significant wealth gap (and a gender wage gap). Too many can hardly afford basic necessities like housing and healthcare.
And then there’s gun violence. In the US, mass shooting is an Olympic sport. Which of course leads me to police brutality, racial injustice, and blatant discrimination against Black and Brown people, minorities, and vulnerable groups. I could go on. All of this will only get worse under Trump Take Two.
But let me just add one more thing. The US has shown its true colors this last year in its shameless support for a genocide along with the denial of our rights to speak and protest in favor of Palestine. With the Cheeto-in-Chief set to return to office in January, I fear things will only get worse….
Elsewhere in the world, authoritarian regimes retain chokeholds on their people — and on their women in particular.
In 2023, the UN declared Afghanistan the world’s most oppressive country for women — gender apartheid all over again. Since 2021, women have been steadily banned from public life with one edict after another. The most recent bans midwives and nurses, one of the few professions that was still available to women. The Taliban has also prevented women’s voices from being heard in public. Unsurprisingly, over 98% of Afghan women surveyed by the UN felt they had little to no power in their communities.
In Iran… the government has a long history of human rights abuses, including the suppression of dissent, the persecution of religious minorities, and the use of the death penalty. In recent years, there have been increased protests and crackdowns, leading to further deterioration of human rights. And “Woman, Life, Freedom” continues to be active — while the government continues to repress it.
In Myanmar… the military coup in 2021 led to a sharp decline in human rights. The military junta has used excessive force against protesters, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. Freedom of expression and assembly have been severely curtailed, and journalists and activists face arrest and harassment.
In Venezuela… the authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro has led to a humanitarian crisis, with widespread poverty, food shortages, and lack of access to basic necessities. Political repression, arbitrary arrests, and torture are also common.
And, of course, Palestine. It’s safe to say that the human rights of Palestinians have been significantly eroded since 7 October 2023 as a result of Israeli aggression. This should be viewed as part of a long-standing decline in Palestinian human rights since the beginning of the Occupation in 1948.
To better understand the mess we’re in, I reached out to my good friend Alan Glasgow, the Executive Director of Front Line Defenders, an international human rights organization protecting human rights defenders at risk all around the world since 2001. Alan has been working for decades and knows this landscape better than anyone.
“We’re working in a declining environment,” he explained to me, characterized by “substantial unmet needs of human rights defenders combined with a shrinking donor space” — not particularly conducive to supporting human rights in a meaningful way.
Alan sums it up like this:
“The uncertainty feels overwhelming. We haven’t seen such risk to the progress of Human Rights in my lifetime. Even the reliable Human Rights backers, you know, the ‘adults in the room’ as it were, are departing and the reckless relatives are arriving.”
Needless to say, the human rights landscape is overrun by “reckless relatives” — and now it’s up to those of us on the periphery of power to push back.
