Human rights violated daily – UN

MANILA, Philippines — A number of violations of international law and human dignity are perpetrated on a daily basis in many countries, according to a team of independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Celebrating the resilience of the human rights system and contributions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a declaration to advance human progress, peace and development on its 70th anniversary today, experts echoed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet’s comments, noting that the “protection provided by the international human rights system has increased including by addressing new and emerging human rights issues and demonstrating its capacity to evolve and respond to people’s needs and expectations.”

In a statement, experts, however, said “recent memory is replete with multiple examples of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

“Impunity reigns supreme in many countries undergoing conflicts or political upheavals, encouraged by narrow national objectives, geopolitics and political impasse at the United Nations Security Council,” they said.

The upsurge of nationalism and xenophobia seen in countries of asylum, at a time of rising forced-migration, is “reversing the gains of international humanitarian cooperation of the last 70 years,” according to experts.

The UDHR was adopted by the UN on Dec. 10, 1948. The declaration – translated into a world record 500 languages – is rooted in the principle that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

In honor of the 70th anniversary of the declaration, and to prevent its vital principles from being eroded, the UN is urging people everywhere to “Stand Up for Human Rights” by logging on to www.standup4humanrights.org.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Bachelet said the document has gone from being an “aspirational treatise” to a set of standards that has “permeated virtually every area of international law.”

The declaration has also been applied to situations and scenarios that could not have been foreseen at its inception, such as the need to govern artificial intelligence and the digital world, and to counter the effects of climate change on people.

Bachelet said she remains convinced that the human rights ideal, laid down in the declaration, has been one of the most constructive advances of ideas in human history, as well as one of the most successful.

‘Challenging times’ for human rights

Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday reminded Filipinos to continue to protect human rights amid “challenging times.”

Robredo made the call in her message on the commemoration of the UDHR’s 70th anniversary today.

“It is clear in our history that the principle of human rights is not just for Filipinos but is a trademark of Filipinos,” she said. “This is where our system of justice and governance were based and it is the heart of our culture.”  – Paolo Romero, Sheila Crisostomo