HAPPENING AT THE UNITED NATIONS
WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
Every year since 1950, World Human Rights Day has been celebrated on December 10th. This was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly by adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The text, available in over 500 languages, is an epochal document, which establishes the inalienable rights that everyone possesses as human beings, without distinction of race, colour, religion, sex, language, origin, birth or opinion of any kind. A preamble and 30 articles written with the collaboration of representatives of every religion and legal background, and globally accepted over time as a "contract" between governments and citizens of the world. In fact, each country has, sooner or later, formally accepted the Declaration, committing itself to protecting, implementing and guaranteeing human rights and the ability of its citizens to exercise them. Perhaps this last point is the weak element: the same governments that apply them should also monitor compliance with the rules. This doesn't always work.
The 2022-2023 Report recently presented by Amnesty International reveals how double standards and inadequate responses to human rights violations around the world have fuelled impunity and instability. The text highlights, among other things, the failure of regional and international institutions in the face of thousands of killings in Ethiopia, Myanmar and Yemen. The reflection arises from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, considered by the general secretary of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, «a chilling example of what can happen when States believe they can circumvent international norms and violate human rights without consequences». In this case, she added, «the response was rapid: Western states imposed economic sanctions on Moscow and sent military assistance to Kyiv, the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine and the General Assembly of the United Nations condemned the Russian invasion as an act of aggression. » However, she continued, «this robust and commendable approach has been in stark contrast to previous responses to massive human rights violations committed by Russia and other states and to the shameful response with regard to conflicts such as those in Ethiopia and Myanmar.» «If that system had worked to hold Russia to account for its crimes in Chechnya and Syria, thousands of lives could have been saved, in Ukraine and elsewhere. Instead, we have more suffering and more devastation», commented Callamard bitterly. According to the expert, «if the Russian war of aggression has demonstrated anything for the future of the world, it is the importance of an international order based on effective and consistently applied rules. All states must double their efforts toward a new rules-based order that benefits all people, everywhere.»
This issue, unfortunately, is not new, and relates to the interest that states have in intervening in crises that are not economically relevant to them. With the result that human rights are only partially defended.
