Today is UN Human Rights Day and this year’s campaign message — in a year marked by hate speech promoted by the US president-elect during his campaign, pro-Brexit campaigners in the UK, anti-refugee campaigns in Europe, anti-Muslim groups, the Islamic State (IS)/Taliban/Boko Haram and their allies, and opponents of same-sex marriage in Taiwan — is clearly needed: “Stand up for someone’s rights today.”
The day commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. As the UN says on its Human Rights Day Web site: “the declaration’s fundamental proposition [is] that each one of us — everywhere and at all times — is entitled to the full range of human rights, and that it is everyone’s responsibility to uphold them.”
While disrespect for basic human rights is nothing new and has been a basic tenet of many governments worldwide for generations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) martial-law era administration, the expansion of social media has provided new platforms for bigotry, intolerance and hatred.
It seems every day brings more reports of unimpeded brutality (the Russian-backed bombing of Aleppo, IS mass graves in Iraq, terror attacks in several nations, police shootings of black Americans), hate crimes (attacks on hijab-wearing Muslims), praise for authoritarian thinking (recent and current election and/or referendum campaigns in the US and Europe), restrictions on media freedom (China and others); the list is never-ending.
As US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday told foreign ministers from members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe: “Every chip away at the fundamentals of freedom is actually an ugly building block in the road to tyranny.”
Yet, as history has shown time and time again, we must not give up or give in; change can be achieved. Taiwan’s modern democracy is testament to that — it is the result of countless people who struggled against the KMT’s indoctrination and political control during the Martial Law era, and of the students who propelled the Wild Strawberries and Sunflower movements in more recent years.
We can also take inspiration from people such as Taitung vegetable vendor Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊), who is living proof that a single person, without a lot of resources, can help transform lives. She stood up for the rights of poor children to receive an education and proper care.
Supporting human rights is recognition of the commonality of humanity. Everyone can make a difference by speaking out for tolerance and against prejudice, by refusing to countenance the spread of hate speech, by contributing to human rights and social action groups, by standing up for those who are being oppressed, by working to provide education and eliminate poverty.
Taiwan might be limited on the world stage, but the government and the average person can still speak out and act internationally: in support of pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong and China, in support of the rights of Tibetans and Uighurs to practice their religion and social traditions in the face of repression, in support of education and water rights in other countries (as National Changhua Senior High School students have done by raising money to build reservoirs and provide clean drinking water in Swaziland) — there are so many possibilities.
There is another opportunity. Join the “Love, Don’t Lie (換大頭貼運動)” rally in Taipei today in support of same-sex marriage to give gay men and women the same rights as hetrosexuals to marry, make medical decisions about their partners and raise families.
Despite what opponents claim, neither heterosexuals nor society at large would lose by ensuring equal rights; the nation as a whole stands to benefit.
That is the crux of Human Rights Day — everyone counts, everyone gains.
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