Dec. 10 is Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year’s anniversary theme is “Dignity, Freedom and Justice for All.”
This declaration highlights the rights every human is entitled to regardless of religion, sex, color or nationality.
The UDHR is the most translated document in the world; it is translated into over 500 languages, stating that all human beings have inalienable rights to be universally protected.
Since its creation in 1948, the declaration states that all societies should “strive by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance.”
President Harry Truman became the first president to issue the first presidential proclamation of Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, 1949.
In the last few years, the mission of the UDHR has come under fire. There have been pandemics, climate change, corrupt global banking systems, and, more recently, there have been human rights violations in the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Israel killed 31 Palestinian civilians two months ago, and 17 of the ones killed were apparent war crimes, according to AL Jazeera.
A retaliatory attack on Gaza by Israel on Oct. 7 — following a brutal assault on Israel by Hamas — led to more than 2,200 Palestinian deaths, including 600 children, according to Al Jazeera.
Gaza’s health ministry reported over 17,177 Palestinians were killed since the attack. In a meeting on Nov. 16, United Nations experts called on the international community to help prevent a genocide.
The UN experts stated, “Many of us already raised the alarm about the risk of genocide in Gaza,” the experts said. “We are deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate ceasefire.”
The UN reports 41 percent of the people killed were children, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says Gaza has been turned into a “graveyard for children.”
The International Federation for Human Rights warned third states that the support of Israel makes them complicit in the human rights violations that they are documenting.
Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and India have shown support for Israel during the war.
The FIDH says they have seen villages Al-Qanub and Wadi Al-Sik depopulated due to the violence of Israeli settlers.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a high-profile congresswoman from New York, shows her disdain for the war in Gaza. “What we are witnessing is the gross violations of human rights in Gaza. That is being done with US military assistance.”
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
Meanwhile, the war crimes and human rights violations continue to rise in Gaza, and one of the larger populations that are receiving these human rights violations are Palestinian children.
Those who want to pledge for the 75th anniversary of Human Rights Day can do so here.
The United Nations of Human Rights states on its website, “I will respect your rights regardless of who you are. I will uphold your rights even when I disagree with you.”