We want to improve global citizens’ human rights situation and ensure a world without discrimination

 

We want to improve global citizens’ human rights situation and ensure a world without discrimination

- Statement for the 72^nd Human Rights Day -

Human Rights Day was established in 1950 to commemorate the declaration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, working toward the dignity of everyone and for freedom, justice, and equality in the world. However, seventy-four years have passed since the enactment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the current experience of human rights on the globe is not hopeful. In some countries, democracy and human rights are declining due to the emergence of military dictatorship regimes. 

Many countries around the world, including countries in Asia (e.g., Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines, and Hong Kong) are facing a crisis of democracy due to authoritarian regimes. Citizens who have struggled at the hands of the military and regimes have been abducted or detained, have gone missing, and have had their human rights brutally destroyed. This is not a single country’s problem. Broken democracies and human rights on either side of the globe are affecting other countries like falling dominoes. 

In addition, between developed and developing countries, the COVID-19 vaccine has not seen equal distribution due to differences in the status of vaccine development and supply. Global pharmaceutical companies are the exclusive owners of medical technology, resulting in exorbitant vaccine prices and vaccine monopolies in developed countries. Also, the accessibility and inoculation rate of vaccines in developing countries are vastly different from those in developed countries. This has resulted in an inability to reach herd immunity, and as the world’s safety is threatened by the spread of mutations, such as the Delta and Omicron variants, people are made to fear COVID-19. In addition, the difference in the quality and quantity of education depends on digital accessibility, and this is becoming a serious problem when students cannot go to school during the pandemic. Educational inequality is clear evidence of social disparity among children in developing countries or marginalized regions, and it will eventually adhere to social and economic polarization. 

Additionally, the Black Lives Matter movement and anti-Asian hate crimes have shown that racial discrimination is occurring not only in the US and Europe but also in Asia. This did not happen overnight. These problems have exploded due to deep-rooted discrimination and prejudice, combined with the outbreak of COVID-19 and other social issues. Racism caused by nationalism and white supremacy will devastate a healthy civil society and gradually establish an exclusionary attitude toward other ethnicities and races. 

Accordingly, we urge the international community and governments of each country to do the following:

-     The international community should halt aid and cooperation with illegitimate military governments and authoritarian regimes.

-     International organizations, such as the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the International Criminal Court should strengthen their monitoring of crimes against humanity and seek active international measures to protect human rights.

-     The World Health Organization should come up with countermeasures to distribute vaccines to developing countries and marginalized groups.

-     Global pharmaceutical companies should temporarily exempt the application of intellectual property rights of COVID-19–related medical products and actively cooperate in the sharing of medical technology and the equitable distribution of vaccines.

-     The UN, each government, and global corporations should work together to come up with solutions that address educational inequalities caused by unequal digital access—for instance, by building an internet platform.

-     The government should conduct comprehensive research on race-, religion-, and gender-based discrimination through investigations on hate crimes, protect victims, and establish civic education programs for the realization of an inclusive democracy.

                                                       December 10, 2021

The May 18 Memorial Foundation, Angkhana Neelapaijit, Sushil Pyakurel, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, Joanna K. Carino, Bedjo Untung, Shui Meng, Lenin Raghuvanshi, Parents Circle Families Forum , Tempo Weekly Magazine, Serge Bambara, Dialita Choir, Watchdog documentary Maker, Dandeniya Gamage Jayanthi, Wardah Hafiz, Malalai Joya, Irom Sharmila Chanu, Muneer Malik, Adilur Rahman Khan, H.I.J.O.S, Mothers of Khavaran, Latifah Anum Siregar, Bersih 2.0 , Nguyen Dan Que, Jatupat Boonpattaraksa, Nandana Manatunga, Binayak Sen , Arnon Nampa (Up to Network of the Laureates of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights and Special Prize), Stephie Melina, Akhar Mafuja, Dinesh  KC, Don Tajaroensuk, Mia Rosmiati, Nong Thi  Nghi Phuong, Shah  Nawaz Shan, MD Omar Farok, Chan Hoi Yee, Unggul  Sagena, Rizqan  Kariema Mustafa, Nguyen Thuy  Diem, Mohammad Azmi, Das, Bidhayak, Patporn Phoothong, KshetrimayumOnil, ParvinAkhter, MustainBillah, SurenPerera, Shahnawaz, RiniKusnadi, Carol Riaz, Abuzuluf Bana N. E., ShaikhRizwan, Bautista Dana Louise, Erlinda Binti Joseph, Francis Croos  Judes Gnanaraj, Hyemi Kim, Kunnuwong Sippachai, Purnama Wa Ode Siti Rahmawati, Nurhasim  Ahmad(Up to Gwangju Research and Advocacy Solidarity Network), Asia Democracy Network, Asia Justice and Rights