Justice and dignity for all

1989-1990 was a time when Southern terror reigned in the country. I was on the staff of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo at that time. The university was indefinitely closed and so I worked at the Bandaranaike Centre as an external lecturer in International Law.

I took with me copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and distributed them among my students.

Most of my students came for lectures amid severe hardships and transport difficulties but they came regularly. At the end of my lecture, they all walked up to me and returned the documents.

When I asked why, they said it was very risky to have them in their possession and they could be taken into custody under emergency regulations if they were found with these documents. Talking about human rights, engaging in human rights affairs and even having documents relating to human rights with them could land them into severe trouble with the law.

That was a measure of the darkness of that era. We have come a long way from that stage, a period of twenty years and during this time there have been changes for the better even if a small extent.

The challenge before us is to accelerate that progress and make it more meaningful.

Justice and Dignity is the theme of my lecture. We always talk about rights. These special rights relate not to a special species of living animals but to the human animal that has a special consciousness.

How wonderful the beginning of a human life is! It begins with the union of the mother’s ovum and the father’s sperm but extends for beyond that biological union and what an amazing reproductive process it is. The human being has a consciousness that gives rise to thoughts, feelings and emotions. The human being has five senses like no other living organism.

What are we protecting through the rights that we are speaking of? It is this very special human being, this animal called the human being that we protect with human rights. Is it some other kind of species that deprives the human animal of his rights? No. Man’s dignity is destroyed by another human being.

It is sixty years today - December 10, 2008- since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was born. We are celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of Human Rights not in the twentieth century but at the end of the first decade of the twenty first century. We must therefore talk of justice and dignity for all with understanding of and sensitivity to the challenges we face as human beings, as social entities and as a world belonging to the 21st century.

We are entering the second decade of the 21st century and the world is awash with breathless expectation. It is also beset with frustration.

Our expectations are legion. Why do I say so?

The greatest achievement of the 20th century was the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa. In the first decade of the 21st century, the 30-year-old armed conflict between the Irish terrorists and the British army ended. The dream that Martin Luther King dreamt in his Civil Rights Movement became a reality on November 5 when Barrack Obama became the President-elect of the United States of America.

The monarchical system of Government in Nepal is being replaced by a multi-party democratic system. In the Maldives, a President was elected under a multi party democratic system this year. And in February this year, the Kingdom of Bhutan had its first ever democratic elections!

As we step into the second decade of the 21st century, we are also facing a world full of frustration. Why do I say so?

We are living in a world where 80 per cent of the people live on less than ten dollars a day. Everyday 26,500 to 30,000 children die of poverty. A billion people are illiterate and cannot even write their name.

We are living in a world where the cost of providing a formal education for every child of school going age can be covered by just 1 per cent of the money the world spends on arms each year.

We are living in a world where 17 countries spent US$ 1214 as war expenses in the year 2007.

We are living in a world where there are nearly 40 ongoing armed conflicts.

We are living in a world where 26 million people are internally displaced owing to armed conflict and oppression. This is more than the entire population of our country?

We are living in a world where thousands of islands are facing the threat of being submerged by the sea and where the Maldivian government is looking for new land to live in.

We are living in a world where, by 2100, the only livable place in the world, according to the predictions of experts, will be Antarctica.

Beyond all these, we are living in a world where there is a need for a unified human consciousness that will bring people together-people of different nationalists, of different countries, of different colour, of different faiths, and speaking different languages. The need is for hearts and minds that will rise above these differences.

Our survival depends on the relationship man establishes with all other living organisms-flora and fauna and the earth and everything in it, a relationship that transcends man’s self-interest and human identity and embraces a global identity felt in the innermost recesses of our being.

Armed with this global identity, there is an essential prerequisite for stepping into the second decade of the 21st century. If that global consciousness does not transform our minds and hearts, not only we human beings but all living beings will be destroyed before the end of the 21st century.

Extraordinary intellectual powers are not needed to predict this looming disaster. As individuals, as government and non-government organisations, you, I, and all of us, who bear a direct responsibility in the field of human rights, we face a challenge in this sixtieth anniversary year.

What is that challenge? Today in Sri Lanka not only we Sri Lankans but as I said before every person living upon this earth, every human family, every human unit, every country, nay, the whole wide world faces a problem.

As individuals with a sensitive understanding of the human rights processes, shall we be part of the problem or shall we be part of a lasting solution to the problem?

The progress achieved to day by the human rights movement has been due not only to the over 100 international regional and national documents written in the most meaningful language. At the risk to their own lives, thousands of human rights promoters, defenders and activities all over Sri Lanka and all across the world have in these last six decades translated the rights incorporated in these documents into action.

If in the field of human rights there is a triumph that we can celebrate, that celebration has to do with the outstanding personality traits of the countless people who have through their work left a lasting legacy in the field of human rights. What then are the extraordinary qualities of these human rights promoters, defenders and activists?

1. Their limitless enthusiasm for the cause of human rights. Their magnanimous heartfelt dedication that transcends narrow self-interest and personal agendas. Not only human rights promoters, defenders and activists but also partners in any social transformational mission have played their role in the midst of numerous risks to life and limb. In his struggle against apartheid, Nelson Mandela was deprived of his personal freedom. Over twenty-six of the best years of his life he spent behind bar.

2. Their steadfast moral conviction and ethical judgement in the human rights process.

In his historical presidential victory, Barrack Obama displayed this moral judgment or justice that I am trying to explain here. In the midst of the most vicious criticisms and attacks, he showed the discipline and moral judgment of a true leader. Let me illustrate this quality with a little example.

During the presidential campaign, Mr. Obama participated in a meeting in a church organised by a white American Senator from that State. At the end of his speech he said, “I welcome you to my house.” Many people in the audience thought this remark to be racist and they waited anxiously to hear how Mr. Obama would respond. He stood up to give his address and began by paying a tribute of the white Senator for his services to the State.

Then he turned towards the white Senator and said, “This house is my house too. this house is the house of God.” That was a mature response to the white Senator’s unreasonable remark and his praise for the good qualities of the white Senator reflected Mr. Obama’s noble qualities. Another example is Mr. Obama’s praise last week for President George W. Bush’s AIDS relief programme in the continent of Africa.

3. Human rights promoters, defenders and activists set about their struggle armed with a sturdy sense of self-discipline. As human rights promoters, defenders and activists, we have to work not only among the victims of human rights abuses or people on the verge of such abuse but also with people who are guilty of human rights abuses.

I consider both the victims of human rights abuses and those guilty of human rights violations as teachers of human rights.

It is they who awaken and develop our awareness and wisdom. More than through my two university degrees in human rights, it is in the ‘university of human rights violations’ that I received the deepest and most realistic human rights lessons; I learnt them from the victims of human rights violations and from the perpetrators of such violations.

Sadness and grief arise in the hearts and minds of both victims and perpetrators of human rights violations. That is not all; in their hearts and minds grow the seeds of animosity, hate and revenge. Therefore, as human rights activists, we should not be partners in the hate and animosity of victims and perpetrators of human rights violations.

If that happens, we shall not be able to perform our legal and moral functions for either victims or perpetrators of human rights abuses. Let us remind ourselves about Gandhi’s famous quote ‘Hate the sin, not the sinner.’

Thus, the essential quality we must always nurture is a strong ethical sense of self-discipline.

The importance of this cannot be overstated.

Within these human rights processes human rights activists had a robust faith in the work they did in the name of human rights, liberty and human dignity. They tried to develop a deeper sense of self-knowledge through their struggles. Mahatma Gandhi’s following statement is amply relevant in this respect.

“I have only three enemies. My favourite enemy, the one most easily influenced for the better, is the British Empire. My second enemy, the Indian people, is far more difficult. But my most formidable opponent is a man named Mohandas K. Gandhi. With him I seem to have very little influence.”

4. The human rights promoters, defenders and activists looked for a communication medium that touched human hearts and brought the national, regional and international conventions, declarations and documents that protect human rights into close communion with their innermost being. When his church was bombed and several people were killed, Martin Luther King said:

“We will match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with Soul Force. We will not hate you, but we cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws. But we will soon wear you down with our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win yours in the process.”

Former Juvenile Court Magistrate a Poetess herself lyrically described with sensitivity the plight of a child witness in a child rights violation situation that came up before her
Witness
Officers in police uniform
And black coated men
in court
They ask me something
unknown
Beyond my
comprehension
I do understand
The story of blossoming
flowers wild
The quietly moving
soft breeze
Of fluttering stamens,
the fragrance that abide,

Mangoes tangerines
and cadju nuts
Juicy and tasteful
All this I understand
Would love to describe

I’ve seen a tiny deer
Sucking its mother
A tiny little rabbit
Leaping around its mother

A butterfly in flight
The shape of
beautiful wings
All this I understand
Would love to describe

A leopard jumped on me
In my dreams I fought
Sharp nails scraped me
I cried distraught
It hurt me dear sir
I bled dear sir
As drowsy eyes flickered
My uncle lay beside
That’s all I know

5. Human Rights promoters, defenders and activists in the past were not only alert to changes in the socio-economic, political and legal spheres, but they enriched their personalities through updating their knowledge to the ground situation in these spheres.

Our ancestors blended the knowledge, experiences and information gained from external sources, with their own wisdom and the voices from their hearts for the cause of human rights. It is in their forceful spirit that they put into action their vision.

We, the promoters, defenders and the activists in the 21st century are blessed with additional resources and tools in the form of scientific and technological advancements. Therefore, it is essential for us to broaden our knowledge and experiences from all fronts and give our fullest contribution to the cause of human rights. For us - promoters, defenders and activists, human rights should be a life-long learning process.

In a way human rights conventions are like the rib cage. Human rights protect various civil and political rights, social, economic and cultural rights, women and children, the disabled, and the abducted and the displaced.

If I were to compare these to the human rib cage, then its every cell, every organism, every blood vessel, receives life from a new global consciousness that guides dedicated people such as yourselves to nurture and safeguard human rights.

So far, we have spoken about arming ourselves, our minds and hearts in the cause of human rights. Now let us spend a few minutes to consider a few points to help government and non-government organisations to become a part of the solution rather than be a part of the problem.

1. We should strengthen and sustain the people’s trust in government and non-government organisations.

2. Every function of government and non-government organisations must be firmly rooted in a strong foundation of independence and impartiality, free from partisan considerations, in order to ensure on equitable dispensation of justice.

3. Government and non-government organisations in the field of human rights must use their powers only within the framework of the legal and moral authority. They will thus be able to build a special identity and moral image for themselves not only within Sri Lanka but also in the international community.

4. Government and non-government organisations in the field of human rights should provide leadership for incorporating essence of the human rights conventions that protect human rights and human dignity into the spiritual and moral values upheld in the teachings of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam and other world religions, which provide guidance for the Sri Lankan people.

The vision that we have been talking about should help adult human rights promoters, defenders and activists on this historic day to earnestly develop a human consciousness drawn from a global identity.

Then, a legacy that is a hundred fold greater and more powerful than the legacy bequeathed by the older generation of human rights promoters, defenders and activists of the last sixty years, will be the happy human rights inheritance of future generations who would be living when the UN Charter celebrates its centenary.