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Human Rights Day - Embrace diversity: End
discrimination:
World in the fight against discrimination
Dulshani Gunawardena and Dilanka Mannakkara
'Everyone is entitled to all the
rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction
of any kind.'
The UN Universal Declaration on Human
Rights doesn't use the word 'discrimination'. It uses without
'distinction of any type'
Comparisons between the Universal
Declaration and the Sri Lankan Constitution.
Based on a seminar delivered at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on
December 10, International Human Rights Day. Lectures were delivered by
S. Skandakumar, Dayan Jayatillake, Mohan Samaranayake and Prof. Laksiri
Fernando.
Voices against Discrimination
Martin Luther King Jr. King of
freedom
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Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms |
He was the most prominent leader of the African American civil rights
movement. He fought valiantly for the rights of the black Americans who
were discriminated in each and every way by the Whites. His
inspirational, motivating speeches not only influenced Blacks but also
touched Whites. In His iconic speech "I have a Dream" he raised public
consciousness of the civil rights movements and after several struggles
was able to win the rights for the African Americans and created a
society for them to live with dignity and honour of their race.
Nelson Mandela: Father of the Rainbow
Nation
Nelson Mandela was born in a South Africa where racial discrimination
was at its peak.
The Black Africans were treated worse than animals. They were not
allowed to use the same roads, dining places, sanitary facilities,
transport as the Whites. Mandela fought against this injustice.
He lead the African National Congress. He was arrested and
spent 27 long years in prison for his active role in gaining rights
for the Black Africans. Finally South Africa became a country where
racism was much diminished due to Mandela's great determination and
courage. He became the first Black president of a democratic South
Africa. Mandela was appreciated for his great service and for fighting
against discrimination as he was garlanded with the Nobel Peace Price
in 1993.
Steve Biko: The unsung hero
He was a student leader who founded the Black Conscious Movement and
played a huge role in empowering it. He always believed in the fact that
whether you are black or white its the same and he fought for it. His
movement was banned and he was arrested and he suffered torture in the
custody of south African police. He suffered major injuries and
faced a cruel death. Although he could not achieve his dream the
freedom for blacks during his lifetime its because of brave warriors
like Biko a New South Africa
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Muhammed Ali |
was born.
Muhammed
Ali:Black Superman
Ali is mostly famous among the public as one of the greatest boxers
who was very outspoken and arrogant. But as a great sports personality
he fought for the rights of his kind, the minority, the black Muslims.
He was even banned from fighting because he voiced out against the
injustice that was happening for the Black Americans. Ali was forced to
join the military for the war against the Viet Kong guerrillas. He
firmly refused and was famously quoted saying "I ain't gonna quarrel
with them Viet Kong, they don't call me nigga". Due to this brave
statement he was stripped of his world heavy weight championship. He
continued fighting for the rights for the Blacks. Ali was refused to
enter a white only restaurant and he famously threw away his precious
Olympic Gold medals to the Amazon river due to frustration.
Eminent scientist, Arthur C. Clarke once stated that Sri Lanka
probably possessed the greatest cultural and natural diversity in
context with its landmass.
Human Rights: What actually are they?
As the words itself imply, human rights are the rights each human
being possesses with no barrier of race, religion, creed, sex or any
other barrier. As the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states, 'All
human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights'.
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Nelson Mandela |
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Mahathma Gandhi |
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Martin Luther King Jr. |
Human rights are there for two reasons:survival and dignity. This is
in contrast to animal rights which emphasizes only on survival.
Formerly, the traditional grounds concerning discrimination were
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions,
national or social origin, property and birth or other status.
Additional grounds introduced in 2006 due to modern developments such as
age and status, particularly for children, work or descent (caste),
sexual orientation, HIV status and disability.
Is discrimination always bad?
Contrary to popular opinion, discrimination is NOT always bad.
Allowed discrimination and special measures belong to this context.
Under such measures, developing countries are allowed to discriminate
between citizens and non citizens in economic rights. The district based
university enrolment system in Sri Lanka provides another such example,
where the hardships of students with lesser facilities are considered.
Human Rights and Sri Lanka
The war was a main hindrance to the enforcement of law against
violation of Human Rights. Today, though peace has been restored, many
forms of violence still exist in Sri Lanka. An example is the recent
attacks to Catholic churches by large unknown,
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Excerpts from the Human Rights day
message of UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon
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No country is
free of discrimination. We see it everywhere, in many forms: old
and new, covert and blatant, public and private. It may appear
as institutionalized racism, as ethnic strife, as episodes of
intolerance and rejection, or as an official national version of
history that denies the identity of others.
Discrimination targets individuals and groups that are
vulnerable to attack: the disabled, women and girls, the poor,
migrants, minorities, and all those who are perceived as
different.
These vulnerable people are frequently excluded from
participating in the economic, political, cultural and social
lives of their communities. The bigotry that stigmatizes and
excludes them can be exploited by extremists. In some countries,
we are witnessing the rise of a new politics of xenophobia.
But these victims of discrimination are not alone. The United
Nations is standing with them, committed to defending the rights
of all, and particularly the most vulnerable. That is our
identity and our mission.
The international human rights community continues to counter
bias and hatred. Public awareness has led to global treaties
offering legal protection from discrimination and unequal
treatment.
But abstract commitments are not enough. We must continue to
confront inequality and intolerance wherever they are found.
On Human Rights Day, I invite people everywhere, at all levels,
to join the United Nations and human rights defenders around the
world in the fight against discrimination. |
extremist mobs. Despite the advanced thinking much encouraged today,
some Sri Lankan nationalists continue to believe in the concept of the
pure Sri Lankan: 'Sinhala Buddhists of high caste and upcountry origin'.
Another major problem in the Sri Lankan context is that the general
public, clergy as well as public and private officials do not have a
sound knowledge of human rights. Many victims do not even know that they
their rights have been violated. They do not realize that they have been
discriminated and that discrimination itself is a severe offense, yet
remedial by the law.
Gender discrimination has also evolved into a burning issue today.
Though barriers in education, healthcare and professional engagement is
much less comparative to other Asian countries, Sri Lanka shows a higher
tendency of domestic violence compared to developed countries. Sixty
percent of all Sri Lankan women are reported to have experienced some
form of domestic violence which is shocking.
There is also great disparity in the laws pertaining different
communities of the country. The age of marriage is such an area that
raises such concern. Under the Roman Dutch Law prevailing today in Sri
Lanka, the new legal age of marriage is sixteen(16). However under
Muslim Law, a female could be married as young as twelve years even
without her consent.
A not-much-spoken issue concerning racial discrimination is that of
the indigenous communities of veddahs. Though the law has been passed to
grant up country Tamils citizenship, many Tamils up to date have yet
been unable to benefit and continue to face many legal challenges.
What can be done: Proposals against
discrimination
As the UN secretary general mentioned in his text, eradicating
discrimination completely would not be a very realistic and practical
solution as people generally are biased towards their own kind. One
cannot end discrimination by just setting up strict rules and
regulations. Instead there should be a change in the mind set, attitude
and thinking patterns. People should be more empathetic and the
conscience about human rights should be burned deep into the hearts and
minds of the people.
Every Government institute, police station, schools, private
institutes should be educated on the rights and actions against such
violations against human rights and to be pro active in shameful acts
such as discrimination.
There are much machinery against discrimination in Sri Lanka today.
These include the Supreme Court, Human Rights Commission-State
Inquiries, National Child Protection Authority and the Official
Languages Commission.
Sri Lanka has faced much opposition and controversy over proposed
actions brought forwards. Such an example is that of the Equal
Opportunities Commission proposed in 2001. This was opposed by
nationalistic movements. S. Skandakumara stated that under current
proposals, this commission should be revived and granted more authority
as an instrument. It should possess more powers of investigation and
enforcement. It should also concentrate on discrimination based on
multiple grounds such as intersections for age, disability, gender,
ethnicity etc.
Examples from USA and India
In the modern context USA is the world's superpower which is not only
because they posses the richest economy in the world or they are
equipped with ultra modern war machinery but It is because they embrace
cultural diversity, the lacks, whites, latinos, Chinese, Indians live in
harmony with each other. Looking at our big brother India, is another
prime example for embracing diversity. In a majority population of 80%
of Hindus they have elected their most powerful official who is the
Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh who is a Sikh which accounts to only a
mere 2 percent. The former President was a Scientist Abdul Kalam who is
a Muslim. The party leader Sonia Gandhi is an Italian by origin. |
