Thank you to those who were able to come out and join us this wonderful event! A variety of inspiring and powerful speakers graced the stage and energized us all! We are grateful for all of the students who came out to listen and learn and to those that took to the stage. We are incredibly pleased with this kickoff event and hope you will remain engaged with our programming and opportunities throughout the fall and winter as we seek to celebrate and honor the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
TODAY IS THE DAY! CHRP, over 40 cosponsor organizations, and hundreds of people are gathering at north steps of the state Capitol at 1 pm today for our celebration and call to action for the 70th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 29 of the UDHR starts with the statement, “Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.”
A great way for all of you to act on those duties is join us today and#StandUp4HumanRightsCT!
Tomorrow we formally kickoff the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT campaign on the steps of the Capitol starting at 1 pm. Today, we celebrate Article, 9, which states: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”
Around the globe in various contexts, people of all genders, sexual orientations, religious, political or socio-cultural affiliation have been arrested and detained for reasons directly related to these above associations. We know this can be discriminatory and is reprehensible, and goes against basic sense of decency and many times rule of law. Still, this happens repeatedly everyday. The act of “disappearing”, mysterious and suspect vanishing of individuals by powers or authority bodies, many times never seen again. Take for example, this story published by Human Rights Watch, speaking about this cruel and systemic process of secret detention and disappearing ongoing in Bangladesh:
As a human rights community, each of us have a responsibility to call attention to this arbitrary and capricious breach of basic rights, and ensure that if arrest or detention is called for, it is with proper evidence, appropriate cause and justification, not based on subjective and/or discriminatory motivations.
With #StandUp4HumanRightsCT kickoff tomorrow, we at the CT Human Rights Partnership would like to thank everyone who has followed us and reposted/shared this important event. We look forward to what tomorrow brings, and are empowered by what #StandUp4HumanRightsCT can mean for our state and national communities.
Only two more days until the September 8th #StandUp4HumanRightsCT event in Hartford! The rally will serve as a space for networking, idea exchange, entertainment, and candid dialogue about the state of human rights in Connecticut communities. Come one, come all!
Today’s we celebrate the eighth article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to justice. The article reads: “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.” The right to justice is a sacrosanct component of both international human rights law and within the domestic justice system.
Do you feel that you have access to adequate platforms and resources to defend human rights in your community? What do you imagine that those might look like? If you feel that your community lacks them, what processes do you believe need to be undergone to create those opportunities? If you feel that your community has them, how do you think that you can strengthen and support those that don’t? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Come to the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT rally on September 8th to learn more about how you and your community can affect change.
Please repost and click “GOING” on our Facebook event
Only three, short days until the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT rally in Hartford! We are looking so forward to the exchange of ideas and community-building that will take place during this celebratory event. All are welcome!
It is this article that guarantees legal protection for every individual regardless of their race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, citizenship, or nation of residence. Equal protection by the law is fundamental to modern civil and political rights, and it is included in a number of State constitutions and binding legal documents. This article prevents governmental entities from discriminately applying laws to or restricting protection from certain individuals or populations.
It is crucial that communities band together and work to defend and preserve the human rights of every individual. What human rights issue do you feel are most pressing in your community? Share in the comments below!
We are just days away from the September 8 celebration! Some of our posts over the past three weeks about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have been on focused topics, because the given Article is specific, and some have been broad.
Article 2 is one of the broad, basic planks. It says, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
This language of fundamental non-discrimination is familiar to us. Yet we still too often allow our laws, our political practices, and our personal attitudes and actions to admit invidious distinctions. It’s not that distinctions themselves are bad. Rather, it’s wonderful to celebrate cultural, religious, ethnic, gender-based, etc. identities of persons and groups. Celebration of that sort will be evident at our September 8 event. For example, you’ll hear the performance of a Native American song.
It’s when any such distinction is used to treat others unfairly or is allowed to become a source of animosity among groups, that it runs afoul of human rights values. Such actions and attitudes also run afoul of the civic values of the United States as expressed in such documents as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, and King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
For this reason, on September 8, our speakers will also be speaking out against discrimination on the basis of such things as national origin (as seen, for example, in harsh immigration policies), income (as seen, for example, in unfair housing policies), and race (as seen, for example, in disparate policing practices).
Please come #StandUp4HumanRightsCT on September 8th and speak up for the equality of all.
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Please #repost & click “GOING” on our Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1837109232994042/
Check out our full blog at: standup4humanrightsct.org/blog
Today, with just five days until the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT celebration, our focus will be on Article 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.”
The entire basis of the UDHR is to affirm and protect individuals’ rights. Unfortunately, because the Declaration is not a binding element in the context of customary international law (though some scholars would beg to differ, as many countries have been referring to the UDHR for over 50 years), there have been many instances of States or groups of people carrying out deplorable human rights transgressions and justice not being served. Take the Holocaust, the Cambodian genocide, and the Darfur Genocide, for example, all of which were carried out by government parties. We all have a responsibility to hold any organization or government accountable for its actions
Every single one of the rights laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is valuable and everyone deserves to exercise these rights.
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Come #StandUp4HumanRightsCT on the 8th to be inspired and learn more about how YOU can create change and prevent human rights violations. Repost and click “GOING” on our Facebook event.
Only six days left until the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT rally in Hartford THIS Saturday, September 8th! This event will be an incredible opportunity to connect with local changemakers and discuss ways in which your community can collectively defend and preserve human rights.
Human rights are those granted simply on the basis of our humanness. Human rights are indivisible, interdependent, and inalienable.
They are equally applied to every individual regardless of their race and ethnicity, sex and gender, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, citizenship, or nation(s) of birth and residence.
Human rights are interconnected and mutually reliant; if you have followed our campaign over the last few weeks, you have probably noticed trends and connections between the various rights outlined in the UDHR. Without the first and second articles, the subsequent twenty-eight would be null. Without the thirtieth article, the inalienability of human rights would not be guaranteed.
On that last point, the inviolability of human rights: human rights cannot be taken away. No governmental authority has the jurisdiction to suppress or remove human rights without being in violation of international human rights law.
In today’s sociopolitical climate, it is all the more important that we educate ourselves about the rights and liberties that we are each guaranteed. The celebratory rally this upcoming weekend will serve as both an informative and empowering event. All are welcome, and we hope to see you there!
Today’s post will highlight Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of movement, also known as mobility rights. The article reads: “(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”
It is difficult to imagine how vastly different our lives would look without the rights guaranteed in this article. Freedom of movement makes possible summer family vacations, studying abroad, spontaneous road trips with friends, relocating one’s place of residence for work, and the holiday beach visits you may very well be making this weekend. To be forever restricted to a single location, unable to travel as necessary or desired, is a condition few would readily accept. On the other hand, to travel beyond the borders of one’s nation of citizenship and then have the ability to return home made insecure or subject to change is an equally disconcerting thought. The physical places in which we spend our time so heavily influence our daily lives, and to have the liberty to personally govern the spaces in which we navigate through life potentially threatened could offset everything that we do.
How does the freedom of movement influence your life? In what ways can you protect this sacrosanct human right for yourself and others?
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Come to the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT rally on September 8th to learn more about how you and your community can affect change. Please repost and click “GOING” on our Facebook event
There is exactly ONE WEEK until the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT rally in Hartford! Today, we will be celebrating Article 14 of the UDHR, which states that (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy asylum from persecution in other countries, and (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
The global refugee crisis is as pressing as ever. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, in 2017, a record 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide because of persecution, violence, and conflict. This number has been on the rise for the past 20 years and will most likely continue to increase as international travel becomes easier and human rights transgressions remain unabating.
It’s important to understand where this problem is taking place and what we can do to stop it. Currently, most of the refugees in the world originate from five countries: Syria (6.3 million people), Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Somalia. According to Pal Nesse of the Norwegian Refugee Council, countries experiencing conflicts are also caught in a vicious cycle, defined by mass migrations and detrimental effects on the economy and development.
However, the fact that the issue is quite localized implies that bringing about changes will dramatically improve the global displacement situation. In 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/declaration), which laid out an action plan for international refugee response. Currently, two global compacts for refugees and safe, orderly, and regular migration are set to be adopted this year. Take a look at the UN Refugee Agency’s website for more details (http://www.unhcr.org/new-york-declaration-for-refugees-and-migrants.html#compactonmigration).
The U.S. has not been doing its best to contribute to the international community by accepting refugees. Our country is on track to admit the lowest number of refugees since modern refugee policies were enacted in 1980, according to CNN, due to President Trump’s low caps on numbers, travel bans, and attempts to curb illegal immigration.
But there is hope. There are many Americans who are doing their bests to ensure refugees are taken care of and are receiving the education they need in a brand new country. Take Mandy Manning, for example, who teaches English and math to immigrant and refugee teenagers at Ferris High School’s Newcomer Center in Spokane, Washington (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOtu1S6xiAo). And there are many things YOU can do, as well. For example, you can use your skills and passions to assist refugees in your local community, employ refugees, donate to campaigns such as the UNHCR’s Nobody Left Outside or USA for UNHCR, and raise awareness of the global refugee situation and the conflict and emotional hardships they face both in their home countries as well as in their new homes.
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Come #StandUp4HumanRightsCT on the 8th to be inspired and learn more about how YOU can create change.
As you head off to your Labor Day weekend plans, it’s a good time to realize that even when you have a cookout or head to the beach on Monday, you are exercising one of your human rights! Article 24 of the Universal Declaration holds, “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.” It’s a human right because it protects a crucial part of human well-being. Without enough rest, we suffer. Without leisure, play, and relaxation, we don’t fully flourish. Human rights are interlocking, so without this right, one can’t fully achieve other rights, such has maintaining health, keeping employment, and enjoying family and social relationships.
If you get Monday off as a paid holiday, that’s great. If your job provides paid holidays, paid sick days, and sufficient time off so you can take care of your health and your family, that’s wonderful. It matters to assert this human right to rest and holidays, because not everyone has it. This is particularly true if you make less money.
“The poorer you are, the less time you have. The Economic Policy Institute found in August 2017 that only 41% of workers who earn wages in the bottom 10th percentile have paid time off and paid vacations, compared to over 92% of workers with wages in the top 10th percentile,” reported Time Magazine on 9-3-2017.
A number of social-economic rights intersect on this matter. Workers who are in a union (which is itself a right) have more protections for time off and family leave, but union membership in the U.S. has declined under continual political attack.
Public policy can fill some gaps. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 was a great step forward in ensuring this right in the U.S. But the right of up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave doesn’t apply to small businesses and doesn’t match the more robust benefits in other developed nations.
And people have to make use of the rights they do enjoy, or they forget why it matters. Many Americans don’t take advantage of all the vacation that they have a right to. It’s therefore important on this holiday weekend to relax, enjoy your friends and family, appreciate the rights you have and remember those who have less. Then make plans to come to Hartford next weekend!
