Thoughts on human rights

Are they aware that they have rights? Photo: Shafiq Islam/ Drik News

Human Rights Day once again! The Declaration of Human Rights has been translated in about 400 languages. But the mandate has not been translated into action! The situation remains bleak all over the world. The picture with regard to the Millennium Development Goal is brighter, not bright. This speaks a great deal about the sad state of the first ever universal document on human rights. The theme for this year is "Human rights defenders who act to end discrimination." This year, one aim is to emphasise the primary responsibility of the governments to enable and protect the role of those who work for human rights.
The UN Human Rights Charter, with all its 30 articles, forms the basis for a world built on freedom, justice and peace. At the political and ideological levels the modern concept and culture of human rights grew out of the ashes of the two World Wars. Irrational ideologies of fascism and totalitarianism frustrated human values and hopes. That created a bankruptcy in the mental and spiritual realms in the modern world. Human civilisation was facing the age-old question of the meaning of life. This led to a search for holistic ethico-spiritual values that were overridden. But human rights issue is as old as humanity itself. We need to go deeper into things as we talk about this issue.
The inalienable glory and dignity of man is the foundation of human rights. It is not something that one earns. What society ought to do is to protect it and help to actualise it. Society should create a culture that makes this effective. Governments always have a big responsibility to work towards this objective. A state, as the potentate of the corporate hope and aspirations of the people, is the greatest stake-holder in this. This calls for a holistic pristine doctrine about the human being.
That man is created in the image of the Creator, and that he represents the whole of mankind form the basis of human rights. The attributes of love, justice, the sense of right and wrong, distinguish man from other animals. But, regrettably, man has another aspect too. He is no better than any other animal when he loses his sense of love and respect for his fellow creatures and is not guided by a sense of justice and other moral values.
Two laws can operate in human personality. We talk sublime, but we do mean. William Temple said: "I can be good if I want to: the trouble is that I don't want to." The Psalmist said man is fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Both these words imply the same thing. In Hebrew poetic form, man, as the crown of creation, is positively different from the rest of the created order. This is seen in the light of all the wonderful works that man does with all his God given qualities.
In his book Bishop Stephen Neill gives nine distinctive qualities that man has as opposed to any other animal: His upright posture, movable thumb, enlarged brain, use of fire, tool-using ability, sense of purpose, faculty of speech, leaving a record of his work, and his religiosity. Out of the fact that man shares the attributes of his creator comes the nature of man. This is not merely a so-called spiritual talk or sermon. This is a real and down-to-earth business that directly affects human life.
Today, we seem to have forgotten our nature, and have substituted this with the question "What can we make of ourselves?" But this ought to be preceded by the priority to understand our nature, universal human values and dignity that manifest in our culture of love and justice in the society that we create to live in with one another. This is both a mundane and a divine imperative for any human being, any human institution and any representative organism or machinery that we create. At all levels there is the need to promote the rights of human beings in word and deed. Otherwise, never will the proclamations like those made in our Constitution come true.
Among many others the Bangladesh Constitution states: "The state shall adopt effective measures to remove social and economic inequality between man and man to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth among citizens and of opportunities in order to attain a uniform level of economic development throughout the republic (Article 19.2)." We live in a society where there are more things and cultural traits that help the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. What the constitution promises is sacred, but our governments fail to deliver them. The government needs to facilitate the growth of an environment where the genuine human rights of the poor people will be protected. If the government cannot do this who will?
The responsibility and task of the governments for the promotion of the work of establishing human rights is enormous in any developing country. But in reality it is different. There needs to be transparency in the government sector, corruption must end in the government offices, and leaders must join together to transform the situation. Human rights violation is commonplace phenomena in our country. It is institutionalised as well as individualised; it is formalised in our system.
Extra-judicial killings, torture in police remand, denial of justice, and bribes in government offices are just a few examples of violation of human rights. The rights of millions of people with disabilities, of the indigenous people, and of the millions living in abject poverty, malnutrition, illnesses, unjust socio-economic conditions and illiteracy are ignored.
The "principle of might is right" characterises much of our culture. Freedom, justice and human dignity are a far cry. All are related to human rights and also human responsibility. None of these can be achieved overnight. But the government and the civil society can work together to create the culture where people of integrity, justice and democratic values will lead. Above all else, let people be treated as people. The man on the street does not want affluence, but justice and security and love as a human person.

Rev. Martin Adhikary is a theology teacher and social worker. E-mail: [email protected]