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Human Rights Are Universal |
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"Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home.... Such are the places
where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without
discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without
concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the
'large world.'"
—Eleanor Roosevelt, 1958 |
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Americans |
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When Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant, said he was
tortured and brutalized by New York City police this August, most people saw it as an issue of bad
policing. But it is also a human rights issue. Amnesty
International says it receives and investigates "numerous complaints of ill-treatment of
suspects by police in the USA." Many cases, according to Amnesty, "appear to have violated
international standards, including Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights which states that 'No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment.'"
Americans tend to think of problems like racism, sexual harassment, or anti-Semitism as distinct and separate issues. In reality, they are all violations of human rights. As the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins this December, the Stanley Foundation is both celebrating this landmark document and educating Americans to look at domestic issues from a human rights perspective, since many Americans tend to see human rights as something that concerns abuses in other countries. "Many groups in the United States are already doing human rights work," notes Stanley Foundation Vice President Joan Winship, "but they don't use that terminology. A human rights framework allows us to look at our communities in a different way in order to see that everyone's needs are being met." |
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Human Rights Communities
Four pilot "human rights communities" are located in key American cities to show how communities can apply a human rights framework locally. Winship says the issues they look at range from housing to immigration to wages. The cities are San Antonio, St. Louis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Atlanta. This pilot program is an effort of several human rights organizations working under the title Human Rights USA. Members of this coalition include Amnesty International, the National Center for Human Rights Education in Atlanta, Partners in Human Rights Education in Minneapolis, and Street Law, Inc., in Washington, DC. In these four cities community members, educators, students, and activists will examine the human rights climate and advocate for change. This summer the Stanley Foundation and Human Rights USA (HRUSA) held a national meeting in Washington, DC, to prepare for the 1998 celebration of the Universal Declaration. This meeting brought together national leaders from various civil rights, human rights, church, community, education, and ethnic organizations to lay the groundwork for individual and collaborative efforts throughout the anniversary year. Additionally, while it is not an official HRUSA pilot community, Iowa City, Iowa, is working to build a human rights community. The Stanley Foundation is supporting these efforts, as well as The University of Iowa's celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The entire campus from the law school to the medical and business schools to the arts is coordinating programs with a year-long focus on human rights. Events during Human Rights '98 include ethics seminars, publications, conferences, and speakers of international renown including Nobel laureates Rigoberto Menchu and Elie Wiesel. |
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Education is the basis for building human rights communities. |
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Education Is the Key
Education is the basis for building human rights communities and in creating solidarity nationally and internationally. The United Nations has designated 1995-2005 as the Decade for Human Rights Education. As Amnesty International puts it, "Education is the preventive medicine of human rights," and a necessary component of a democracy. In an effort to teach American students about their rights and the rights of people worldwide, the Stanley Foundation is working with educators to include human rights in their everyday teaching materials. Program Officer Jill Goldesberry believes that "human rights education contributes to just and peaceful societies. It makes people better able to participate in their communities and, yet, most people in the United States receive no education about human rights. Educating about and for human rights helps people take responsibility for respecting and defending human rights." Goldesberry helped create the Human Rights Education Curriculum that is available through the Human Rights USA project.
Human Rights USA is providing starter kits for building a human rights community through their resource center in Minneapolis. Their toll-free number is 1-888-HRE-DUC8. Or, visit their web site at www.hrusa.org. For human rights events at The University of Iowa visit their web site at www.uiowa.edu/~uichr/events. |
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