Today is International Human Rights Day, an annual event established to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the U.N. General Assembly in 1948. For many human rights advocates across the world, this day presents an opportunity, albeit brief, to reflect on the year that was, as well as our role and our place in it.
It is an irony of course that in this occupation our daily toil can bind us together and, at times, separate us when the next crisis or series of human rights violations emerge. I often struggle with this challenge, torn between maintaining campaigns on still important, ongoing issues while also helping to provide due attention to outbursts of political violence, for example, or deadly crackdowns on peaceful protests.
In light of this dilemma I have found it important to remind myself – and others – that speaking out against and highlighting injustices, regardless of where or when they may occur, form part of a broader effort to confront one of humanity’s enduring certainties: that those with power, and the means with which to inflict pain and suffering on their fellow human beings, do so because they calculate that the outside world will not notice or otherwise care to take action.
Defying this corrosive logic has been, and will continue to be, what drives my work, especially as it pertains to countries that do not often register on the international radar— the likes of Angola, Gambia, Eritrea, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe are a few examples. And I know I am not alone. The belief that we can make a profoundly positive difference in the lives of ordinary people simply by highlighting what is going on there, consistently and steadfastly, is rooted not only in private conviction, but also in facts.
Take the case of Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu in Swaziland, for example, two prisoners of conscience who were put on trial and jailed for exposing rampant injustice in their country— many will agree that these two men would remain behind bars today if it were not for an international campaign that focused attention on their ordeal. The same could also be said for Rafael Marques, a fearlessly resolute journalist and anti-corruption crusader in Angola. While these brave men will undoubtedly continue to face harassment and persecution due to their legitimate (and desperately needed) work, the fact that they will spend today with their families – and not behind bars – is testament to the influence of public advocacy, as well as the power of naming and shaming repressive regimes and the perpetrators that are given license to abuse human rights, often with brazen impunity.
In this line of work we are all too familiar with tragedy and hardship. At the same time, however, we have the privilege of standing alongside the best people on Earth— the humble and altogether inspiring individuals like Thulani, Bheki and Rafael, who continue to strive, often at great personal peril, for principles bigger than all of us. If these at-risk individuals manage to uphold the strength and courage to press on, in spite of the myriad odds and threats routinely stacked against them, then we have no excuse to not follow their lead.
I look forward to seeing all of you out there, on this Human Rights Day, the dates in between, and all of those that will come hereafter. As my Swazi friends would say: Amandla!
