The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) starts with a great dream, the sum-up of the following 29 articles:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.(https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights)
We've never accomplished it. Every single day we break every single paragraph:
No discrimination, slavery, torture and inhuman treatment, unfair detainment;
Equal before law;
Right to life, marry and have family, privacy, asylum, nationality, own things, assemble, democracy, fair trial, social security, social service, work, rest and holiday, education, culture and art;
Freedom of thought and religion, of opinion and expression, to movement and residence.
My wishlist would go even further:
Right to voluntary euthanasia. Suffering and agony can be utterly humiliating and painful. I'd be so relieved to know I have the option to exit with MY choice of dignity.
Right to redefine oneself (name, gender etc.) at age of maturity. It's understandable if you're not happy being named X Æ A-12 or Snowdrop or whatever else your crazy parents chose for you. Parent's decision should not follow their adult children.
I wish all forms of civil partnership could be valid, no matter the gender and the number of adults involved.
Right to one's body (abortion, sex change, organs donation, type of funerals etc).
Right to a healthy and sustainable environment. And I could go on and on, but it's useless.
Afghanistan just happened. UDHR, all of it, has been cancelled again. For national issues we can address our government if we're lucky to live in the democratic part of the world. But when it's not about our own country and we need to yell our guts out because of the Human Rights violations that we're being concerned about, where do we go?
Human Rights violation does not have any consequence. What we have is merely a checklist of our worst failures as humanity.
Right to peace. Oh, you thought we have it at least acknowledged. No, we don't. The Human Rights Council is a joke. So is the Security Council. Some of the worst dictatorships can decide on peace, human rights and democracy.
Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing, Kashmir dispute, Khmer Rouge regime, Somali civil war, Rwandan civil war, Syrian civil war, Yemen civil war, Srebrenica massacre, Rohingya massacre, Sudan conflicts etc.
What do you say, UN? Peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet?
Go fuck yourself.
