A bleak Human Rights Day for Malaysia, again – Eric Paulsen

This day gives us an opportunity to really think of those countries and individuals who are embroiled in conflicts resulting in human rights violations and extreme sufferings of victims of these conflicts and to which them strength and courage to continue to redouble their efforts to find solutions to end these conflicts as matter of extreme urgency.

Today, we are marking International Human Rights Day with the launch of the campaign “Our Rights”.

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Each year on December 10, the United Nations and world community commemorates Human Rights Day.

Besides, the European Union is as dedicated as ever to assisting civil society organisations and all other actors, in advocating for the protection and respect of human rights, whether civil and political or social, economic and cultural.

The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC) has this morning released the following message, reflecting on the undermining of human rights and the continued detention of asylum seekers in Australia. These human rights are not pronounced and made by any legislature or authority, these rights are apparently available to human beings. The Commission has also in the past three years as the Chair of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (ICC) which is the global alliance of national human rights institutions, contributed to the understanding at the international level of the role that national human rights institutions play in the effective promotion and protection of human rights.

These issues – and the extent of serious and systematic rights violations – are well illustrated by the cases featured in this year’s Amnesty International Write for Rights campaign – which span the globe and involve a number of countries, including Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Burma, Malaysia, Mexico, and the US.

Several “special rapporteurs”, including those assigned to examine torture and freedom of association and assembly, still await an official response from the government to their requests for a visit.

Thailand has experienced significant economic growth over past decades and pulled many out of poverty, ensuring improvements in economic rights.

Yet, underlying this growth has been a constant challenge of inequality. Together we work toward elimination of gender discrimination and the stigma faced by other marginalised gender and sexual minorities. But each year, on December 10, we must remind ourselves that our commitment and our actions are critical parts of this journey.

Luc Stevens is United Nations resident coordinator in Thailand.