The Tribune

By ALICIA WALLACE

TODAY, December 10, is Human Rights Day. And the theme this year is “Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials.” This theme was set by the United Nations to “re-engage people with human rights by showing how they shape our daily lives, often in ways we may not always notice.”

We can look at our daily lives in The Bahamas in contrast to the lives of people in Palestine today. We can drive one place to the next without having to deal with checkpoints. We can collect rainwater. Food and water can be shipped into the country. Many of us do not have to give much thought to these activities, beyond affordability, so we may not recognise them as human rights as we enjoy them. The right to fulfil our most basic human rights goes unnoticed, but is integral to our daily lives and our wellbeing.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights set a common global standard on December 10, 1948, at the United Nations General Assembly, setting out fundamental rights and freedoms. The Declaration remains the most translated document in the world--having been translated into more than 500 language--and is the foundation for many national, regional, and international legal instruments, including treaties and legislation.

Availability of the Declaration in hundreds of languages, however, has not led to a level of understanding and acceptance of human rights that leads to political commitment and universal enjoyment of all human rights. It’s not written in technical language. It’s not particularly difficult to derive meaning from it. There is some other reason—or set of reasons—for the failure to make all human rights accessible to everyone.

Article 1 begins, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This is a simple statement. But aligning with it requires an understanding of equality that is not linked to any social, economic, or other factors. In the absence of fully realised human rights, people have allowed their judgment of others to affect their perception of others’ worth.

Was the person born out of wedlock? Is the person now unmarried? Does the person own a house? Does the person have a bank account? What passport do they hold? How many children do they have, with how many different parents? Where do they work?

Respect is often given, or withheld, based on factors like these. While this may seem normal for interpersonal relationships, it’s not an acceptable way to allot rights. Human rights are for everyone. Human rights are not a finite resource and do not need to be shared. Everyone should have access to and experience all human rights. From birth, we are all free. From birth, we are all equal in dignity and rights. There is nothing that can change that.

Article 2 states, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional, or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”

Again, the Declaration itself affirms the entitlement of all people to all the rights and freedoms articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Identity markers are often used to target people and deny them the full enjoyment of their human rights. Women are denied access to their human rights in many ways, from medical professionals refusing to perform procedures that give patients greater control over their bodies, to the constitution that limits women’s nationality rights and prevents the automatic conferral of Bahamian nationality from mother to child.

States may use the language of human rights in multilateral spaces, while actively preventing particular groups of people from accessing all of their human rights, despite knowing that human rights are interdependent. No one can fully enjoy all of their human rights while access to any human right is blocked.

The human rights of Palestinian people are being violated every day. Their access to food and water, including rainwater, has been cut off. Hospitals have been bombed and medical professionals have been targeted and killed, severely impacting access to healthcare. People are living in tents, and even their tents are being bombed. They are forced to move from place to place, with safe zones being declared unsafe overnight. Their land is being poisoned and the air is polluted.

Organisations that set standards and engage with States on their human rights organisations--including the United Nations--have refused to intervene. Many systems are failing the Palestinian people and, by extension, all of us. What is happening in Palestine is not isolated from other acts of settler colonialism, genocide, land theft, and capitalism.

It is one test run that, uninterrupted, will be run again at different scales and in different parts of the world. All of our human rights are connected, and we are only free when we are all free.

If you have never read it or it has been a long time since you have, read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on this Human Rights Day. Identify the rights that are most and least accessible to you and/or the people around you. Which rights are accessible to you, but not to people of different identity markers? Which rights have you never had to think about? Which rights are inaccessible in The Bahamas, and why? Who does that inaccessibility affect most? Consider your position, your privilege, and your ability to agitate for change.

What are you prepared to do? What might stop you from taking action? What do you still not know, still not believe, still not care about? What would it take to get you to do more?

Today marks the end of the Global 16 Days Campaign (Against Gender-Based Violence). At 6pm, Equality Bahamas is hosting a discussion with human rights expert Gaynel Curry at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas on building a culture of human rights. Bring your questions about human rights, the law, and our reality in The Bahamas. Register for the event at tiny.cc/16daysrights.

Support Jamaican-led Hurricane Relief Efforts

Jamaican nongovernmental organisations and community groups continue to work to meet the needs of community members who were directly affected by Hurricane Melissa. From tarpaulin for damaged roofs to drinking water, they are purchasing and delivering supplies, often traveling long distances to reach people in areas that are more difficult to access.

Here are a few options for direct support:

▪ GirlsCARE Jamaica centres women and girls in its work at the intersection of climate and gender. It provides hygiene kits, water, power banks, mosquito repellent, tarpaulins, food, baby items, and other necessary products. Donations can be made via PayPal to girlscareja@gmail.com.

▪ WE-Change Jamaica prioritises LBQ+ women and provides direct cash assistance to affected people. Donations can be made via GoFundMe at gofund.me/5b6a69a3f. 

▪ Kindred on the Rock is a 70-acre farm that is building community, teaching new skills, and creating jobs. Its founder, Staceyann Chin, leads a group in purchasing supplies, making packages, and delivering them to people in some of the areas that suffered the most loss and damage. Donations can be made via GoFundMe at www.gofundme.com/f/support-menddigap-incs-vital-mission.