On Human Rights Day, UN shines spotlight on role of rights defenders

(December 11, 2010) The United Nations marked Human Rights Day Friday by shining the spotlight on the hundreds of thousands of “largely unsung heroes,” the human rights defenders who risk dismissal, harassment, torture, jail and even death for their activities. Laws to protect and promote human rights are indispensable,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message. “But quite often, progress comes down to people, courageous women and men striving to protect their own rights and the rights of others, determined to make rights real in people’s lives. Diverse in background, sometimes part of a civil society organization, or a journalist or a lone citizen, they all share a commitment to expose wrongdoing and stand up, speak, and today tweet, in the name of freedom and human dignity, he added. “Let us remember that everyone – no matter their background, training or education – can be a human rights champion. So let us use that power. Let us each be a human rights defender.” Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December. The date was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first global enunciation of human rights. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay noted that human rights defenders come from all walks of life, “ranging from princesses and politicians, to professionals such as journalists, teachers and doctors, to people with little or no formal education. But many of those less well-known defenders who are murdered for their belief in human rights remain unknown to the wider world,” she stressed.