Human Rights at a Critical Crossroads
With the United Nations paralyzed by vetoes and toxic indecision, the European Union rent by conflicting goals and an unattainable rule of unanimity, where can the world's most oppressed turn?
More than a decade ago, a young Norwegian visionary, Thor Halvorssen invited me to Oslo for the debut of the Oslo Freedom Forum. As it grew and flourished through the years, it morphed eventually into what The Economist observed was "on its way to becoming a human-rights equivalent of the Davos economic forum.”
What The Economist also observed, however, as the headline of that same epiphanal article, this was "a crowded field… advocates of civil liberties come in many varieties, these days." That was on May 27, 2010. The field has not become any less crowded since then. But much has changed—and little, quite sadly, for the better.
Some replacement is increasingly urgent when it comes to institutions—descending into a spiral of paralysis and indecision—that should have become beacons for human rights and personal liberties, above all guarantors of the free expression that can assure these fundamental values. Each has failed to fill a gaping hole of inability to deal with the autocrats and dictators who have proliferated even in nations whose foundational precepts are based on democracy.
The United Nations, which has ballooned to 193 full members with the arrival of South Sudan on July 14, 2011, has become all but paralyzed by this proliferation of cacophonous voices. Its critical body, the Security Council, which the founders saw as the swat team for international crises, has become utterly paralyzed by a veto wielded all too often by armed aggressors or their allies.
Then there's the European Union—a union of western democracies that for decades had little problem achieving unanimity on even the most challenging issues. This harmony, the goal of its founders has, however been eaten away—first on its fringes, now at its very core—by the emergence of national leaders anxious to remove any challenge to their hegemony and monolithic rule.
So where does it leave those voices that never cease to inform and educate us about abuses in their countries and of their people. Clearly they need to find other outlets, other forums where their demands can finally be heard. But hearing is not enough. Action today is what is needed. And after listening to five most eloquent voices at this year’s Oslo Freedom Forum representing three continents, I am persuaded more than ever that it is only some concrete actions that can move the needle toward real democracy. But first, let's hear their arguments … their voices in conversation with me … and the evolution over the past decade since I first visited Oslo…..
Ukraine: Oleksandra Matviichuk
"I can say that in, in my part of the world, in my region, we see how the negative trends of international law on a regional level have become more and more visible. Eight years ago, Ukrainians started a revolution of dignity, and they struggled for their right for a democratic choice—which means just for a chance to build a country where the rights of everybody are protected, the judiciary is independent, government is accountable, and police do not beat peaceful students for demonstrating….
"In our region, Russia is trying to dictate a trend of authoritarianism and many people in the world think that this work by Russia started in February 2022, but the truth is this was started in February 2014….Ukraine made a much better, more positive impact on developing the democratic reforms at home in our country then for 20 years before.
"When I think of authoritarian regimes actually, few are at all innovative. They use the same sort of tactics when it comes to making sure that they attack the democratic right of their people….It's not only a war between two states. It's a war between two systems, authoritarianism, and democracy and in this world, we are trying to convince you."
Tibet: Chemi Lhamo
"Tibetan children, as young as three years old—their parents are being coerced into sending their kids into colonial, state-run boarding schools, where they're being withheld for five days a week, not allowed to go home. And they're being force fed ideas, even to dream in Chinese instead of Tibetan.
"This type of erasure is currently happening constantly….This re-education, they call it but it's actually just erasure, eradication of identity which they have recognized is the people power. And when we rise up, it's a threat to the leadership.
"And it's obvious because the Chinese government uses those techniques not only inside of Tibet but in Hong Kong as well…."
"There is complacency about human rights… I was 16 when we saw huge uprisings inside of Tibet….People inside of Tibet were rising and calling for the international world to pay attention to the Chinese regime, but the international community failed to meet the calls."
Hong Kong: Anna Kwok
"So right now, Hong Kong, even though we're an international financial city that is supposed to have a certain level of freedom, right now there's not that kind of environment at all…. Right now, Hong Kong has more than 10,000 political arrests that have made since the protests erupted….
"That's why I think it's very important for us activists and human rights defenders to realize that they're really utilizing their global influence to make a kind of oppression that is even outside our borders, that transcends borders….I think we have to respond by expending our freedom movement into a kind of global movement….That's why I think it's really important to have an occasion such as this for activists from around the world to gather together and talk about these dictatorships, because what we were fighting here is really the same, a common enemy."
Venezuela: Leopoldo López
"Between 2000 and 2008, I was mayor of Caracas….In 2009, I started a movement that was focused on grassroots activism, civil resistance and non-violence. In the year 2014, we called for protests calling [President Nicolás] Maduro what he is—a dictator. We called out for his relationship to the cocaine business, money laundering, and of course, repression of political prisoners. He is not only a dictator, but a criminal that was committing crimes against the Venezuelan people. So, that took me to prison….I was sentenced to 14 years in prison. I spent the next four years, most of the time in solitary confinement at a military prison. In 2017 I was taken to house arrest [where] I continued to call for protests….I was able to escape house arrest with the collaboration of my guards. I spent the next year and a half at the Spanish Embassy from which I escaped, and since 2021 have been a political prisoner in exile…..
"What we are facing is not particular to each one of our countries, but it's a very similar pattern. We are at the front lines fighting for freedom. So, I've been dedicating myself to thinking about and trying to put forward an alliance of pro-democracy freedom movements, in a very specific action-oriented commitment."
Iran: Masih Alinejad
"Three months ago, the FBI arrested a man with a loaded gun in front of my house….Right now, it has been 15 days across Iran since people took to the streets, and this is the first time actually that we are seeing women in the front-line, not only walking shoulder-to-shoulder with men. It is the first time that they're burning headscarves. And this is a symbol. This is actually a clear message to the religious dictatorship that enough is enough….[in the wake of the murder by police of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini].
"I remember from the beginning, it was all about telling stories, it was all about sharing your pain. In a struggle, that is good. This is the beginning—finding your fellow freedom fighters, your fellow human rights activists around the world. But to me, it seems that mostly now which we are witnessing a shift from being victims to being warriors. I myself have met many leading opposition human rights activists across the globe from Venezuela, Russia, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Turkey, Saudi Arabia…..
"When you see in the United Nation my oppressors, they have a seat. The Islamic Republic has a seat at the top body at the United Nation to monitor human rights globally. Saudi Arabia, Russia, these dictators have a seat at United Nations, to monitor human rights. It is an insult to all human rights activists….
But then there are the dictators….
"They meet with each other, they help each other," Alinejad concluded our conversation. "They have their own same recipe to oppress people, to suppress protest within their own countries. So basically, they're copying each other and cooperating with each other. Then they are more united than us freedom fighters. So, what can we do here? We can have our own battle, our own institutions in the same way that they are united. We can be United as well. And have a same energetic, common agenda. Exactly the same recipe.
"Okay. Now, while the dictators are helping each other to suppress protests, which take place in Venezuela, in my Iran, we can help each other to send our common message to the democratic countries….I mean the 22-year old girl [killed by Iranian police for not wearing her hijab properly] created a unity not among Iranians, but among freedom fighters across the globe. The level of showing solidarity is unbelievable. So, to me, yes. Now this is the time because this ongoing protest in Iran is one of the most significant women's revolutions in which women are leading the movement. Right now, I think this is the moment. Politicians should learn from celebrities who have joined with us, from activist human rights organizations, that Iranian women are not fighting just for themselves. Iranian women are fighting for the whole world, to protect democratic countries.”
[Indeed, just Monday, a host of French actresses including Isabelle Adjani, Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Isabelle Huppert, Marion Cotillard and Julie Gayet who just became the wife of former French President François Hollande, joined with 50 fellow stars of film and music to cut off their hair in a powerful Instagram video campaign “soutienfemmesiran” (help Iranian women). ]
"I'm angry, I'm furious that the United Nation is becoming United against Nations,” Alinejad continued. “I met with [Secretary of State] Tony Blinken, and he told me that they going to stick with their own policy to continue negotiating with the Islamic Republic [Iran].
“I met with [Biden's National Security Advisor] Jake Sullivan as well two days ago, [as she has before] and he said that we condemn Iran. And I said condemning is not meaningful while you're giving billions of dollars to those you condemn. This contradiction is killing us. And he was like, you know, 'but we need an Iran without the bomb. So that's why we have to negotiate.' I said, but at least you can stick with your values."
I could not have said any of this better myself—to allow all these voices to speak truth to power….and democracy.
The author LIKES your thinking....and always appreciates an attentive (even brilliant) reader!
In the immortal words of Joe Biden, "Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value." Gravitate the resources of the U.N. (including the delegation costs) and most of its agencies toward the more-meaningful efforts you spotlight.