Headline

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. This is the message of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Its uniqueness is that it is sealed in the blood of 50,000,000 people; that is fifty million people who fell during World War II so that today we may be free. It is the single biggest human sacrifice for freedom, equality and human dignity. And if there is nothing else you can remember from this short writ, should it be this one perhaps? I leave you to be the judge of that for yourselves.

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the United Nations were drafted and debated through the phenomenal contributions of Eleanor Roosevelt and agreed in democratic consensus. Most of the countries that we know today were there and collectively expressed their outrage to the damages against human dignity through the reality of the eyes of war. The culmination of human wrongs allowed the clearer vision of and expression of what are human rights and why they are so important and diachronic.

The Declaration and the Charter are our global constitutions with the rights each and everyone of us is entitled to and the protections that no government has the right to take away. These are the single most powerful documents ever produced in the history of human kind for its preservation and its proliferation. It strongly recalls our birthrights to freedom, equality and justice regardless of sex, race, language or any perceived or fabricated cause for segregation, including religious affiliation or societal standing.

Moreover both the United Nations Charter and the Declaration of Human Rights include our right to be protected against torture, discrimination, persecution and slavery in all their past, modern and future forms. The vagary in both these documents is that they reflect so well the spirit of the law that they are the catalysts to tremendous societal change. Had any signatory party even imagined the development of the United Nations, the creation of the International Court of Justice and all the humanitarian agencies, as well as the invaluable human rights lawyers, and the might of international law, I assure you, their signatures which have the value of oaths were acts of providence and true enlightnment.

The Declaration specifically stipulates that: ''Each and every one of us has the right to think and to think freely and that we have the right to vote in the affairs of our homelands". Seventy 70 years after the Declaration was adopted, some countries have come further than others due to their continuous commitment to democracy, democratic order and therefore security. Regrettably, others have chosen ignorance, sabotage and the continuous support of the perversion of war.

Simply and humanly, we cannot remain indifferent to the fate of people affected by conflict, oppression and natural disasters anywhere anymore. Therefore, we must hold all governments, as well as governments within governments, accountable to at least the basic non-negotiable standards set out in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter because they apply to all people at all places and at all times. Other rights and ideas about howsociety ought to function are clearly issues of traditions, culture and sovereignty because we are different and that is natural.

And if you can only remember a second point of dignity from this declation is that in our differences, we are all born equal. We are all equal. There is no power that has the right to tell you otherwise and both the Declaration and the Charter enshrines both you and your rights through the largest human sacrifice in the name of freedom. The blood of 70 million people because every family burried at least one person so that today you and I are better off than generations ago. This is the price of democracy and if we do not sustain it, naturally, it will not sustain us, so, what do you chose?

Again, thank you for reaching out and thank you for your trust

Yours,

Lydia Verniory

? You may reach me at the following email address via the world's most secure encrypted email service*    [email protected]

Lydia Verniory is a mother and an international human rights lawyer with 100% success in the most challenging international human rights, criminal and public law cases. She has won 1,498 international cases while working for the United Nations and private clients. She has a passion for naughty cats, Bounty chocolate bars and overpriced shoes. It is no secret she belongs to the circle of the most powerful lawyers in the world.

*While Gmail has offered HTTPS encryption since it launched, it's been the default since 2010. Now, however, it's the only option, and it's more robust than ever. Not only are your messages encrypted between Gmail and your computer, but they're also encrypted as they travel around Google's data centers.

Long Read:

Artificial Intelligence: a THREAT to Human Rights