The Universal Declaration of Human Rights... and Dignity

Dr. Michel E. Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches

The timing and content of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights constitute milestones in the history of mankind, as it comes in the aftermath of a fierce war that destroyed an important part of human civilization, during which methods of killing and lethality dating back to centuries were adopted. Humanity has found itself in the need to fortify itself from social, political, human rights as well as to economic practices that may return it to zero point, where there is no return, on the way to annihilation.

The text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is complete, comprehensive, sufficient, and adequate, covering all aspects of life, at various levels, and reminding people of what may and may not be committed against them.

In the preamble, the Declaration speaks of "a recognition of the inherent dignity of all members of the human family" and stresses their "equal and inalienable rights" and considers dignity and rights to be "the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world".

The Declaration adds that "disregard and contempt for human rights" are the gateway "to barbaric acts that hurt the human conscience." Then it affirms that the goal of humanity is to build a world in which individual freedoms - and of course collective ones - prevail, and this includes freedom of expression and freedom of belief, but without overlooking the stressing of the necessity to ensure safety  and material sufficiency for all.

The Declaration considers that the law has a fundamental role in "protecting human rights", in order to avoid injustice and tyranny that may lead to unrest, unrest, or uprisings and revolutions.

The preamble considers that humanity has affirmed its commitment to the axioms of the Declaration, to “basic human rights and to the dignity and worth of the individual” as well as to the equality of men and women in rights and duties, “and has resolved to push forward social progress” leading to a higher standard of life in a general climate of freedom.

Before proceeding with presenting the foundations of the Declaration, the text confirms that the people are fully aware of the necessity of fulfilling this pledge because the Declaration constitutes "the common level that all peoples and nations should aim for" that they should aim for. The text notes that teaching and education are the best means that lead to "the consolidation of respect for these rights and freedoms." The text also urges states to "take sustained action" to ensure recognition of these rights and freedoms.

It is really wonderful to note the correlation between rights and dignity at the forefront, as we see the focus on eradicating ignorance through education and fighting poverty, the means of humiliation and enslavement of peoples and individuals.

Moreover, the reader of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is certain of the high moral, ethical, and humane standard of a text written three quarters of a century ago, when racial discrimination and mistreatment among people, and even slavery, were still popular practices, some of which we have not finished with yet. A few years ago, we lived through experiences in the East of Antioch that took us back to the time of captivity and the slave trade, at a time when we did not dream that such practices were still occurring.

On the other hand, thanks to education, conscientization, and the application of laws, we find that the largest percentage of humanity considers the rules listed in the Declaration as axioms that must be secured and set up laws of dealing between people.

It is always the same, the race between good and evil, the forces of good escalate and increase in influence, but falsehood sometimes has a round, not to say rounds of growing influence

Hence therefore the necessity of immunization, immunizing minds and souls by consolidating values ​​that secure a better future for humanity.

Moreover, hence also the need to promote the culture of sound human rights at the level of humanity and make them a guide to life at all levels, as well as transform their categories into a creed for humanity.

All this in order to avoid the failures that humanity can fall into and that could lead it to the abyss, because the forces of evil, obscurantism and retaliation are always trying to sharpen their thorns and threaten the achievements of man. Such failures may demolish in a flash what had been built over ages, thus returning with humanity to square one.

The International Organization would do well to make a new impetus for human rights, to launch the "Dignity, Freedom and Justice for All" campaign, and to call on the world to rise up and defend human rights.

We must stop here and stress the importance of dignity, which was mentioned in the title that was given to the present campaign, as it was mentioned several times in the proclamation itself that was made for it.

The prologue of the Declaration focused on dignity and considered it inseparable from rights, and we in the Middle East Council of Churches are moving forward in the same direction.

Our humanitarian projects, ever since the Palestine war in the 1940s, up to the wars in Iraq and the Levant in the past decade, passing through the Lebanon war in the 1970s and 1980s, have been characterized by placing human dignity at par with the row of life, and we have dealt with all events with the logic that all life is but a step to glory.

We have trained our working teams, in the various afflicted areas that lie to the East of Antioch, to deal with the homeless, the afflicted, and the destitute, with the dignity of love that the Incarnate Master has re commended for us to stress, as we have learned to do good even to those who abuse us. Had He not prevented the actual  humiliation of the woman whom her community was about to stone? In the same context, it was stated by the wise Sahaby (companion) of the Prophet that no one has the right to enslave people to whom their mothers gave birth to as free persons as he stated that "there is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a non-Arab over an Arab, ... except by piety."

I consider myself to be content with these features that tell us how deeply rooted human rights are in our religious beliefs, and I do not think that anyone would tend to believe otherwise.

The Council has dealt extensively with human rights during the eighties and nineties, and has a long history in this field, but today, our focus is on the concept of human dignity.

In addition to the slogan "We Serve with Dignity" approved by the Department of Relief and Social Service, and its title indicates the Department’s activities, as it is embodied in the clear services provided by its growth to the East of Antioch, through which the new barbarians, the enemies of man and his rights, have passed> Moreover the Department of Theology and Ecumenical Relations trains responsible actors whose mission is to help people get out of the psychological crises they had gone through during the rounds of violence in their areas of residence. This program has a great role in rehabilitating human dignity, leading to the attainment of full human rights. This department is also preparing additional development programs in order to take care of people and help them get out of the crises that have been  thrown into by the grave events that afflicted the region during the past decade.

In the same context, the Middle East Council of Churches realized that it should not only deal with the issue of human dignity through its programs, but rather establish a specialized program for it, to minister to a region in which hunger and homelessness has led a large part of its people to the loss of the very meaning of human dignity. Therefore, our four-year strategic framework, which we launched in 2021, included the stress of reconfiguring social capital, rehabilitating human dignity, and building a system of values ​​that have been severely damaged by homelessness and misery, and we all know how straining hunger is.

This project we have called "Human Dignity - Exploration and Restoration - A Middle Eastern Perspective," envisages three objectives: the first is raising awareness and generalizing the concept of dignity in daily discourse, the second is conducting research and analysis of the state of human dignity in specific social frameworks, and the third is building an index of human dignity in order to evaluate the situation of dignity in our region as a prelude to future interventions, based on the results of the above research and analysis.

As for the outcome of this project, it will be the development of long-term awareness, the dissemination of the concept of "dignity", the establishment of communication networks and interaction channels at the level of societies, organizations, associations as well as at the level of the general public, in addition to changing the way people think and act to achieve increasing growth in social justice and equality, and enabling young people to defend their rights and the rights of others and denounce injustice.

On the other hand, the implementation of this project will lead to the identification and classification of violations against human dignity and society, and guidance on ways to overcome difficulties in restoring human dignity. We also aim to provide public policy makers with scientific means to restore and protect human dignity.

In a related context, a set of specific tools and indicators was designed to measure awareness as well as the sustainability of human dignity in the Middle East.

As for the practical aspect, the implementation of the project will be through seminars, awareness campaigns, lectures, debates and round tables, in addition to field surveys. In support to such events, researchers and university professors will be partners in this project, and many of them have participated in the introductory seminars that we have led up till today.

These monthly seminars, which are five to date, have included topics related to various social problems from the perspective of human dignity. The first seminar was about the situation of the Palestinians, the second was about poverty and unemployment, the third was about women, the fourth was about the elderly, and the fifth was about people with special needs. As for the sixth, which we are preparing for, it will be about the human dignity of prisoners.

It is worth mentioning in this context that these seminars are all implemented with a Middle Eastern regional logic and include participants, lecturers and attendees, from different countries of the region and from different religious or ethnic backgrounds, as these were among the upheld principles of the Council's work policies since its establishment.

It is true that the oil stain of sophistication and respect for human rights and dignity is expanding, and it includes rising social strata, and it is true that many of the goals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have become postulates of humanity and axiomatics of life, but the danger of setbacks is present at every time and place where human madness dominates and overthrows every reached achievement. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the momentum in broadcasting the values ​​that the advertisement exudes, and to ensure that it reaches the largest number of people in the largest number of societies.

The cultural knowledge awareness conscientization is the best way to raise the human immunity against recidivism.

We need a culture of human rights in order to make sure that humanity has left the jungle towards society never to return, and in order to prevent the spread of social Darwinism, where the strong kill the weak, so that every human being gets his rights, and his dignity is the crown of these rights.

We need a culture of human rights so that “the flower thief is not blamed and despised, and that the field thief is not called the valiant and dangerous” as mentioned in the poem “Al-Mawakab” by Khalil Gibran.

With Gibran, too, I conclude my speech when he says, "They tell me if you see a sleeping slave, do not wake him up so that he does not dream of freedom, and I tell them, if I see a sleeping slave, I shall wake him up and talk to him about freedom."