We are fortunate to live in a country with a constitution that guarantees each and every citizen fundamental human rights that are enshrined and protected. The constitution is the supreme law of the land, and not even Parliament can take away your fundamental rights and freedoms. Today, as we celebrate World Human Rights Day, we must reflect on the past, assess the present and look to the future. Looking back, we must realise that the rights we enjoy were the result of the courage, struggle, blood, sweat and tears of those who stood up for what they believed in against dictators and corrupt leaders.
Thinking seriously
Their sacrifices must never be forgotten. The two most influential figures in our times remain the late Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. But these struggles would mean nothing if the State does not respect the rights of citizens today. For while human rights sound nice and look nice on paper, the true measure of the respect a society has for this concept is to be measured by reference to the status of the most vulnerable that live among us. The first fundamental right guaranteed in our constitution is the right to life, liberty, security of the person, and enjoyment of property. We are all meant to enjoy this right, regardless of our race, colour, religion or sex. Sadly, we live in a time when, and country where the State is unable to fulfil this basic obligation to its citizens. How do we reconcile what is on paper with the raw reality on the ground? No one feels safe in this country any more. Those with the option to go elsewhere are leaving or thinking seriously about doing so.
Many have fractured their families to protect their loved ones by sending their children abroad. We crossed the 500 murder mark. Law-abiding citizens are virtually imprisoned behind burglar-proofed windows and steel doors, as if we are the ones in prison. With a detection and conviction rate that ranks among the lowest in the world, there is no light at the end of this dark tunnel. Our murder rate is higher than that of New York, with over ten million people. Where is the right to freedom of movement and liberty, when we all live under self-imposed curfews, because the streets belong to the criminals after 7 pm and the police themselves tell us to avoid going out after dark?
Greater good
What is the meaning of the right to equality, when discrimination, based on gender, race and political affiliation, is what drives the inequitable distribution of State resources? How can there be equality when this culture of unfairness and victimisation is the by-product of the skewed and narrow kind of politics we have, where the personal power of the leader is of paramount importance, regardless of the people-divide it has created. What is the meaning of the right to life when your life has no value to the growing team of bandits who do not value their own life? What is the meaning of the right to enjoy your property when you are afraid to show and enjoy success, for fear that it might attract bandits? The dignity of the human being is at the heart of the concept of human rights. But the abused woman, who feels the weight of the sexy stares from police officers who can do no more than stare and smile while she pleads for rescue from domestic violence, finds no peace until she is murdered.
The young daughter, who is kidnapped and repeatedly raped while her mother pleads with her husband not to listen to the police and pay the ransom, is robbed of her humanity. The single mother, who struggled to bring up a son without a father, only to see his life snuffed out by senseless gang violence at 18, feels no dignity. The father, who is among the 3,000 workers laid-off from Pt Lisas industrial estate, with no means to put food on the table, feels cheated. The future will only be bright if we understand that these rights are owed to us by the State. We must cherish and jealously guard them. These rights are not, however, worth fighting for, unless you understand that we must all join hands and fight, because we realise that when the Government trample on your rights, they trample on mine, too, because we are both human.
Today for you, tomorrow for me. We are at a critical juncture, as the State has abdicated its responsibility to protect us, so that we can enjoy the basic right to life, liberty, security of the person and enjoyment of property. Self-interest must yield to the public interest. Personal pride, ego and power must give way to what is right and the greater good.
The decline and disintegration will continue, unless we unite for the sake of our children and their future, because it is either we swim together, or drown alone.
By Anand Ramlogan 17th Jan 2009
[Speech delivered in commemoration of World Human Rights Day, during the annual dinner of the Civil Rights Association]