Rev. Fr. Pascual Chávez – Acts 400 “Human rights are rights that apply to every person as a human being; they don’t depend on race, on religion, on language, on geographical origin, on age or sex. They are rights that are fundamental, universal, inviolable and indispensable. They are not carved in stone but are in continuous evolution. The civil and political rights that go back to the time of the French Revolution (1789), arise from the demand for a series of fundamental liberties from which large sections of the population had been excluded: the right to life, to physical respect, to freedom of thought, of expression, of association, of political participation. Economic, social and cultural rights were sanctioned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948: the right to instruction, to work, to a home, to health, etc. Then there are the rights of people to self-determination, to peace, to development, to ecological stability, to control of national resources, to protection of the environment. Finally there are the rights linked to respect for man, in relation to the fields of genetic manipulation, of bioethics and the new communication technologies.
We have to realise that full respect for human rights is first of all our responsibility. Unfortunately violations of human rights are the order of the day and it is clear that the existing means for prevention are not sufficient to eliminate them. In this situation too we need to work for respect for human dignity. Human rights are a means for human development; education to human rights is instrumental in bringing about human development both personal and collective and therefore to achieving a world that is more equitable, more just and more healthy. Each one of us, whoever we may be, precisely because we are educators and are following the Christian anthropological view of life that inspired Don Bosco, must become a defender, a promoter and activist in the cause of human rights.” Human Rights Day this year takes on a special significance as it marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We have to realise that full respect for human rights is first of all our responsibility. Unfortunately violations of human rights are the order of the day and it is clear that the existing means for prevention are not sufficient to eliminate them. In this situation too we need to work for respect for human dignity. Human rights are a means for human development; education to human rights is instrumental in bringing about human development both personal and collective and therefore to achieving a world that is more equitable, more just and more healthy. Each one of us, whoever we may be, precisely because we are educators and are following the Christian anthropological view of life that inspired Don Bosco, must become a defender, a promoter and activist in the cause of human rights.” Human Rights Day this year takes on a special significance as it marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.