A Night for Rights

[Sep 18, 2008 06:23 PM]

On November 6, 2008, CUPE Saskatchewan will host a Night for Rights with acclaimed speaker, broadcaster, author and filmmaker: Irshad Manji.

The Night for Rights celebrates the approaching 60th anniversary of the United Nations International Declaration of Human Rights: a document which set a standard of treatment for all people.

As the Second World War ended, and the world struggled to understand the atrocities committed against mankind during that war, the United Nations drafted the document which remains all-too relevant today: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Manji will join CUPE Saskatchewan to address the friends and allies of human rights, and follow a question-and-answer forum with a book-signing reception. The event is open to the public, and admission is free. Beginning at 7 p.m., CUPE Saskatchewan will celebrate the gains made in human rights over the past 60 years, and contemplate the diligence needed in watching over those rights which the United Nations have deemed inalienable.

on Irshad Manji…

The New York Times calls Irshad Manji “Osama bin Laden’s worst nightmare.” Oprah Winfrey has given her the first annual Chutzpah Award for “audacity, nerve, boldness and conviction.”

The director of the Moral Courage Project at New York University, Manji is also the brave and best-selling author of the Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith. In those countries that have banned her book, Irshad is reaching readers by posting free translations on her popular blog. In just over a year, the Arabic translation has been downloaded 300,000 times and circulated by youth throughout the Middle East.

Irshad is also creator of the acclaimed PBS documentary, Faith Without Fear, which follows her journey to reconcile Islam with freedom and human rights.

For her pioneering work, Irshad receives both death threats and distinctions.

on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights…

Nearly 60 years ago, framed by the close of the Second World War, the United Nations determined that a minimum standard of treatment for all must apply to all people of all nations.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted in this environment, with a view to recognize the dignity, inherent equality and right of freedom.

It is the foundation of international human rights law, the first universal statement on the basic principles of inalienable human rights, and a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, says the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Drafted by representatives of all regions and legal traditions, the UDHR has stood the test of time and resisted attacks based on “relativism”. The Declaration and its core values, including non-discrimination, equality, fairness and universality, apply to everyone, everywhere and always. The UDHR belongs to all of us. 

More than ever, in a world threatened by racial, economic and religious divides, we must defend and proclaim the universal principles --first enshrined in the UDHR-- of justice, fairness and equality that people across all boundaries hold so deeply.

-United Nations statement

 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights will have been proclaimed 60 years ago on December 10. The United Nations reminds us of the diligence that must be exercised in watching over human rights, and the changes which still need to be made to ensure no human is without dignity and freedom.

 

 

 

 

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