Leaders From Around the World Say Human Rights are Off Track

By | November 24, 2023

NEW YORK, November 24 (C-Fam) Governmental and civil society leaders from 40 countries met at UN headquarters last week to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Convened by the Political Network for Values, the major note of most speakers was alarm that the UN had wandered so far from the original vision of universal human rights.

Jose Antonia Kast, Chairman of the Political Network for Values, said that the Summit responds to a need for a human rights dialogue based on reason and common sense, especially in a social climate dominated by “cancel culture” and persistent public denigration of pro-life and pro-family leaders.

Rodrigo Ivan Cortes, former Mexican congressman prosecuted for “misgendering” his fellow congressional representative, said that his trial reflects the danger of discrimination in the name of non-discrimination and human rights.

The overarching consensus among panelists was that being pro-life and pro-family are precisely what the founders of the UN meant, and that “anti-rights” rhetoric arises when progressive advocates interpret the Declaration to mean something inconsistent with its original intent.

Brett Schaefer, Senior Research Fellow at Heritage Foundation, said that “the UDHR is under assault…[by] so-called UN human rights defenders who seek to expand the number of human rights and distort its interpretations in ways never envisioned by those who drafted the UDHR.”

Schaefer said adding more rights to the Convention diverts attention and resources and does not contribute to justice. “By prioritizing rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the Biden administration is spending less time on prompting fundamental rights and basic freedoms.” Schafer also noted that adding more rights will inevitably lead to a conflict with one another and asked, “How can a right to abortion…not inherently conflict with the right to life?”

Jay Richards from the Heritage Foundation and Neydy Casillas from the Global Center for Human Rights said that the current tendency to frame mere “goods” and “wishes” as rights degrades the character and value of fundamental human rights.

Sharon Slater, President of Family Watch International, showed that several UN mechanisms and monitoring bodies threaten the original meaning of UDHR. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, for instance, claims children have the right to “sexual education…without the permission of the parent” while Article 26 of the UDHR says that parents have a prior right to choose children’s education.

Stefano Gennarini, VP of Legal Studies at C-Fam (publisher of the Friday Fax), warned that gender ideology and the redefinition of the family pervades the UN system. Gennarini said that UN agencies and other UN “experts” frame abortion as a “right to life,” the family as a “harmful Western construct,” and motherhood as a “negative stereotype for women.”

Nikolas Ferreira, a Member of Parliament in Brazil, and Lila Rose, President of Live Action, among others, reiterated the need for socially conservative political and civil society leaders to renew efforts and stand up for truth, life, and family domestically and within the multilateral fora.

Jose Antonio Kast concluded the Summit calling for more optimism when defending the original understanding of UDHR, “We have to be positive. We are not in the trenches. We are in an open field proclaiming good ideas and good news.”

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