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Human Security and Dignity: Fulfilling the United Nations Promise To the 56th Annual DPI/NGO Conference
United Nations Headquarters, New York,USA | ||
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"Human rights are the foundation of human existence …
Human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent.
Human rights are what make us human. They are the principles
by which we create the sacred home for human dignity. It is
the universality of human rights that gives them their strength.
It endows them with the power to cross any border, climb any wall, defy any force."
T
he Charter of the United Nations defines the purposes of the organization as well as the
methods to attain those purposes. The first purpose of the United Nations is to maintain
"international peace and security." The preamble of the UN Charter "reaffirms faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights
of man and woman and of nations large and small."
On the basis of this faith in human rights, the UN Charter came into existence after the
Second World War with a view to sparing humanity from another holocaust. The UN promise
was to bring back dignity to human existence following the atrocious experience of World
War II.
Human security and dignity are closely linked. Dignity is considered as an invaluable
treasure that each and every human being is endowed with, irrespective of the society
he/she belongs to. Insults to human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions,
arbitrary imprisonment or deportation, slavery, disgraceful working conditions,
participation of children in war and sale of drugs, poison human society and have
to be condemned. In many of these cases men, women and children are treated as mere
tools for profit rather than as free and responsible persons.
Experience has taught us that, unless authorities take suitable action with regard
to economic, political and social matters, inequalities between citizens tend to
become more and more widespread and as a result human rights are baffled and the
fulfillment of duties is compromised.
The struggle against destitution, though urgent and necessary, is not enough. It
is a question, rather, of building a world where every human being, no matter what
his/her race, religion or nationality, can live a decent human life, free from servitude
imposed on him/her by other individuals or by natural forces over which he/she has
no control; a world where freedom is not an empty word and where the poor man Lazarus
can sit down at the same table as the rich man. The citizen of the world needs the
"feel good" factor of being in security for his/her normal development and progress
in any society. Basically it is the role of the governing body of any nation to provide
security to its inhabitants. They should be able to live free from any type of
aggression -- terrorism, burglary, exploitation and subjugation.
Human security is related to freedom of expression. Restriction of the freedom of
expression at any level due to state and other forms of intervention, leads to a
feeling of insecurity in the average citizen. When individuals cannot express themselves
freely their dignity is curtailed. They lose their self-esteem and develop a sense
of inner frustration frequently expressed as riots. In régimes, where freedom of
expression is restricted, there exists an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust.
This gives rise to fear and the dignity of the individual is trampled upon.
The problems of law and order arising from social ills in society -- poverty,
unemployment, drug addiction, prostitution, genocide and child abuse -- are a
major constraint in the development of many countries because they generate
insecurity and are a bane to human dignity. In such cases, people undergo
mental as well as physical harassment. Some measures taken by governments to
address the problem have superficial results as the root cause is often ignored
because of political, social or economic considerations.
Amongst all the species of this world, human beings alone have the highest level
of consciousness that gives them a sense of worth to themselves. This is dignity
and it emanates from the soul and stimulates the inner energy so that the individual
fulfils his/her role in society to the best of his/her ability.
The education that we impart to our children and youth should imperatively cater
for their self worth and dignity. Many run away from home for a number of reasons
- mainly personal problems, family conflict, abuse or problems at school. Agencies
should work together to develop accessible, child focused services to young runaways
who, to date, have been a highly vulnerable group. Recently there have been several
cases of pedophilia at the hands of grown-ups who should have been caring for
these children. Immediate preventive action should accordingly be taken, as
all children deserve the opportunity to grow up in a safe and caring environment
and need to be protected from harm and exploitation. This should help them to
break down barriers such as fear, doubt, and confusion.
Otherwise, certain vulnerable groups develop, through accumulated past habits, a
sense of inferiority complex which lowers their dignity. The classical example
is the woman who is treated as second-class citizen in male dominated societies.
The woman's dignity is trampled upon and she is deprived of her fundamental right
of freedom of expression, choice etc.
With the ageing process, the elderly people become less active and thus depend on
others in many respects. In the nuclear type of family, they are left on their
own and such loneliness often leads to a loss of self worth and dignity. It is
the duty of a caring society to cater for the welfare of its senior citizens who
have contributed towards the progress and advancement of the society.
Other people who have lost their sense of dignity and self worth are the alcoholics,
drug users, and detainees -- the categories of people that we would not like to be
associated with. The rate of success obtained in the rehabilitation of such people
is rather low. One of the reasons is that the rehabilitation program does not bear
components that would enable these people to build up once more their dignity.
In this context, the Mauritian example of the Lotus Center, a drug rehabilitation
center for convicted detainees is worth mentioning. The programe was successful
because it aimed at building up the dignity of the individual. Some of the participants
have reintegrated into society on their release from jail with a positive outlook
for their own benefit and that of the nation. In the field of education, special
schools for slow learners have been set up under the project known as "Zones d'Education
Prioritaires". They are meant particularly for the benefit of children coming from
deprived areas with a view to increasing the literacy rate: this will eventually give
a boost to their self-esteem.
Human beings, therefore, are to be seen as assets to the institutions they serve,
and not as means to be exploited for narrowly defined goals. Whatever the progress
in technology and economic life, there can be neither justice nor peace in the world,
so long as people fail to realize how important is their dignity. This precept rests
on one basic principle: individual human beings are the foundation, the cause and the
end of every social institution. When we deal with one another, we may learn a lot
by adopting this sense of awareness.
Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations stipulates that the UN Organization
is based on the principles of the Sovereign equality of all its members. More often
than not, the noble concept of equality of human beings is mere lip service in the
sense that so much discrimination based on the skin color, the social, cultural or
religious differences happen on a daily basis. In spite of progress in communication
nowadays, there are still many physical barriers amongst the citizens of the world.
The various fanatics and zealots use modern tools in the field of Information and
Communication Technology to brainwash their group to react on the basis of religious
or cultural emotions.
Terrorism, or the fear of it, is a state that many people live in nowadays. Often
ordinary citizens become terrorists when their fundamental rights are being trampled
upon or denied. When anyone superimposes their will on another for their own interest,
this gives rise to revolts that may ultimately turn into terrorism. This, paradoxically,
is a means whereby the so-called terrorists try to protect these same fundamental
human rights, which they feel, are not being respected. The result is that the
average citizen, who very often has little say in public policy, has to bear the
brunt of terrorist attacks with serious consequences on his welfare and dignity.
It is felt that the spiritual dimension, which is encompassed in the tenet in the
Preamble of the UN Charter: "To reaffirm the dignity and worth of the human person"
should aim to . . .
The promise of human security and dignity to be fulfilled by the United Nations,
requires each member state to individually and collectively ensure that the fundamental
human rights are respected and that all member states, irrespective of size,
recognize one another's sovereign right to co-exist peacefully. It is clear
that many member states have not paid heed to the lofty principles enshrined
in the Human Rights Declaration. The mindset prevailing at the time of the
establishment of the United Nations was to ensure mutual recognition of the
sovereignty of the individual states. In today's fast becoming borderless
world, the concept of national sovereignty is losing ground and we are moving
towards a global family.
The vision of the United Nations is to reunite humanity and to consider an individual,
irrespective of his/her physical origin, as a leaf of the tree of humanity.
After fifty years of its existence, the United Nations should perforce encourage
the spiritual dimension in its endeavor to consolidate peace on Planet Earth.
The quotation of the great French thinker, André Malraux is relevant in this
context -- "The 21st Century will be spiritual or it will not be at all".
Our choices are made in response to the values that define our identity
in this "global village" of ours; it is therefore imperative that we create
in us the identity of the "global being". We cannot establish a vision of the
object (the village) without first establishing the being/nature of the subject
(ourselves). Our challenge is to decide whether we want to be a partisan in
a fragmented world or an individual in this global village with the characteristics
of a world identity, and thereby find the peaceful and self-fulfilling path to move
towards that identity.
(This statement is authored by Deepak Bhookhun, a senior professional with a
disciplinary service background and significant management experience gained
from the administration of penal establishments of different security levels
to take over eventually the command of the Mauritius Prison Service up to September
1999 as Commissioner of Prisons. He is presently the Security Advisor to the
Prime Minister of Mauritius. Deepak Bhookhun is a member of the Brahma Kumaris
World Spiritual University.)
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©2004 BKWSU |
