UDHR Archives - aditus foundation

The Past, Present and Future of Human Rights

#KeepingUpWithTheInterns

Hello everyone! This week both of us Human Rights Interns (Matthew and Rimaz) worked together to bring to you this blog post where we are going to explain to you briefly what Human Rights are, and talk about their origins. The post will be contemplating the past, present and future of human rights.

We also produced a short video to introduce to you the 30 Human Rights presented in the declaration made by the United Nations (UN).

Simply for being human, every person is entitled to fundamental rights. We call them ‘human rights’ because they are not a privilege: they are elements that allow you to be, to do or to have anything you wish. These rights are there for your protection against people who might want to harm or hurt you. They are also there to help us get along with each other and live in peace.

Legal Update on the Captain Morgan Incident

This week aditus foundation, Jesuit Refugee Service Malta and Integra foundation filed three complaints in three different fora with respect to the situation of around 167 migrants currently being held aboard the private vessels Europa II and the Atlantis, just outside Malta’s territorial waters. The Maltese government chartered a number of private pleasure craft vessels to accommodate migrants rescued in Malta’s SAR zone in the period between the 28th and 29th April 2020 and 6th May 2020. The migrants were transferred from private and AFM vessels involved in the rescue to the chartered vessels and have remained there since the beginning of May.

A time to call for a national agreement on Universal Human Rights

Today, 10 December, is International Human Rights Day. Worldwide defenders of human rights have marked this day annually since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed by the United Nations on 10 December 1948.

The Declaration begins by stating the enormous significance of its vision: “[The] recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. The Declaration guarantees the equality in dignity and rights of all persons, irrespective of race, colour, religion, origin, opinion, sexuality, gender and physical ability.

Being a Maltese non-governmental organisation dedicated to the recognition and advancement of all human rights for all persons, aditus foundation calls upon every person reading this message today to remember and commemorate in some way the on-going international struggle for human rights. In Malta, this could be a moment taken to acknowledge the enjoyment of human rights conferred through, for example, citizenship, employment, education, freedom, the enjoyment of life during peacetime or, simply, a sense of belonging.

“As part of its mission to report on and redress human rights abuses, aditus foundation hopes to inspire the agreement and cooperation of the Maltese public, government and media in the crucial arena of human rights,” Dr. Neil Falzon (aditus foundation Director).

An insistence upon the rights of every one of our fellow human beings is especially powerful when it is voiced by the most fortunate among us, in reiteration of Malta’s commitment to ensuring the full and effective respect for, protection and fulfillment of the fundamental human rights of all persons.