In my last post I described what I termed the twin beacons of the American Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Declaration of the French Republic (1789) in their defending the rights of human beings to a fair and equal treatment before the law and to a fair and equal share of the earth's goods - twin beacons on a harsh and stormy sea of the virtually systematic denial of such rights.
In our hour of need life always throws up great people to defend the natural rights of humankind. One such pioneer in the study of human rights must surely be Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809) whom I had the privilege of studying in our philosophy classes in the late 1970s. Paine always acknowledged the debt humanity owed to the two revolutions I have named immediately in our first paragraph in this post and indeed his own debt to both in the formulation of his ideas. Like all great men of that period Paine was quite a dilettante and was an English pamphleteer, revolutionary, radical, inventor, and intellectual. But above all he was a great humanitarian. He lived and worked in Britain until age 37 and then he emigrated to the British American colonies, just in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contribution to it was the powerful, widely-read pamphlet Common Sense (1776) which advocated colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and his The American Crisis (1776–1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series.
He wrote his famous Rights of Man (1791), which we read in selected photocopied chunks given us by our lecturer. This book was essentially his reply to Edmund Burke's criticism of the principles of the French Revolution and to his defence of the aristocracy and monarchy. Paine was openly anti-monarchist. Essentially also this book was a guide to Enlightenment ideas. It is also interesting to see that our man Thomas Paine, despite not speaking French, was elected to the French National Convention in 1792. I suppose a great humanitarian is always recognised no matter what language he speaks or doesn't speak. He was even imprisoned in Paris for his troubles for some months. Needless to say this did not deter this committed humanitarian.
He became notorious because of The Age of Reason (1793–94), the book that advocated deism and argued strongly against orthodox Christian doctrines. In France, he also wrote the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1795), discussing the origins of property, and introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income. Finally in 1802, at President Thomas Jefferson's invitation, he returned to America where he died, aged 72, in Greenwich Village, New York City in 1809. Like many other defenders of the equal rights of all he was disliked, indeed hated, in some quarters for his outspoken views and for his Enlightenment views. However, Paine endured stoically this contumely. He had suffered much in his private life - the death of his first wife in childbirth, the separation from the second, being thrown in prison, narrowly missing execution under the blade of Madame Guillotine and many other 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.' It would not have cost his a thought were he to have known that only six mourners would come to his funeral, two of whom were black, most likely freedmen.
Such then are the three beacons that remain in my mind in the early modern history of Human Rights. Those beacons shone brightly on the darkened seas of the denial of such rights down through the years. Then we had the horrific occurrences of two great world wars which, while they sacrificed millions of soldiers on all sides to the great unpitying god of war, also sacrificed millions of innocent lives - the lives of innocent civilians and then also the horrific and planned systematic deaths of some 11 millions in concentration and work camps under the evil Nazi regime to that same unpitying god.
However, we now live in more enlightened times. Last evening I viewed a wonderful documentary on our former president - Uachtarán na hÉireann - Mary Robinson, one of the great modern advocators and defenders of Human Rights. It was a sheer joy to watch this programme, and a most inspiring and uplifting experience to take the message of universal brotherhood and sisterhood on board. Robinson was the first female President of Ireland and served from 1990 to 1997 and I'm proud to say that I voted for her in 1990. I also had the privilege of meeting her and shaking her hand at a presentation of awards in Dublin Castle in the early 1990s. She was also the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She had wished to go on for a second term of office, but the USA blocked her re-nomination for selfish reasons. After all she was a thorn in the side of George Bush who flagrantly promoted policies that denied human rights in many parts of the world. One could not have an upstart like Robinson challenging America on its abuse of power and on its evident and systematic denial of human rights. Among many other prestigious international roles she serves on many boards including the GAVI Fund. Robinson’s newest project is Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative (an organization she helped found with (former) President Jimmy Carter of the USA) which fosters equitable trade and decent work, promotes the right to health and more humane migration policies, works to strengthen women's leadership and encourage corporate responsibility. The organization also supports capacity building and good governance in developing countries.
As an Irishman I am, like all my co-citizens, exceptionally proud of this exceptional woman. She is at once a towering intellectual, a wonderful politician in the stateswoman sense of that term, a wonderful lawyer, a woman with a panoramic vision of what is possible in this oftentimes sad world of ours, a truly generous person, a woman with a bold courage to challenge any prejudices wherever she meets them and a true humanitarian. It is encouraging to know that Ireland can have such a wonderful influence on the welfare of humanity. Molaim í is ardmholaim í, bean neamheaglach, laoch den scoth, daonnúlacht iontach, bean léinn agus ceannaire údarach domhanda sna cearta daona. Nár laga Dia do lámh! Ar aghaidh, Máire Mhic Róibín. Go maire tú i bhfad.
Some Human Rights Links:
Here I wish to give some links on Human Rights and especially links with respect to the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
1. Feed A Child With Just a Click here: Feed a Child
2. Human Rights Violations Worldwide here Witness
3. The UN Declaration of Human Rights here Human Rights
4. Official 60th Anniversary Site here 60th Anniversary
5. The Irish Human Rights Commission Irish Commission
6. The Irish Centre for Human Rights NUIG Rights Centre NUIG
7. The UN here UN
8. The Council of Europe here Council of Europe
9. UNESCO here UNESCO
10. The UN Refugee Agency here UNHCR
11. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights here UNHCR Commissioner
12. The European Court for Human Rights here ECHR
13. Amnesty International Amnesty
14. Human Rights First here First
15. The Red Cross here Cross
16. The World Organization Against Torture here Torture
17. East Timor Human Rights Page here East Timor Rights
18. The International Foundation for The Protection of Human Rights here Frontline
19. Every Human Has Rights - Facebook Cause here Join the Greatest Cause
20. Siamo Veramente Tanto Fortunati - Facebook Cause here Fortunati
Above I have uploaded a picture of the great contemporary Human Rights activist and international stateswoman and schlar Mary Robinson, former Uachtarán na hÉireann.