Everyone deserves dignity, freedom and justice

December 10 each year is observed as Human Rights Day globally, and the theme for this year is, “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All”, which incidentally resonates with the national motto – “Freedom and Justice”.

The day was established 75 years ago, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Thus, this year's Human Rights Day presents the opportunity for the world to take stock of the UDHR, 75 years after its adoption.

The UDHR is a milestone document which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin; property, birth or other status.

In the decades after the adoption of the UDHR in 1948, human rights have become more recognised and more guaranteed across the globe.

 They have since served as the foundation for an expanding system of human rights protection which focuses also on vulnerable groups such as persons with disability, indigenous peoples and migrants today.

However, the promise of the UDHR, of dignity and equality in rights, has been under sustained assault in recent years.

As the world faces new and ongoing challenges — pandemics, conflicts, exploding inequalities, a morally bankrupt global financial system, racism, climate change — the values and rights enshrined in the UDHR provide guideposts for our collective actions that do not leave anyone behind.

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death.

They apply regardless of where one hails from, what one believes in or how one chooses to live his or her life.

These rights can never be taken away, although they can sometimes be restricted – for example, if a person breaks the law, or in the interest of national security or public good.

These basic rights are based on shared values such as dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence, and are defined and protected by law.

Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and to education, and many more which are very important for the preservation of life, humanity and humanness.

These are the checks that ensure we continue to live as human beings, as we all have animalistic tendencies that we need to deliberately subdue at all times to maintain the distinction between us and animals in the wild.

All the basic human rights find expression in the 1992 Constitution, specifically in Chapter Five under Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms and every citizen needs to acquaint him or herself with this provision, to ensure that our human rights are never trampled upon.

Much as the issue of human rights has often been abused, even when common sense is needed in some instances, just because people want to have their way, we must guard the sanctity of humanity, by making sure our basic rights as humans are not abused by others.

It is the duty of every country to promote and protect the fundamental human rights and freedoms of its individuals regardless of their political, economic and cultural background.

We, therefore, urge all stakeholders to create an environment that enables individuals to speak against human rights abuses.

Ghana as a nation needs to do more to protect the rights of the poor, vulnerable and marginalised, including women and children, older persons and persons living with disability.

Some other rights enshrined in the UDHR are the business operations and environmental rights which companies and organisations must respect.

The corporate responsibility to respect human rights requires companies to put in place human rights due diligence in order to identify, address and mitigate human rights impacts that may occur in their businesses.

It is important for companies to establish an effective and efficient remedy that apologises, restitutes and compensates for the abuse of the human rights of people through their operations.

We owe it to ourselves to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and freedom that do not impinge on others’ freedoms and champion justice for all.

We should always bear in mind that one’s freedom ends where another’s begins.