WHEREAS the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) consisting of 30 articles, which decree that all human beings are entitled to all human rights and fundamental freedoms as delineated in the declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations (UN), December 10, 1948,–the Soviet Union, other Eastern bloc nations and Wahhabi Saudi Arabia of the original member states abstaining from voting for its adoption;
WHEREAS the principles prescribed in the 30 articles of the UDHR, supplemented by subsequent covenants, known in whole as the International Bill of Rights, though not legally binding, have become a standard for international responsibility and accountability for the treatment of citizens by their governments, albeit initial moral clarity has given way to moral equivalence, and divergent views between East and West, between collective national rights and individual human rights have resulted in abuse and violent conflicts involving a vastly increased United Nations membership, most of which are nonaligned, nondemocratic states;
WHEREAS a potentially alarming clash of ideologies, of Eastern vs. Western values, is seen in an emerging “post-democratic” Russia where “Western values” are now spoken of with disdain by the ruling class and leading intellectuals, and Dmitry S. Peskov, press secretary and close aide of third-term-President Vladimir V. Putin, has said in 2012 that “World experts nowadays are losing their interest in the traditional set of burning points (democracy and human rights). . . Everyone is sick and tired of this issue of human rights. . . It’s boringly traditional, boringly traditional, and it’s not on the agenda”;
WHEREAS the effectiveness of the UDHR in preventing human rights violations is not only an international responsibility, but ultimately is contingent upon individual involvement as admonished by John P. Curran (1750-1817)–“It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become prey to the active, for the condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance, which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt”;
WHEREAS Winston Churchill in his speech, “The Sinews of Peace”, on March 5, 1946, said, “We must make sure that [the United Nations’] work is fruitful, that it is a reality and not a sham, that it is a force for action, and not merely a frothing of words, that it is a true temple of peace in which the shields of many nations can some day be hung up, and not merely a cockpit in a Tower of Babel”;
Now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Baltic American Freedom League at its Annual Membership Meeting on February 9, 2013, assembled, That in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to reaffirm its validity and necessity based on the shared democratic values and common perception of serious threats as envisioned by the UN’s founders, and that the continuing need to implement its principles and maintain vigilance against its violations, wherever they may occur, is always “on the agenda”–portentous anti-Western developments and belittling of human rights in Russia notwithstanding; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Baltic American Freedom League and all parties concerned call on the U.S. Congress to adopt a resolution proclaiming 2013 as the Year of Human Rights.
Adopted by the Baltic American Freedom League on February 9, 2013, in Los Angeles, California U.S.A.
