2024 December 17
Joint Statement on the 76th Anniversary of the UDHR and the 6th Year of the Adoption of UNDROP

As the present year draws to a close, we, the undersigned organisations and movements, pay tribute to the 76th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). On this year’s International Human Rights Day, the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calls upon the world to join the campaign, Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now, that emphasizes “human rights as a pathway to solutions” and the critical role they play as a “preventative, protective and transformative force for good.” Likewise, we also commemorate the sixth year of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP)—conceived of, fought for, and realized through the initiatives of peasants, fisherfolk, Indigenous peoples, forest dwellers, rural women, pastoralists, and agricultural workers—with communities of small-scale food providers and food sovereignty movements spearheading its promotion and implementation at different levels and scales.

The importance and relevance of these Human Rights Declarations—borne out of the struggles of peoples and social movements—are further underscored in the present conjuncture characterized by unabated human rights abuses and violations in Asia and across the world. Amidst a global context of recurring crises of neoliberal capitalism, skyrocketing inequalities, democratic backsliding, extractivist exploitation, climate breakdown, genocidal wars, violent conflicts and geopolitical turmoils, and the failure of multilateralism, such human rights abuses and violations have worsened, systematically increased, and remained prevalent. 

Nearing a critical tipping point, the climate crisis deepens with the catastrophes of the various Conferences of Parties—to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)—delivering further injustices and false solutions serving the interests of “polluters” while delaying effective actions. Absent real solutions to the root causes of the planetary emergency, communities in the global South have continually faced the disproportionate impacts of extreme weather events: from intense floodings, chronic droughts, and powerful cyclones to tropical storms.

Amidst the climate breakdown, the failure of multilateral spaces to address crises was also made evident by never-ending wars and conflicts. For one year, two months, and ten days already, the genocidal war against Palestine and the starvation of the Palestinian people by the occupying power Israel rages on. 

Rights defenders are continually subjected to criminalization and legal persecution through the misuse of the justice system; direct threats to their life through persistent intimidation, enforced disappearance, and the use of deadly force; and various forms of structural violence including economic injustices, marginalization, and dispossession. In particular, women and girls have been discriminated against historically in the realization of their human rights, while gender discrimination, gender-based violence, and patriarchal practices continue. In the face of shrinking civil society spaces, women human rights defenders who are at the forefront calling for social and gender justice are specifically marginalized, targeted, and often become victims of gender-specific violence and suffer severe violations. While they need effective, inclusive, and gender-responsive protection mechanisms, such mechanisms are absent.

All of these are magnified with the passage of several laws that are designed to maintain the status quo and their use and abuse by both states and corporations to perpetuate cycles of inequities and violence.

This situation highlights the critical and urgent need to continually stand up for our rights and those of others, stand in solidarity with peoples, communities, and movements in Asia and around the world, and stand together, hand in hand to confront the intensifying waves of repression, criminalization, and violence, and the shrinking space for civil society and progressive political action.

With the undermining of democratic institutions and corporate capture of multilateral spaces, it is imperative that we collectively reclaim and transform such institutions and systems that put human rights, environmental, social, economic, and gender justice at their hearts. As UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk opined in his Vision Statement 2024, “Human rights have the power to unify us at a time when we need to come together to contend with the existential challenges we face as humanity.”

In view of the foregoing, we call on our governments to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire now, the rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into Palestine, and accountability for the war crimes of the Israeli occupation. At the same time, we call on our governments to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights and uphold their preventative, protective, and transformative roles by advancing and enforcing relevant international human rights instruments such as UNDROP, UNDRIP, and the UNDHRD, as well as supporting communities and movements in various peoples’ struggles and campaigns such as the Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity and the resistance against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and other forms of criminalization against those who defend and protect rights.

With this collective statement, we, the undersigned individuals, organizations, and movements add our voices to the continuing struggles for the realization of human rights for all, economic and social justice, and genuine participatory democracy. In the coming years, we commit to continue defending rights, facilitating spaces for their advancement, and strengthening peoples’ solidarities across various territories and regions in Asia and beyond—for a more just, equitable, sustainable, and peaceful world.

 

Organisations/movements: 

  1. Focus on the Global South, Regional
  2. International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements, FIMARC, International
  3. Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia), Malaysia
  4. Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific, Regional
  5. FIAN International
  6. FIAN Indonesia
  7. All Nepal Peasants Federation (ANPFa), Nepal
  8. Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR), Sri Lanka
  9. National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO), Sri Lanka
  10. Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) [Indonesian Peasant Union], Indonesia
  11. Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA) – Indonesia
  12. ⁠Yayasan Tananua Flores – Indonesia
  13. Yayasan ALIFA, Indonesia
  14. Koperasi KOBETA, Indonesia
  15. Forum Benih Lokal Berdaulat, Indonesia
  16. KIBAR Kediri, Indonesia
  17. Pesantren Ekologi Ath-Thaariq, Indonesia
  18. Konfederasi Pergerakan Rakyat Indonesia (KPRI), Indonesia
  19. ⁠Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ), Indonesia
  20. FIELD Indonesia (YDBN), Indonesia
  21. Kilusan para sa Repormang Agraryo at Katarungang Panlipunan (KATARUNGAN) [Movement for Agrarian Reform and Social Justice], Philippines
  22. Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG) [Indigenous Political Structure of the Téduray and Lambangian Indigenous Peoples], Philippines
  23. Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Mangingisda – Pilipinas (Pangisda-Pilipinas) [Progressive Alliance of Fisherfolk in the Philippines], Philippines
  24. Kolektif Puanifesto Indonesia, Indonesia
  25. Ekologi Maritim Indonesia, Indonesia

 

Individuals:

  1. Asma Aamir, human rights defender, Pakistan 
  2. Nissa Wargadipura, Food Hero’s FAO-UN 2024
  3. Dewi Kartika, Land Rights Activist/Member of FIAN Indonesia
  4. Ade Cholik Mutaqin, Member of FIAN Indonesia
  5. Arie Kurniawaty, Feminist – Trade Justice Activist