Human rights are ultimately just words on a page. They do not represent the way reality is, nor do they represent the way that most people and states view it. We, as human rights advocates, speak a language to a world that is not listening. We highlight violations and we labor on in the direction of a better world, squinting and straining to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
They will remain words on a piece of paper until the world moves towards being a just place. A place where we recognize human rights as a paradigm of not how the world currently is, but how it should be. Thus, a human rights defender is not someone who believes that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) will protect them from violations. A Human rights defender points at an ideal, and tells the world to be better.
Such an act comes from a place of deep-seated belief and hope. It comes from a firm belief that the world can move toward these goals, and we can truly be better.
Today, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, we urge all of our supporters to continue to believe that the world can be better. As part of that, we must keep speaking the language of human rights as it is the clearest path that we can walk to a more just world.