Rejection is tough to deal with, so you learn to shut down your emotions and play along. Before you know it, you only care about your well being. You don’t care about how bad you hurt other people, it doesn’t matter that you feel love and kindness, you have to act tough and cold in order to survive the angry mob mentality. Ignorance is celebrated, insensitivity becomes standard.

I was there, I know it’s true. I did my best to not show affection and love and the only consequence was that I hurt other people as well. I made others go through what i went through myself, I knew it and ignored it, and in the end I hurt even more.

Peer pressure is such a bitch! A lot of the human rights violations are the result of peer pressure, if you think about it: not having the strength to tell mean people to go fuck themselves resulted in racism, hate, violence, crimes against humanity. The way we interact with each-other, as society, never ceases to amaze me. We tend to follow others that we consider are cooler / better/ smarter than we are, and we ignore our beliefs and who we really are. Personalities get shifted, feelings are being left out and we don’t care about anyone else but ourselves.

Care. That is what it all comes down to. At what point in our lives we learn to care not about how others see us, but about how truthful we are to who we really are? When do we feel strong enough to do something because we think we should, not because we are expected to or just because other people do it? When will we replace insensitivity and ignorance with care?

Why would you care that some women are being raped and murdered in South-East Asia, when you are so comfortable in this little coffee shop with your laptop and coffee? Why would you care that so many people starve to death in Africa, when you’ll go home and have your nice warm dinner? Why would you care that so many people are being abused and tortured, when you can just have your fun on your nice warm side of the world? Why would you care that so many people don’t have access to basic needs to live, when you want a better car?

Because the more care you bring into the world, the less room there is for hate and sooner or later, this will benefit you as well.

As I write this I can’t help thinking about what will others think of me after reading it. Will I be misjudged and thought of as weak because I care? Thankfully I learned from my mistakes, and I am just doing what I think is right, and that makes me stronger.

There’s no point for freedom when ignorance is celebrated and I am done with being ignorant. Freedom of thought, freedom to be me, freedom to care.

Do you care? We’ll see tomorrow, December 10! :)

I wanted to make something different than ask you to donate money for this cause: to bring awareness. Less than 5% of the worlds’ population heard about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and probably less than that read it, even though i consider it to be one of the most important documents ever written. Have you read it? Do you know your rights as a human being? I know I haven’t until 4 years ago.

I grew up in communism until the age of 10. I remember very well the revolution to overthrow it, because we had to run away from home due to my family being in danger. My father was out there, risking his life to make a difference, while my sister, my mother and I were worried sick about him. When we went home, we had a bodyguard with a big rifle watching over us, and that made us feel very restless, worried and afraid. The presence of a gun around a child is such a wrong thing! Now, being an adult, I can only imagine all the child soldiers out there in Burma and  Darfur, not being protected by guns, but being forced to use them to hurt other people. Their future as adults is already decided, and I’m pretty sure that it  will not be a bright happy one.

I was lucky! Lucky to have had the opportunity to develop in freedom, even though I am sure a lot of the people in my country would disagree with me. Negativism, depression and fear for the future still rule Romanians, consequences of the 40 year long dictatorial regime not respecting the people’s human rights. It will take generations for the attitude of the people to change for the better, but I have faith that it will happen.

There are so many more reasons for me to be involved in promoting human rights, but I told myself I’ll keep this article short, for your sake :)

I know from experience that it is very hard to keep being motivated to fight for this cause. I’m a graphic designer, and never considered myself as an activist. The results come slow, the support is short handed and these can be very frustrating for someone used to getting immediate results from their actions. It is so much easier to donate $5 and sleep better at night because you ‘made a change’, but the real challenge is trying to make other people to believe in the reasons that determined you to donate the $5.

This is my challenge. This is the One Day for Human Rights challenge. If you are reading this it means you came to this website because you already are on my side (well, hopefully at least :)), but I wish that for one day a year, you will try to make someone else aware of the rights we all have as humans, have someone you know or you think they need it to read the UDHR, talk about it, spread the word. For you, as one person, the accomplishments will probably be small, due to the difficulty of getting people out of their comfort zone, but overall I believe that together we can make a difference. If the result we’re going to have is for at least one person to have a better life in this world, then I will declare this cause successful!

This cause was started by me, Anca. Even though I do work with Jack Healey and Human Rights Action Center, One Day for Human Rights is my cause, and I have noone else to support me except you, the people that care about these moral issues. I have no material incentive for you, as I have nothing to gain personally from doing this (well, except sleeping better at night :)), but I need your help and support more than anything. I need you to talk/write about human rights, for one day: December 10.

Will you? Would you? Should you? I believe that you should, as a moral duty to our world, but ‘will you’ and ‘would you’ I can’t answer. I encourage you to tell the rest of the world what are your reasons for supporting human rights in the comments section! Or, you can just write about it on your own blog, on December 10! *wink wink*

Thank you!
Anca

This morning Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Aung San Suu Kyi was moved from her Rangoon home to Burma’s notorious Insein Prison, where she will face trial on Monday for supposedly violating the terms of her house arrest by hosting an unauthorized visitor after an American man swam uninvited to her compound and refused to leave.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest continuously since 2003 and for a total of over 13 of the past 19 years.  According to the State Protection Law, under which she has been held, she can be detained for a maximum of six years.  This period was due to expire in less than two weeks, on May 27th, 2009.  Now, the military junta is using trumped up charges stemming from the incident of the American swimmer to extend her detention.  Suu Kyi was the victim, not the perpetrator, of this crime. For more information, please read USCB’s press release from earlier today.

The crime for which Aung San Suu Kyi is now being tried carries a minimum prison sentence of three years.  This is a critical time for the military regime in Burma, which has faced great difficulty in gaining support for its plan to host elections based on a sham constitution in 2010.  We must take action to ensure that the regime continues to feel pressure from the international community.

Take Action Now:

1.) Email UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and urge him to send his envoy to Burma and to take a stand for Aung San Suu Kyi’s security and freedom.  Click here to send an email to the Secretary General.

2.) Plan a Demonstration
Burma groups around the world have called for demonstrations in support of Aung San Suu Kyi to be held at Burmese embassies on Monday, May 18th.

US Campaign for Burma has organized a demonstration in Washington, DC at 12:30pm on Monday, May 18th, in front of the Burmese military attache (2300 California St. NW, near Dupont Circle). For more information contact Mike Haack at mike@uscampaignforburma.org.  If you are interested in organizing one in your home town, email Mike with the details and he will notify Burma supporters in your area.

3.) “Arrest Yourself” for Aung San Suu Kyi and Host a House Arrest Party to Educate Your Friends
Participate in Arrest Yourself 2009 and show your solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi: uscampaignforburma.org/arrestyourself2009.

Learn More:

The world is giving more and more attention to Aung San Suu Kyi’s cause.  You can learn more about the regime’s detention of Aung San Suu Kyi on the news section of our website, or by reading these articles from CNN International, BBC, Al Jazeera, Agence France Presse, and Straight Times.

Thank you for taking action for Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma,

Jeremy Woodrum
Director
U.S. Campaign for Burma Support 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and the struggle for freedom and democracy in Burma:

Become a member of the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

Sign up now for Arrest Yourself 2009!

Here is what we are asking you to do: Pledge to give up 24 hours of your time sometime between now and June 19th in a show of solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma.

For those 24 hours, you will stay at your house (or school, or anywhere you choose) under self-imposed “house arrest”. During your house arrest, invite people to your house or school for a small portion of your “arrest” and hold an educational party about Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma.

We will send you a host packet full of printed materials about Burma that you can use to educate your guests, along with powerful DVD documentaries that you can screen to help people understand the issues and learn more about Suu Kyi and Burma. We will include simple actions that you and your guests can take, such as petitions to sign, and we will even send you Burmese recipes so you can serve a Burmese lunch or dinner if you’d like to.

We are asking that you also use your event as a small fundraiser to help our efforts to free Aung San Suu Kyi and all the people of Burma. It is easy to raise at least $200 — if you invite 10 people, you can ask them to contribute $20 each. Many people can raise much more. Every single donation will be used to help Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma — please click here to see what we’ve accomplished with your donations.

You can even create your own personalized fundraising webpage here – then send the link to friends and family and watch as your thermometer creeps closer and closer to achieving your fundraising goal. All donations through your page will go directly to USCB, but they will be attributed to you and your event.

Many people might like to plan their “arrest” event around June 19th — Aung San Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday. You can do it then, or choose any other time before then.

If we organize hundreds of events, we can educate thousands of people about the struggle for human rights in Burma. Just as the world rallied to free Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa in the 1980s, we will help free Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma.

Check out other Arrest Yourself events going on around the world.

Search for an individual’s personalized fundraising page.

Already signed up to host? You can find all of the materials in your host packet in PDF format here, as well as links to online videos that you can show.

Yesterday, the UN made a groundbreaking decision on Burma.

For the first time ever, a body of the United Nations — the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD)– declared that the continued imprisonment of Burma’s democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is illegal under Burma’s own domestic laws.

Through this ruling, the UN has shown that not only does Than Shwe’s military junta operate with a thorough disregard for international law, but they have also firmly entrenched a system of impunity for violating their own laws inside Burma.  

After the ruling, the United Nations called on Burma’s military regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi immediately and without conditions.  This is another example of mounting international pressure against Burma’s regime.

Watch this video to learn how you can help Aung San Suu Kyi to regain her freedom by participating in

Arrest Yourself 2009, a global campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi.

The U.S. Campaign for Burma is working hard to ensure that Aung San Suu Kyi’s freedom, and the freedom of all 2,100 courageous political prisoners in Burma, remains a priority for the international community.

Participating in Arrest Yourself 2009 is a unique way for you to spend time with family and friends while spreading awareness about Aung San Suu Kyi and supporting her struggle for freedom. Sign-up today to host an Arrest Yourself 2009 event.

You can learn more about the UNWGAD’s decision on Aung San Suu Kyi’s illegal detention in the following articles:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7960506.stm

www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php.

Thank you for all your hard work,

Mike Haack
Campaigns Coordinator
U.S. Campaign for Burma

This site was done in order to create awareness on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of its Anniversary, by trying to get as many of you to blog/pod/video blog about it, showing YOUR opinion on human rights issues all over the world!

This blog post is meant to promote all of you out there who signed our Petition to print the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in passports, who support this document, and make everyone you know aware of this documents’ existence. Therefore, I am asking you to trackback to this post, or write a comment on it, with links to your actions!

I encourage people that live in less developed countries to write about the human rights issues in their own countries – it is a great way to open the eyes of the world on how people are being abused in places that not everybody is aware of the fact that such abuses exist.

Thank you all! Can’t wait to see what your opinions are on Human Rights!

Love,

Anca