[afro-nets] Food for a never-aging thought

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Food for a never-aging thought
------------------------------

Human Rights Reader 125

BEING A HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST IS NOT AN ILLUSION ONE SHOULD LOSE
AT AGE 40.

The goal of providing human rights to all in the world is as in-
spiring and formidable a challenge as any extraterrestrial ad-
venture. (J. Cohen and D. Bloom)

1. As sad as it may be, after 40, many of our peers join the
asylum-of-political-convalescents. At any age, it is OK to have
doubts, but one should not, because of that, stop acting. Just
having moral convictions without engaging in political criticism
and action is weak and passive. Too often, we do not measure the
moral and political consequences of our non-acting. Certain
things we just have to do (like breaking the gospel of the civil
neo-liberal God) even knowing that we may fail this time around.
Battles have to be fought inside the system ("with which one is
during the day --as much as one is against it at night"). Just
keep in mind that politics is 'the art of swallowing frogs with-
out making faces'. It is the art of compromise. What counts are
the questions asked more than the responses received.

2. After 10 years of well publicized anti-globalization move-
ments, we simply cannot show fatigue now. Disillusion is the
best ally of vested, pro-status-quo interests. It manifests it-
self as a feeling that our work is marginal, that the work
needed is too intense, too long and subject to severe ups and
downs. (But are protracted bumpy roads avoidable in this strug-
gle? No. Negotiations we have to get involved-in are like bluff-
ing in a card game: with imperfect information on our opponents
and on our own cards, we can move forward only at a turtle's
pace; but forward we move!).

3. Our work is not yet widely supported and, if not careful and
shrewd, what we do, in the end, favors the powerful. Slow pro-
gress is OK; inertia or regression is not. We need a grand vi-
sion --one that takes a long-term view and enables us to take a
leadership role. The People's Health Movement (PHM), for exam-
ple, is a forum that has defined and pursues one such legitimate
grand vision for the world. (check http://www.phmovement.org)

4. Respect for human rights (people's rights) is not a task to
be assumed as easy, brief or time-saving. Human rights (HR) en-
vision the liberation of the oppressed from situations of domi-
nation and exploitation. The struggle for HR helps people ad-
vance in their liberation process.

5. We therefore need a systematic drive to train skilled HR ac-
tivists who can analyze the pros and cons of adopting certain
positions, and can boost the movement using their newly acquired
negotiating skills to foster HR-oriented strategic alliances and
to seek needed technical cooperation.

6. HR activists can neither stand-by without taking sides in the
power struggle nor can they take science as objective and neu-
tral when it really sustains the status-quo. They cannot use
'tourist-approaches-to-HR' as 'tarmac-professors' do in their
ivory towers. HR activists are expected to go and listen to the
problems from the horse's mouth of the marginalized. (L. Justo)

7. HR activists should neither only pursue the violations-
denunciatory-approach-to-rights nor should they put all their
efforts in increasing membership in the HR movement; that would
be a mistake. They should rather build organized participation.
and membership will follow. To continue this list of 'dos and
don'ts', HR activists should document HR violations, yes, but
should not see writing reports on these violations as an end.
They should also advocate for policy changes, denouncing old and
new policies that negatively impact on HR; they should raise
awareness and educate, as well as establish alliances. HR activ-
ists should further use the right language to address the dif-
ferent sectors and groups they deal with. When holding govern-
ments accountable, it is the HR activists' job to re-empower the
state for it to meet its economic, social and cultural rights
obligations towards its people.

8. In the international arena, HR activists will have to move
towards achieving a consensus that International HR Law has to
take precedence over trade laws and WTO trade rules; achieving
this will, by itself, be an immense victory for developing coun-
tries. (L. London)


Claudio Schuftan
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn

Mostly adapted from Carlos Fuentes, Los anios con Laura Diaz,
Santillana Ediciones Generales, Madrid, 2001, and F&D, 42:1,
March 2005.