Author: İsmail Öztürk
Today is World Human Rights Day. If we live in a democratic and free country, this day may not matter much to us. We can feel happy because we live in a free environment. But today, in many parts of the world where we are happy, people are deprived of their freedom and fundamental rights.
Many communities and societies cannot use their basic human rights due to wars, conflicts, internal turmoil, despotic governments and many other reasons.
Ukraine is under Russian occupation. While hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in this war, millions of people left their homes and countries, and live as immigrants in other countries. The people staying in those countries are trying to survive without electricity and heating in the coldest days of winter.
China is committing an open genocide against the Uyghur people in front of the eyes of the world. Millions of Uyghur citizens live in concentration camps and places that have been turned into dungeons, where death and suicide are preferred.
The people in Iran unfurled their flags of revolt against the oppression of the authoritarian regime, this time due to the freedom of dress. The Iranian regime, as always, responded very harshly to the people’s demands for freedom. After the events in which hundreds of people were killed, the Iranian regime carried out mass arrests, aims to prevent thousands of people from seeking freedom by sentencing them to death.
There is an authoritarian one-man government in Turkey that tries to keep its power alive by fueling social conflicts, using terror as a stick, controlling the media, and sending its opponents to prison with mass arrests. Erdoğan’s desire and ambition to put millions of people in prison, regardless of whether they are women, children, elderly or sick, turns into genocide for certain segments of society.
These are just a few recent examples of human rights violations. There are many communities of people who are deprived of their freedom by oppression and persecution, and who are subject to practices that amount to genocide. Millions of people who do not have the opportunity to freely express their identities, thoughts and beliefs, lifestyles.
We follow many victim people and communities who are humiliated with inhumane treatment, subjected to torture and ill-treatment, attacked and raped, on the media and social media every day. The inhumane practices are so ubiquitous and constant that it becomes more and more normal, and is perceived as a part of natural life.
Invaders, dictators, oppressors and the oppressive state mechanisms under their command are increasing the pressure on people with an ever-increasing pace.
As free and democratic states and communities just follow these oppressions, which do not directly affect them, without acting, they are also indirectly affected by the repression policies of authoritarian regimes. The ineffectiveness of powerful institutions such as the United Nations Community and the European Union against oppressive regimes causes authoritarian regimes to become stronger and causing more people to seek asylum and emigrate. Asylum and irregular migration movements negatively affect the economic and social order of developed countries. States and international organizations can fight authoritarian regimes more effectively. People and communities sensitive to human rights can also be partners in this struggle.
The democratic and free world should use its legal, political and economic power more and impose sanctions on authoritarian regimes. International human rights institutions and organizations should become more sensitive to violations of rights, and monitor and investigate violations more quickly.
The world of media, sports and cinema, which are the public disclosure tools of the free world, should carry out more projects and studies to publicize human rights violations.
Countries that systematically commit human rights violations should be subject to more economic sanctions, and the export goods and brands of these countries should be boycotted.
The products of authoritarian countries should not be purchased individually, either.
Become a member of human rights organizations, and support their activities and actions. A person who can do nothing should at least open a social media account and support the dissemination of the messages of individuals and groups fighting against rights violations to wider audiences.
Which of these can you do?
