2011 - the year human rights went viral

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, grew from the experience of the Second World War. With the creation of the United Nations, the international community vowed never to allow the atrocities experienced during the war to happen again.

63 years later we are still experiencing human rights violations all over the world.

But this year is different. The fight for human rights has spilled onto the digital battlefield and the streets of cities around the world. Millions of people decided in 2011 that the time had come to claim their rights. They took to the streets and demanded change. Many found their voices using the internet and instant messaging to inform, inspire and mobilize supporters to seek their human rights.

There has been a global awakening through the dynamic surge of social media and the results have been startling.

In Tunis and Cairo, Tripoli, Madrid, New York, London, Santiago and elsewhere, millions of people from all walks of life have mobilized to make their own demands for human dignity.

In the past, financial interests determined whether protests were given exposure in the corporate and state media. But today, you can now guarantee these events will be posted on Twitter and Facebook, or broadcast on YouTube for the world to see. Governments can no longer completely monopolize information and censor what people see and read.

Like those countries experiencing popular uprisings, we all have to remind governments and corporate interests that health care, education, housing and access to basic justice are not commodities accessible only to the few, but human rights, guaranteed to everyone without discrimination.

In Canada this week, the Assembly of First Nations called on the United Nations to send a raporteur to help enforce aboriginal treaty obligations with the Harper government and to investigate human rights claims at Attawapiskat.

Here in British Columbia, the B.C. Liberal government has attracyed international criticism for disbanding the B.C. Human Rights Commission, severely limiting access to justice by women, the poor and marginalized citizens, and for ignoring international conventions that respect labour rights.

On December 10, Human Rights Day, the BCGEU pays tribute to all human rights defenders and ask everyone to support the human rights movement, around the world and on our own doorsteps.