Human rights organization
Human rights organizations are organizations that fight against human rights violations . The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights plays an important role in their work. Human rights organizations try to influence or initiate political processes by organizing rallies, letters of protest or press releases , for example when political prisoners are imprisoned, the death penalty is threatened or ethnic minorities are persecuted.
Human rights organizations are mostly non-governmental organizations , similar to civil rights movements, for example . Usually they are supported by donations, volunteer members and the advocacy of prominent sponsors.
History and direction
In the 1970s, activists in Western Europe and the USA began to become increasingly involved in human rights. Human rights organizations reached their peak of prestige after the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, when they did a lot for the ousting of old elites in Eastern Europe and the persecution of dictators in Latin America.
In 2018, Samuel Moyn assessed that human rights policy in these first decades had ignored the growing economic inequality in societies. Depending on donations and support from the wealthy, human rights organizations could often act like allies of neoliberal elites who run the risk of losing majority support while accompanying an economic system that paved the way for extreme populism and nationalism. Major humanitarian foundations recognized this after 2015 and stated that they were more dedicated to combating inequality.
See also
literature
- Charlotte Schoder: From the protection of minorities to the protection of vulnerable groups: collective aspects in the international human rights system; national human rights commissions for national implementation. Schulthess Polygraphischer Verlag, Zurich 1999, ISBN 3-7255-3918-9 .
- Valentin Aichele: National human rights institutions in Europe. German Institute for Human Rights, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-937714-02-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Samuel Moyn: "How the Human Rights Movement Failed" New York Times on April 23, 2018
