World Human Rights Day is an opportunity to renew our commitment to upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human dignity, and the rule of law. This commitment is especially necessary at a time when autocracies such as China, Russia, and Iran act in concert to overturn the international order based on shared rules. The fluid geopolitical situation seems increasingly marked by a divide between countries governed by the rule of law and others governed by autocrats who put themselves above the law.
This is demonstrated by the numerous incidents of human rights violations. In the People’s Republic of China, Tibetan children are forced to attend boarding schools where they are taught Mandarin only, in a bid to eradicate Tibetan culture and identity. Also in China, a large part of the Uyghur population is reduced to conditions akin to slavery through forced labour and pervasive state control in the Xinjiang region. Beijing also looms threateningly over peaceful and democratic Taiwan, particularly after the dismantling of the “one country, two systems” principle that governed Hong Kong. That principle collapsed in 2020 with the imposition of the national security law, which led to the imprisonment of many political dissidents, including the former founder and editor of the newspaper Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai.
Thousands of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience also languish in Russian, Belarusian, Venezuelan, and Iranian prisons. Meanwhile, the deportation to Russia of thousands of Ukrainian minors continues—children torn from their families to be placed in re-education and military training facilities. Faced with these and other atrocities that are also ravaging Africa—let us not forget the ongoing genocide in Sudan—it remains essential to keep human rights, their universality, and their indivisibility as our guiding light.
In this regard, Europe must take centre stage and fulfil the historic role it is called to play today: the defence and promotion of human rights, and therefore freedom. To do so, it has at its disposal a powerful instrument: EU enlargement. We hope that progress will be swift, especially with regard to the Balkans. The EU’s power of attraction, which has guaranteed peace for more than 70 years, is rooted in respect for fundamental rights—an essential element of European identity and the guiding principle of every accession process. The EU Treaties, particularly Article 2, must continue to safeguard and promote rights, freedom, and development, both within the Union and in its partnerships with third countries.
Giulio Terzi