Human Rights Day is celebrated Dec. 10 internationally in commemoration of the day the UN General Assembly adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document drafted and shepherded to its signing under the leadership of the distinguished fighter for economic, social and civil justice, Eleanor Roosevelt. This year marks the 75th anniversary of its signing.
Antony Blinken on Dec. 8, that “the United States is marking the day” by the State and Treasury Departments imposing visa restrictions and sanctions on 37 individuals in 13 countries, in order to “promote accountability for human rights abuses and violations.” The U.K. and Canada are doing likewise. People in the “repressive governments” of China, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Syria and Uganda are the targets.
It is not clear why such actions are considered special. It is news when a day passes in which the U.S. does not add countries and individuals to its sanctions list.
The Biden administration’s actual respect for human rights was demonstrated on Dec. 8, when the U.S. vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have stopped the most horrific human rights violations occurring worldwide right now, the starvation, forced displacement and slaughter of the 2.3 million people who live in Gaza, on the grounds that Israel’s war should continue.
