AMHERST — On Dec. 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt championed and, in large part, wrote the 30 articles asking for protections of life and liberty. They were to serve as a guide and common moral and ethical standard “for all people and all nations.”
On Sunday, U.S. Rep Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, sought a progress report on that standard.
“How are we doing?” That was the question McGovern posed to constituents on Sunday, which was International Human Rights Day and 69 years from the date of the Declaration’s adoption. McGovern spoke in a packed Jones Library basement at the event facilitated by the Amherst chapter of Amnesty International.
Springfield College social work professor Dr. Joesph Wronka introduced McGovern as a “person of courage” for his record on human rights. McGovern has a solidly progressive history on humanitarian issues, even going as far as to be arrested in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., in 2012 for protesting abuses in Sudan’s Darfur region.
“Things around the world from a human rights perspective are pretty dire,” McGovern said.
McGovern pointed to several international issues while addressing the state of human rights today: the plight of Rohingya Muslims, who have fled Myanmar in the thousands to escape murder and persecution at the hands of the Burmese military; the civil rights abuses of Bashar al-Assad; and the killing of minority Yazidis by the Islamic State in Syria.
“It’s one of the greatest human rights debacles since World War II,” McGovern said, referring to the Syrian Civil War.
McGovern, who has served in the House since 1996, has made human rights work a focus of his political career. In 1989, he went to El Salvador as a congressional staffer to investigate the murders of six American priests, their housekeeper and the housekeeper’s daughter. El Salvador was embroiled in a civil war at the time, during which the Salvadoran military government, backed by the U.S., committed many atrocities.
“According to the Geneva Convention, wars should be fought in ways that protect civilians,” McGovern said.
The nature of the Salvadoran death squads, and U.S. support for the Salvadoran government, made going after human rights abuses into a mission for McGovern. He wrote the Rule of Law Accountability Act — signed into law in 2012 — which allows the U.S. to ban foreign officials identified as being involved in torture or corruption from entering the country.
Despite armed conflicts being near the top of the list of priorities, there are other human rights abuses that need to be addressed globally, McGovern said, specifically pointing to the mistreatment of Tibetans and the exile of religious leaders like the Dalai Lama in China.
“According to the Universal Declaration, he has the right to return home for a visit or to live,” McGovern said, a traditional Tibetan scarf called a Kata draped over his shoulders.
However, according to McGovern, it is up to individuals — in government or otherwise — to make sure the articles of Universal Declaration of Human Rights are enforced, not lawyers.
“The Universal Declaration is an aspirational document. It is not a treaty; it is not binding,” McGovern said.
McGovern also said that while the U.S. should condemn grievous acts around the globe, as well as intervene diplomatically in conflicts where necessary, it should uphold human rights within its borders, where “we’re not perfect.”
“With 5 percent of the world’s population, we have 22 percent of its prisoners,” McGovern said. “Thirteen percent of American citizens are black, but we know they account for 34 percent of those put to death.”
McGovern stated his long-held opposition to capital punishment, which he said is a nonexistent practice in other industrialized countries. The congressman also named affordable housing and health care, as well as strengthening food assistance programs like SNAP, as areas where the U.S. could use some work.
“In the richest country in the history of the world, it is a disgrace any child goes to bed hungry,” McGovern said. “In a truly rights-respecting country we would not still be having this debate.”
Much of McGovern’s blame was aimed at President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, but he assured the crowd that politicians and citizens alike must “keep going, keep struggling, keep fighting and hopefully someday we can relax a little and not have to fight for human rights every day. But we’re not there yet.”
After an original song from Jacqueline Odess-Gillet of Hadley, describing racial tensions and racially-charged crimes in America, some of the crowd stayed for drinks and a short reception, and some walked to First Congregational Church at 165 Main St.
The church has been providing sanctuary since Oct. 8 to Lucio Perez, an undocumented Guatemalan immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 20 years. While McGovern did not personally attend the meeting with Perez, he voiced his support for the 35-year-old married father with three American citizen children. Perez is in danger of deportation, having been issued a final order to leave the country.
“We do not believe it’s appropriate to rip families apart. That’s not who we are,” said McGovern, who personally visited Perez in mid-November.
While Perez is without a criminal record, the Board of Immigration Appeals has not yet granted him a stay or reopened his case. His situation prevented him from going to McGovern’s talk, so about a dozen people went to check in on Perez after the congressman’s speech ended.
“It makes me feel stronger to have these people surround me,” Perez said through an interpreter. “It’s always surprising to meet so many people that are supportive. I’m so grateful for the generosity and support.”
Perez said he is spending his time praying and reading the Bible, working in the Church’s kitchen and exercising. His family is suffering without him emotionally, he said, as well as financially, as he is the family’s main breadwinner. People who come to see him improve his spirits, which in turn improves his wife’s spirits when she calls or visits, he said.
“Sometimes, being stuck inside, you feel like there’s no solution to the problem,” Perez said. “Having you all here really boosts my spirits.”