Human rights and Memorial Day

[struggle4progress]

By Richard Kagan | The Daily Journal
Published Thursday, May 28, 2009

... American History Professor at Yale University, Hicks discovered that at the termination of the Civil War, former slaves dug up the bodies of their fellow slaves and with a procession of nearly 10,000 gave the bodies a proper funeral. Their leaders gave sermons and prayers and they called May 1, 1865 “Decoration Day” ...

The biographies of these human rights defenders reveal a global constituency of men and women who are single-handedly standing up against repression, military dictatorship, and threats of personal sacrifice. Kerry Kennedy in Speak Truth to Power, has detailed the lives of fifty heroic struggles for human rights in the personal stories of each activist. What is wondrous about this book is evidence it gives for the worldwide support for people’s freedoms. They are drawn from over forty countries, ranging from every continent.

The book is dedicated to Digna Ochoa from Mexico. In her own words she describes her commitment and values: “I am a nun, who started life as a lawyer. I sought a religious community with a social commitment, and the protection of human rights is one of the things that my particular community focuses on. They have permitted me to work with an organization that fights for human rights, called Centro Pro, supporting me economically, morally, and spiritually. This has been a process of building a life project, from a social commitment to a spiritual one with a mystical aspect.”

Because her work was often involved in defending people from the oppression of the government, Ochoa was repeatedly threatened with death. Unidentified assailants attacked, abducted, and harassed her and broke into her offices. “The Inter-American Court of Human Rights required the Mexican government to take steps to assure the safety of her staff. But, on October19, 2001, a group of armed men broke into Ochoa’s office and brutally killed her.” No one has been accused of her murder ...

http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/news/2009/may/28/human-rights-and-memorial-day/