Church of Scientology International Steps Up Global Human Rights Education Campaign
Expect to see three new public service announcements when you turn on your television over the next few months. The Church of Scientology International in conjunction with Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) has begun release of a series of ads promoting each of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Subtitled in 15 languages, the PSAs will soon begin airing around the world, flanked by advertisements, posters and flyers promoting the same human rights articles.
These new PSAs are the work of Youth for Human Rights International member, 20-year-old Taron Lexton, who also produced and directing UNITED, an edgy 5-minute human rights music video that was produced in Los Angeles and contains footage filmed in 13 different countries visited during the first annual Youth for Human Rights International World Tour. Released at the YHRI International Youth Summit at United Nations headquarters in New York a year ago, UNITED has won six national and international film festival awards including the prestigious New York Independent International Grand Jury award for best short film. The music video conveys the power of human rights awareness to curb violent confrontation and intolerance. Television stations, cinema networks, film festivals, human rights groups and community leaders have now screened UNITED to more than 40 million people.
Over a half a century ago the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was endorsed by all United Nations member nations in recognition of “the inherent dignity” and “the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” and with the understanding that human rights are “the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
Today’s headlines, filled with war, terrorism and civil unrest, would seem to call into question human rights as an effective tool to bring about peace. But a recent survey shows 90% of the general public to be unfamiliar with the Universal Declaration and uninformed about their rights. Human rights will never be enforced if they are not known and understood.
Europe recognizes the importance of human rights education: it is one of the three primary objectives of Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, a post established in 1999 as an independent institution within the Council of Europe. This was further emphasized just this year when the EU mandated human rights education for all European schools. These new PSAs complement this program by reaching out with a human rights message to young people in a medium they can relate to.