EVERYONE has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
This is how the United Nations summed up its collective thoughts in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
South Africa’s Human Rights Day, 21 March – declared International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by the UN – is synonymous with an innocuous but historic township, Sharpeville, situated between the industrial cities of Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging about 50 kilometres south of Johannesburg.
For many South Africans, the day will always remain Sharpeville Day, a commemoration of the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville massacre, when the police mowed down 69 unarmed people and injured 180 others who refused to carry the hated dompas identity document that was meant only for indigenous Africans.
The day, sometimes also referred to as Heroes’ Day, was a watershed in the country’s liberation struggle, hence its inclusion in South Africa’s post-apartheid holiday calendar.
Over the years, prominent people have found different ways of expressing their ideas on rights and freedom.
Nelson Mandela put it very succinctly when he said: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” Sigmund Freud saw the negative side of this idea when he wrote: “Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility and most people are frightened of responsibility.”
American presidents have been keen to pronounce on the matter, with Abraham Lincoln maintaining: “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” A century later, John F Kennedy declaimed: “The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”
On Human Rights Day we celebrate the freedom we have and honour the memory of those who gave their lives so that we might have that freedom: a freedom that must be defended in perpetuity by those who enjoy it.
And the way to defend this freedom is to ensure we do not violate someone else’s rights while exercising our own. Rights come with responsibilities. We must enjoy our freedom responsibly.
* Additional info courtesy of SAinfo reporter and SAnews.gov.za
