President & CEO Remarks: 2024 Awards Celebration
October 8, 2024 – Cipriani 25 Broadway – New York, NY
Good evening.
And thank you for joining us here tonight.
As I look around the room, it’s so nice to see both longtime supporters and new friends of Human Rights First.
Welcome, all.
It’s my honor to lead Human Rights First and to be here with tonight’s awardees and all of you.
Human Rights First has been fighting to uphold human rights and protect refugees and vulnerable populations for over four decades. Many of you know our legacy of groundbreaking and impactful work. We’ve shaped laws, held governments and businesses accountable, and fought to uphold human decency and fundamental rights. We helped incorporate a legal right to asylum into the Refugee Act of 1980. We helped establish the Fair Labor Association, which sets human rights standards in workplaces across the globe. We challenged official impunity and demanded accountability for the Salvadoran military’s murders of missionaries. And, in the face of 9/11, we partnered with military leaders to end the U.S. government’s use of torture.
This legacy informs our work today.
And the work of the human rights movement could not be more necessary–or urgent.
There is no doubt that these are challenging times. Rising authoritarianism threatens democratic governments and institutions around the globe, respect for the rule of law is called into question even among allies, protracted conflicts with vast civilian casualties continue and escalate in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti and elsewhere. The 2024 Global Peace Index reports the highest number of countries in conflict since WWII. Civic spaces are shrinking, peaceful transfers of power are being challenged, and climate change is exacerbating displacement. Not surprisingly, amidst this strife, there are more than 100 million refugees and internally displaced people worldwide.
Solutions are harder as these challenges play out in a highly politicized environment and in a social media landscape fueled with misinformation, toxicity, and xenophobia.
With so much conflict and divisiveness around us, the task ahead is not for the faint of heart, but we do know the foundation of the path forward and it is core to who we are.
In this somber anniversary week, we mourn the victims of Hamas’ horrifying attacks of October 7th, in which approximately 1200 Israelis were killed and 250 more taken hostage. Many of those hostages have since been killed, and those still alive are being kept in atrocious conditions. We demand humane treatment and immediate release of the remaining hostages.
We also mourn the staggering civilian casualties in Gaza, and now in Lebanon, following Israeli airstrikes. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them noncombatants. Many more have suffered injuries, lost family members, or had their homes destroyed. Vast amounts of civilian infrastructure in the form of schools, hospitals, medical facilities, and aid distribution centers have been leveled.
Israel, the US and other governments must do better and must strengthen efforts to bring an end to this conflict and ensure unhindered humanitarian assistance. At the same time, we in civil society must press for adherence to international human rights and humanitarian law and demand accountability for their violation, by any and all actors.
The conflicts around the globe these past few years have made it abundantly clear that adherence to human rights and humanitarian law is both at risk–and essential. Failures to abide by these laws inevitably lead to the loss of innocent lives and the undermining of the legal frameworks that are critical to our global stability and security and to our humanity.
In times of stress and crisis, societies can lose their way. The United States certainly did after 9/11 when it embraced torture. But I was struck by seeing, mere blocks from here, embossed on the wall of the World Trade Center subway station, the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Underneath where the towers once stood, when the time came for rebuilding, it was that statement about the inherent worth and dignity of every individual that was inscribed at the foundation.
There is a reason we are called Human Rights First. Our bedrock–this organization’s foundation–is also the Universal Declaration. Because we know that our foundation is a firm one, we can move forward–even in these difficult times–with clarity of purpose and determination.
The human rights framework established post World War II, and the body of law that has emerged from it, creates a point of commonality, a de-politicized, nonpartisan, factual basis grounded in human dignity to move forward through these complicated and politically fraught crises with universally applicable, neutral standards to evaluate behavior and hold people accountable.
At this time of deep politicization and strife it is essential that we put human beings and human rights first.
What does this look like in practice? Let me give you a few examples from our work.
(1) At Human Rights First we assist people fleeing persecution and conflict and fight for an asylum system that welcomes refugees with humanity and dignity.
With the help of those here in the room, we’ve attained asylum for over 3,500 clients in the past 10 years, and we have pressed the U.S. to bring thousands of Afghan, Iraqi, and other at-risk refugees to safety in this country, including many persecuted due to their ties to the US.
Last year, we successfully galvanized opposition to the resurrection of the policy of sending migrant families with children to detention facilities, and we worked to uphold human rights law in the face of multiple attempts to block access to asylum.
Our research on the harms inflicted by U.S. policies at the U.S.-Mexico border has been cited by federal court rulings upholding refugee law, and in decisions by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
At the same time, we know the current system isn’t working well, and are pressing for improvements to address systemic problems.
(2) At Human Rights First we work to hold oppressors accountable, challenge injustice, and demand adherence to the rule of law.
We work with activists around the world to bring targeted sanctions against those responsible for human rights abuses or corruption. We’ve helped petition for sanctions against corrupt oligarchs, abusive officials, warlords, and other perpetrators in over 60 countries.
No individual, business or government is above the law, not in the US and not abroad. We have pressed the US government to insist that those receiving its military aid abide by international human rights and humanitarian laws and are fighting to uphold the ICC’s authority to investigate and prosecute war crimes and other grave offenses.
(3) At Human Rights First we help expose and resist the threats to democratic institutions and individual rights from extremism and rising authoritarianism.
The anti-democratic movement is comprised of both violent extremist groups and mainstream actors who normalize hate and promote conspiracies. We oppose exclusionary policies and support the rights of immigrants, refugees, religious minorities, the LGBTQI+ community, Black and Brown communities, and other marginalized groups to be free from both institutional and physical threats.
We also confront violent extremists. The White supremacist organization Patriot Front planned and coordinated racially-motivated violence against Charles Murrell III during a coordinated march in Boston in 2022 – expecting to carry it out with impunity. In the face of this violence, Mr. Murrell fought back, demanding justice and accountability in court. We were proud to partner with him in his lawsuit, which shows neo-nazis that we will not let them perpetrate and normalize their hate and violence. They will be brought to justice and held accountable for their actions.
We are acutely aware that we cannot fight this fight alone, but do so with the support of an incredible network of allies – many of whom are represented in the room today. Last year alone we worked together on initiatives with hundreds of civil society organizations, veterans, corporations, NGOs, and concerned individuals, strengthening our collective voice and advocacy. Law firms donated over 100,000 pro bono hours to our work – we are grateful.
Successfully countering the threats would also not be possible without the brave human rights defenders and activists on the front lines who challenge the unjust actions of repressive regimes.
At Human Rights First, we’ve worked in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and elsewhere with human rights defenders to facilitate evacuations and the return of abducted children, protect digital identities, fight corruption, leverage international support, and secure accountability for past crimes. HRF has consistently persevered to demand justice, even when the road to attaining it is a long one.
Many of you joined us in our advocacy to free our colleague Vladimir Kara-Murza, the Russian democracy advocate who was helping to advise Human Rights First at the time he was unjustly imprisoned. I am proud of our efforts–in partnership with others, including the Free Russia Foundation whose president is with us tonight – to press the U.S. and allied governments to advocate for his release and keep Vladimir’s case from being forgotten as he languished in prison. Thankfully, as a result of the recent prisoner swap, after 2.5 years of unjust detention, he is free. HRF will continue to fight for the many human rights defenders and activists unlawfully imprisoned around the world.
At HRF we are also innovating to meet the new challenges of technology and to bring the power of AI to the human rights movement. Our Innovation Lab partners with human rights defenders, advocates, and impacted communities to develop custom technologies tailored to meet their needs. This is a necessity, not an option, in a world where technology relentlessly gathers our data, tracks our biometrics, spreads misinformation, surveils our movements, and threatens our privacy. We must equip the human rights movement with better tools.
We hope you will join us as we work to navigate the new challenges to democratic freedoms presented by technology while ensuring Human Rights First continues to deliver on its core mission of promoting respect for human rights and the rule of law.
Tonight you will hear from advocates and allies who have joined with us to fight for human rights; human rights defenders who have bravely stood up against oppression and injustice: and refugees whose perseverance and strength gives us hope.
I know you will feel as inspired as I am by these courageous individuals.
Thank you.
