Today, in recognition of Human Rights Day, the UN will honor, “human rights defenders who act to end discrimination.” According to the UN:

Human rights defenders speak out against abuse and violations including discrimination, exclusion, oppression and violence. They advocate justice and seek to protect the victims of human rights violations. They demand accountability for perpetrators and transparency in government action.

In the spirit of Human Rights Day, PHR would like to thank of all its members who help us to investigate human rights violations all over the world and advocate for justice, accountability, and the health and dignity of all people. We are fortunate to be supported by the expertise and passion of health professionals and concerned citizens alike, and we thank everyone who takes a stand for human rights.

We draw our inspiration from previous defenders of human rights, such as Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

As we look to 2011, and as PHR continues to advocate for health and human rights nationally and abroad, we thank each of you for your service in the cause of human rights and support for PHR. While we've been able to help some, there are many more that still need protection.

In January, we will release findings from the first randomized survey of rights abuses covering all of Chin State, Burma. From Afghanistan to the United States, we’ll advocate for accountability and transparency. If you would like to learn more about how to get involved with PHR’s work, please visit our website. To learn more about Human Rights Day, visit the UN’s site.

Today, December 10, is International Human Rights Day. This year marks the 62^nd anniversary of the adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the UN, a watershed moment in establishing an international consensus that we are each entitled to certain inalienable human rights.

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.— Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

1. It helped convert a discredited philosophical idea (“natural rights”) into a dominant political ideology
2. It defined a vague colloquialism (“human rights”) in an authoritative code, a triple “decalogue” of thirty articles of fundamental rights.
3. It universalized human rights, promoting a constitutional ideology accepted in a few countries into a standard of constitutionalism for all countries.
4. It internationalized human rights, transforming matters that had been subject to exclusive domestic jurisdiction?— “sovereignty” — into matters of international concern, putting them permanently on the international political agenda, and providing the foundation for a sturdy edifice of international norms and institutions.

This year, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) has chosen the theme “human rights defenders who?act to end discrimination.” ?This theme notes the achievements of human?rights defenders and emphasizes how governments must enable and?protect their role. The Day is also intended to inspire a new generation of defenders to?speak up and take action to end discrimination in all of its forms. Students have a critical role as “human rights defenders,” and I invite you to join the PHR Student Program in defending human rights and demanding justice.(Cross-posted from the PHR Student Program Blog.)

Stanley Weiss’ Op-Ed in the Washington Post on Friday, December 3?laid out the author’s misguided reasoning for ending US sanctions on Burma’s military regime. Ignoring human rights abuses in the country and restricting his discussion to purely economic goals, he advises the United States to reach out to the generals:

“Washington should work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to build capacity in Myanmar — starting with governance training for newly elected leaders and the revival of the financial sector. … Currently, Western sanctions will be lifted only if political benchmarks are met. Those carrots have proved ineffective.? They might be productive, however, if linked to economic concerns such as respect for private property, the lifting of arbitrary restrictions on private business and the creation of a working credit system. … For Western companies eager to enter new markets, it could be a huge opportunity.”? (emphasis added)

Weiss’ argument misses the real issue in Burma: the country is run by a criminal military regime bent on destroying ethnic minorities and political opposition. The “newly elected leaders” whom he urges the US to train are not true representatives of the people but military-aligned individuals who were catapulted into the parliament through an election that was riddled with fraud and designed to perpetuate military rule. Unlike Weiss, the US sees Burma not as a new market to enter but as a country whose people are systematically oppressed and abused by its rulers. Economic engagement with Burma before positive political change in the country violates the US’s moral and legal obligation to end human rights abuses and bring about accountability for these crimes.Sanctions, enacted with the support of recently-released democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, have been a long-standing strategy of the US to delegitimize the regime.? Sanctions are not the cause of Burma’s rampant poverty nor its economic woes. The generals, not US policy, are making Burma poor. A lack of income is no real obstacle for the regime, which has profitable business projects with China and other regional partners. The real problem is how this income is used: income generated through these partnerships is not directed to the people of Burma but instead lines the generals’ pockets and bolsters the immense military. Financing the regime means furthering their vicious campaigns against ethnic minorities and political opponents — acts that include killing, rape, torture, imprisonment, forced labor, and other international crimes.Contrary to Weiss’ assertion, the US is not losing moral high ground by levying sanctions on the regime. I was in Burma two weeks ago when Aung San Suu Kyi was released and spoke with many individuals who expressed their deep appreciation for the US’s support for the Burmese democracy movement. Engaging with the generals, on the other hand, would dissolve the moral standing of the US. Assisting the military government in its business endeavors would make the US complicit in the regime’s unbridled criminality. The US owes victims of the regime’s crimes, all people of Burma, and the international community a thorough commitment to democracy and accountability.

Guardian.co.uk yesterday featured an article by PHR experts?Scott Allen and Allen Keller. The piece details how President Bush’s authorization of waterboarding based on the assessment of medical professionals qualifies as an act of human experimentation. In his recently released memoir, President Bush explained, “No doubt the procedure [waterboarding] was tough, but medical experts assured the CIA that it did no lasting harm.”PHR’s recent report, Experiments in Torture, reveals that the medical supervision described by President Bush involved unethical and illegal human experimentation on detainees in CIA custody — a clear violation of established international laws.Allen and Keller end the article with a call for a comprehensive investigation, appropriate prosecution of responsible parties and clear steps to ensure that this does not happen again.

Yesterday was World AIDS Day, a veritable mixed-bag of acknowledgments and modest accolades contrasted with sobering memorials and hard facts. Observance of this day each year marks a way to acknowledge the advances that HIV/AIDS policy activists and health professionals have made around the world as well as to remember the millions who have died from the disease. Events to observe the day sought to raise awareness of the disease and re-iterated the health challenges that still remain.

For many in the international health community, however, yesterday prompted a more personal and bittersweet reflection because it served as a distressing reminder of the ongoing plight of Arash and Kamiar Alaei. Prior to their arrest by Iranian authorities, these renowned and celebrated physicians made great strides in the field of harm reduction in their service to the intravenous drug-using population in Iran. As the second anniversary of their sentencing approaches in late December, PHR continues to call for the pardon and unconditional release of the Alaei brothers. The arrest of both brothers in June 2008 — based on illegitimate and politically motivated charges — and sentencing in January 2009 are travesties of justice that cannot be overlooked at this important time.

PHR joins international NGOs, academic institutions, and medical leaders from across the globe in renewing the call for Arash and Kamiar’s pardon and unconditional release, respectively. Arash and Kamiar are dedicated champions of human rights and with their arrest the international health community sustained a devastating loss in the struggle to combat HIV/AIDS — a loss that cannot be remedied without the brothers’ unconditional release.

PHR experts Steven Reisner and Brigadier General (Ret) Steven Xanakis, MD will present Spotlight on Advocates: Report from Guantanamo Bay: Medical Professionals and US-Sponsored Torture at the Rabbis for Human Rights-North America's conference on Judaism and Human Rights: Human Rights Under Fire: A Jewish Call to Action.The conference, which is co-sponsored by PHR, is open to all and will bring together leading activists, human rights advocates, scholars, journalists, and Jewish community leaders. The conference will also include a special presentation of the 2010 Raphael Lemkin Human Rights Awards.The conference will be held December 5-7 at 130 East 59th Street, New York, NY. Registration is open, here.

Access to basic medicines can mean the difference between life and death, and is a critical link in realizing the Right to Health. The UN Working Group on Access to Essential Medicines opened its report with the assertion that “The lack of access to life-saving and health-supporting medicines for an estimate 2 billion poor people stands as a direct contradiction to the fundamental principle of health as a human right.”The PHR National Student Program is advocating for better access to essential medicines in resource-poor settings through UNITAID’s new Medicine Patent Pool. Our new National Action Toolkit offers analysis, resources to educate students' communities, and easy advocacy projects. Our week of action spans from World AIDS Day (December 1)?to International Human Rights Day (December 10).As Stephen Marks points out in Access to Essential Medicines as a Component of the Right to Health (pdf), there are many obstacles to making essential medicines available in poor countries: affordable prices; government commitment and policy; adequate, sustainable, and equitable public sector financing; generic substitution; consumer information; efficient distribution; control of taxes; and careful selection and monitoring. These structural gaps are addressed by the WHO Medicines Strategy, but have proven to be nearly intractable in many low-income countries, with some notable and inspiring exceptions.Some countries have attempted to overcome the first gap, affordable prices, by negotiating lower prices or substituting patented drugs with ones obtained through their own production or parallel importation. The pharmaceutical industry challenges the idea that patents cause a lack of access (in part, because not all of the 319 products on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines are patentable). Nevertheless, patents to protect investment in research and development are linked to the high price of certain drugs, notably antiretrovirals (ARVs) to manage HIV/AIDS.As Lisa Foman asserts in ‘Rights’ and Wrongs: What Utility for the Right to Health in Reforming Trade Rules on Medicines, public pressure, legislative advocacy, and legal accountability are more likely to provoke corporate innovation for diseases affecting poor countries than commercial reasons. In other words: the profit motive does not adequately produce public goods like medicines.So, this December, we're encouraging Student Program members to?put these human rights strategies to work by educating their communities about this human rights issue, and asking drug companies to participate in the UNITAID Medicine Patent Pool.The prohibitive cost of providing much needed drugs impedes access. Join the PHR National Student Program in demanding universal access to essential medicines.(Cross-posted from the PHR Student Program Blog.)

PHR members are invited to attend the Boston Initiative to Advance Human Rights’ sex trafficking film forum event at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, MA, from December 2 through December 5. The festival, which is the first of its kind, will screen 12 films, which will be followed by panel discussions with filmmakers, academics, and activists. The film forum will explore the power of film in bringing about a movement to combat commercial sexual exploitation and modern-day slavery. PHR recently blogged about this issue.Additional events include an opening night live performance by Tony award-winning actress and humanitarian Sarah Jones, followed by a cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres by legendary chef Lydia Shire of Scampo, music performance, and a silent auction. On Saturday there will be a book signing with Siddharth Kara, author of Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. Tickets are available for purchase now. Discounted tickets are available for students, seniors, and non-profits. Learn more, including film titles and times, at BITAHR's the official website, and at their Facebook page..

Among the survivors of persecution in this country who deserve a chance to build a better life, few groups are as much in need as victims of sex trafficking. The US government estimates as many as 17,500 people are trafficked into our country every year to be forced into prostitution. It is well documented that trafficked persons are involved in the most exploitative forms of commercial sex operations and are commonly subjected to starvation, confinement, physical beatings, rape, threats of violence, and forced drug use.Despite all of this, in a November 16, 2010 letter [subscription required] to Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Tom Coburn declared his opposition to a bill that would combat sex trafficking of children and provide for the needs of rescued victims. His concern? The bill, which authorizes $45 million in grants, proposes no offsetting spending cuts.Senator Coburn, however, had no such concerns on October 21, 2010 when he joined with the Senate Judiciary Committee’s other Republican members to request information from the Secretary of Homeland Security about how much it would cost to deport every undocumented immigrant in the United States. The Center for American Progress has estimated that it would cost a staggering $285 billion to find, apprehend, detain, legally process, and transport the almost 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.This prioritization of policy goals and the numbers behind it just don’t add up. Cost of mass deportations, which Senator Coburn clearly supports: $285 Billion. Cost of providing modest assistance to victims of one of the worst human rights abuses ever committed: $45 Million.What makes this stunning inhumanity all the more surprising is that Senator Coburn is also a doctor who, while in practice, specialized in family medicine and obstetrics. Senator Coburn often highlights the fact that he has delivered more than 4,000 babies in his career, and that he is committed to continuing to care for patients even while serving as a legislator. His recent actions, however, violate his most fundamental duty as a health professional: first, do no harm.Is conducting an overwhelming and massive deportation initiative really worth greater consideration — and more than 6,300 times more money — than healing survivors of human trafficking? Please consider reaching out to your Senators to send the message that health professionals do support giving care and assistance to survivors of sex trafficking. Take action here to ask them to pass the bill that Senator Coburn has criticized, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010, bill S. 2925.?You can learn more about this bill here.

In the newspapers, we read wrenching stories about suffering in faraway places such as Sudan, Rwanda, Congo, and Myanmar; through this work, these stories have become real to me. Evaluating these immigrants has provided me with an international education…I discovered a new dimension of myself as a physician.— Dr. Katalin Roth, PHR Asylum Network Member

A moving account of the impact that documenting torture survivors’ experiences has had on one physician has been published in the July 2010 edition of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Dr. Katalin Roth, a longtime member of PHR’s Asylum Network, shares several clients’ stories and her own journey as their advocate in her article Giving Refuge: Reflections on Working with Asylum Seekers.Dr. Roth’s piece hits upon the most central and important benefits of helping asylum seekers gain safe haven in our country. Health professionals who do this work receive not only an education in international politics, culture, and the skills necessary to treat successfully survivors of trauma; they also carry the knowledge that their investigation and testimony directly and literally save livesMembers of PHR's Asylum Network help to heal suffering immigrants every day, and we are always seeking new volunteers. At present, our colleagues are protecting many thousands of vulnerable people from further harm by performing forensic examinations of individuals seeking human rights protections. They also work with government officials, Congress, and other non-profit advocates to secure policies that put health and safety within reach of at-risk newcomers.Dr. Roth’s excellent article can be downloaded here — pdf (used with permission). You can join her in the ranks of PHR’s Asylum Network by contacting Kelly Holz, Asylum Network Coordinator, at kholz [at] phrusa [dot] org or 617-301-4248.