Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day (SA) commemorates the "Sharpeville Massacre" on 21 March 1960. A large group of people took part in a campaign to resist unjust apartheid laws which forced all black people to carry Pass Books. Failure to produce the book on demand by police was a punishable offence. Campaigners gathered at police stations in townships near Johannesburg where they were dispersed by police. At the Sharpeville Police Station a scuffle broke out. Part of a wire fence was trampled, allowing the crowd to move forward. The police opened fire, apparently without having been given an order to do so. Sixty-nine people were killed and 180 wounded. Human Rights Day is a reminder of how undemocratic systems of government and abuse of authority can lead to injustice, oppression and violence. As citizens of a democratic country, we must ensure that basic human rights are never eroded. The United Nations (of which South Africa is a member state) emphasises that human rights are for all people, regardless of race, colour, gender, language, political opinion, sexual orientation, national origin, property, birth, health or other status. This means that everyone is entitled to human rights without discrimination of any kind. The South African Constitution states that one of our basic human rights is access to a clean and healthy environment. As responsible citizens, we need to ensure that these rights are respected by finding ways, no matter how small, to improve the quality of people's lives.