The International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims 2023: All you need to know

Every year on March 24, the United Nations commemorates the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero was an El Salvadoran civil rights activist who was assassinated in 1980. The United Nations hopes that people everywhere will use this day to advocate for truth and justice on behalf of all those who have been harmed by human rights abuses.

The International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims 2023 Date

To honor Romero’s legacy and rally more people behind the battle for truth, the United Nations proclaimed March 24 as the International Day for the Right to the Truth.

A Historical Perspective

Santa scar Romero was born in El Salvador in 1917, and he entered the seminary at the young age of 13. After completing his education in Rome, Romero returned to El Salvador in 1943 and started a lengthy, conservative career that led to his appointment as Archbishop of San Salvador in 1977. The more liberal clergy were concerned that his reputation for conservatism would lead him to support government programs that hurt the poor.

When Romero’s friend and colleague priest Rutilio Grande was murdered for his work organizing impoverished people into self-reliance organizations, he started speaking out against the military administration. After receiving death threats from the government, he devoted the rest of his life to fighting for El Salvador’s underprivileged. Nonetheless, Romero persisted, eventually becoming a household name because of his outspokenness.

Romero was killed while celebrating Mass in a chapel at Hospital de la Divina Providencia on March 24, 1980. Investigators investigating his death came to the conclusion that members of a pro-government right-wing political group were responsible for ordering his murder. However, his killers were never brought to justice or even identified.

Why is this day important?

• Forcing governments, society, and individuals to face realities they’d prefer to ignore has profound implications. Access to the truth paves the way for justice to be served, although gradually.
• Prevents further breaches of human rights. A human rights monitoring system discourages individuals who would commit abuses without thinking about the potential repercussions.
• Past realities are being uncovered. Not only will we uphold what we already know to be true about human rights and the people in our lives, but we will also work to discover what may yet remain buried from the past.

How to celebrate this day of Truth?

• Learn about your human rights and the liberties to which you are entitled. Help others by including them in your endeavors and the dissemination of this information.
• Examine a wide range of international events. The United Nations organizes several events across the world to celebrate this day. In addition, they have urged member states to observe the day, too, so you may be able to find a local event commemorating International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Violations of Human Rights and for the Dignity of Victims if you look for one.
• Consider the work of those who fight for human rights. Saint Romero is a good place to begin, and you may go on to other activists and Rosa Parks. Documentaries, videos, novels, and biographies are all excellent resources for learning more about a topic.

Some Facts about the HIstory of this Day of Truth

• Seventy-three percent of the rural population and forty-seven percent of the urban population routinely tuned in to hear his radio sermons broadcast on the church’s radio station YSAX.Other priests described the funeral as the “biggest rally in Salvadoran and Latin American history,” and almost 250,000 people showed up there.
• First priest-made movie in Hollywood. The Roman Catholic Paulist Fathers established “Paulist Productions” in 1989, and their first picture in Hollywood was “Romero,” which they also produced.
• Saint Romero is revered by many Christian communities in Latin America, and some even consider him to be the region’s “patron saint” (though this is technically not the case).
• Over England, is a statue of Romero, one of the 20th-century martyrs installed in front of Queen Elizabeth II in 1998.

FAQs

Q. Should people be given the chance to know the truth?

Ans. One’s right to know the whole truth includes understanding how, when, where, why, and by whom a violation occurred.

Q. Why should People have access to the information?

Ans. Emerging as a legal concept the “right to the truth” refers to the state’s duty to disclose information to victims, relatives, and the general public regarding the context of grave human rights abuses.

Q. Human rights are infringed in what ways?

Ans. Genocide, murder, and arbitrary detention are all violations of people’s civil and political liberties. The intersection of a human rights violation with a breach of the rules of armed conflict is what is known as a war crime, and it is all too common during times of conflict.