A Crisis of Human Dignity: From the Promises of 1948 to the Realities of 2025
Seventy-seven years have passed since a war-weary world adopted the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” promising a future free from fear and want. Yet today, in December 2025, we “commemorate” this day while witnessing that Declaration reduced to a bitter joke, a shredded piece of paper crushed under the boots of modern colonialism. Although the Declaration affirms that all individuals are entitled to fundamental rights without discrimination, the reality in 2025 reveals a world where escalating conflicts and political repression threaten these universal principles. What we witness today is not “Human Rights,” but the “Rights of the Powerful” to slaughter humanity. Over the past year, the masks have fallen completely, revealing the true, outrageous face of the so-called “Liberal International Order.”
Over the past year, the United States has proven yet again that it wields ‘Freedom’ and ‘Democracy’ not as principles, but as tools for extortion. By fabricating the deceptive term “Rules-Based International Order,” the U.S. has effectively taken “International Law” hostage. In this order, Washington dictates the “rules,” and anyone who disobeys is criminalized.
The imposition and intensification of Unilateral Coercive Measures (sanctions) against independent nations is a textbook example of a crime against humanity. As illustrated by the situation in Iran, these wide-ranging unilateral sanctions have increasingly functioned as an additional mechanism to exacerbate human rights concerns. These measures have restricted the population’s access to essential goods, including life-saving medicines, and have contributed to deteriorating livelihoods, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups. Together with threats to national sovereignty, these economic restrictions erode the enabling environment required for advancing civil, economic, and social rights.
Genocide in Gaza and Regional Destabilization
While the United States has acted as the architect of this destruction, Israel has been its principal executor in the region. Israel has pushed the boundaries of barbarity into the abyss. We are no longer confronting mere “human-rights violations”—we are confronting “human extermination.” Israel’s dark record over the past year is a stain that nothing can wash away:
- Trampling the UN Charter: A flagrant violation of Iran’s national sovereignty and brutal aggressions that resulted in the tragic loss of over a thousand lives.
- systematic Genocide in Gaza: Turning the coastal Gaza strip into the world’s largest open-air graveyard for children. The situation illustrates the devastating consequences of the obstruction of humanitarian access. According to the UN human rights office, more than 1,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed by Israeli forces since May while attempting to obtain aid near distribution sites managed by an American contractor.[1] Israeli strikes killing an additional 25 people have further intensified food insecurity in a territory already facing the risk of famine due to blockades and continuous military operations.[2] The World Food Programme reports that most families cannot afford adequate food and, amid severe fuel shortages, resort to unsafe methods for cooking.[3]
- Regional Escalation: In Lebanon, we witness the indiscriminate bombardment of Dahiyeh and the South, replicating the Gaza scenario on the Mediterranean. Expanding the aggression to Yemen’s ports, targeting Syria’s infrastructure, and pursuing destabilizing actions against Qatar demonstrate that this entity’s appetite is Boundless.
Global Interference: From the Amazon to the Arctic
This breakdown of international order is not limited to West Asia; it is a global pattern of foreign interference that undermines democratic autonomy.
- Latin America: Similarly, political destabilization in Latin America has raised alarms. External interference in Venezuela continues to raise serious human rights concerns, particularly as actions attributed to the United States have been linked to efforts that risk destabilizing the country and worsening civilian suffering. According to recent reporting, such interventions have heightened fears of violence, placed already vulnerable populations at greater risk, and further restricted their access to essential services. In a region where many communities struggle daily for dignity, stability, and the ability to participate freely in political life, any measures that contribute to unrest directly undermine the human rights of Venezuelans and weaken their ability to shape their political future without fear or coercion. [4]
- The Arctic: In the Arctic region, Greenland is confronting its own challenges to democratic autonomy. Denmark’s decision to summon the US envoy following reports of covert influence operations by private US citizens highlights the vulnerability of small and autonomous communities to external political manipulation. For the people of Greenland—who continue striving to preserve their cultural identity, democratic voice, and right to self-governance—such interference is not merely a geopolitical issue but a direct threat to their capacity to shape their society independently. Protecting Indigenous and smaller populations from undue foreign pressure is essential to safeguarding their political and cultural rights.[5]
Conclusion and Call to Action
The serial withdrawal from international agreements has proven that Washington’s signature holds no validity. The shameful use of the Veto power at the UN Security Council has transformed the U.S. from an “observer” into a “direct accomplice” in genocide. As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has warned, we are facing a systemic global breakdown, driven by impunity, discrimination, misogyny, and restrictions on reproductive rights, poses a profound challenge to international peace and justice.[6]
To confront this reality, mere reflection is insufficient. The international community must adopt the following urgent measures:
- Condemn Unilateral Sanctions: The international community should unequivocally condemn the use of broad unilateral sanctions that restrict access to essential goods, such as medicines, as these measures disproportionately harm civilians.
- Enforce Humanitarian Access: States must ensure the safe, timely, and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance in conflict zones like Gaza and hold accountable those responsible for attacks against aid workers and civilians.
- Halt Foreign Interference: States must refrain from actions that exacerbate crises, including military interventions and covert operations that undermine the sovereignty of nations from Venezuela to Greenland.
- Independent Accountability: Independent experts must systematically assess and publicly report on the human rights impacts of foreign interference and military operations, ensuring that the “Rights of the Powerful” do not supersede the rights of humanity.
We, the undersigned organizations, declare that the West’s “Double Standards” have lost all credibility. Today, silence in the face of these atrocities is no longer “neutrality”; it is “complicity.” We call upon all organizations of the world, awakened consciences, and independent nations to stand in a united front against this modern Apartheid and its sponsors. History will judge us not by what we said, but by what we did—or failed to do—in the face of this barbarism.
- Peivande Gole Narges Organization
- Imam Ali Charity Institution
- International Farda Development Activists Association
- AbsharAtefehaInternational Charity
- Iranian Thalassemia Society
- Iran Autism Association
- Jameh Ehyagaran Teb Sonnati Va Salamat Iranian
- Maryam ghasemi educational charity institute
- Society of Iranian Women Advocating Sustainable Development of Environment
- Family Health Association of Iran
- The society for recovery support
- Hazrat-e Fatemeh Zahra Charity Institute
- The Association of Citizens Civil Rights Protection “Manshour-e Parseh”
- Islamic Research and Information Center (IRIC)
- Omid Charity Organisation
[1] AP, “Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 aid-seekers in Gaza since May, UN body says” (22 July 2025) [https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-war-palestinians-07-22-2025-8eb90d73c1b7499d3dbc8b8d95da65cc] (https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-war-palestinians-07-22-2025-8eb90d73c1b7499d3dbc8b8d95da65cc) accessed 2 December 2025.
[2] Jason Burke, ‘Rebuilding “human-made abyss” in Gaza will cost at least $70bn, UN says’ The Guardian (London, 25 November 2025) [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/25/rebuilding-human-made-abyss-gaza-un] (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/25/rebuilding-human-made-abyss-gaza-un) accessed 2 December 2025.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Reuters, ‘Cuba accuses US of seeking violent overthrow of Venezuelan government’ (25 November 2025).
[5] Miranda Bryant, ‘Denmark summons US diplomat over alleged Greenland influence campaign’ The Guardian (27 August 2025) [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/27/denmark-summons-us-diplomat-over-alleged-greenland-influence-campaign] (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/27/denmark-summons-us-diplomat-over-alleged-greenland-influence-campaign) accessed 2 December 2025.
[6] Universal Rights Group, Report on the 58th session of the Human Rights Council (online, 2025),[https://www.universal-rights.org/report-on-the-58th-session-of-the-human-rights-council/](https://www.universal-rights.org/report-on-the-58th-session-of-the-human-rights-council/) accessed 3 December 2025.
