The UN Human Rights Declaration turns 75 today

Discuss problems and improvements as part of the celebrations

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Jan Oberg

December 10, 2023

I was asked by American-French Michèle de Gastyne, who runs Musique Universelle Arc-En-Ciel in Paris, to do a short video about human rights for a seminar she also organises on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Declaration.

Michèle works with a strong inspiration from the Japan-based lay Buddhist organisation, Soka-Gakkai and in the spirit of President Daisaku Ikeda, who has also been a TFF Associate since 1995.

Daisaku Ikeda (1928-2023) was a Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, educator, author and poet who dedicated his life to promoting peace through dialogue and spearheaded the development of the Soka Gakkai as a community-based Buddhist organization of over 12 million members worldwide. Mr. Ikeda passed away peacefully on November 15, 2023, at the age of 95.

I accepted this invitation with honour but also with a particular joy because or our mutual relationship with Soka-Gakkai in general and Ikeda-Sensei in particular. My wife, Christina Spannar, and I had a long conversation with Ikeda-Sensei in 1995; Soka University made me an honorary doctor, and we have kept in touch with Soka Gakkai friends ever since.

Read more of our conversation with Ikeda-Sensei here on Michèle’s very rich homepage, “Inspired by Humanistic Soka Education Philosophy”.

And now the lecture for this important day – tragically to pass while the Gaza Genocide, the biggest crime in the West since 1945 unfolds with the full support of the US/NATO/EU world. See the transcript here.

What I’m trying to convey is that there are problems with the word ‘human’ as well as the word ‘right’ and that human rights must be enriched with some kind of global ethics because the old Christian neighbourhood ethics is no longer sufficient or relevant.

I’m always happy for whatever comments you may have below.