Youth Group Promotes Human Rights Amid Rising Tensions in Germany

Press Release • Jan 14, 2016

Volunteers generate widespread interest at their Human Rights booth in the heart of Munich.

Munich, Germany, January 14, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Despite rising tensions over Germany’s immigration and refugee policies, Youth for Human Rights volunteers found tremendous support from Germans embracing basic human rights and tolerance at an annual Human Rights event held in Munich.

Some 40 volunteers manned a booth to answer questions and educate people on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). People could sign a petition in support of full implementation of the UDHR while receiving copies of their booklets and DVDs on the subject. Next to the booth was a stage with a banner stating, “Lift your voice. For your rights. For your freedom.” Throughout the afternoon volunteers provided entertainment while presenting their views on human rights.

"It is vital that people understand the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It provides the perspective we need to deal effectively with this crisis and the problems it creates."

With more than 1 million immigrants and refugees entering the country in the last year alone, Germany faces many complex human rights issues. “It is vital that people understand the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said one of the event organizers. “It provides the perspective we need to deal effectively with this crisis and the problems it creates.”

“The United Nations came up with the answer. An absence of human rights stained the hands of governments and threatened their rules. Very few governments have implemented any part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These governments have not grasped that their very survival depends utterly upon adopting such reforms and thus giving their peoples a cause, a civilization worth supporting, worth their patriotism.”

Inspired by Mr. Hubbard’s words that “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream,” Scientologists support what has become the world’s largest nongovernmental human rights education initiative. In 1998, the Church launched the European Journey for Religious Freedom, an eight-country marathon that took the human rights message to millions. The annual marathon expanded to a 4000-km “multathlon” across Europe and subsequently in the United States.

The Church and its members now support the secular grass-roots educational programs of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) and United for Human Rights (UHR). YHRI, founded in 2001, teaches youth about human rights and inspires them to become advocates for tolerance and peace. Founded in 2008, on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration, UHR unites individuals, organizations and governments in raising awareness of and respect for human rights at all levels of society.

Scientologists on five continents engage in collaborative efforts with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to bring about broad-scale awareness and implementation of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world’s premier human rights document.