July 27, 2005

NEW YORK – Youth for Human Rights, a youth program of the Church of Scientology, has invited other youth from the New York area to speak at a multi-faith conference on "Human Rights Education: Problems and Solutions," on August 29th.

"Even in this country, youth and even parents don't know about the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," said Ms. Hannah Mets, the 13-year-old New York youth spokesperson for the group. "With true human rights education, people can demand and protect their human rights. And more important, it helps individuals respect each other, and promote real peace."

An award-winning short film, UNITED, will be used to set the tone of the conference, says Barbara Carmichael, Youth for Human Rights coordinator for the Tri-State area. The movie, filmed largely on a round-the-world tour to promote the Universal Declaration, urges youth to know their human rights, and respect those of others. The film even targets a lack of human rights education as the source of much of misery and mayhem currently at large in the world.

"Ignorance about human rights and the lack of respect for individuals, is a daily disaster," says Carmichael. "We are asking young people from all five boroughs to come to a conference and share their personal experience of human rights violations they may have seen, and answer this question: What happens when human rights are not respected, and how can education in human rights help?"

Anyone 13-19 years old can send in their story, to Spiritofny@aol.com, or by mail to YFHR at the Church of Scientology, 227 West 46th Street, NY, NY 10036. Every young person sending an entry will receive a copy of the UNITED film on DVD, and six of them will be asked to join with a panel of religious leaders – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Scientologist and others – in a public discussion on human rights education, on August 29th.

For further information on Youth for Human Rights and UNITED, see http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/.

Church of Scientology New York