March 31, 2010

Human rights supporters stopped to sign the petition in the Grand Central subway station.

The New York Chapter of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) began its part of a worldwide petition drive in Times Square and at Grand Central Subway Station on March 26th in honor or the International Day for the Elimination of Discrimination, to tackle the problem of discrimination.

In focusing on Article 2 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which states that "everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion or social origin, property, birth or other status,"

YHRI New York has gathered together youth of Russian, Indian, and US descent to get support for broad support for education on Human Rights. They are working with other like-minded groups including the Church of Scientology of Harlem.

They are also joined by other YHRI Chapters in more than 42 cities around the world, from Durban, South Africa to Toronto, Canada to Washington DC and Athens, Greece. They are all doing petition drives with the same message, that the Universal Declaration must be widely taught and known if we have hope of truly eliminating discrimination.

The International Day for the Elimination of Discrimination was created after the 1966 South African Sharpeville Massacre when police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration killing 69 people who were opposing the discrimination instilled by the apartheid laws.

Now, 44 years later, discrimination is still a hot topic, not just in Third World countries, but in cities like York area. "People are still regularly treated badly because of their skin color or their country of origin. It's no secret, but it is not necessary, and we are doing events globally to raise awareness on this important issue," said Verlene Cheesboro, of the Harlem Church of Scientology.

YHRI's purpose is to teach young people about human rights so they become advocates for tolerance and peace. YHRI believes that through the education of young people about human rights, issues such as discrimination can be eliminated.

Visit http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/, for more details.

Church of Scientology New York