Church of Scientology Counters Racism with Petition Drive

Youth for Human Rights volunteers promote human rights education on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

In commemoration of the International Day for the of Elimination of Racial Discrimination, young volunteers from Youth for Human Rights Brussels held a human rights petition drive on a cold and blustery day in the Louise shopping district in the heart of Brussels, Belgium. The Youth for Human Rights initiative is supported by the Brussels Branch of the Churches of Scientology for Europe.

The Youth for Human Rights petition calls on governments and the private sector to see to mandatory education on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the world’s premier human rights document.

The preamble to the UDRH states that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” and directs “that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms….”

The volunteers also distributed copies of the booklets The Story of Human Rights, which provides a basic overview of the history of human rights, and What Are Human Rights? which provides a simplified version of the UDHR.

Youth for Human Rights International is a secular nonprofit organization whose purpose is to inspire youth to become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace through education in the UDHR.

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 UDHR.

The Church of Scientology published Scientology: How We Help—United for Human Rights, Making Human Rights a Global Reality, to meet requests for more information about the human rights education and awareness initiative the Church supports. To learn more, visit Scientology.org/HumanRights.

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream,” and the Scientology religion is based on the principles of human rights. The Code of a Scientologist calls on all members of the religion to dedicate themselves “to support true humanitarian endeavors in the fields of human rights.”