PUBLIC STATEMENT
On Human Rights Day 2025, we stand at a turning point. Across the world, the promise of universal rights is under assault — from battlefields, from propaganda networks, from international and domestic pressures, and from the rising tide of authoritarianism that feeds on fear, hatred, and disinformation. Today is not a day for ritual commemoration or ceremonial declarations. It is a call to defend freedom, protect truth, and shape a future without fear, without authoritarianism, and without wars of aggression.
Nowhere is this struggle more visible than in Ukraine, where people continue to fight — with extraordinary courage and dignity — against Russia’s genocidal war of aggression. Their resistance is not only for territory. It is a fight for the right to exist, to speak their language, to decide their future, to live free. Our solidarity with Ukraine is not optional; it is a moral, human, and democratic obligation.
Ukraine’s struggle is not only a national struggle — it is the frontline of the global fight for democracy and freedom. The values under attack in Ukraine are the values that define the free world: human dignity, democratic pluralism, and the right of every nation to choose its own path. The future of Ukraine is inseparable from the future of Europe. If Ukraine stands, Europe stands. If Ukraine falls, the door opens to a dark world shaped by aggression, impunity, and authoritarian expansion. That is why supporting Ukraine is not an act of charity; it is an act of collective self-defense for every democracy that refuses to surrender to tyranny.
At the same time, the world witnesses the genocide in Gaza, where entire families, communities, and generations are being wiped out in front of our eyes. Human rights are indivisible, and silence in the face of mass atrocity is complicity. Every civilian life must be protected. Every government must be held accountable. Every human being deserves dignity.
Across continents, authoritarian regimes and movements are gaining ground — exploiting crises, weaponizing identity, corrupting institutions, and using technology to manipulate public opinion and suppress dissent.
Against this reality, our message is clear: Defend freedom. Protect truth. Shape the future.
Human rights do not survive on goodwill or declarations. They survive because people, institutions, and communities choose to defend them — openly, consistently, and courageously. They survive because we refuse to allow propaganda to replace facts, hatred to replace solidarity, or repression to replace justice.
On Human Rights Day, we must state clearly and remember: when democracy is under attack, silence is complicity.
Today we reaffirm a simple truth: Democracy survives only when it is actively defended.
Let this Human Rights Day be more than remembrance. Let it be a commitment — to every community and individual resisting oppression, and to all who stand on the front lines of truth and freedom. Our task is not only to witness reality, but to shape it — through courage, solidarity, and action.
Truth. Action. Democracy.
CIVIL – Center for Freedom