Human Rights Day Candlelight Vigil: Respect the Human Rights of the Palestinian People.

SACRAMENTO, CA - Sacramento Area Peace Action held their annual Human Rights Day candlelight vigil on Thursday, Dec. 14, from 5 to 6 p.m. at the corners of 16th and J streets in Sacramento.

This year the group celebrated the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They also demanded that the US government respect the human rights of the Palestinian people.

Co-sponsors of the event included ANSWER, Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace, Sacramento Action for Latin America, Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

“As we prepare to celebrate Christmas this year, the Holy Land is bathed in blood," said Mario Galvan, Board Member of Sacramento Area Peace Action. "A modern ‘Slaughter of the Innocents’ is revealing, yet again, that the human race still hasn't learned to live together in harmony, accepting our diversities of language, race and religion. But the dream of a peaceful world is still alive; a candle of hope still burns in countless hearts."

“Seventy-five years ago, at the end of the two most brutal wars in human history, that took at least 120 million lives, the survivors tried to ensure that it would never happen again. They created an institution for the prevention of war, the United Nations, which produced a document that provides a path to peace: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Tragically, many governments have since put both the United Nations and its Universal Declaration aside. They put their faith in military alliances, and their perpetual wars have the world bleeding in many places,” he explained.

“We the people, if we really are a democracy, must turn our governments away from the path of war. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be our guiding light. We must reclaim it, proclaim it, and call for its enforcement at all levels of society. With our governments drunk with power, the real changes we need have to come from ourselves. We need to reclaim our humanity and our sanity, and come together in the quest for peace. It has to start with us,” Galvan concluded.

The event was covered by TV stations Channel 3, Channel 13 and Channel 19.

All photos by Dan Bacher.