„All humans are born free and equal in dignity.“

Thus, it is stated in the first article of the Charter of Human Rights proclaimed on December 10, 1948 at the General Assembly of the United Nations. These were certainly shaped by the experiences of the Second World War and the desire to never have to experience such things again. How far you have come with it, you can see already that so many armed conflicts in the world rage, as never before. But even outside such crisis areas, human rights are not necessarily upheld. However, that does not mean that you can safely leave human rights aside, but to hold them higher than admonition and vision, because without goals, we will go nowhere.

Since 1998, this day of human rights has been extended to that of animal rights. In this area, the situation is even more precarious, because in the so-called livestock industry are still 60,000,000 living, sentient beings martyred, maltreated, abused and painfully killed, in addition to all the other practices of animal suffering for reasons such as pleasure in suffering or so-called tradition. On several occasions, legislation aims to improve the situation of the animals, but these are usually minimal and their compliance is virtually uncontrolled. Hardly a person would openly admit that he has no problem with animal suffering. Moreover, most of them even claim that they love animals and never harm them. On the one hand, this kind of animal love ends with the animals, which are called pets, with all the others left out, and on the other hand you would not put your own knife on the other hand, but have no problem leaving others to do it. Looking at this situation soberly, this type of speciesistic behavior is reminiscent of a schizophrenic disorder. Far from it, it is considered completely normal in our society. The normality manifests itself in denial, contradiction between word and deed, but also in the view that it is so common in our society and one can do nothing else. No rights are trampled on like our nonhuman fellow creatures, and that is precisely why it is necessary to put more emphasis on the cognitive dissonance between what we do and what we say. until it permeates the layers of tradition, habit, and other dubious models of explanation, and finally leads to recognition:

„Every living being is born free and equal in dignity.“
Not that this would change anything fundamentally, that the abuse and the absurd reification of living, sentient beings, could be eliminated from the world, because that did not cause the Charter of Human Rights. However, the challenging nature of such a charter should not be overlooked, because only when the world community agrees on a basic consensus of work, there is something like a directional arrow of ethical behavior that can be referred to and that points out of itself. Just because life is not protected does not mean that we cannot stop claiming this protection of life. As a reminder and a promise, it would finally be necessary to leave speciesism behind us and to base the Charter of Human Rights on one of the rights of life, whereby human rights can be seen as a specific form for a particular species. Nothing prevents us from protecting life except our own bias and ignorance and still-held ignorance. It is important to open your eyes to all the incredible suffering that is done to our fellow creatures day by day. Mostly it happens in secret. It is important to ensure that every violation of the right to life is condemned as ethically as it is now in the case of human rights. And most of all, it is possible, we have the freedom to protect lives and to get rid of the abuse. It is then no longer necessary to hide behind threadbare excuses to maintain the self-image of a „good“ person just by doing it. The attempt of a Charter of Life Rights includes minimum requirements. It would be a good start though. Life is a value in itself and must not be questioned by anything.

The following compilation of basic rights can be seen as a catalog of minimal requirements without any claim to completeness:

Article I: Subject Status
Every living thing has its own life and cannot be owned by anyone else. Consequently, every living being must be regarded as the subject of his own life and must not be made an object.

Article II: Prohibition of DiscriminationEvery living being is entitled to the rights and freedoms proclaimed in this statement without any distinctions of belonging to a species.

Article III: Right to Life and LibertyEvery living being has the right to life, freedom and security of the person.

Article IV: Prohibition of Slavery and the Slave TradeNo living being may be kept in slavery or serfdom. Slavery and the slave trade are prohibited in all forms.

Article V: Prohibition of TortureNo creature may be subjected to torture or cruel, hostile or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article VI: Recognition as a legal EntityEvery living being is entitled to recognition as a legal entity everywhere.

Article VII: Equality before the LawAll living beings are equal before the law and are entitled without any difference to equal protection by the law. Everyone is entitled to equal protection against discrimination contrary to this declaration and any incitement to such discrimination.

Article VIII: Right to legal ProtectionEvery living being is entitled to effective legal protection before the competent national courts, against all acts that violate his fundamental rights, which are his or her own right under the Constitution or the law.

Article IX: Protection against Arrest and ExpulsionNo living being may be arbitrarily arrested or detained.

Article X: Freedom of the IndividualNo living being may be subjected to arbitrary interference with his private life, his family or his home. Every living being is entitled to legal protection against such interventions.

Article XI: Design RuleNothing in this Statement may be construed to confer on any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or action which is directed to the destruction of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Statement.