Human rights then and now — Keynote speech at the 2026 Juri Schmidt Conference

We first met him when he was coordi­nating the defense of Mikhail Khodor­kovsky after Mikhail had been arrested and charged as an opponent of Putin.

What would Juri Markovich say today, now that the begin­nings of democracy in Russia have been completely trampled and replaced by a new author­i­tarian regime? Well, I suppose he would do what he always did: defend those who stand up for human rights.

If I may, I would like to briefly outline the very concept of human rights in honor of Yuri Markovich. It is built on the belief that all individuals inher­ently possess funda­mental rights and freedoms by virtue of being human. This idea has evolved over thousands of years.

Ancient civiliza­tions, such as the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the Athenian democracy, and Roman natural law, already recog­nized certain rights and respon­si­bil­ities, laying early groundwork.

Various religious philoso­phies empha­sized the dignity of human beings. This funda­mental idea is based on the belief that all people are children of God and therefore incor­porate something divine. Strictly speaking, anyone who despises and mistreats other humans is committing blasphemy

The 17th and 18th centuries saw the rise of Enlight­enment. Thinkers like John Locke argued for indis­pensable natural rights, equality before the law and the concept of citizenship. These ideas fueled the American Revolution (1776) and the French Revolution (1789), which empha­sized individual liberties.

The first codified set of funda­mental rights was the famous British Magna Carta in 1215, which stated limita­tions on royal power and empha­sized legal rights.

In 1776, the American Decla­ration of Indepen­dence asserted the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It was followed by The Decla­ration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted during the French Revolution in 1789. It is still the funda­mental document that outlines core principles of human rights and civil liberties. Let’s briefly recall them:

1. Human Rights are universal: The decla­ration asserts that all men are born free and equal in rights, empha­sizing that these rights are inherent and universal.
2. The concept of Natural Rights: It recog­nizes certain indis­pensable rights, such as liberty, property, security, and resis­tance to oppression, as funda­mental to human dignity.
3. Sover­eignty of the People: The decla­ration estab­lishes that the source of all political power resides in the people, asserting their right to govern themselves.
4. Equality Before the Law: It states that all citizens are entitled to equal protection under the law and must be treated equally, without discrimination.
5. Freedom of Thought and Expression: The decla­ration affirms the rights to freedom of speech, religion, and the press, under­lining the impor­tance of individual liberties.
6. The Right to a Fair Trial: It empha­sizes the right to a fair trial and due process, ensuring that justice is admin­is­tered fairly and impartially.
7. The principle of Public Account­ability: The decla­ration stipu­lates that public officials are accountable to the citizens and must act in accor­dance with the general will.
8. The Basic Right to Property: It recog­nizes property as a natural right, stating that property is an invio­lable and sacred right.
9. The Right of Resis­tance to Oppression: The decla­ration endorses the right of citizens to resist oppression and tyranny, affirming the impor­tance of individual agency in the face of injustice.
10. And finally the principle of Legislative Authority: It states that laws must express the general will and that all citizens have the right to partic­ipate in the legislative process either personally or through representatives.These principles laid the groundwork for the modern concept of individual as well as collective human rights.

In the 19th and 20th Century the abolition of slavery, the women’s struggle for equality and the workers movement expanded the scope of equal rights to those who previ­ously had been excluded.

The aftermath of World War II prompted the global recog­nition of human rights, at least on paper. They were enshrined in the Universal Decla­ration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the newly estab­lished United Nations. This landmark document outlines rights and freedoms applicable to all people, empha­sizing dignity, equality, and the principle of non-discrimination.

In 1966, the decla­ration was extended by the Covenants on Civil and Political Rights & Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, detailing oblig­a­tions of states in fulfilling these rights.

Since then, the concept of human rights continues to evolve, with movements addressing issues like racial equality, gender rights, LGBTQ rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples.

Human rights are not a static set of rules; they continue to evolve under the influence of new cultural, social, and political ideas and movements.

That is the success story. But we all know that democ­ratic progress has never been a linear process. Histor­i­cally, there have been severe setbacks, repeated periods of repression, and there have always been conflicting trends.

The enforcement of inter­na­tional law ultimately depends on the good or bad will of states. This also applies to efforts to establish transna­tional juris­diction, which, too, relies on the willingness of nation-states to cooperate. Although human rights are formally recog­nized by almost all states, author­i­tarian powers interpret them in a way that effec­tively perverts them.

Today, we are once again facing an era of anti-liberal trends. Globally, the number of stable democ­racies is declining. Author­i­tarian regimes are on the rise. China is emerging as a new world power. Dark times prevail in Russia, exacer­bated by the brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, an endless stream of all kinds of human rights viola­tions: Massacres of civilians, torture, the abduction of children, the targeted bombing of residential areas, and the systematic destruction of Ukraine’s livelihoods.

At the same time, the Iranian regime has massacred tens of thousands of people who took to the streets to demand freedom and human rights. In many places, violence against civilians, torture and forced displacement are once again widespread practices.

Even In many democ­ratic countries, anti-liberal senti­ments are on the rise. Under President Trump, the U.S. is turning against the liberal order it has defended for so long. Democ­ratic parties and insti­tu­tions are losing public trust. New digital media have become sources of disin­for­mation and political radicalization.

Global refugee movements are increasing, while at the same time the rights of refugees are being increas­ingly restricted. We can observe this in Germany as well. Polit­i­cally perse­cuted men and women face increasing diffi­culty in finding a safe haven. And even those already living in exile are threatened by the long arm of the Kremlin and other author­i­tarian regimes.

All these trends make this conference even more important. Human rights defenders must unite across borders. This applies to civil society as well as to democ­ratic govern­ments. We have to build a global alliance of democ­racies. We must become more resilient—militarily, econom­i­cally, and polit­i­cally. And we must not succumb to pessimism but should keep confident that freedom and human rights will ultimately prevail over oppression and violence.

Thank you very much for your attention!