New Coalition Announced at Human Rights Day Event at the Church of Scientology of London

December 19, 2006

	The formation of the new coalition was announced at a Human Rights Day commemoration event, hosted at the new Scientology headquarters on Queen Victoria Street in the City of London.

In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration to ensure mankind would never again be subjected to the kind of shocking atrocities spawned by the Second World War.

The formation of the new coalition was announced at a Human Rights Day commemoration event, hosted at the new Scientology headquarters on Queen Victoria Street in the City of London. Coalition president, Heidi Watson — CEO of the Damilola Taylor Trust— said, "Human Rights are the basic rules which humanity should follow as a matter of course - but which we tend to forget. If people of every creed and colour can re-embrace these simple truths we can form a platform to stand on together as a united society, and from there we can propagate peace."

The event included a showing of 30 Public Service Announcements, each depicting one of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration. These PSAs were created by Youth for Human Rights International with a grant from the International Association of Scientologists, and can be viewed online at http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/watchads/index.html.

Depicting such basic and fundamental rights as, "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," "everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person," "noone shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," and "everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion," the PSAs pack the kind of emotional impact that brings human rights to life for people of all ages.

Olalekan Fatodu, coordinator for Young Professional Nigerians in the U.K, commented on the formation of the new coalition, saying, "Like-minded individuals have come together to proffer solutions to human rights on a large scale. It is exhilarating to be part of a coalition that cuts across religions, gender, race and colour barriers."

Satwant Singh, of the Muslim/Sikh Federation, stated, "Youngsters haven't been taught human rights in life. It is vital that we educate them so that despite atrocities that have been committed, our future generations understand their rights and we can live in a peaceful, safe world."

The Human Rights Coordinator of Church of Scientology of London, Mike Ricketts, expressed his support for the new group, saying, "We were honoured to host this event today and to be part of a vitally important new group. Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, said 'human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream.' The formation of this coalition can brings like-minded groups together to greatly increase the impact of our individual efforts."

The Coalition plans a major event this summer, to bring together children from around London, from many religious and ethnic backgrounds, to celebrate and promote human rights using the arts.