Scientologist Nicole Crellin, Coordinator for United for Human Rights Toronto, organized a Human Rights Day celebration to raise awareness on human rights.

The Toronto chapter of United for Human Rights and Youth for Human Rights observed International Human Rights Day at an event at the Ontario Science Centre December 5 to increase public awareness of the 30 fundamental rights enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Event speakers included the president of the Asian Canadian Educators’ Network, Ms. Padmini Padiachy; former MP of Don Valley East, Yasmin Ratansi; founder of the Canadian Youth Project, Coach William Grant; and legal activist Justin Waugh.

Coach Grant emphasized the importance of protecting the rights of young people, citing human rights violations extant today: “Youth are subject to sex trafficking, forced child labor and infringement against their legal rights by authority figures and gatekeepers.” His new initiative “Year of the Youth 2013” aims to make substantial inroads against abuse and to protect the rights of youth.

Special awards were presented to the publisher of El Popular, Eduardo Urueña, for his longtime support of human rights awareness, and Living Rights, a group of Toronto university students who are creating an interactive human rights music video to encourage youth to learn and express themselves about human rights.

The Church of Scientology supports United for Human Rights and Youth for Human Rights. Scientologists on five continents engage in collaborative efforts with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to bring about broad-scale awareness and implementation of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world’s premier human rights document.

The Church of Scientology has published a new brochure, Scientology: How We Help—United for Human Rights: Making Human Rights a Global Reality, to meet requests for more information about the human rights education and awareness initiative it supports. To learn more, visit Scientology.org/HumanRights.

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream,” and the Scientology religion is based on the principles of human rights. The Code of a Scientologist calls on all members of the religion to dedicate themselves “to support true humanitarian endeavors in the fields of human rights.”