Jackson Free Press

Sixty years after the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, advocates such as Father Jerome Tobin say the fight isn't over, not even after more than a half century later.

"Its 60 years later, and we're still fighting for human rights," Tobin said, referencing mass starvation and war crimes in nations all over the planet. "Today we're not just celebrating 60 years of the document. We're also apparently celebrating a movement that is still taking off."

Gathering at the state Capitol this morning, advocates from a handful of organizations addressed a host of human rights issues they claim still nag Mississippi.

"What we bring now is the universal declaration of human rights and a promise that the ACLU and our ally organizations SPLC, MIRA, the NAACP and others will be working with us to document human rights abuses throughout Mississippi," said ACLU Community Coordinator Brent Cox.

Heather Ivory, a Jackson employee helping the city address its growing homeless problem, warned that homelessness is growing everyday, and that society's response appears to be to criminalize homelessness, by pushing homeless people into smaller and smaller places.

Valencia Robinson, who works with AIDS Action in Mississippi, warned that society has yet to fully acknowledge the AIDS epidemic as a running problem, and said HIV victims are in need of adequate housing.

Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance Legal Advocate Zafar Shah referenced e-mails to the organization following a 50-person rally at the state Capitol last week, protesting a raid on immigrant workers at a Laurel factory and the passage of Senate Bill 2988, a state law that makes it illegal for an undocumented resident to hold a job in Mississippi. He noted the state's hostility toward immigrants, even from self-labeled "liberals."

"After our rally I heard from one person who called himself a 'bleeding heart liberal,' but said: 'I draw the line at people who break the law,Ҕ Shah said. "Mississippi needs to reassess what it means to be human in a country that uses the law to oppress people."

Jackson attorney James Craig pointed to flaws in the state's laws and court system regarding executions, explaining that execution sentences are often determined by race, poverty and mental handicap. He referenced cases like that of Dale Leo Bishop, a mentally handicapped man executed this year for being in the same care with murderer Jessie Johnson, who beat to death Mississippi resident Marcus Gentry with a hammer.

Even though Johnson wielded the hammer, Bishop got the death penalty, while Johnson got life in prison. Craig said there was little argument over whether or not Bishop was of sound mind.