First to Stand: The Cases and Causes of Irwin Cotler

synopsis

As the world reeled from the horror of the concentration camps, people realized there was an urgent need to protect individuals from the abuses of governments. What resulted was the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which outlined thirty basic rights to which everyone is entitled. Today, we are witnessing a global threat to these rights as many world leaders openly seek and hold on to power with appeals to racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and imprisonment of those who challenge their regimes. First to Stand follows Irwin Cotler and his team of young activists at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre as they take on the cases and cause of political prisoners and human rights activists battling against the world's most repressive regimes.