NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS HUMAN RIGHTS DAY TO BE OBSERVED AT HEADQUARTERS
Press Release
NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS HUMAN RIGHTS DAY TO BE OBSERVED AT HEADQUARTERS
19961209 The Human Rights Day observance at Headquarters on 12 December, organized by the Department of Public Information and the Centre for Human Rights, will feature two panel discussions moderated by Charlayne Hunter- Gault, National Correspondent for "News Hour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS).Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali will deliver opening remarks at 10 a.m. in Conference Room 4. It is expected that José Ayala-Lasso, High Commissioner for Human Rights, will deliver the keynote address at 3 p.m.
Speakers on the morning panel, "Accountability and Impunity in Civil Strife", are Navanethem Pillay, Judge, International Tribunal for Rwanda ("War crime tribunals, a deterrent to human rights violations?"); Alvaro de Soto, Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Political Affairs ("Truth commissions: a success?"); Binaifer Nowrojee, Counsel, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch ("Prosecuting rape as a war crime"); and Maurice Glele-Ahanhanzo, Special Rapporteur on the elimination of contemporary forms of racism ("Racism, including in the press"). Speakers on the afternoon panel, "The Right to Development: Is Poverty an Abuse of Human Rights?", are Inge Kaul, Director, Office of Development Studies, United Nations Development Programme ("Responsibility of the private sector in eradicating poverty"); Sydney Jones, Director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch ("The problems of migrant workers"); Kakuna Kerina, Programme Coordinator for Africa, Committee to Protect Journalists ("Information exchange and technological transfer: impact on individual human rights"); and Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography ("Commercial sexual exploitation of children").
Each panel will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
Human Rights Day is traditionally observed on 10 December to commemorate the adoption by the General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on 10 December 1948.
For more information, please contact Danielle Loff, (212) 963-0352; for media accreditation, (212) 963-6934; for United Nations television coverage, Jim Ludlam, (212) 963-7650.
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