ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT STRESSES `CREATIVE FORCE' OF UNIVERSAL DECLARATION

10 December 1998

Press Release
GA/SM/80
HR/4398

ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT STRESSES `CREATIVE FORCE' OF UNIVERSAL DECLARATION

19981210 Didier Opertti (Uruguay) Also Stresses Much Remains to Be Done for Effective Enjoyment of Human Rights

Following is the text of the statement by the President of the fifty- third session of the General Assembly, Didier Opertti (Uruguay), at the commemorative meeting of the General Assembly to observe the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

On 10 December 1948, this same body over which I have the honour to preside today, the General Assembly of the United Nations, adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose fiftieth anniversary we are celebrating.

In these 50 years, humankind has made more progress on the path to freedom than during the entire 200 years before. This extraordinary advance has been made possible by the creative force generated by the Universal Declaration, one of the most significant and fruitful events of the twentieth century in the political and legal fields.

The Declaration has changed our concept of the nature of human rights: they are no longer a matter that solely concerns the individual, or the society or State to which this individual belongs, but a value that transcends borders, cultures, societies and ideologies. The human rights of each individual have now become a matter that concerns all humankind.

The quest for the basis of human rights to which philosophers, jurists and politicians devoted their interest and concern in the past has in some sense lost its significance. We can affirm today that human rights, beyond the theoretical concepts that justify the sacred and inviolable character of human rights, must be recognized and protected simply because this is what all humankind believes and desires, and because this has been the express will of the international community as reflected in the Universal Declaration.

It is precisely the universal support of the Declaration which makes it so unique and gives it such enormous political and moral weight. It constitutes, in reality, the first instrument in the history of civilization

which, containing principles aimed at regulating human behaviour, has been able to transform the quest for universal norms into true universality. This universal character has kept it intact despite the growing diversification and profound changes that have occurred in the world since 1948.

One of the priority obligations of the international community and of each of its members is undoubtedly to ensure the effective enjoyment of the rights proclaimed in the Declaration. Part of this obligation has been fulfilled in the past 50 years. The Declaration, more than any other contemporary instrument, has created a powerful and irreversible movement that has transformed the noble ideals enshrined therein into positive law and a moral mandate.

Human rights are not merely abstract formulations or ideological colours or, as the Declaration itself says, "a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations". This common standard has gone through a process in which the general, abstract formulas of the Declaration have been complemented with legal texts that define, specify and expand on the rights proclaimed therein, transforming them into "rights pure and simple", that is, into truly positive and enforceable rights.

This has been made possible by the intense national and international legislative activity that was set in motion by the Universal Declaration. The fruit of that activity has been a complex legal and institutional system, composed of a great variety of international bodies, conventions and instruments of diverse legal force, which has been extended and diversified, giving shape and effectiveness to the rights enshrined in the Declaration. Among the most important milestones in this process have been the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the two International Covenants on Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Fortunately, this process has not lost any of its momentum and governments and international organs are continuing and should continue to work on further rights. This is eloquently demonstrated by the adoption of the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome, and the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which was adopted recently at the current session of the General Assembly.

In addition, numerous new procedural and institutional mechanisms have been created, which include the operation of courts and tribunals. With the establishment of international criminal jurisdictions, the system is entering a new phase of its development. In this respect, the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court deserves a special mention.

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Naturally, the task has yet to be completed. As in nearly all areas of social life and of law, protection of human rights is a process which, by its very nature, is destined to be perpetually ongoing. Not only because it is necessary to draw up and refine the legal instruments needed to guarantee respect for the rights that have already been recognized and accepted, but also because it is necessary to update them and to include such further rights as modern society may deem to be values worthy of international protection.

In recent years, the international community has seen the emergence of a second and third generation of human rights recognized to communities and groups, as, for instance, the right to development and the right to a healthy environment.

The Universal Declaration and the supplementary conventions and treaties have, in a sense, created a "new international social order" in which the pattern of relationships between the individual and the State has undergone a profound change. This is because in this new order, in which the rights of individuals and of groups have been placed above the prerogatives of institutions, the State, as the expression of political society, is called on to play a leading role in preserving and guaranteeing the enjoyment of such rights.

Paradoxically indeed, while the State has, on the one hand, been the source of the most serious human rights violations, on the other hand, it continues to be the competent -- and very often the only available -- institution for guaranteeing their observance, subject to the law and in cooperation with international and non-governmental organizations in their respective spheres.

Striking a balance between individual freedoms and the sphere of action of the State responsible for their protection is perhaps the most delicate of tasks. For that reason it is essential, within the state of law and under the supremacy of the law, to harmonize observance and respect for human rights with the principles of legislation and social pacification without which no human right can be properly protected and safeguarded by the institutions.

This task may -- and in practice sometimes does -- place the State in the position of having to choose, for example, between protecting a fundamental human right which temporarily competes with another fundamental human right. Full realization of one may mean having to disregard the other.

In addition, we must therefore not lose sight of the fact that the task of realizing human rights proceeds not in the abstract, not in a vacuum but is inextricably tied to a particular historical, political and social context. Human rights, along with justice and peace, make up a triad of values which must preside over the evolution of international society as we enter the twenty-first century. Achieving each one of these values is a requisite for

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achieving the others. The concepts of peace and human rights are invoked one after the other in the two first paragraphs of the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations, and the Universal Declaration confirms this link.

The undertaking to ensure the widest possible observance of human rights has an aspect which in my opinion is of fundamental importance: I refer to the question of the prevention of violations. There cannot be genuine and widespread respect for human rights if the causes of violations and the enemies of human rights are not tackled at the source.

The source lies, as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reminds us, and as we all well know, in the hearts and minds of men, because those who ignore and flout the freedoms and rights of others are moved by hatred, selfishness, intolerance and prejudice. All human beings should be taught from the earliest stage of their development, when the values and ideals which will guide them for the rest of their lives are taking shape, to revere solidarity, tolerance and respect for others.

Respect for human rights is therefore essentially something that can be taught. It should be a subject which is taught in institutions of learning throughout the world, starting when a child begins his or her education and continuing throughout the educational process. Such was the understanding of the framers of the Universal Declaration when they referred to teaching and education as instruments for promoting respect for rights and freedoms.

The Universal Declaration, together with the international instruments which supplement and develop it, is an eloquent testimony to humanity's progress towards higher levels of existence and coexistence. The advance is reason for celebration, not only because it contributes to the well-being and happiness of thousands or millions of persons, but also because it demonstrates better than anything in any other area of international cooperation that the instinct of solidarity in a human being has to rise above the materialism and egoism which often characterize modern society.

As we celebrate, however, we must not forget that, while much has been accomplished in the past 50 years in the building of the political and legal foundations on which the system of protection of human rights rests, there nevertheless remains much to be done in the area of their effective enjoyment.

We must not forget that, even as I speak, there are in many regions of the world men who have been and who are unjustly imprisoned and tortured, women who have been subjected to abuse and mistreatment, children who are exploited, trafficked and sent into war zones, older persons who are abandoned and minorities that are excluded. As long as such affronts to humanity endure, our satisfaction about the progress achieved cannot be complete.

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Accordingly, as we here assembled at this ceremony, representing the States of the world, to celebrate the inspiration and generosity of spirit of the governments and the men and women which made it possible to adopt the Universal Declaration 50 years ago in Paris, we must think for a moment of all those who await our assistance in recovering their lost freedoms and rights, as well as their dignity. We must promise ourselves not to forget them and to renew our commitment to continue the battle until the day on which human rights become the heritage of all and each of the inhabitants of our planet.

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