STATEMENT BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER ON HUMAN RIGHTS: "ON THE EVE OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"

The Paris Meeting:
“Human Rights on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century”

Paris, 7 December 1998



Excellences, Mesdames et Messieurs,

Il y a cinquante ans un groupe d'hommes et de femmes de cultures, de traditions et de confessions diverses, réunis à Paris, offraient à l'humanité une vision extraordinaire de ce que le monde pourrait être et adoptaient la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme. Il est hautement symbolique que nous nous réunissions aujourd’hui en ce lieu pour commémorer cet événement, tout d’abord, parce que c’est à Paris que les auteurs de la Déclaration ont exposé le résultat de leurs travaux, mais aussi parce que ce pays et cette ville sont étroitement associés dans l’esprit des hommes à la quête philosophique et à l’idée de justice sociale. Il suffit d’évoquer les grands penseurs du siècle des Lumières, comme Rousseau et Voltaire, dont l’intérêt passionné pour la condition humaine a ouvert la voie à nombre de concepts que nous appelons aujourd’hui droits de la personne humaine.


Un message d’espoir

Le Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme est un message d’espoir. Elle puise sa force morale dans l’affirmation de la foi dans les droits fondamentaux de l’être humain, dans la dignité et la valeur de la personne humaine, dans l’égalité et l'inaliénabilité des droits des hommes et des femmes ainsi que des nations, grandes et petites.

Le Préambule proclame la Déclaration comme étant: " l’idéal commun à atteindre par tous les peuples et toutes les nations...” et les trente articles qui suivent mettent en évidence de façon claire et éloquente la nature de cet idéal commun, en commençant par l' idéalisme de l'article premier: " Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits."

C'est un message d'espoir qui s'adresse aux pauvres, aux défavorisés, aux opprimés. Ce message leur dit: "Vous n'êtes pas seuls. Vous n'êtes pas impuissants. Vous avez des droits qui sont universels et fondamentaux."

Ce message d'espoir est encore plus fort lorsqu'on se rappelle le contexte dans lequel la Déclaration a été élaborée. Notre siècle était déja le témoin de deux guerres mondiales ayant entraîné de terribles affronts pour les droits de l'homme. Les représentants des 18 Etats, réunis pour la première fois en tant que Commission des droits de l'homme, étaient convaincus que de toutes ces horreurs devait jaillir quelque chose de bon. Ils savaient que le souvenir s'estompe, que la mémoire des horreurs qui étaient alors si réelles pour eux s'affaiblirait avec le temps, et que les enseignements tirés de ces expériences perdraient de leur force. René Cassin indique à cet effet que :“Dès le début de la guerre, nous avons compris que c’était la guerre des droits de l’homme. Nous nous sommes alors donné pour but de notre victoire de remettre au premier plan les droits de l’ individu.”

La Déclaration reste aujourd'hui l'un des textes les plus clairs et compréhensibles sur les droits fondamentaux de l'être humain. A l'occasion du cinquantième anniversaire, notre premier objectif devrait être de disséminer davantage la Déclaration à travers le monde.




Turning Hope into Action

As we approach a new millennium, it is right to ask how far we have lived up to the vision of those who framed the Declaration, how we can do more on behalf of those whose rights are not yet vindicated and how we can meet the challenges of the future.

Institutionally, much has been achieved. The concept of universal and indivisible human rights has attained legitimacy, officially at least. A substantial body of law has flowed from the adoption of the Declaration. There is a complex human rights machinery.

But, the iron test is implementation; whether the aims of the Declaration and the legal texts, which followed, are translated into reality, into protection of individuals’ human rights on the ground. The Declaration throws down a formidable challenge to governments. It gives them an objective list of standards which their institutions and practices must reach.

Yet who could fail to be dismayed when we compare the reality of the human rights situation around the world with the idealistic aims of the Universal Declaration?

- The most basic right, the right to life is daily violated. The dream that such horrors as the Holocaust would never happen again has turned to nightmare in the face of Rwanda, Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia;

- Conflicts within States are proving as bloody as conflicts between States in the past. National minorities increasingly find their culture and identity under threat; ethnic differences are exploited for political ends;

- Authoritarian governments still resort to arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and summary execution, even while paying lip-service to their human rights obligations.

- Freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of association remain distant dreams for many;

- Bonded labour and the traffic in women and children have become our modern versions of slavery.

Even resource-rich States fail to meet their responsibilities under the Declaration to care for the vulnerable in society. The rights of the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed, universal access to medical care are routinely denied. The duty, under Article 14, to respect the rights of asylum seekers is made subject to financial considerations. We dispense humanitarian aid to the victims of famine and conflict rather than addressing the human rights issues at the heart of their problems.

And when we measure implementation of social and economic rights, and the right to development, then we really see how far our performance has fallen short. A billion and a half people earn less than a dollar a day; the same number have no access to clean water. A third of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is unlikely to live past the age of 40. In Southern Asia half of all children under five are malnourished while two thirds of women cannot read or write.



It is painfully clear that inequities within and between societies are not diminishing but growing. We are in danger of reaching a point where the world is divided, not between developing and developed States, but between over-developed and never-to-be-developed States.

What we are confronted with is a failure of will on the part of governments; a failure to prioritise, a failure to acknowledge policy contradictions. Governments can develop the most sophisticated weapons and spend $800 billion a year on them. But they stand by while the gulf between rich and poor grows even greater.

Truly, we have a long way to go before we can conclude that the standards embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have been put into practice.


The Challenges Ahead

We can and must do better. It is not sufficient to be appalled by human rights violations and to denounce them. We must devise new, improved strategies to tackle and prevent abuses. The stakes are high - the credibility of our institutions of governance is at issue. We have to demonstrate that tolerance is better than intolerance, diversity and pluralism better than racism and sexual discrimination, power-sharing better than authoritarianism, peace better than conflict. The suffering of the disadvantaged and those denied their human rights must be a constant warning against complacency.

To start with, we have to recognise that profound changes are happening in society:

- Beliefs and values are everywhere challenged. It is no exaggeration to speak of a moral and ethical vacuum in many societies. At the same time, some religious proponents seek to impose their beliefs by force on their fellow human beings.

- Revolutionary technologies, particularly in the health field, raise profound new ethical issues. The Genome Project, cloning, genetically modified organisms all give rise to fundamental questions about the nature and rights of the individual.

- The environmental debate becomes more urgent daily. We are depleting the earth’s resources as never before. The scale of the problem and the close linkage between human rights violations and environmental degradation have led to calls for not only the rights of the present generation to be protected but the rights of the next and future generations.

We must face up to these momentous changes and take account, too, of the shifts of power that are taking place in society. States are no longer as powerful as they were - that is one of the most significant changes since the Universal Declaration was adopted. In 1948 the role of the State was of paramount importance. The State was seen as guarantor - and as threat. Today, many issues of importance to citizens are decided by other actors. Globalisation of the world economy has spread rapidly. Now, more than ever, national economies are dependent on events and decisions outside national borders.

Partnership: The Way Forward

Fresh ideas and strategies are required if we are to tackle both the traditional human rights issues and the new, far-reaching challenges that are emerging. My vision is of a new partnership between the key actors in the human rights field:

United Nations:
A particular responsibility rests on those of us in the United Nations family to give the lead. I have been heartened by the progress made towards incorporating into all of the UN programmes and agencies explicit commitments to the promotion and protection of human rights. This is coming about through the initiative of the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and I am grateful to him for his strong support.

States and Regional Groups:
States have a special responsibility to protect the human rights of their citizens and to promote a culture of human rights. Rhetoric must be matched by action. National capacity building is essential; States have a duty to establish human rights institutions that are accessible to all. States should also enter into partnerships with their citizens and non-governmental organisations, share information and resources. They should allow human rights defenders to perform their vital tasks. Their approach to human rights must be transparent so that progress can be measured. Human rights can also be enhanced through States’ participation in regional groupings where they can benefit through sharing principles and actions.

Transnational Corporations:
Huge power - and responsibility - lies in the hands of transnational corporations. Some 500 corporations currently control a third of global GNP and three quarters of world trade. A dozen corporations may soon dominate all aspects of the food industry. It is small wonder that much decision-making has moved from the national to the supranational level, from the Cabinet room to the Boardroom. There is an enormous, and still often unrecognised, human rights dimension to the activities of transnational corporations. I welcome the growing acceptance by the corporate world of the need to respect the ethical dimension of their activities. That reflects the concerns of informed consumers and shareholders. It is a trend which should be developed and strengthened. For example, a human rights dimension must be built into transnational corporations’ ethics statements. Assessments of the human rights impact of major investments should be carried out as a matter of routine. It is in the corporations’ interests since good ethics are good business.

Multilateral Bodies:
Multilateral organisations, too, play a vital role. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank often have a decisive say in determining a State’s economic policies and priorities. The human consequences of Bank and Fund policies can be far-reaching. Yet the impression is that sufficient account has not been taken of the consequences and the human rights implications of their actions, that these are regarded as someone else’s responsibility, not the institutions’ or the economists’. The dialogue with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organisation must, therefore, be intensified. All of the programmes and policies pursued by the IMF and the World Bank should be consistent with international human rights standards.

Non Governmental Organisations:
As the State’s role weakens, the importance of Non-Governmental Organisations increases. The role of the NGOs is well summed up by Aung San Suu Kyi:“The watchfulness and active cooperation of organisations outside the spheres of officialdom are necessary to ensure the four essential components of the human rights paradigm as identified by the United Nations Development Programme: productivity, equity, sustainability and empowerment ....... Development must be by people not only for them. People must participate fully in the decisions and processes that shape their lives.”

The Role of the Individual:
An aspect of the Declaration that deserves more attention is the emphasis on the individual’s duties and responsibilities. Article 29 of the Declaration underlines everyone’s duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. As it was simply but powerfully formulated by René Cassin: “Tes droits sont mes devoirs, tes devoirs sont mes droits”. The individual may feel threatened by the State or dwarfed by transnational corporations and international financial institutions. But the message of Article 29 is clear. It tells us, at a time of moral and ethical confusion, that we are members of one human family with rights in common and duties towards each other. As we look to the future, the sense of mankind “being in this together” could be a potent force for strengthening and protecting human rights.

Forging a new partnership between the various actors - States, regional organisations, transnational corporations, multilateral bodies, NGOs, individuals - will not be easy. Though conscious of the size of the task, I am not daunted. I pledge to do everything in my power to be a catalyst for the development of such partnerships. For the victims, those on the receiving end of human rights abuses, I pledge to be a witness and a voice, the best guarantor and defender of their rights that I can be.

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Prédire ce qui nous attend est une tâche difficile. Qui aurait pu envisager, il y a cinquante ans, les progrès technologiques que nous avons connus, la révolution de l’information, la conquête de l’espace? Chaque génération ressent le changement et l’incertitude des temps, mais la génération actuelle vit ce changement à un rythme effréné. De nombreuses inconnues nous attendent encore; des évolutions radicales sont déjà en cours dans le domaine de la science et de la santé, et les nouveaux défis qu’elles suscitent devront être relevés.

Ces progrès peuvent avoir des avantages multiples tels qu’accroître la rapidité de la transmission de l’information en matière de droits de l’homme. A cet égard, je me félicite du projet des autorités françaises tels qu’initié par le Président Badinter, de créer une Encyclopédie universelle des droits de l’homme sur Internet, dont le siège serait à Ferney Voltaire.

Il se peut aussi que de nouvelles difficultés nous attendent. Le pessimiste mettra en avant les dangers de conflit entre les cultures, ceux d’une catastrophe environnementale, ceux qui sont liés au fossé croissant et porteur de risques entre les riches et les pauvres.


En ce cinquantième anniversaire, la tâche essentielle qui nous incombe est de donner un nouveau souffle à cette Déclaration, afin de pouvoir relever les défis de l’avenir, tout en restant fidèles aux principes fondamentaux. Il se peut que les valeurs morales et éthiques soient moins consensuelles aujourd’hui, mais cela ne doit pas nous dissuader. Notre point de départ est le même que celui des rédacteurs de la Déclaration, à savoir que tous les êtres humains sont nés libres et égaux en dignité et en droits.

Si nous poursuivons notre action sur ces fondations, sur les principes de respect de l’individu et des différentes cultures, et sur la reconnaissance de notre interdépendance dans ce monde, alors nous serons sur le bon chemin pour donner réalité à la vision d’il y a un demi-siècle.

J’aimerais terminer par ces mots de René Cassin - “L’essentiel, est que nous nous sentions, en toutes circonstances, les serviteurs d’une grande cause et que notre conscience ne devienne jamais indifférente - même par l’excès de l’horreur - aux injustices et aux souffrances qu’il eût été possible d’ épargner à d’autres hommes par un effort fraternel. Aucun de nous n’ a le droit d’ être en repos en face de l’ oppression ou de la misère (...). Toute grande injustice commise en un pays offense en tous lieux le Droit de l’ Humanité.”