Statement by Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations to the opening of the fifty- fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights

SG/SM/98/53
Geneva, 16 March 1998

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends and colleagues,

I am happy to be here among you today. This session of the Commission on Human Rights will be a memorable one, coinciding as it does not only with the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also with the review of the follow-up to the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, five years after their adoption.

The Universal Declaration and the inviolable principles that it enshrines were the fruit of the tireless efforts and determination of men and women from all parts of the world. Today those principles, which have become the yardstick for measuring the degree of progress of societies, are known and recognized by all the inhabitants of the globe.

Needless to say, they do not necessarily know that the Universal Declaration was adopted on 10 December 1948; they are not always aware that, over the last 50 years, the international community has equipped itself with a complex apparatus designed to promote and protect human rights. But they do know that the dignity of human beings requires that their rights be respected.

All people share a desire to live free from the horrors of violence, famine, disease, torture and discrimination. They believe that all individuals have the right to express themselves freely; to develop their talents; to pursue their own aspirations and those of the community. They know that these rights belong not to a chosen few, but to all people. The people of the world have made human rights their own.

All along, the growing support for the Declaration has given its message new life. It has extended its reach far and wide. It has reaffirmed its universality. The Declaration has served as a model for domestic constitutions and laws, regulations and policies, and practices of governance that protect human rights. Its provisions have supplied countless reference points for national courts, parliaments, governments, lawyers and non-governmental organizations throughout the world. This wave of support, which has given the Declaration its place in our collective consciousness, is living proof that it speaks to a diverse world. All values must find expression in the language of the people they are intended to serve and protect.

The 50th anniversary motto of "all human rights for all" sums up the challenge we faced today. Yes, the Declaration serves as our common proclamation of human rights. But unfortunately, it has yet to serve as our common call to action. Human rights violations remain a widespread reality which we have not been able - nor in some cases willing - to stamp out.

The reasons for the gap between rhetoric and reality - between our words and our actions - are complex. But we must address them if we are to realize the vision which our forefathers gave us through the words of the Declaration.

We should now push for the ratification of human rights treaties to make human rights legally binding the world over. The High Commissioner and I have addressed all Heads of State and Government to reiterate that call by the World Conference in Vienna. The United Nations human rights programme stands ready to support steps taken by Member States to that end.

I see the role of the United Nations - and my own as Secretary-General - as central in expressing, promoting and safeguarding human rights.

In the months leading up to my election, much was heard about fiscal discipline and administrative efficiency. Yet as I said upon taking up the job: what is and must remain our guiding star is the moral dimension of our work. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Declaration, I have broached the subject of human rights before audiences everywhere, from Tehran to Shanghai.

Take my own continent, Africa, as a case in point. When I went to Harare to address the Organization of African Unity last year, I had a difficult message to take to them, but at the same time a very simple one. I would like to share some of it with you now.

In the past five decades, Africa has been through a series of transformations. First, there was decolonization and the struggle against apartheid; then, there was a period marked and marred by civil war and military rule; now, I believe, it is time for Africa's third wave: a wave of peace rooted in democracy and human rights.

The success of the third wave begins with a simple proposition: the will of the people. All across the world, the evils of coups are becoming increasingly recognized. What better proof of that than the return to Freetown a week ago of President Ahmmed Tejan Kabbah, following the removal from power of the illegal military junta.

Yet some Africans still view the concern of human rights as a rich man's luxury for which Africa is not ready; or even as a conspiracy, imposed by the industrialized West. I find these thoughts demeaning - demeaning of the yearning for human dignity that resides in every African heart.

Do not African mothers weep when their sons and daughters are killed or tortured by agents of oppressive rule? Do not African fathers suffer when their children are unjustly sent to jail? Is not Africa as a whole the poorer when just one of its voices is silenced?

Human rights, I told the audience in Harare, are African rights. They are Asian rights; they are European rights; they are American rights.

They belong to no government, they are limited to no continent, for they are fundamental to humankind itself. And they are the concern of all levels and sectors of society. What Mrs. Robinson calls the "bottom-up" approach means action at grass-roots and national levels. "All human rights for all" requires national programmes and capacities; it means a joint action by Government and civil society; it implies a responsibility shared by institutions and individuals.

This gathering understands, perhaps more clearly than any other, that for the victims of human rights violations, human rights actions usually come too late. Is it enough to tell these victims that we have done our best? Is it not better to act to prevent these violations from happening?

I am here today to tell you that the next century must be the age of prevention. I am here to say that we can no longer claim that a lack of available resources prevents us from acting in time. Today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts. This vicious circle of violations and conflict, leading to new violations, can and must be stopped.

We have almost unlimited information sources to tell us about events around the world. We have reports submitted to the Commission, to the General Assembly, to the High Commissioner. They should be seen as diagnostic tools and early warning signals. They must not be disregarded.

The international community must summon the will to use this information to act in time. The international community has yet to absorb fully the implications of the link between democracy, development and human rights. That link was stressed by the World Conference. It has been demonstrated by the experiences of all nations. Those experiences, highlighted sometimes by remarkable achievements, sometimes by tragic events, teach us that sustainable development is impossible without the full participation of the people; that it is impossible in the absence of full human rights.

Human rights are integral to peace and security, economic development and social equity. That is because human life and human development are at the heart of every mission and every programme that we pursue.

Human rights propel peace and development, reinforce the rule of law, and release, without inhibition, the creativity of individuals and societies alike. Indeed, only now are we beginning to understand how much our approach to peacekeeping, humanitarian affairs and sustainable development will be altered and enriched by taking in the human rights factor.

It is not an easy task. But the consequences of failure will be harder still - for us, for our children, and for our children's children.

Dear Friends, Our forefathers built the United Nations to save succeeding generations from holocaust and war, horrors which brought untold sorrow to humankind. The Universal Declaration was born out of that experience as a mission statement never to let these horrors happen again. We cannot afford indifference, individually or collectively. Let us heed the unforgettable warning of the German theologian Martin Niemoller:

"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. "Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."

If we do not speak out, individually and collectively, today and every day when our conscience is challenged by inhumanity and intolerance, we will not have done our duty - to ourselves, or to succeeding generations.

Now is the time to ask not only how the Declaration can protect our rights, but how we can rightly protect the Declaration. Half a century after the adoption of the Declaration, it is time to embark on a new stage in our journey to bring its message to life for all people.

Today, I call upon all of you to seize the day which this anniversary presents. This is our moment to chart the course of human rights for the next 50 years and beyond.

Let this be the year in which the world once again looks to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - as it did 50 years ago - for a common standard of humanity for all of humanity.

Thank you.