37th session of the Human Rights Council

Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein

27 February 2018
Commissioner Cessouma,
Minister Augusto,
Minister Landers,
Dear Mary and Kofi,
Excellencies, Friends,

I am deeply honoured to speak at this celebration of the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, who stands among the great human rights leaders of our time. It is particularly moving that we should be echoing here a series of discussions between Mandela and my predecessor, Mary Robinson – which culminated in September 2000 in a Declaration entitled "Tolerance and Diversity: a Vision for the 21st Century."

More than sixty world leaders signed that Declaration. And rereading it today, I am both uplifted and deeply saddened.

"For too long ... diversity has been treated as a threat rather than gift. And too often that threat has been expressed in racial contempt and conflict, in exclusion, discrimination and intolerance.... The horrors of racism – from slavery, to holocaust, to apartheid, to ethnic cleansing – have deeply wounded the victim and debased the perpetrator. It is now time to confront them and to take comprehensive measures against them."

Eighteen years later, not a word of that text needs changing – but the toll of racism and discrimination, genocide and ethnic cleansing, has risen, enormously, and unforgivably. Across the world, the searing injustice of racial prejudice and other forms of bigotry humiliate and endanger millions of people. Intolerance is deliberately fuelled by opinion leaders, to boost their personal ambitions. Migrants are becoming the scapegoats of almost every society. Children are still growing up feeling they must be less worthy than their peers, since all of society appears to view them as less deserving of rights.

And yet we know it is possible to put an end to this shocking and pervasive injustice.

The Vision Declaration was drafted and presented to States during preparations for the World Conference against racism of September 2001(check). Its outcome, the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, still constitutes an important and comprehensive framework on how the world's States can take action to end racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia – from acknowledging the role of centuries of slavery in shaping many aspects of contemporary racism, to the provision of effective remedies, recourse andredress, both internationally and domestically.

In seeking to renew this fundamental struggle, Mandela's own life is an extraordinary source of inspiration. He fought to end the deeply entrenched system of apartheid which enforced racial segregation in every aspect of life. He helped South Africa grow from a State which served the interests of only people with one specific skin colour to a rainbow nation.

Thanks in part to this one man, the fight against apartheid became a symbol of the worldwide struggle for the respect of human rights. And pressure from UN Member States and human rights group helped to achieve success. It took concerted action. The UN declared apartheid a crime against humanity and together with many States, intervened against the imposition of the death penalty on Mandela and seven others who had been convicted of sabotage. Millions of individuals around the world wrote letters, shopped with their convictions, and attended protests.

As Mandela famously told the General Assembly in 1993, “We have, together, walked a very long road....The goal we have sought to reach is the consummation of the yearning of all humankind for human dignity and human fulfillment.”

Today, in the 70th year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, people of African descent and many other people who suffer discrimination are still yearning for an end to this burden of violence, fear, deprivation and prejudice.

Nelson Mandela and Mary Robinson emphasised that to end intolerance, “we must re-focus our understanding, discern in (…) diversity the potential for mutual enrichment, and realise that it is the interchange between great traditions of human spirituality that offers the best prospect for the persistence of the human spirit.” We continue to seek out new spaces and processes to promote human rights engagement by religious leaders and faith-based actors. A new initiative by my Office, “Faith for Rights”, explores how “Faith” can stand up for “Rights” more effectively, so that both enhance each other. The Faith for Rights Declaration, which was adopted in Beirut a year ago, emphasises the common commitment in religions and beliefs to the dignity and equality of everyone.

We need to keep pushing forward – making new arguments, forging new partnerships, holding States to their commitments and standing up for what is right.

There are many lessons that all of us can learn from the life of Nelson Mandela – his strength of spirit, his integrity and steadfast conviction, his kindness and grace. But one of the things he showed us was that it is always time to do the right thing.

Although States are primarily responsible for taking measures to uphold the right to be free from discrimination, I am convinced that we also need to work far more broadly, with many more partners, to promote tolerance and diversity. Because no matter what obstacles face us, we must do all we can to end injustice.

Thank you