In honor of the 70thAnniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948-2018), the Hemicycle of European Parliament from Brussels hosted a High Level Conference on November 20, 2018.
Invited speakers for this historical international conference included illustrious international and regional actors such as: António GUTERRES - Secretary General of the United Nations,Michelle BACHELET – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,Antonio TAJANI – European Parliament President, Federica MOGHERINI – Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, among many others. Liviu OLTEANU - Secretary General of the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty (AIDLR), represented one of the few international organizations invited to take the floor at this historic 70thAnniversary of the UDHR.
At the beginning of the anniversary celebration, Antonio TAJANI underlined that “we live in a world that is marked by the emergence of destructive populist, nationalist trends, so we need to build on our legacy and make the Universal Declaration a living one. Eleanor Roosevelt expressed that the documents which express our ideals only work if people know them, understand them, and if people demand for these rights to be enacted.”
Federica MOGHERINI stressed thatthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written and we are still working to turn each and every word from that Declaration into practice and a big part of our collective work is carried on by NGOs; thus, she expressed, “I would like to very sincerely share a thank you from civil society organizations and those working to defend human rights”.
António GUTERRES observed and reminded listeners that, “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims our shared vision of human progress and well-being, but too many gaps remain and, today, we are seeing a dangerous erosion of fundamental rights and freedoms, democratic principles, and the rule of law; refugees, migrants, and minorities face rising hatred and attacks.”
Michelle BACHELET, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, also underlined that “human rights values are powerful and continue to drive man's positive change, but all of us are aware of the turbulent and increasingly polarized context during this 70thanniversary. A rising wind of divisiveness undermines peace and conflicts are contributing to unprecedented levels of displacement…the rights of many ethnic and religious communities are being contested.”
Pier Antonio PANZERI, Chair of the European Parliament´s Subcommittee on Human Rights, said, “It is our responsibility, more than ever, to protect all the legally binding treaties on human rights as well as facing new challenges.”
Fatou BENSOUDA, General Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, added,“We no longer accept that victims of the worst human rights violations should suffer; we no longer accept that perpetrators of those most heinous crimes be allowed to escape justice.”
Stavros LAMBRINIDIS, EU Special Representative on Human Rights, also highlighted that “we are human beings; you cannot kill me, you cannot throw me in jail just because you don't like me, and that's because I have human dignity. That's the most basic thing that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights said 70 years ago.”
Emily O´REILLY, European Ombudsman, reminded listeners that “the fundamental role of the Ombudsman is to protect citizens from the abuse of state power when that state is administering its laws and regulations”.
Claude MORAES, Chair of the European Parliament´s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, also underlined, “Today, if we have the European Union´s values, we have to understand that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is something we have to refresh, something that we have to make relevant, and we have to understand there are very practical applications.”
David MCALLISTER, Chair of the European Parliament´s Committee on Foreign Affairs, reminded participants that “we are in the European Union, in this space in the European Parliament, to retake the lead and celebrate brave individuals and organizations who dedicated themselves to protect and defend Human rights, through our Sakharov Prize”.
Thorbjørn JAGLAND, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, highlighted, “In Europe today, the right-wing extremism, nationalism, and populism threatens to undermine multilateralism and common values. So, let this Human Rights be the opportunity not only to highlight our cooperation with one another, the government, and the civil society, but to speak loudly and proudly about what human rights have achieved for each and every European.”
Katarzyna GARDAPKHADZE, First Deputy and Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said, “I want to stress the need to give a human face to the Universal Human rights.”
Beate RUDOLF, Chair of Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and Member of the Board of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), also said, “I will try to set out how national human rights institutions, NGOs raise support for universalism and the implementation of the human rights obligation, and to make a reality of Human Rights for all.”
Other speakers at the High Level Conference included: Joel HERNANDEZ GARCIA, Commissioner Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Rémy NGOY LUMBU, Commissioner of the African Commission on Human Rights and People’s Rights; and Patrick GASPARD, President of the Open Society Foundations.
Liviu OLTEANU, Secretary General of the AIDLR, who received the floor, greeted the audience of the 70thAnniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights with: “Excellences, Brothers and Sisters in humanity” and, after introducing his own organization that was founded in 1946, continued, “I would like to stress that we need to defend ‘Others’ more than defending ourselves; if we do that, we will defend our own peace, security, and our society.”
Liviu OLTEANU reminded the audience that from the time when Madame ELEANOR ROOSEVELT became the first President of the Honorary Committee of AIDLR organization, she stressed that “basic human rights are simple and easily understood: freedom of speech and a free press, freedom of conscience and worship, freedom of assembly and the right of petition, the right of men to be secure in their homes and free from unreasonable search and seizure and from arbitrary arrests and sanctions. The immediate test is not only the extent to which human rights and freedoms have already been achieved, but also the directionin which the world is moving.”
Liviu OLTEANU focused on a problematic development which can be seen in some countries - and with an allusion to the concerned ‘Draft Law of Religious Freedom’ which has been prepared by Bulgarian Parliament. Olteanu’s comments emphasized that “we need - fostering together - to defend freedom of religion, freedom of thought and freedom of assembly, because only in this way, defending the fundamental rights, can we better protect our society. In this context of the core values underlined above by Eleanor Roosevelt, my question for the distinguished panelists is: ‘How can we avoid the use of national securityaffecting migrants, refugees, and religious minorities? How do we protect the fundamental freedoms?”
Two distinguished panelists gave attention to Olteanu’s question: BeateRUDOLF and Katarzyna GARDAPKHADZE. RUDOLF stressed, “I take up the question of Mr. Olteanu because I think he pointed out a very problematic development that is the use of national securityto limit people’s rights; as you said, it is not just religious minorities, it can be other minorities, it can be migrants, it can be critics to the government, and there is no singular answer to it. For the respect of National Human Rights Institutions, what we are doing is bringing our different powers to it, so that on one hand, when we give advice to one Parliament or Government, we advocate on respecting the principle of proportionality, we point to the discriminatory effect, and approaches of laws, and we call for the evaluation of laws and the impacts it will have on particular groups.
“I give you the example of the French National Commission for Human Rights which did this in the time of the State of Emergency in France, also cited as being for the purpose of protecting national security, and it had a terrible impact on minorities.
We also go to Courts to bring cases and argue before the Constitutional Courts of countries, but that is the legal side; then on the other side, we have called attention to the need to engage our society in the public debate to count out their narratives of particular groups, so their discriminatory approach can be challenged.
“We remind politicians of the particular responsibility they have in public, not to foster racism or religious discrimination; and of course, through human rights education, which is not about telling people what the law is but telling them where about their values, along with underlining human rights and making people meet with individuals from those communities. We help to understand that there is solid aid and what has been very reassuring in my own country (Germany) is that a quarter of familiar people went to the streets under the hashtag of “Indivisible”, saying that the society should not be divided in the fight for Human Rights; we need to stand together wherever our particular human right concern is.”
Finally, GARDAPKHADZE underlined in her answer that “where it concerns freedom of religion or belief and security, as you are probably well aware, we have produced a document discussing exactly these points: discussing where the borderline under which or up to which security can be used and where religious freedoms cannot be compromised in any circumstance in the name of national security. We are also raising awareness with governments which requires, of course, political will. That takes me to the second point which is about synergies, mentioned here. I do believe that we have great space for improvement when it comes to international and regional mechanisms learning from each other in order to teach others and to engage in collective action; because as long as we act individually in our own interests, our effectiveness is much smaller.”
