Struggle for human rights far from over – Nyusi

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Struggle for human rights far from over – Nyusi

9:30 CAT | 28 Feb 2018

AIM

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said in Geneva on Monday that, despite the significant advances that have been made , the struggle for securing human rights throughout the world is far from over.

Speaking in Geneva at a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Nyusi stressed that many people, in attempts to defend their ideals or simply to search for a better life, end up facing situations which could lead to their deaths.

“Armed conflicts and migrations continue to claim countless human lives”, he said. “Many thousands of people, mostly from the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America have been forced to emigrate because of armed conflict or poverty”.

UN member states, who are committed to complying with human rights principles, cannot continue simply to watch this tragedy, Nyusi urged. “We long for the establishment of a fairer, more equal and fraternal society in which the rights of the individual are respected. In human law, life should be regarded as the supreme value, defended by all, without any exception”.

That, he added, was why, in the three years since he took office, he had dedicated his efforts to the search for an effective and lasting peace in Mozambique.

“We have taken significant steps towards achieving peace”, Nyusi said, “through permanent dialogue, tolerance, the spirit of reconciliation, mutual trust and humility, thus reducing the incidence of human rights violations”.

He noted that the guiding document of the Human Rights Council, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is reaching its 70th birthday in the same year that is also the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. The entire world, Nyusi said, should take inspiration from the example of the late South African President, whom he described as an icon in the struggle for freedom and human rights.

Member states, he continued, have different levels of development, and have inherited a variety of cultures and traditions. Those differences, he believed, should be viewed “from the perspective of the richness that diversity brings”.

He urged avoiding “double standards, selectivity and the unnecessary and fruitless ritual of antagonism and defamation”.

“We all have the right to issue and defend opinions”, Nyusi said, “and to choose our representatives, we have the right to come and go, to leave a country and return to it. We all have the right to profess or not to profess a religion”.

“Our commitment, as a member state”, he continued, “is that we shall remain firm in promoting and protecting human rights. This is a responsibility that we accept, aware that nobody else can do it for us”.

Source: AIM