Introductory remarks by Larysa Belskaya at the side-event of the 53rd session of UNHCR on the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Side-event «75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the Importance of Honoring International Obligations By States»

Introductory remarks
by Larysa Belskaya, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Belarus to the UNOG

75 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was born from the ashes of the Second World War. The Declaration, affirming the respect for and protection of basic human rights, was a cornerstone of the international human rights history. It has served as a vibrant moral conscience to the world community
Some of the rights championed by the Declaration are: the right to life, liberty and security of person, the right to an education and to participate fully in cultural life, freedom from torture or cruel, inhumane treatment or punishment, freedom of thought, conscience and religion
The Declaration is based on the “inalienable dignity” of all human beings and reaffirms the equal rights of all men and women in addition to their right to freedom.
It was also important that the Declaration recognized the power of states to regulate rights, and simultaneously States were forbidden to violate them.
The UDHR reflected the desire and political will of States for broad international cooperation to unite the nations of the world.
Adoption of the Declaration was considered a triumph as the vote on this document unified very diverse, even conflicting political regimes.
The Declaration embodies the spirit of the times, the spirit of San Francisco, as we call the atmosphere of trust and cooperation between states after the victory over Nazism and the adoption of the UN Charter, and in the case of the Declaration, it is also the spirit of a Nazi-free Paris, where it was adopted in 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Since then, much has changed towards progress. The United Nations has drafted and adopted more than a dozen core international human rights treaties. Thirty years ago, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action established the equal status of all human rights not only civil and political but also economic and cultural.
The vision of promoting human rights through development and cooperation and mutually respectful dialog has become more and more widely appreciated.
But there is another disturbing trend. We see that, as the world becomes increasingly competitive and polycentric, the Western countries are increasingly focused on preserving and promoting exclusively their own vision of world order and concept of human rights.
This is manifested, among other things, in the manipulation of human rights issues in order to gain advantages in geostrategic competition.
 This is manifested in the spread of the narrative on the so-called “global clash of values”, in which liberal democracies are opposed to the so-called “authoritarian regimes”, " the “right” Western models of development are opposed to the “wrong” usually non-Western models of development of state and society.
We see the attempts to justify the domination of the Western doctrine of human rights as a benefit for the world community, as an “empire with good manners”, or, using the well-known quotes of some European politicians “network of liberty” or “paradise garden” facing the “jungle” of the rest of the world.
The French philosopher Montesquieu said that “freedom is the right of citizens to do everything allowed by law”.  This principle is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Unfortunately, today we see how a certain group of countries interpret freedom as the right of citizens to do much of what is prohibited by law, if it contributes to a split society, a coup d’état or a revolutionary explosion in the country is directed against and ultimately creates opportunities to reframe power in a sovereign State in a direction beneficial to the West.
While mentoring other countries and using against them unilateral coercive measures violating international law and the basic human rights of the people of the countries concerned some Western governments and politicians, deliberately turning a blind eye to human rights violations in their own countries.
These are such human rights issues as racism, rehabilitation of Nazi ideology, violations of religious freedom, persecution of dissent that runs counter to political mainstream, discrimination of the athletes and journalists on the basis of their nationality, deterioration of social rights, ill-treatment of migrants and refugees etc.
The trend to replace mutually respectful dialogue on human rights among sovereign states with dictate and confrontation, lead to political fragmentation of the world, become a trigger of mistrust and conflicts and undermine the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In the year of the 75th anniversary of the Declaration, all countries should recall its spirit and letter, which prescribe the promotion of friendly relations among nations in order to ensure universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Cooperation in the field of human rights must move away from confrontation. А true dialogue on human rights must be restored on the basis of due respect to sovereign equality of States, their equal rights and their differences, including historical background, cultural heritage, national conditions and needs of the people.
I hope that today's discussion will contribute to a better understanding of the responsibility of all states without exception that play a key role in the promotion and protection of human rights in their countries.

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