|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2000 - Extracts from other Adresses |
|
| Director-General of UNESCO | |
|
Address by Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali " I should like to recall our first meeting, dear Mary Robinson, because I was immediately struck by your personality, your convictions and your commitment to the service of those who are forgotten, those who have no voice. It was in 1992. You were then President of Ireland. And you were preparing to leave for a country to which nothing obliged you to go, if not your courage and your generosity – Somalia. You were already Yourself! That is to say, a woman free in her thinking, purposeful in action, with high expectations both of yourself and of those you chose to defend and protect in the name of those ideals of which you are the living embodiment – development, human rights and peace. Free, purposeful and demanding – you have never ceased to be so in your absorbing but difficult mission within the United Nations. And I am in a position to appreciate the talent and force of character which enabled you to serve this great institution without ever being subservient, to reach a compromise on many occasions without surrendering your principles, to reject any idea of cautious silence and constantly to speak the simple but often disturbing truth. ________________ Address by Mr Pierre-André Wiltzer " It was almost ten years ago that the United Nations decided, at the World Conference in Vienna, to strengthen its action in the field of human rights. It was on this occasion that the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights was established. This was the “missing link” in the United Nations system, and you, Madam High Commissioner, have given it the dimensions it was intended to have. With conviction and enthusiasm, you have developed an active and particularly valuable tool of great service to human rights. You have found the right approach to encourage reluctant countries to set about reforms. You have courageously denounced serious violations whenever necessary, freely and conscientiously – especially violations of humanitarian law in time of conflict. You have reminded us that, in the struggle for human rights, no right is ever established once and for all, and that the horizon of human rights could darken. ________________ Address by Mr Mário Soares " Madam High Commissioner, not only do you fully merit this Prize, but the fact that it is being awarded to you in your personal capacity, at this difficult juncture in international affairs, makes it exceptionally meaningful. You have always rejected unequivocally all forms of terrorism and you have, under all circumstances and with exceptional courage, affirmed the rule of law. For you, human rights form an indivisible whole resting upon universal values applicable to all, strong or weak. You are, moreover, a woman of talent whose every act is founded on ethical values and rigorous principles. Your political ideals are inspired directly by the universal philosophical principles of the Age of Enlightenment on which the American and French revolutions were founded. You have never agreed to renounce your humanist principles or to ignore the injunctions of your moral conscience. ________________ Address by President Henri Konan Bédié It is a particular pleasure for me to congratulate you on this high distinction the Jury decided to award to you in recognition of your action on behalf of human rights. Of all the causes meriting total commitment, that of human rights is certainly one of the most lofty and the most exacting. So it is that, year in year out, you have chosen to devote yourself to it unreservedly. Your presence on every scene, particularly in Africa, which you know well, having shared its sufferings, in Rwanda and in Somalia, has contributed greatly to a full growth of awareness of human rights on our continent, ravaged by so many conflicts and their train of calamities. Whenever you speak, you do not fail to stress the importance of having an overall view of those rights, dwelling on the fact that development, democracy and human rights stem from the same approach, the same ideal, and have the same issue at stake, namely, peace. Recent events – I am thinking of 11 September and the increasing number of conflicts of all kinds around the world and on our continent – teach us that the question of human rights cannot be reduced to a mere contrast or conflict between order and security and various kinds of freedom. Individual and collective freedoms are also jeopardized in a world where there is too much inequality, coupled with the intolerance of political actors who prefer the course of violence to that of dialogue, negotiation and compromise. Madam Prizewinner, (...) As a result of the work you have accomplished in exemplary fashion as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, it will be remembered that respect for human beings, their dignity and their rights, are preconditions to the advent of a world of justice, harmony and peace. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
