Human Rights Watch Statement on Human Rights Day 2003

Reaffirm Vienna Commitments

As we mark Human Rights Day this December 10, we should reflect on another important anniversary this year that has been all but forgotten.

Ten years ago, in June 1993, the international community came together to reaffirm its commitment to uphold universal values at the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights. Overcoming tired old debates about cultural relativism and the hierarchy of rights, representatives of more than 170 states declared "the universal nature of these rights and freedoms is beyond question... All human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated."

Those were days of great confidence and optimism for the human rights movement. The Cold War had ended amidst a breathtaking wave of democratic change in formerly authoritarian states. Long-term political prisoners finally saw the light of day and even became presidents. The appointment of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights promised new leadership and vision for human rights on the world stage. Activists mobilized worldwide around a wide range of human rights issues and their voices were increasingly heard in the corridors of power.

In the years that followed, there were major steps forward for the human rights cause. A new Convention on the Rights of the Child gained almost universal acceptance. The Beijing Conference gave new attention to women's rights. The tide turned internationally against forced disappearances, torture and the death penalty. Landmines were banned and new efforts made to stop child soldiering and the worst forms of child labor. Former dictators finally faced justice and an international criminal court was established to try the very worst human rights crimes when nations failed to act. There was a new understanding of the centrality of human rights, good governance and the rule of law to poverty reduction and sustainable development. Business and other economic actors began to embrace the human rights and social responsibility agenda.

But this was also the decade of Rwanda and Bosnia, where the ghosts of genocide rose once again to haunt the international community. They were years in which the world ignored, or sometimes fuelled, ongoing and brutal conflicts in Colombia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Chechnya, the Great Lakes region and Afghanistan. A time when the gap between rich and poor countries grew wider, when the stroke of a pen by trade and finance officials could deprive millions of their livelihoods or basic services in an increasingly globalized economy. It was a decade in which the HIV/AIDS epidemic devastated communities and destroyed the lives of a new generation. A period when millions of people were uprooted but faced closed doors where once they found protection. A time that gave rise to failed states, mutant regimes and new, nihilist forms of terrorism.

Then, since the terrible events of September 11, 2001, the human rights cause has faced new challenges and threats. The threat of terrorism - a crime against humanity when intended to kill large numbers of civilians - still hangs over millions of people. Meanwhile, around the world, governments have passed regressive anti-terrorism laws that threaten basic rights. They have detained suspects without charge or due process and transferred them between countries even where they risk torture or unfair trial. In some places, those branded as terrorists have faced assassination and extra-judicial execution.

Ten years ago at the Vienna Conference, human rights were being attacked in the name of so-called "Asian values" that purported to put community interests and public order ahead of individual rights. Governments were arguing that economic and social development came first and civil and political rights would follow.

Now those arguments have been largely dispelled, but governments are attacking human rights on another old front, using the rhetoric of counter-terrorism to justify abuses and crackdowns on their political opponents. Where once western powers stood firm in their condemnation of human rights abuses, today they resort to the same tactics themselves, or offer a wink and a nod to repressive allies in the fight against terrorism.

The international human rights system, built over decades by governments themselves, has come under unprecedented strain. The Commission on Human Rights, the world's highest human rights forum, has been largely hijacked by abusive governments intent on screening themselves and each other from international scrutiny. The expert mechanisms set up to monitor human rights are overstretched and under political attack. The post of High Commissioner for Human Rights remains vacant following the tragic death of Sergio Vieira de Mello. The Security Council is failing to deliver on its commitments to protect civilians in armed conflict and post-conflict transition. And the United States is pursuing an ideological vendetta against the International Criminal Court.

So this Human Rights Day should be a time of reflection, rededication and renewal. Reflection on the fragility of progress and the challenges faced by our movement. Rededication to defending the human rights cause and the important gains that have been made. And renewal of the international machinery that can counter human rights abuse and ensure the commitments that governments made ten years ago in Vienna become a reality.

New York, December 10, 2003