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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
The
Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José
Miguel Insulza, commemorated today Human Rights Day with a call on "the
peoples and governments of the member states and the world, to continue
to defend unwaveringly the validity and respect for human rights."
Secretary
General Insulza reiterated his call on the countries of the Americas
that have not yet done so to ratify the American Convention on Human
Rights, also known as the Pact of San José, and to accept the
jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, "for our
region to have a truly universal Inter-American system."
The OAS
leader recalled that "the defense of human rights is - together with
democracy, security and integral development - one of the four pillars
on which the OAS is based, as is reflected in its Charter".
He added that the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man,
signed six months before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of
the United Nations, initialed on this day 66 years ago, "also
constitutes an invaluable contribution to the global validity of these
values." The Secretary General said that "our Hemisphere has one of the
most advanced systems for the protection of human rights in the world,
which obliges us to be active defenders of its validity, its respect and
promotion."
The Secretary General warned that "efforts to
protect human rights must be renewed every day, starting with
governments and with all the sectors that make up our society because we
are all responsible and must contribute to their protection, as the
violation of these rights demands more than contemplation and
passivity."
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
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