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28 April 2000
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28 April 2000
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson today appealed solemnly to the international community to help protect the right to life "in the face of a potential disaster in the Horn of Africa".
Speaking at the closing of the annual session of the Commission on Human Rights, the High Commissioner said she shared with regional representatives the view that the situation in the Horn of Africa deserved the attention of the Commission as a matter of respect for human rights. "The right to life is an imperative norm of international human rights law. It includes protection from the arbitrary deprivation of life as well as protection of the means for living", she told delegates.
Citing the findings of the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, Catherine Bertini, who just conducted a mission to the region, Mrs. Robinson said the potential scale of the crisis that could develop from the current drought, unless large-scale preventive action was taken, was enormous, as the lives of as many as 16 million people in the region were at risk.
"We cannot allow human beings to die in large numbers before our very eyes", the High Commissioner said. "There is a shared responsibility here: the responsibility of the Governments involved, and the responsibility of the international community. The responsibility of Governments includes doing everything possible to provide a secure and peaceful environment for international relief activities. The plight of the millions of people at risk must impel the search for peace and security, for respect for human rights, and for the expression of international solidarity".
The High Commissioner called the situation in the Horn of Africa a test-case of the practical implementation of the inter-dependence and indivisibility of human rights. She added that it was her intention, in cooperation with her colleagues in other departments and agencies of the United Nations, to keep the Bureau of the Commission informed of developments concerning the drought in the Greater Horn of Africa with a view to inviting the Bureau and, through it, the Commission, to watch over the protection of the right to life in this situation.
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United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson today appealed solemnly to the international community to help protect the right to life "in the face of a potential disaster in the Horn of Africa".
Speaking at the closing of the annual session of the Commission on Human Rights, the High Commissioner said she shared with regional representatives the view that the situation in the Horn of Africa deserved the attention of the Commission as a matter of respect for human rights. "The right to life is an imperative norm of international human rights law. It includes protection from the arbitrary deprivation of life as well as protection of the means for living", she told delegates.
Citing the findings of the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, Catherine Bertini, who just conducted a mission to the region, Mrs. Robinson said the potential scale of the crisis that could develop from the current drought, unless large-scale preventive action was taken, was enormous, as the lives of as many as 16 million people in the region were at risk.
"We cannot allow human beings to die in large numbers before our very eyes", the High Commissioner said. "There is a shared responsibility here: the responsibility of the Governments involved, and the responsibility of the international community. The responsibility of Governments includes doing everything possible to provide a secure and peaceful environment for international relief activities. The plight of the millions of people at risk must impel the search for peace and security, for respect for human rights, and for the expression of international solidarity".
The High Commissioner called the situation in the Horn of Africa a test-case of the practical implementation of the inter-dependence and indivisibility of human rights. She added that it was her intention, in cooperation with her colleagues in other departments and agencies of the United Nations, to keep the Bureau of the Commission informed of developments concerning the drought in the Greater Horn of Africa with a view to inviting the Bureau and, through it, the Commission, to watch over the protection of the right to life in this situation.
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