Human Rights Day - MAE reafirms committment for human rights promotion, protection

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) welcomes the celebration of the International Human Rights Day on Thursday and reaffirms its commitment to promoting and protecting human rights, condemning at the same time any attempt to diminish the principles of their universality and indivisibility. The MAE brings to mind, in a press release sent to AGERPRES, that this year also marks the 70th anniversary since the European Convention on Human Rights was opened for signing, through which Europe benefits from "a strong international system for the protection of human rights. "Over the past 70 years, the convention has expanded its scope across the continent, today protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of more than 830 million people in the 47 member states," the Ministry said. "During this period of multiple challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact, the human rights and fundamental freedoms situation has been severely affected by deepening inequalities and increasing the vulnerability of some social groups. It is necessary to address these global issues. "In addition, another concern of the international community is the rising phenomena of racism, xenophobia and hate speech," the MAE said. According to the MAE, the European Union and, implicitly, Romania have reaffirmed their commitment to contribute to the global pandemic response by promoting coordination in all relevant multilateral forums, including cooperation with the UN, WHO, Council of Europe, OSCE and regional organizations. "The recent EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy for 2020-2024 reaffirms the EU's strong commitment to further promoting the universal values to the benefit of all, based on the fundamental principle that no one should be left behind and no human right should be ignored. The International Human Rights Day contributes to the awareness that fundamental human rights and freedoms must be protected at all levels by a system of law, but also by all the participants in public life, requiring the identification of efficient responses, in the long run, to the pre-existing crises, such as migration, as well as to violations of the norms of international law," underscored the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the same press release. The set of foreign policy actions, as well as the priorities and activities at the level of international bodies - the UN, the Human Rights Council and the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, OSCE, EU and Council of Europe - allowed Romania to demonstrate its values of democracy, the rule of law, international law and human rights. "Romania is and will remain an active contributor to the efforts of the international community to assert and respect human rights," the MAE said. The United Nations adopted, on December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, later supplemented by other documents: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (1966), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), the Convention Against Torture (1984), the Convention against Apartheid (1985), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and others. Available in over 500 languages, the Declaration of Human Rights is currently the most translated document in the world. The Human Rights Day was officially established on 4 December 1950, when the UN General Assembly, by a resolution, invited all Member States, as well as any other interested organizations, to celebrate this day as they saw fit. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Claudia Stanescu, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)