December 10, 2008

Foundation Marks 60th Anniversary of UDHR with Review of Country’s Human Rights Record

CHR Chairperson de Lima addresses the forum.

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by co-sponsoring a human rights forum with the Ateneo Human Rights Center and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR) in Pasay City on 10 December 2008. The forum sought to evaluate the Philippines’ human rights records and note any progress after 60 years of the declaration.

AHRC Executive Director Carlos Medina Jr. opened the conference by explaining that the UDHR came about as a response to the atrocities of World War II. It was because of Hitler’s justification of his actions as an “internal affair” that the need for a universal system became apparent. Sixty years later, under the global system of the United Nations, no country can now claim that human rights violations are a “sovereign affair.”

Sadly, CHR Chairperson Leila de Lima reported that there is still a consensus among civil society groups that there is still a lot work to be done in terms of human rights protection in the Philippines. She said that the key issues raised in the past forums continue to be the points raised today. She agreed there remains a continued ignorance of the value of human rights, but spoke of the efforts towards correcting this.

AHRC Executive Director Medina opens the conference.

She praised the Supreme Court for its efforts to combat the usual silence that envelopes enforced disappearances with the writ of amparo. She also mentioned that it has set-up special courts to address extrajudicial killings. De Lima also spoke about the Juvenile Justice Law, a pending draft bill to grant compensation to victims of displacement and said that the CHR is sponsoring a bill on non-discrimination.

However she acknowledged that there are still many areas that the CHR needs to look into. De Lima said that human rights advocacy is a continuing effort. Its success or failure is not “just a reflection on the president but on the 91 million individuals who call this country their home.”

“FNF has been supporting this event for years now because our organization was set-up after World War II in Germany. It aims to promote democracy not just in our country but also in the whole world,” said FNF Resident Representative Siegfried Herzog. “Human Rights are not a luxury. They have formed the bedrock of democracy for centuries. The idea that individuals possess basic inalienable rights does not arise out of a vacuum,” he added. “It is, in fact, a basic part of the social contract that underlies all modern societies. The voluntary agreement between people to live in harmony together under a jointly agreed law,” he said. “Human rights advocacy is a continuous learning process of the international community; persistent evil in a country is not something the world can afford to ignore.”