«There is an inseparable relationship between human rights and peace: respect for the former is an essential premise of the latter, while the absence of peace dampens the hope of protecting rights and freedoms. The evidence of this relationship helps to understand how peace is the result of a daily commitment and a shared responsibility, which finds its foundation in the protection of the dignity of every person and in the rejection of the logic of oppression. In this regard, international law and multilateral institutions play a decisive roleas concrete instruments of protection for States as well as for each individual human being. Weakening them means exposing every individual, in particular the most vulnerable, to the risk that existence ends up being regulated by prevarication and the abuse of force.” The President of the Republic states this, Sergio Mattarellaon the occasion of World Human Rights Day.
«Seventy-six years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights placed a simple and revolutionary principle at the center of the international legal system: every person, as such, is the holder of inviolable rights. This is the message that the international community wanted to entrust to the future, drawing lessons from the moral and material rubble of world conflicts. It is a message that continues to appeal to our collective conscience”, continues the President of the Republic in his message.
«Even today, in fact» continues Mattarella «human rights are subject to multiple attacks. Wars – old and new – once again cast their shadow on civilian populations, causing helpless victims and bringing suffering and destruction everywhere, as the news of contemporary conflicts painfully confirms. Violence against women and minors, discrimination, the erosion of democratic freedomsoften take the form of a general retreat of legal civilization compared to goals that we thought had been achieved. Once again, we see racism, aggression, inequalities re-emerge: phenomena that history had already warned not to repeat.”
«There is an inseparable relationship between human rights and peace: respect for the former is an essential premise of the latter, while the absence of peace dampens the hope of protecting rights and freedoms. The evidence of this relationship helps to understand how peace is the result of a daily commitment and a shared responsibility, which finds its foundation in the protection of the dignity of every person and in the rejection of the logic of oppression. In this regard, international law and multilateral institutions play a decisive roleas concrete instruments of protection for States as well as for each individual human being. Weakening them means exposing every individual, in particular the most vulnerable, to the risk that existence ends up being regulated by prevarication and abuse of force”, added the Head of State.
Who concluded: «The Italian Republic, on this day, renews its convinced support for an international order based on respect for human rights. It is a commitment that comes from our history and the values engraved in the Constitution: the repudiation of war, the promotion of justice, the affirmation of solidarity, equality and freedom. These are the same values that inspired the construction of Europe, which over time has become a space of peace and unprecedented rights. Remembering the centrality of human rights does not mean indulging in the memory of pain, but taking that memory as a guide for action. It is this responsibility that we are called to: prevent violence from prevailing over the rules, affirm the universality of the principles that protect human dignityso that the 1948 Declaration does not remain just a statement of high ideals but is a concrete code of conduct with which all States choose to conform.”
