Prime Minister M. Topolánek's address at the opening of the "At the Dawn" exhibition 13 October 2008
Prime Minister M. Topolánek's address at the opening of the "At the Dawn" exhibition, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 13 October 2008
Madam minister, dear friends,
This is the fourth time we have opened an exhibition here in the spaces of Straka's Academy. We have decided to liven up its austere bureaucratic spaces a bit. After Boris Jirků's exhibition, after the "Some of Us..." exhibition - which has enjoyed great success at the Czech Centers around the world - and after the exhibition of graphic artist J. Suchánek, we have the exhibition we are here to open today, and please allow me a few words of introduction.
Human rights and freedoms are universal; every individual has been given the ability to perceive them, regardless of the country, culture or government they were born into. This is why we frequently use the term "natural" human rights and freedoms. Unfortunately, even as the sense of basic freedoms has become more natural, the ability to enjoy them – even in today's world - has become less self-evident. When the UN passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60 years ago, it was a huge step toward safeguarding them institutionally. For the first time, a document came out confirming the inalienability of fundamental rights, one whose wording was agreed upon by representatives of all civilizations and cultures on Earth. For the first time, a concept emerged which bound governments around the world to the fulfillment of innate rights.
The desire for freedom is natural and eternal. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights summarized into one short text what thinkers had written about for thousands of years, what some enlightened rulers guaranteed, and what ordinary citizens at various times and various places on the planet had fought for. The Declaration meant that a major battle in the struggle for freedom was won. However, by no means did it bring a final victory. To this day, the majority of people live in countries whose governments repeatedly violate human rights. Most of humanity does not have guarantees of the most fundamental freedoms such as the right to life, safety, freedom of movement… And this is true in the 21st century. That is to say, under the Christian calendar, because under the Chinese calculation of time we are in the 48th century, and according to the Jewish calendar we are in the 58th century. Human civilisation is so old and yet it has such weak guarantees of human rights.
We must remind ourselves of this even now, when we are celebrating six decades of existence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today we must openly say that we are definitely not winning across the board in the war for human rights. If we are winning at all. The UN itself always has a majority of regimes that do not honour human rights and instead massively violate them. In the UN, it is possible for countries that violate human rights to chair the Human Rights Council. While we in Europe has put into our constitutional systems the first, second and third generations of rights and are working on the fourth, most people on Earth would be happy to have guarantees of at least the "first-generation" civic freedoms. This should bother us far more than resolving issues such as whether the governments of EU member states should guarantee their citizens the right to housing.
If we want to bear global responsibility – and I am sure that we want to – we must re-evaluate our priorities. Our basic concern must be the effort to put forth the fulfilment of the Declaration in all UN member states. In this, global solidarity with all human beings must take precedence over groups' selfishness. In the end, a policy of human rights is in our pragmatic interest. Guarantees of freedom, prosperity and security for today's lucky minority of people into the future will depend on how that unlucky majority will live. They depend on whether human rights will become truly universal; not just a concept, but in daily practice.
Aside from this, we must also set our own house in order. While many of us are intoxicated with utopian visions of how we can ensure that citizens get "the blue from the sky" as part of 4th generation law, in our civilised societies we are also violating fundamental rights: Misusing wiretaps, efforts at violent expropriation or preventing the return of property, bureaucratic violations of equal opportunity, racism… Or maybe this isn't happening here?
Only when basic freedoms will be built upon a firm foundation in all countries of the world will we be able to celebrate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in joy and in good conscience. Today, we really don't have a reason for a big celebration. Instead, each of us should scrutinise his or her own memory and ask ourselves whether we have done the utmost in defence of the rights and freedoms of those close to us, always and in all circumstances. And improve ourselves.
Thank you for your attention.
