All are partners in upholding human rights

All those who espouse Commonwealth principles are committed to advancing human rights, the Secretary-General has said, whether they work together or separately, from different points of strength, towards a common goal.

“Human rights speak to our most treasured values, and we all seek to observe them and see them observed,” Kamalesh Sharma told the Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, in Trinidad and Tobago.

He added that many of the commitments made by Heads of Government over the years at the Commonwealth’s biennial summits mark the association out as an organisation committed to advancing human rights.

“These are mighty goals, difficult to attain to satisfaction, let alone perfection. But they are essential to define our ambition and intent, and their embodiment has a healing and beneficial working,” Mr Sharma said.

The commitments – all made by consensus - include the 1991 Harare Commonwealth Declaration, where Heads agreed to the ‘principles of justice and human rights, including the rule of law and accountable administrations’, and the creation of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which addresses serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values.

The Forum of National Human Rights Institutions is one of the many gatherings taking place before leaders meet for the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting from 27 to 29 November.

Mr Sharma acknowledged that “not one of our 53 member countries is perfect” and that the Commonwealth’s approach “is to recognise this, and to be ready to work – constructively and with quiet engagement – towards better solutions”.

Yet he warned against publicly listing grievances, as far more can be gained by agreeing ways of working towards a shared goal – “in strengthening our responses to abuses in human rights”.

The Secretary-General outlined some of the human rights work the Commonwealth Secretariat has done, such as helping countries through the United Nations process of Universal Periodic Review designed to look at the human rights situation throughout the world, regardless of a country’s size or wealth.

He also cited ways in which the Commonwealth has helped individual countries over a sustained period of time, for instance in helping Swaziland and Tonga amend their constitutions, and assisting Maldives towards a new constitution as well as multiparty elections.

In these and other efforts, “the Commonwealth seeks to be a strategic partner of member states as they advance in this herculean and noble task” of nation and institution-building, Mr Sharma said.

“We see greater value in raising a helping hand, than in raising a wagging finger.”

Key Links:

• Human Rights
• Country Profile: Trinidad and Tobago

Related News:

• CFNHRI Website