HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL OPENS HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT
Hears Statements by the President of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Prime Minister of Fiji and Dignitaries from 20 States
2 March 2015
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The Human Rights Council opened its High-Level Segment this morning, hearing statements by the President of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Prime Minister of Fiji and dignitaries from 20 States who spoke about their concerns regarding the situation in a number of countries and regions around the world and outlined some of the efforts their countries were undertaking in the promotion and protection of human rights.
Gjorgje Ivanov, President of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, stressed the importance of human rights and dignity, and the past work of the United Nations and the Human Rights Council in their protection. The protection of human rights today faced a major challenge, that of how to balance their universality without disturbing diversity. As much as religious extremism and indoctrination posed a danger to freedom of speech, attacks against freedom of religion also undermined that freedom.
Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji, urged the Council to give equal consideration to transnational issues for which the global community did not yet have solutions, such as the collective failure to address the negative consequences of climate change. It should also place the human rights impacts of climate change at the centre of their deliberations and consider the human rights position of refugees seeking asylum in neighbouring countries, but who had been rebuffed and resettled among Pacific people.
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High-Level Segment
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MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL-THANI, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Affairs of Qatar…urged the Council to give due consideration to the report of the commission of inquiry on human rights violations perpetrated in the Gaza strip with a view to put an end to human rights violations against the Palestinian people.
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BANDAR BIN MOHAMMED ALAIBAN, Minister and President of the Human Rights Commission of Saudi Arabia…Among the most appalling violations of human rights were those related to the occupation of the Palestinian land, such as killing of civilians, namely women and children, as well as Judaisation, deprivation of Palestinian people of their most fundamental right of the establishment of a state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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NACI KORU, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, said…Palestine continued to be at the top of the agenda for Turkey. The status-quo was unsustainable, and persistent violations of international law were at the heart of the problem.
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For use of the information media; not an official record
HRC15/010E
Document Type: French text, Press Release, Statement
Document Sources: Human Rights Council, United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)
Country: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye
Subject: Casualties, Children, Human rights and international humanitarian law, Jerusalem, Legal issues, Occupation, Statehood-related, Women
Publication Date: 02/03/2015
URL source: http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/news_media.nsf/(httpNewsByYear_en)/4C1ADA26135CCEF8C1257DFC004CE947?OpenDocument