Civil society pays tribute to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The event – which was organised jointly by ISHR, Amnesty International, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Conectas, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, FIDH, FORUM-ASIA and Human Rights Watch – was an opportunity to reflect on the work of the High Commissioner in supporting human rights defenders and widening civil society space.

 ‘Navi, on behalf of ISHR I particularly want to acknowledge your work to protect civil society, champion women’s rights, and affirm the universality of all human rights for all people,’ said ISHR Director Phil Lynch.

‘The esteem in which you are held is reflected in the representation here tonight, not only from civil society, but in the attendance of Ambassadors, treaty body experts, and of course UN staff.’

Speaking on behalf of FIDH, Nicolas Agostini said, ‘Thank you for defending the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights. You have stood firm in your commitment to protect rights against attacks by relativists and those who manipulate concepts such as “culture”, “values” or “tradition” to make them instruments of social control and repression. Thank you for your efforts to promote and protect the rights of the most vulnerable, including LGBTI persons.’

Turning from thematic issues to the High Commissioner’s work on country situations, Paola Daher of the Cairo Institute said, ‘In these times of popular uprisings, internal strife and war, where human rights are relentlessly flouted, the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa need all the support they can get in their struggle to end oppression and tyranny, and to gain liberation and democracy. Madam High Commissioner, through your continuous attention and monitoring of the human rights situation in countries of our region you ensured that grave human rights violations in Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain were placed on the international agenda and addressed by the Human Rights Council.’

Sharing messages from many of ISHR’s national-level NGO partners, Pooja Patel said, ‘For those of us who work so closely with human rights defenders on the ground, we know that part of their courage draws from the knowledge that there is a human rights defender-in-chief named Navi Pillay who, to reflect her own words back on her, has spoken “truth to power” and confronted “privilege and entrenched hierarchy with an unshakeable belief in human dignity, equality and freedom”.’

Philippe Dam of Human Rights Watch delivered a very personal message on behalf of civil society, saying, ‘We worked closely together and could always rely on your leadership.’ ‘Our victories were also your victories – and they were always marked by your fingerprints. So thank you, Madam High Commissioner, for your determination, your values and your support.’

Irish Ambassador to the UN, Patricia O’Brien, was also invited to address the event given Ireland’s leadership at the UN on the protection of civil society space. ‘We all accept that in order to achieve and maintain peace, you must first cultivate justice. The work of human rights defenders all over the world to promote equality, dignity and freedom, is a testamentto that aspiration. Through her principled advocacy for the protection of human rights defenders, the High Commissioner has played an indispensible role in ensuring that aspiration is fulfilled…Her leadership as the world’s most prominent human rights defender has contributed to the empowerment, visibility and protection of human rights defenders all over the world.’

In closing the event and proposing a toast to the High Commissioner, Amnesty International’s representative to the UN in Geneva, Peter Splinter, said, ‘Thanks to you, Navi Pillay, for your steadfast defence of NGOs and civil society; for setting a most demanding example of what it means to be a human rights defender through your bold and constant leadership, for demonstrating foresight in bringing new and challenging human rights issues to the fore, and for doing this all with your ever-present equanimity and your delightful sense of humour.’ 

Photo credit: ISHR