IHRQC & YT Celebrate 52nd Anniversary of the UDHR [Archives:2000/51/Reportage]

Farouq Al-Kamali
Yemen Times, Taiz
Sponsored by the Information and Human Rights Qualification Center (IHRQC) and Yemen Times, Taiz, a seminar was organized last Sunday on the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In the seminar Mr. Ez Aldin Saeed, IHRQC director, talked about the UDHR and to the extent the Yemeni legislations are in harmony with it. He asserted that Yemen was of the very few countries that ratified most of international treaties pertaining to human rights and that the Yemeni constitution stipulates in its article No 6 Yemens obligation by the principles of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
He reviewed the role played by Arabs in formulating the UDHR through the membership of the Arab countries in the UN which were restricted to Yemen, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
He indicated how the Arab commentaries affected the formation of this declaration revealing the distinguished role played by the Arab committee formed to discuss the UDHR headed by Mr. Shark Malek from Lebanon.
Ez announced the inauguration of the monthly Forum of the IHRQC where many issues are to be discussed including human rights.
Imad al-Saqqaf, YT Taiz Bureau chief, talked about the freedom of the press and human rights and indicated the violations of the press and journalists harassment and said Tens of journalists were harassed and that newspapers were brought to courts. This is very dangerous to freedom of the press which is to play an essential role in promoting human rights awareness.
He indicated that freedom of opinion and press are the most important pillars for human rights and that confiscating these rights means a clear violation. He asserted the importance of strong ties between the press and HR organizations on one hand and the press and decision making centers on the other.
He added that it was important that the authority gave access to information in all the institutions and in all fields highlighting the active and instrumental role played by the late Dr. Abdulaziz al-Saqqaf in establishing the civil society organizations; promoting human rights awareness through founding Yemen Times newspaper and 21st Yemen Forum; supporting children and women rights.
He also said Dr. Saqqaf sacrificed himself for the sake of these supreme values he believed in: freedom of the press, democracy, civil society organizations and the country of law and order. It is true that he has left, but YT is still there to continue what he has started with the same pace and policy. Dr. Abbas al-Junaid, Law Faculty Dean, Taiz University, presented a paper regarding human rights and their nature and said Human rights are ranging between the right which is a duty and the duty which is a right. Human rights are originally a duty. International and regional constitutions, treaties, agreements and laws are centered on the right and duty issue.
Human rights issue have developed dramatically and has taken many humanitarian dimensions including saving human beings from massacres, floods, disasters, diseases, etc, despite employing this issue much to serve political interests.
He highlighted the hazards posed at human rights by globalization, especially in poor societies. He said This danger will widen the gulf between the poor and the rich which is a violation of social justice and of all its political, economic and information and civil dimensions. At the end of his paper, he paid tribute to the late Dr. Abdulaziz al-Saqqaf.
The seminar was enriched with discussions of university professors and media people. Mr. Hussain al-Adimi talked about efforts NGOs have to exert to combat torturing through conducting field survey to prisons and detention pending investigations promoting human rights awareness among the people.
Attendants have expressed their condemnation of the ignorance of international community and HR organizations to the aggressive and merciless massacres and killing of Palestinians and their right to have their independent country on their independent lands. They all called upon the international community to stop the Zionist attacks on Palestinians and violating their rights.
The seminar was dedicated to the soul of the late Dr. Abdulaziz al-Saqqaf who was the pioneer and martyr of human rights and democracy, the first founder of civil society and HR organizations in Yemen.


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