Human Rights Day Observed – UN-GA Pres Honoured 10 Dec 1979 - Historical Repository for Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

Human Rights Day Observed – UN-GA Pres Honoured 10 Dec 1979

Filed under Other Awards, Citations, Presentations | UN Anniversaries

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY OBSERVANCE:

A special programme was held at United Nations Headquarters commemorating Human Rights Day. This 10 December event brought together the President of the General Assembly with representatives of Egypt, Israel and the United States.

Shraddha

Because of recent events the U.S. hostages in Iran were were a focus of attention.

The programme opened with a short meditation by Sri Chinmoy, who presented an award to U.N. General Assembly President Ambassador Salim Ahmed Salim.

Mr. Salim is known for strong support of human rights as well as his recent efforts to free the hostages. Mr. Jeff Kamen, WPIX-TV’s U.N. correspondent, was Master of Ceremonies.

Excerpts from the programme follow.

Mr. Jeff Kamen, WPIX-TV: On behalf of Sri Chinmoy, I’d like to welcome you all here. My name is Jeff Kamen, United Nations correspondent for WPIX television, New York, and I’m honoured to be the Master of Ceremonies at this brief but still important human rights observance.

Shraddha

May I ask our invited guests, the representatives of Egypt, Israel and the United States, along with General Assembly President Salim Ahmed Salim, to come up on the stage now to join in a moment of silence on behalf of all humanity.

Shraddha

Immediately following the standing moment of silence, Sri Chinmoy will make a presentation to Ambassador Salim for his courageous personal efforts on behalf of the diplomatic hostages in Teheran and his dedication to the dignity of all people everywhere, that made him the recipient of the special, and might I add surprise, award.

Mr. Salim did not know that he was receiving the award today. (A brief meditation follows.)

Shraddha

His Excellency Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, President of the General Assembly, whose ongoing support for Human Rights and courageous efforts to free the U. S. hostages in Iran have won worldwide respect, receives an award from Sri Chinmoy, leader of the Peace Meditation Group.

His Excellency Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, President of the United Nations General Assembly:

Shraddha

Sri Chinmoy, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, first I must confess that I am extremely moved by this award and the thoughtfulness behind it. It is very difficult to keep secrets in the United Nations, but I must confess also this was one more secret, and I am completely surprised and overwhelmed by your gesture. I shall try my best to live up to the expectations which this beautiful award carries with it. It has become increasingly fashionable among some people to reject celebrations and commemorations.

Often these are the people who have taken a cynical view of the observance of occasions such as Human Rights Day on the grounds that there is such a wide-scale violation of human rights these days in so many places that it is not serious to celebrate this day. But I believe such an attitude is misguided and misses the whole point. Life never offers perfection. But progress is not only possible, but a proud fact of life. Into the sorriest spots on this planet the light of freedom and human decency has begun to shine.

Shraddha

Certainly not everywhere and certainly not all the time is justice beginning to prevail. But clearly change for the better in the human rights field is taking place. We must work to accelerate that change. Above all, we must categorically refuse to tolerate, much less condone, any and all violations of human rights under whatever pretext. For those of us who have recently broken the bonds of colonial control, the exhilarating sense of liberty is still fresh upon us. For those still under the yoke of oppresssion, there is the rising expectation of what tomorrow can bring.

Shraddha

If there is any single lesson that has emerged from this period of the history of mankind, it is that the genuine aspirations of people for liberty and human dignity must be met if our small and fragile world is to bear any hope for survival and growth.

If we approach each challenge with courage and sincerity, we, as a community of nations and people, can find peaceful and just solutions to the problems which confront us. May Human Rights Day invoke within each of us a renewed commitment to the oneness of all humanity.

We are, in the final analysis, all brothers and sisters and children of one family the human family.

Jeff Kamen: Thank you, Mr. President. Our next speaker is the distinguished scholar and diplomat, Yehuda Blum, the highly respected and much admired Ambassador to the United Nations from the State of Israel. Ambassador Blum speaks today for a people with a human rights tradition of thousands of years that transcends boundaries of nation and culture. Ambassador Blum.

His Excellency Mr. Yehuda Z. Blum, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:

Shraddha

Mr. Chairman, Mr. President of the General Assembly, Excellencies, Sri Chinmoy, ladies and gentlemen, some nineteen hundred years ago the sages of Israel, in referring to the creation, as described in Genesis, raised the question: “Why was Adam created single?” They offered the following explanation: To tell us that whoever is responsible for the loss of one single life is deemed as if he were responsible for the loss of the entire universe. By the same token, whoever preserves the life of one single person is deemed as if he saved the entire universe…. Consequently, each individual is entitled to say: ‘the world has been created for my sake. ‘” (Mishna, Sanhedrin, 4: 5)

There could be no more concise and succinct formulation of the fundamental concept of human rights, and no clearer affirmation of the equality and dignity of man and of the intrinsic value of every human being. This constitutes an unequivocal repudiation of all those who have sought throughout history to define the role of the individual merely as a means towards the advancement of what they perceived as the interests of society. In our own time we have again witnessed the rise of ideologies which deny man’s right to regard himself as an end rather than as a means and which unreservedly subordinate his inalienable rights to the needs and interests of the rulers.

Shraddha

These ideologies, in their denial of the intrinsic dignity of every human being, brought untold misery, suffering and destruction on all of mankind. When the United Nations came into being in 1945, the Charter reaffirmed mankind’s faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person. In the pursuit of these objectives the General Assembly adopted in 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the three decades that have elapsed since, the United Nations also sponsored the adoption of a large 19 number of human rights conventions, culminating in the two Covenants of 1966. Regrettably, all this preoccupation by the United Nations and other international organizations with questions of human rights does not reflect any real improvement in this field. If anything, it would appear that respect for human rights has diminished world-wide since the adoption of the Universal Declaration on 10 December 1948….

I fully realise that my message is not a happy one. Some may even think it is out of place on an occasion such as this, which is largely a commemorative one. I believe, however, that it is a realistic appraisal of the situation confronting us. And, if we are truly interested in promoting the cause of human rights-as I am sure all those assembled here are-it behooves us to look the stark truth squarely in the eye. Much remains to be done to translate into practice the noble ideals and principles of the Universal Declaration.

On this thirty-first anniversary of its adoption, let us rededicate ourselves to the task of making the Declaration this common standard of achievement-a living reality throughout the world.

Mr. Jeff Kamen: The United States of America has made a worldwide and very public commitment to the preservation and promotion of human rights for everyone. Speaking for the host country of the United States of America is Esther Coopersmith.

Shraddha

Mrs. Esther Coopersmith, Representative of the United States Mission to the United Nations,’

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you so much for having this service here today and it is a great honour to represent my country. As some of you know, I am a very optimistic person, but I must confess that I am, like all of America now, preoccupied with the problems in Iran.

Shraddha

We are all in fact preoccupied with the Americans that are held hostage. We cannot think of a greater violation of human rights then what is occurring in Iran today, and rather then giving you a long speech, what I’d really like to do is to ask all of you to stand for a moment of silence to think about our hostages, because there, for the grace of God, go all of us. (A moment of silence follows.)

As Ambassador Blum has just said, there are so many serious problems today. We need to concentrate not only on the good things that have been done throughout the world, but also on some of the unfortunate realities that we are confronted with. Thank you so much.

Mr. Jeff Kamen: Now I have the honour of introducing Mr. Mahmoud Karem Mahmoud, Representative of the Egyptian Mission.

Shraddha

Mr. Mahmoud Karem Mahmoud: Representative of the Egypt£an Mission to the United Nations: Distinguished Chinmoy, Mr. Chairman, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I speak here today on behalf of Ambassador Meguid of Egypt who, due to an urgent commitment, was unable to address this august assembly. We are all assembled here to honour one of the most respected and important occasions, an occasion which is undoubtedly of paramount significance to us all: Human Rights Day. Egypt, the cradle of seven thousand years of civilisation, has and will always attach prominent importance to the respect of human rights and to the strenuous efforts of the United Nations best manifested in its declarations, resolutions and binding international agreements which all emphasize the necessity of upholding human rights.

It is the firm belief of Egypt that the denial of human rights is the denial of the essence of peace. The Charter of the United Nations has stated our determination to, and I would like to quote, “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person and the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.” We, in the interests of international peace, order and security, must deplore the shameful violations of human rights anywhere in the world.

Shraddha

We call on all states, therefore, to comply with the rule of law and international diplomacy and to the letter and the spirit of international conventions. We therefore reject the colonialism and racism that prevail in South Africa, and it is my duty here to bring this to the attention of this august gathering.

We must all spare no effort to support the restoration of the human rights of the freedom fighters and peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe. In the Middle East, ladies and gentlemen, the Palestinian people must achieve their inherent and absolute right of self-determination. For the restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian peoples is the crux of the Middle East problem, and Egypt is sparing no effort to help alleviate the sufferings of our brothers.

In conclusion, the delegation of Egypt wishes to reiterate its firm belief that all the international instruments on human rights, and in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, should be faithfully and scrupulously respected by all states.

Thank you.

Jeff Kamen: As President Salim said, it’s fashionable these days to put this kind of meeting down and say why bother. But just the sheer energy of people of good will coming together has a value that cannot be measured.

I’d like to close the programme by quoting a very small poem by the person who’s really brought us all here Sri Chinmoy- and I think it’s most apt for this day:

“When the power of love replaces the love of power, man will have a new name: God.”

The Peace Meditation Choir perform a composition by Sri chinmoy