图尔克告诉意大利参议院委员会:"我们需要坚定地履行人权承诺”
2024 年 1 月25日
夫人宫，意大利共和国参议院所在地 © iStock / Getty Images Plus
沃尔克·蒂尔克，联合国人权事务高级专员
在意大利参议院促进和保护人权特别委员会
普恰雷利参议员，
尊敬的委员会成员，
我很高兴有机会在世界各地极其紧急和动荡的时刻与这个特别委员会交谈。
冲突不断加剧，导致侵犯人权、流离失所、饥饿和人道主义需求达到新的高峰。
世界各地——乌克兰； 在苏丹和萨赫勒地区； 在缅甸； 在其他数十起冲突中，仅本月就有数万名平民丧生。 还有更多的人受伤，甚至可能是永久性的。 还有更多人被迫逃离家园。
世界上最严重的热点地区的紧张局势正在加剧。 最近，自10月7日哈马斯在以色列发动可怕袭击以来，以色列与哈马斯在加沙的战争造成了前所未有的平民杀戮和饥饿，基本基础设施遭到全面破坏。 这场冲突也影响到该地区的其他国家，而且持续的时间越长，发生更大规模火灾的风险就越大。 在西巴尔干地区和其他地方，潜在的冲突也面临着爆发暴力的现实威胁。 好战似乎正在成为政治格局中可接受的特征。
当冲突如我们今天所看到的规模肆虐或酝酿时，世界任何地方都没有真正的安全。
与此同时，承诺在本十年末消除极端贫困的全球发展议程却步履蹒跚。 世界上近一半人口所生活的国家的政府在债务上的支出多于教育或医疗卫生 — 我们的国际金融基础设施功能失调加剧了这一负担。
种族主义和其他形式的歧视——尤其是针对妇女和女童的歧视——再次抬头，数字平台成为仇恨言论的传递系统，并且通常以文化或传统的名义共同努力，以抵制最近取得的重大进展。 几十年。
越来越多国家的公民空间正被严厉的限制所窒息，这些限制削弱了正义、自由和独立的媒体以及民主和参与的空间。
所有这些趋势加剧并助长了气候变化、污染和生物多样性丧失等日益加剧的压倒性威胁，这是一场三重行星危机，很可能成为我们这一代人面临的决定性人权威胁。
但多边体系和许多社会并没有以统一的目标和果断、合作的领导力共同解决这些问题，而是变得更加两极分化和更加分裂。
这是一个严峻的政治和经济形势。 这是人权紧急情况。 我相信，你们的工作对于维持和推进所有这些挑战的解决方案的斗争非常重要——因为为了有效，这些解决方案需要以人权为基础。
2018年，开创性的和平之路研究非常清楚地表明，歧视、不平等和排斥等未得到解决的不满情绪会加剧紧张局势，从而加剧冲突，导致流离失所，并导致痛苦和不稳定的进一步循环。 冲突的其他强大驱动因素包括腐败、各种形式的治理不善和政府渎职。
解决冲突； 维持和平； 为了实现可持续和绿色发展，必须解决这些根本原因。 事实上，最近的历史提供了许多例子，表明强有力的防止侵犯人权行为使社会更具复原力，并且不太可能爆发暴力。
我们从那些看似棘手的冲突得到持久解决的地区得到了证据。 例如，当问责制得到适当重视时就是这种情况； 当持续存在的歧视和不平等得到解决时； 以及治理是透明和参与性的。
然而，今天，数以百万计的人正在遭受未能维持和平（例如在苏丹和缅甸）或为巴勒斯坦人创造公正和持久和平的影响。
在利比亚，缺乏有效的人权协议和非常糟糕的治理对利比亚人以及移民和难民的基本权利产生了可怕的影响——他们的可怕痛苦因被驱逐到该国而进一步加剧。 利比亚的混乱暴力也对该国邻国产生了深远的负面影响
在许多领域，以人权为基础的经济和福利政策带来了更加可持续的发展和经济增长，有助于减少不平等和不满。 事实上，在政府政策的各个领域，基于人权的措施的好处都极其明显：投资于人权（包括基于权利的发展）的国家不易发生冲突和暴力，并且能够更好地抵御冲击 一个不稳定的世界。 这就是为什么正义、善政、平等和尽可能广泛的公民参与空间是支撑联合国所有发展工作的核心人权原则。
简而言之：人权工作通过建设和平、公平、有复原力、繁荣和绿色的社会来提供解决方案，使社会更有能力度过动荡。 这些工作需要强有力的合作领导。
但我们今天看到的不是统一的领导，而是分裂政治的统治。
一种分散注意力的政治——例如，通过捏造有关性别、移民的人为争端或想象文明的“冲突”。 当人们感到恐惧时，仇恨言论和煽动歧视就会迅速蔓延； 当混乱甚至贫困似乎威胁到他们的生命时。
冷漠的政治否定受害者和其他人的人性，例如移民，他们不构成威胁，但很容易受到伤害。
在新技术的帮助下，一种欺骗政治，大量生产谎言和虚假信息，以使根深蒂固的精英的利益不会受到威胁。 这在否认气候变化的情况下非常明显。 今年全球将举行 60 多场选举，这种错误信息和虚假信息可能尤其危险。
陈旧、生硬、残酷的镇压政治 — — 从未真正退出舞台 — — 也破坏了为当今的挑战寻求公正解决方案的工作。 我们迫切需要涌现批判性、创新性和建设性的观点来建立更好的政策和体系，但在许多国家，我们经历的是军事政变和独裁主义——靴子和拳头。
我们需要坚定地履行人权承诺，这是解决方案的承诺。 我们需要采取联合措施，实现更多正义、尊重和包容，以增强韧性。
我们需要培养批判性思维和创造力，而这些只能源于广泛、自由的参与和公开辩论。 自由与发展之间不存在二分法：基本自由使发展更加可持续并惠及所有人。
我们需要坚持正义、证据和真相——例如，采取措施确保人工智能工具的原则性治理。
我们需要注意我们的相互联系和共同价值观——培养人类的同理心、正义和同情心的自然反应。 必须克服导致社会分裂的深刻分歧。 利比亚作家希沙姆·马塔尔最近写道，“战争的反面是合作”，我觉得这是一系列重要的问题。 为了建立韧性与和平，我们必须努力建立或加强社会联系、同理心和共同理解感——共同的命运。
我们该怎么做呢？ 必须将障碍推到一边。 教育——强调我们普遍和完全平等的权利的人权教育——可以在学校和公共媒体宣传活动中公开进行，但也可以通过包容性运动队、当地技能培训、以妇女为基础的民间社会项目进行更微妙的传播 、宗教和社区领袖，也许特别是强调年轻人的包容性参与。 需要采取果断行动打击仇恨言论和仇恨犯罪。
现在让我把这次讨论带回到这座宏伟的夫人宫，以及尊敬的本委员会成员和整个参议院所做的工作，因为这些问题不仅限于暴力猖獗的国家。 在西欧，我们也看到经济不公正、歧视和分裂言论在许多社会中造成深刻的分歧，破坏了人权的平等和普遍性。
意大利可以为克服全球分歧做出非常有力的贡献，这些分歧正在破坏多边努力寻求解决方案的努力。 正如我们在下周的意大利-非洲会议上看到的那样，它可以有助于在欧洲和通常被称为“全球南方”的国家之间建立桥梁。 它可以激发强大的全球联盟以促进世界各地的和平。
意大利还可以分配资源，并为确定人道主义援助和建设和平的优先事项做出贡献。 意大利是经合组织第八大发展援助捐助国，到 2022 年将贡献国民总收入的 0.32%。
到2030年将海外发展援助提高到0.7%的目标，以支持2030年可持续发展议程的关键人权目标——我希望我们能够在这一努力中得到委员会成员的支持。
我非常感谢意大利去年向我的办事处提供的财政捐助，并希望看到资金在未来几年扩大。
我还期待与您合作，推进意大利境内的关键人权目标。 其中包括更大程度的包容性，以及结束助长仇恨和极端主义的分裂言论 — — 例如基于所谓“替代”理论的有毒和虚假阴谋论。 正如朱塞佩·托马西·迪·兰佩杜萨指出的那样，意大利文化和意大利民族的丰富性始终基于其吸引和融合来自其他地方的人们的能力。 这段令人钦佩且多方面的历史是意大利人可以自豪的。
意大利、希腊和西班牙显然面临着大量移民和寻求庇护者的挑战，我珍视意大利人多年来在欢迎移民和协助他们融入该国方面所表现出的团结。 移民和难民不是罪犯。 他们和你我一样，经常被迫在痛苦和不幸中离开家园，他们为社会做出了贡献并丰富了社会，正如 COVID-19 大流行所清楚地表明的那样。
不幸的是，在公开辩论中，我们还看到，通过捏造所谓“文明冲突”的虚假叙述，将移民当作替罪羊，这歪曲了现实，分散了人们对基本问题的注意力。
我对针对少数族裔，特别是罗姆人、辛提人和卡米南蒂人的种族主义言论感到担忧； 非洲人和非洲人后裔； 以及移民、寻求庇护者和难民，以及种族主义仇恨犯罪，包括言语攻击和身体暴力。
去年，联合国消除种族歧视委员会发布了打击种族主义仇恨言论和仇恨犯罪的重要建议。 我鼓励你们认真关注这些问题，并特别提请你们注意关于意大利继续培训执法官员并开展提高认识运动以预防和打击种族主义仇恨犯罪和仇恨言论的建议。 作为种族主义思想的传播。
我还对在阿尔巴尼亚建立接收移民和寻求庇护者设施的协议感到关切。 转移到阿尔巴尼亚进行庇护和遣返程序引发了重要的人权问题，特别是免遭任意拘留的问题； 适当的庇护申请程序，包括筛查和身份识别； 和生活条件。 意大利在人权和难民法下的法律义务不得受到损害。 同时，我们也不要忘记，这种域外安排并没有在其他国家发挥作用，反而造成了巨大的痛苦和伤害。
意大利长期大量拘留移民和寻求庇护者，并在没有明确法律依据的情况下将其限制在所谓的“热点”设施，这令人烦恼。 虽然我认识到预防和惩罚人口贩运的重要性，但拯救生命和提供人道主义援助 — — 特别是当人们在海上处于危险时 — — 是一项人权当务之急，绝不应将其定罪或起诉。
我认为宽容——一种非常积极和拥抱差异的接受——是意大利文化的荣耀之一。 对任何群体——无论是移民、少数族裔还是 LGBTIQ+ 人群——煽动仇恨和不宽容的背后，隐藏着替罪羊和非人化他人的旧祸害。 这损害了整个社会。 它加深了分歧，并阻止所有社会成员发挥其全部技能。
政府打击暴力侵害妇女行为的努力非常重要。 去年 11 月朱莉娅·切切丁 (Giulia Cecchettin) 被杀后，在杀戮女性事件令人担忧的增加的背景下，全国性的反省将带来真正的改变，帮助消除厌女症、权力游戏和统治，这是许多女性所面临的问题。 忍。
我欢迎意大利在纪念《世界人权宣言》75周年之际承诺通过加强国家性别平等认证体系来推动企业减少就业中的性别歧视； 赋予儿童和青少年有意义的权力，让他们参与决策； 对残疾人政策进行创新和多层面的改革。 这些承诺需要强有力的后续行动。
我期待该委员会确保所有立法完全符合意大利的人权义务。 在这方面，我的办公室继续鼓励建立国家人权机构
有权独立、正直地行事。
总之，从我的角度来看，我们克服极端主义、两极分化、“我们与他们”的心态确实至关重要。 当今冲突以及今天冲突之前发生的许多战争的主要教训是，我们所有人都需要寻找并将我们团结在一起的因素并在此基础上继续发展。
尤其是在这个最困难的时期，我们决不能放弃争取更大正义、更大平等、社会和谐和更大自由的努力。 正如《世界人权宣言》明确指出的那样，这是世界和我们所有国家的“和平的基础”。
我期待您继续支持这一努力。
"We need to stand firm on the promise of human rights," Türk tells Italian Senate Committee
25 January 2024
“We need to stand firm on the promise of human rights,” Türk tells Italian Senate Committee
25 January 2024
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Palazzo Madama, home of the Senate of the Italian Republic © iStock / Getty Images Plus
DELIVERED BY
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
AT
the Italian Senate’s Extraordinary Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Senator Pucciarelli,
Honourable Members of the Committee,
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak with this Extraordinary Committee at a time of great urgency and turmoil across the world.
Conflicts are multiplying, and they are driving human rights violations, displacement, hunger and humanitarian needs to new peaks.
Across the world – in Ukraine; in Sudan and the Sahel; in Myanmar; and in dozens of other conflicts – tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, this month alone. Many more people have been wounded, perhaps permanently. Still more have been forced to flee their homes.
Tensions are rising at the world's most acute flashpoints. Most recently, since the horrific attacks by Hamas in Israel on 7 October, Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza has caused unprecedented levels of civilian killings and starvation, with wholescale destruction of essential infrastructure. That conflict is also affecting other countries across the region -- and the longer it continues, the greater the risk that an even more massive conflagration will take place. In the Western Balkans and elsewhere, there are also very real threats that dormant conflicts will erupt into violence. It appears that warmongering is becoming an acceptable feature of the political landscape.
There is no true security in any part of the world when conflict is raging – or simmering – on the scale that we are seeing today.
In tandem, the global development agenda, which promised to end extreme poverty by the end of this decade, is faltering. Nearly half the world's population live in countries whose governments spend more on debt than education or health – a burden that is fuelled by dysfunction in our international financial infrastructure.
Racism and other forms of discrimination – notably against women and girls – are again rising, with digital platforms becoming delivery systems for hate speech, and concerted efforts – often in the name of culture or tradition – to push back against the significant progress made in recent decades.
The civic space in more and more countries is being suffocated by harsh restrictions that undercut justice, free and independent media, as well as the space for democracy and participation.
And all these trends compound and fuel the accelerating, overwhelming threats of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, a triple planetary crisis that may well be the defining human rights threat of our generation.
But instead of coming together to address these questions with unity of purpose and decisive, cooperative leadership, the multilateral system – and many societies – are becoming more polarized, and more divided.
This is a dire political and economic landscape. It is a human rights emergency. I am convinced that your work can be of great importance in the struggle to sustain and advance solutions to all these challenges – because to be effective, those solutions need to be grounded in human rights.
In 2018, the ground-breaking Pathways for Peace studies demonstrated very clearly that unaddressed grievances, such as discrimination, inequalities and exclusion, drive tensions, which fuel conflicts, which lead to displacement – and further cycles of misery and destabilisation. Other powerful drivers of conflict include corruption, various forms of poor governance and government malfeasance.
To resolve conflict; to sustain peace; and to create sustainable and green development, these root causes have to be addressed and resolved. Indeed, recent history gives many examples where strong work to prevent human rights violations has made societies more resilient and less likely to explode into violence.
We have evidence from areas where apparently intractable conflicts have been durably resolved. This is the case, for example, when accountability is given appropriate weight; when persistent discrimination and inequalities are addressed; and when governance is transparent and participative.
Yet, today millions of people are suffering the impact of failures to sustain peace for example in both Sudan and Myanmar, or to create a just and enduring peace for Palestinians.
In Libya, the absence of effective human rights agreements, and very poor governance, have terrible impact on the fundamental rights of Libyans, as well as migrants and refugees – whose terrible suffering is further exacerbated by deportations of people to the country. Libya's chaotic violence also has profoundly negative consequences for the country's neighbours in the Sahel, as well as across the Mediterranean, as the Members of this Committee know well.
Across the world, there are many areas where economic and welfare policies grounded in human rights have unlocked much more sustainable development and economic growth, helping to diminish inequalities and grievances. In fact, across every area of Government policy, the benefits of human rights-based measures are extremely clear: countries that invest in human rights, including rights-based development, are less prone to conflict and violence and much better able to withstand the shocks of an unstable world. This is why justice, good governance, equality and the broadest possible space for civic participation are core human rights principles that underpin all the UN’s development work.
In short: human rights work brings solutions to the table - by building peaceful, equitable, resilient, prosperous and green societies that are much better equipped to navigate through turmoil. Such work requires strong cooperative leadership.
But instead of that unifying leadership, too often what we are seeing today is the domination of a politics of division.
A politics of distraction – for instance, through the fabrication of artificial disputes over gender, migration or imagining a "clash" of civilisations. Hate speech and incitement to discrimination can quickly catch fire when people are fearful; when chaos and perhaps even poverty seem to threaten their lives.
A politics of indifference that negates the humanity of victims and other people, such as migrants, who pose no threat, but who are vulnerable to harm.
A politics of deception, assisted by new technologies, that mass-produces lies and disinformation so that the interests of entrenched elites will not be threatened. This is very evident in the case of climate denial. This misinformation and disinformation could be especially dangerous this year, when there will be more than 60 elections worldwide.
The old, blunt, brutal politics of repression – which never really left the scene – are also undermining the work of seeking out just solutions to challenges today. We so badly need a flowering of critical, innovative and constructive views to build better policies and systems, but in so many countries, what we experience are military coups and authoritarianism – the boots and the fist.
We need to stand firm on the promise of human rights, which is a promise of solutions. We need joined-up steps towards more justice, respect and inclusion that will anchor resilience.
We need to nourish the critical thinking and creativity that can only stem from broad, free participation and open debates. There is no dichotomy between freedom and development: fundamental freedoms empower development that is more sustainable and which benefits everyone.
We need to insist on justice, evidence and truth – taking steps, for example, to ensure principled governance of artificial intelligence tools.
And we need to be mindful of our interconnectedness and shared values – cultivating humanity's natural reflexes of empathy, justice and compassion. It is essential to overcome the deep divisions that have torn apart societies. The Libyan writer Hisham Matar wrote recently that "the opposite of war is cooperation", and I feel this is an important set of issues. To build resilience and peace, we have to work to build or strengthen social connections, empathy, and a sense of shared understanding – a shared destiny.
How do we do that? Barriers must be nudged aside. Education – human rights education, which emphasises our universal and fully equal rights – can be overt, in schools and public media campaigns, but it can also be more subtle, diffused through inclusive sports teams, local skills training, women-based civil society programmes, religious and community leaders and, perhaps especially, an emphasis on the inclusive participation of young people. There needs to be decisive action against hate speech and hate crimes.
Let me now bring this discussion back to this magnificent Palazzo Madama, and the work that is done by the distinguished Members of this Committee and the Senate as a whole, because these are issues that are not limited to countries where violence is raging. In Western Europe, too, we are seeing economic injustices, discrimination and divisive rhetoric driving deep wedges across many societies, undermining the equality and universality of human rights.
Italy can contribute very powerfully to overcoming the global fractures that are tearing apart efforts to work multilaterally towards solutions. It can contribute to building bridges between Europe and the countries often termed the 'Global South', as we see with the Italy-Africa conference next week. It can galvanise strong global coalitions for peace across the world.
Italy can also allocate resources, and contribute to shaping priorities, for humanitarian assistance and peacebuilding. Italy is the eighth largest donor of development assistance in the OECD, contributing 0.32% of gross national income in 2022. It will be important to increase that overseas development assistance to the 0.7% target by 2030, to support the crucial human rights goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – and I hope we will be able to count on the support of Committee members for this effort.
I am deeply grateful for Italy’s financial contribution to my Office last year, and hope to see that financing expand in years to come.
I also look forward to working together with you to advance key human rights goals within Italy. They include greater inclusion, and an end to divisive rhetoric that fuels hatred and extremism – such as the toxic and false conspiracy theories based on alleged “replacement” theories. The richness of Italian culture and the Italian nation has always been based on its capacity to draw and integrate people from elsewhere, as Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa pointed out. This admirable and multifaceted history is something Italians can be proud of.
Italy, Greece and Spain clearly face challenges with high numbers of migrants and asylum-seekers, and I value the solidarity that Italians have shown over the years in welcoming migrants and assisting their integration in the country. Migrants and refugees are not criminals. They are people just like you and me, who have often been forced to leave their homes in pain and misery – and they contribute to and enrich society, as the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated very clearly.
In public debates we have also seen- unfortunately- the scapegoating migrants through the fabrication of false narratives about a so-called "clash of civilisations", which distorts reality and distracts attention from fundamental issues.
I am concerned about the racist discourse against ethnic minorities, particularly Roma, Sinti and Camminanti people; Africans and people of African descent; as well as migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, as well as about racist hate crimes, including verbal attacks and physical violence.
Last year, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued important recommendations to combat racist hate speech and hate crimes. I encourage your attentive follow-up to these issues and draw your attention, in particular, to the recommendations that Italy continue to train law enforcement officials, and to conduct awareness-raising campaigns to prevent and combat racist hate crimes and hate speech, as well as the dissemination of racist ideas.
I am also concerned about the agreement to establish facilities in Albania for the reception of migrants and asylum-seekers. Transfers to Albania to conduct asylum and return procedures raise important human rights issues, particularly freedom from arbitrary detention; adequate asylum application procedures, including screening and identification; and living conditions. Italy's legal obligations under human rights and refugee law must not be undermined. Also, let us not forget that this type of extraterritorial arrangement has not worked in other countries, but instead caused great suffering and harm.
Italy's extensive use of detention, for long periods, of migrants and asylum-seekers, and their restriction to so-called "hotspot" facilities without clear legal basis, is troublesome. And while I recognize the importance of preventing and punishing human trafficking, saving lives and providing humanitarian assistance – especially when people are in peril at sea – is a human rights imperative, which should never be criminalised or prosecuted.
I view tolerance – a very active and embracing acceptance of difference – as one of the glories of Italian culture. Behind the whipping up hatred and intolerance against any group – whether migrants, racial minorities or LGBTIQ+ people – hides the old scourge of scapegoating and dehumanizing the other. This harms all of society. It deepens divisions and prevents all members of society from contributing their full skills.
The Government's efforts to combat violence against women are important. The national soul-searching that has followed the killing of Giulia Cecchettin last November – against a backdrop of worrying increases in femicide – will, I hope, lead to real change, helping to eradicate misogyny, the power play and domination that so many women have to endure.
I welcome Italy's pledges, in the context of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to advance work by businesses to reduce gender discrimination in employment through a strengthened National Gender Equality Certification System; to empower children and adolescents meaningfully to participate in decision-making; and to adopt an innovative and multidimensional reform of policies regarding people with disabilities. These are commitments that require robust follow-up.
I look to this Committee to ensure that all legislation fully complies with Italy’s human rights obligations. In this context, my Office continues to encourage the establishment of a national human rights institution that is empowered to act independently and with integrity.
In conclusion, from my vantage point, it is really critical that we overcome extremist, polarised, “us versus them” mindsets. The chief lesson of today’s conflicts – and the many wars that have preceded today’s conflicts – is the need for all of us to seek out and build on the elements that bring us together.
Especially in this most troubled time, we must never give up efforts towards greater justice, greater equality, social harmony, and larger freedoms. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes it clear, this is “the foundation of peace" – in the world, and within all our nations.
I look forward to your continued support in this endeavour.
