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Is a Dialogue on Human Rights Possible?
Thomas Hammarberg 1
Background
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The international discourse on human rights has tended to focus on shortcomings
in the South. Most countries put on the agenda of the UN Commission
on Human Rights have been Asian, African or Latin American. As a
rule, they have been poor and less influential in international affairs. This
has disguised the fact that there are serious human rights problems in other
parts of the world as well, including in the richer countries.
Another recent trend is that human rights have been made a more important
aspect of international affairs. Within the United Nations they have
been integrated – at least in theory – as an essential aspect into all major
programs, be they related to security, economic and social issues, relief operations
or development. Also in bilateral relations, human rights have been
given more prominence, in particular in contacts between European and
developing countries. A number of governmental aid agencies have integrated
a human rights dimension into their approach to development support.
At the same time, the discussion on human rights versus national sovereignty
has continued. The UN Charter already made clear that human rights
are a matter of international concern and that it is legitimate for the world
organization to take positions in this area. This has been, at least implicitly,
recognized by the overwhelming majority of member states in UN discussions,
for instance at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in
1993.
However, controversies remain on how human rights concerns are acted
upon in relation to individual countries. Governments under scrutiny have
pointed at the tendency of selectivity: “Why us and not them?” In fact, the
States listed by, for instance, the UN Human Rights Commission have
clearly deserved such attention; individuals in these countries have been
violated. In fact, the countries listed by, for instance, the UN Human Rights
Commission have clearly deserved such attention. The problem is rather
1 Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden) is Secretary General of the Olof Palme International Centre and
Special Adviser of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights on Europe, Caucasus and Central
Asia. He chairs the International Council on Human Rights Policy and he has previously been
Secretary General of Amnesty International, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-
General for Human Rights in Cambodia, Secretary General of Swedish Save the Children and a
member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. For eight years he was Ambassador and
Special Adviser on humanitarian issues at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.