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The voice of every one of us is important for the sake of more tolerance, respect and justice

10 December 2012 News

On the occasion of World Human Rights Day, Nickolay Mladenov said:

 

The right to freedom of expression, to freedom of opinion, the right of citizens to participate in public affairs is the theme of today, December 10th. Since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - one of humanity’s most humanistic and inspiring texts, human rights have been and are today recognized as a universal value. The voices of each of us are significant, because the vibrancy of civil society is a measure of the proper functioning of each country. Attempts to discriminate against the voice of citizens, to repress the actions of defenders of human rights, to restrict the right to freedom of expression, must be denounced and discouraged.

I am convinced that institutions and civil society organizations will continue to struggle for the voices of everyone in the world, regardless of race, religion, gender and social status, to be heard. New technologies and social media give us new and greater opportunities for dialogue, participation and mobilization. Freedom of speech is a powerful weapon in the fight, against repression, violence, terrorism, and for greater tolerance, respect and justice. But there are countries in which citizens’ associations are being subjected to great pressure, even repression and the silencing of their voices. Building a culture of tolerance, of respect for human rights and democracy, is the path that we should follow so that we do not allow a repeat of the dark pages of history such as the Holocaust, totalitarianism and genocide.

Bulgaria is a convinced advocate of the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and participated actively in the preparation of the EU Strategic Framework on Human Rights and the Action Plan. In order to contribute in this area, Bulgaria is a candidate for membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2019-2021 period.

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