REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE 4TH ANNUAL FRONT LINE AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE FOURTH ANNUAL FRONT LINE AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK DUBLIN CITY HALL
Dia dhíbh ar maidin a dhaoine uaisle.
I speak to audiences all over Ireland day-in and day-out. My words are spoken freely without fear of intimidation or oppression. They are reported, critiqued, analysed, agreed with, disagreed with, openly and freely by public and press alike. My words do not place me in danger. It’s a decent and egalitarian way of living that was not always the case in Ireland and still is not the case for too many people in too many parts of the world, as we have just seen. Freedoms such as we enjoy, freedoms earned by the efforts and sacrifices of unfree generations still exist only in the imaginations and ambitions of many of the world’s unfree citizens.
Among them are the heroic and the self-sacrificing few who refuse to accept the strangulation of freedom, the silencing of voices raised in protest against abuse and in defence of human rights. Such individuals have an extraordinary moral power, a power that is precisely what places them in danger. Their words have the ring of truth, the worst possible offence in the eyes of those who would try to resist the irresistible pressure to cultivate a vibrant, open, humanly-uplifting culture of freedom and of human rights.
To be a champion of human rights is often to be very alone. That is why international support, encouragement and recognition of those who serve the cause of human rights are so essential and why the work of Frontline matters.
Just as in 2005 when the recipient of the inaugural award Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam of Sudan was not free to travel to collect it, so today the recipient of the Front Line Human Rights Defender Award 2008 is unable to be here because of his continuing imprisonment. However Ragheda Issa Refki, the courageous wife of that courageous lawyer, Anwar al Bunni is here and to her we offer this award in the hope that somehow he and the world’s brave human rights defenders will feel a renewed surge of energy and hope in this formal recognition to their work.
Speaking of formal recognition, today is also my first opportunity to congratulate Front Line on receiving the King Baudouin International Prize for Development in May last year, evidence of just how quickly this organisation has risen to international pre-eminence in the field of human rights advocacy and supporting human rights advocates. Normally prophets are said not to fare well in their own country, but the opposite is the case here, for I know that the Department of Foreign Affairs works closely with Front Line and consistently encourages support for human rights defenders among Ireland’s EU partners, in our international bilateral relations, at the United Nations and in other multilateral fora.
Most recently, Ireland served as the EU’s lead negotiator, succeeding in March in our goal of renewing the mandate of the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders; a good outcome, in this, the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Just as we recognise that peace-building is a process, so too human rights-building, so much an element of peace-building, is also a process. While there are many achievements to look back on with pride over these past sixty years, the work that remains to be done when we look ahead is daunting, even terrifying in some circumstances. That is why the unafraid are so needed. That is why passionate defenders of human rights are so unique and important throughout human history. They want the best for all humankind and will never settle for the worst. The stories of Anwar al-Bunni, Latifah Anum Siregar, Liu Jie, Valdecy dos Santos and Padre Andres Tamayo remind us of the extraordinary sacrifices being borne today, in pursuit of the simple dignity and freedom of each human being.
Mindful of their sacrifice, I am honoured to call upon Ragheda Issa Refki, to accept the 2008 award on behalf of her husband, Anwar al-Bunni.