CHR on UN Day: No to wars, yes to peace, respect human rights 

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) renewed its call for peace and respect for human rights as the world commemorated United Nations (UN) Day on Thursday.

The promotion of peace and respect for human rights 74 years ago laid the foundation for the founding of the United Nations (UN), the CHR  said.

“It is important to note that the UN and its Charter is a product of the new world order which espoused peace and respect for human rights,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement Thursday.

UN’s Charter, De Guia noted, only allowed the use of force under two exceptions and any state action opposing this is a “breach of international law.”

“Under the Charter, the use of force was prohibited and only allowed under two exceptions: when permitted by the United Nations Security Council (Article 42) or when a state has a legitimate claim of self-defense (Article 51). Any other state action that makes use of force, contrary to what is allowed by the Charter, is then a breach of international law,” De Guia said.

“Furthermore, ‘human rights’ was mentioned 7 times in the Charter, making the respect, protection and promotion of human rights the guiding principle of the organization,” she stressed.

In light of this, CHR renewed its call for peace and respect for human rights given the “recent rise of inter and intra-state wars.”

“It is within this declaration that the Commission, cognizant of the recent rise of inter and intra-state wars, calls for peace and reminds states to respect international law. The universalization of the prohibition of the use of force is as important as the universalization of human rights,” De Guia said.

“Wars are a moral outrage, man-made crisis that cause humanitarian crisis, it is single-handedly the biggest cause of human rights violation as it violates individuals’ right to life and security. Today, in observance of UN Day, let us not forget the reason for the creation of the UN—peace and the respect for fundamental rights of all individuals,” she added.

October 24 marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945, the founding document of the UN.

It has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. /gsg