10 December 2007

State Department on International Human Rights Day

Day commemorates adoption of U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
December 10, 2007

STATEMENT BY GONZALO GALLEGOS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PRESS RELATIONS

International Human Rights Day

Today marks the 59th Anniversary of the adoption of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that affirms the inherent rights of people everywhere and enshrines basic freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and belief.

As we join men and women around the globe in observing International Human Rights Day and Week, we recognize the noble work of human rights defenders who risk harassment, beatings, arrest and even death for seeking to secure the rights of their fellow citizens.  While we applaud the hard-won gains for human rights and democratic government that have been made in recent decades, we are sobered by the fact that there remain governments that respond to growing demands for personal and democratic rights by oppressing non-governmental organizations and others who peacefully advocate for them.

The United States stands in solidarity with the brave men and women across the globe who work to defend human dignity and advance the cause of freedom.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)