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HRIDC Becomes a Correspondent Member of FIDH

March 10, 2004

HRIDC Becomes a Correspondent Member of FIDH

On March 6, 2004, the FIDH Congress confirmed the affiliation of HRIDC with FIDH, the issue of which was discussed by the board in June 2003. The FIDH congress was held on March 2004, Quito, Ecuador. The Executive Director of Human Rights Information and Documentation Center (HRIDC) attended the congress, where HRIDC was affiliated with the FIDH as a correspondent member. The HRIDC is the only Georgian NGO that was affiliated with the FIDH. The HRIDC and the FIDH had cooperated actively in human rights issues. The congress discussed also discussed various human rights issues .

The World Congress of the International Federation for Human Rights began on March 2, 2004 with an opening ceremony that gathered more than 1500 people in the "Casa de la Cultura" in a tribute to Columbian human rights defenders. Distinguished speakers included Shirin Badi, Nobel Peace laureate, Sidiki Kaba, President of the FIDH, Ricardo Ulcuango, President of the Indigenous Parliament, Alirio Uribe, President of the Colectivo de Abogados "José Alvear Restrepo" in Colombia, and Patricio Ben Alcazar, President of INREDH in Ecuador, as well as victims of human rights violations in Colombia.

About 400 human rights activists from all parts of the world attended the plenary session of the forum "Democratizing globalization" on March 3, 2004, to discuss how to make real the popular slogan of world social forums "Another world is possible".

The Forum started with an analysis, by Jean-Pierre Dubois, deputy Secretary General (France) of the FIDH and Francisco Soberón, Vice-President of the FIDH (Peru), of the new patterns of globalization, including dramatic changes in economic thought, the emergence of non-state actors on the international scene, and the evolution of public international law which challenges the human rights movement. Four discussion themes were present throughout the Congress: "Peace and democracy", "Security and Democracy", "Human Development and Democracy", "Cultural diversity and Democracy".

Bruno Cathala, Registrar of the International Criminal Court, speaking on the issue "Peace and Democracy", outlined how new international regulatory institutions, including the ICC, could help ensure a democratized globalization.

General Robles, from Peru, a symbol of the fight against impunity in Latin America, introduced the concept of "democratic security", as opposed to state-centered security. "Real security is based on the full respect of human rights, including social and economic rights", he said. The other human rights issues were discussed by other spokesmen.

Finally, Driss El Yazami, Secretary General of the FIDH, spoke about the tension between the indispensable respect for cultural diversity and the universality of human rights, rejecting both blind equality and cultural relativism.

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